Why is the mark of the beast unforgivable?

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The Bible certainly seems to say that the receiving of the Mark of the Beast will be something that people will choose, not something forced upon people against their will, a kind of apostasy, in the same way that someone cannot force me to apostatise. It is a free choice. As for it being an unforgivable sin, we simply don’t know, however the bible speaks of the fact that those who do x or y sin will go to hell - the disclaimer being those who do that sin and die unrepentant. So perhaps the mark of the beast is the same - those who freely choose it and don’t repent will go to hell, but repentance is possible. Who knows.
 
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Seems pretty public to me:

“But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. 31 “And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
 
sealabeag said:
The Bible certainly seems to say that the receiving of the Mark of the Beast will be something that people will choose, not something forced upon people against their will, a kind of apostasy, in the same way that someone cannot force me to apostatise. It is a free choice. As for it being an unforgivable sin, we simply don’t know, however the bible speaks of the fact that those who do x or y sin will go to hell - the disclaimer being those who do that sin and die unrepentant. So perhaps the mark of the beast is the same - those who freely choose it and don’t repent will go to hell, but repentance is possible. Who knows.
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Many people believe the labellus issued upon making sacrifice to Caesar was the mark of the beast during the reigns of Domitian, Decius, Diocletian, etc. Apparently these could be inspected in the marketplace at that time. And given China’s example in developing technologies to monitor the “social credits” of people, it is not unheard of that this will happen again in a more technological form.
 
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Check out Microsoft patent 060606. I’m not suggesting this is the mark of the beast in any way, just an example of the kind of technology we’re talking about.
 
The ONLY unforgivable sin is that sin for which we refuse to repent of at the moment of death, final rejection of Christ.

The prophecies that spoke of things like the destruction of the temple in 70 ad, the persecution of the early Church, those are in poetic language.
 
Again, read what the Church teaches, not the lies of some.

Start with Will Catholics Be Left Behind or The Rapture Trap
 
The early Church fought this argument with those who renounced the Church (lapsi) and those who betrayed the Church (traditores) and later wanted to reconcile. The Church was divided by those who wanted permanent exclusion and those who preached mercy. Since the Church went with mercy, I would reason that anyone with the mark of the beast would receive mercy if they repented before the judgment.
 
The mark has a function. That function, depends on what the mark signifies, and why.

First the passages that mention it:

Rev 13.16-18

16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.

Rev 14.9

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,

Rev 14.11

And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

Rev 15.2

And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image [and over his mark] and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.

Rev 16.2

So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

Rev 19.20

And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence[fn] had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur.

Rev 20.4

Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
 
Compare with the passages in bold the following:

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.a 5 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.b
6 These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6.4-9)

Who receive the mark ? 13.16 tells us: “all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves…”. They are the group in 13.8: “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.” See also 17.8 & 20.15.

The subjects of the First Beast have his mark upon them, which the Second Beast, AKA the False Prophet, “causes” to be upon them. This “mark” is the name or number of the Beast, because the number, given in 13.18, is the numerical value of the letters of a name. So, the “mark”, “name” and “number” are different aspects of the same “mark of ownership” - the “dwellers upon earth” are marked with the name of the beast, to show that they belong to him.

They are not alone in being marked:

“‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’” (2.17)

“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the Name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new Name.” (3.12)

“Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Name and the Name of His Father written on their foreheads.” (14.1)

“… and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”” (17.5)

“His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a Name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His Name is called The Word of God…And on His robe and on His thigh He has a Name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”” (19.12-13, 16)

“…they will see His Face, and His Name will be on their foreheads.” (22.4)
 
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The First Beast has his mark, but those “whose names are written in the book of life” are also marked, or rather, sealed:

“…saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand…

…from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.” (7.3-5, 8)

Contrast 9.4:

“They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.”

The seal of Rev chapter 7 is St John’s version of this, in Ezekiel 9:

“1Then I heard Him call out in a loud voice, saying, “Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with a weapon of destruction in hand.”

2And I saw six men coming from the direction of the Upper Gate, which faces north, each with a weapon of slaughter in his hand. With them was another man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. And they came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

3Then the glory of the God of Israel rose from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. 4“Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”

5And as I listened, He said to the others, “Follow him through the city and start killing; do not show pity or spare anyone! 6Slaughter the old men, the young men and maidens, the women and children; but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.”

So they began with the elders who were before the temple.”

The “mark” in Ezekiel 9 is the letter Taw, the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The Greek letter Tau, which is related to it, is, like it, approximately cross-shaped. If, as is hardly doubtful, Rev 7 is St John’s updated version of Ezekiel 9.1-6, it seems likely that the “seal” of Rev 7 is either the Cross, or Baptism, which the Fathers called “the seal”.

Rev 9.4, with its comment on the servants of God with “the seal of God on their foreheads”, prepares for, and is parodied by, those who have “the mark of the beast…on their right hand or on their forehead”.
 
It suggests a Final Impenitance.
God and His angels are outside the realm of time.

God bless.

Cathoholic
 
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