From the Desk of Jeff King

The mark of God

When God introduced His feast days in the Old Testament, it wasn't a dinner invitation. Food wasn't the focus. The Hebrew word for "feast," mow'ed, means a sign or signal. What was God trying to signal to His people? The first and second coming of Messiah. God's appointed times were dress rehearsals for those two events.

As April approached this year I felt the LORD calling His church to rally around Passover, the feast that commemorates the death and resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth. That signal was beaming brighter and stronger but I didn't know why. Then I heard a teaching by Peter and Christie Michas of Messengers of Messiah, a Hebraic Roots ministry in Southern California. Then it clicked: Passover is linked to the sign or mark of God and our eternal security in Him. Here's why:

Passover is the most significant Biblical feast because it points to God's finished work of redemption. Those who honor God's calendar, specifically Passover, receive the sign of God (Exodus 13:9), which we believe is the tav, the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet. In Rev. 22:13 Yeshua identifies Himself the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. In Hebrew it is translated Aleph and Tav.

In the ancient Hebrew alphabet, which is a pictographic script (see chart), the tav resembles two crossed sticks or a cross. It represents a mark, sign or signature. One of the most significant uses of the tav is found in columns of the Great Isaiah Scroll, one of the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947. Eleven tav symbols appear in margins next to Messianic passages.

The tav also is used in Ezekiel 9:4 to mark Jews who reject idolatry. The seal appears on their forehead, protecting them from God's wrath. In Ezekiel 8, God exposes the abominations that have incited His anger, which include an image of jealousy (scholars identify it as the fertility goddess Astarte, also known as Ishtar or Easter) and Tammuz worship. Tammuz was a sun god and counterfeit savior born on Dec. 25. Those two abominations flourish in the church today. Astarte (Easter) and Tammuz (Christmas) were assimilated into Christianity in the fourth century.

Similarly, the beast in Rev. 13:16 causes people to receive a mark on the forehead or right hand. But it is not a barcode, tattoo or implanted chip as many Christians today believe. The mark we receive reflects the belief system we take into our heart and mind, symbolically the forehead and hand. It is unseen by man.

Revelation 13:18 asks those with understanding to calculate the number of the beast. The Greek word for "calculate," psephizo, means to count or vote with pebbles. The ancient Greeks voted by dropping pebbles into urns. In a court of justice a white pebble represented acquittal and a black stone condemnation. Psephizo is used in Luke 14:28 when Yeshua asks would-be disciples to "count" the cost before following Him. Yeshua says in Rev. 2:17 He will give a white stone to those who overcome the beast system. The word "stone" here is psephos, a derivative of psephizo. The mark we receive is determined by how we vote with our stone. Our vote reflects what is in our heart and mind.

Peter Michas believes the Greek letter chi, which looks like an "X," represents the mark of the beast. The chi and the Hebrew letter tav look almost identical, suggesting that Satan has counterfeited God's mark. The "X" is an ancient symbol linked to sun worship. Tammuz, whom the Greeks called Bacchus, was depicted with chi symbols, or crosses, on his headband. When people violate God's calendar by observing Christmas and Easter they invite the beast's mark. They choose the black stone.

Choosing the white stone requires us to heed Exodus 13:3-9, a passage included in the cube-shaped boxes that Jewish males wear on their forehead and left arm in morning prayer: "Remember this day (Passover) in which you went out of Eygpt, out of the house of bondage . . . . It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD's law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt." The Hebrew word for "sign," 'owth, can mean a mark, beacon or signal. The word "remember" in Hebrew, zakar, represents a mark that can be recognized. It is used in the infinitive form, meaning the subject should be remembered constantly. Why remember Passover? Not only did God's strong hand free the Israelites from slavery, it delivered us from the bondage of sin through the Passover sacrifice of His Son.

God grants that pardon freely when we place our trust in Yeshua alone, turn from sin and serve Him obediently. To maintain a healthy relationship with Him it is critical that we mature in our faith (1 Pet. 2:2), divide the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15) and worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). God will reveal the truth, including the significance of His calendar, to all who seek it earnestly. But with this knowledge comes accountability. When we are exposed to the truth we must choose between the white and black stone, and Yeshua asks us to count the cost. God will mark us accordingly.