divine marks
A man who is being watched by someone who wants to harm or kill him is often referred to as a marked man. Being a marked man could also be defined as to be someone, usually a male, who is in danger from harm by someone else. It is like having a target placed on him, to be used for target practice.
God has marks with which he marks men and we shall consider a few of them here. The first mark of God described in the bible is the one that He caused to be put on Cain after Cain murdered his brother Abel, And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him (Genesis 4:15, New King James Version). That was a mark of shame but not of death. God did not want anybody to kill Cain but that all should know his crime and hold him to scorn.
Then, there is the mark of sin, such as we read in Job 10:14, If I sin, then You mark me,
And will not acquit me of my iniquity. Mercifully, God does not mark our sin too frequently, which is why according to that question, we are still here. If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? (Psalm 130:3). Although these are God-given marks, they are not the marks of God that the believer should desire.
Rather, we want to consider the desirable marks of God, with which God marks the blameless man in order to bless such a person with peace forever, as we see in Psalm 37:37, Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace.
Unfortunately for mankind, just as God has His marks, satan also has his own marks with which he marks people, as, for example, in Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. However, when a man has the mark of God upon his body, satan cannot put any satanic mark on such a person or trouble him in any way, which is why Paul declared in Galatians 6:17, From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. He had been marked several times by the Lord Jesus and therefore satan could no longer put a satanic mark on him. A man cannot be marked by both God and satan; it is either one or the other.
Jesus Christ also conveyed the same concept in John 14:30, "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me" meaning that satan, the ruler of this world could not put any mark on Jesus. Because satanic marks and God’s marks cannot coexist with the marks of God, the best way to avoid getting demonic and satanic marks is to be sure that we have the marks of God upon our bodies. We refer back to Psalm 37:37 above, from where we learn two qualities that will cause God to put His mark on us:
This verse is very frightening, particularly for any ‘believer’ who is trusting in the church for their salvation because God says that the destruction should begin at His sanctuary and as we see, it actually began with the elders, because they did not have the mark of God upon their bodies. Anyone who does not receive the mark of God upon them will be subjected to the satanic mark of the beast; such ‘believers’ are fully described in Revelation 13, from where verse 16 says, He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads. At that time, Satan will have the ability to force people without the mark of God to take his own satanic mark regardless of their age, gender or position in society.
That shall not be your portion, but in order to avoid it, you have to have the marks of God upon your life.
When you do have the mark of God, the blessings don’t end on earth; you also enjoy and reign with Christ in eternity, as described in Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
I pray that we shall all be there.If I sin, then You mark me,
And will not acquit me of my iniquity.
God has marks with which he marks men and we shall consider a few of them here. The first mark of God described in the bible is the one that He caused to be put on Cain after Cain murdered his brother Abel, And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him (Genesis 4:15, New King James Version). That was a mark of shame but not of death. God did not want anybody to kill Cain but that all should know his crime and hold him to scorn.
Then, there is the mark of sin, such as we read in Job 10:14, If I sin, then You mark me,
And will not acquit me of my iniquity. Mercifully, God does not mark our sin too frequently, which is why according to that question, we are still here. If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? (Psalm 130:3). Although these are God-given marks, they are not the marks of God that the believer should desire.
Rather, we want to consider the desirable marks of God, with which God marks the blameless man in order to bless such a person with peace forever, as we see in Psalm 37:37, Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace.
Unfortunately for mankind, just as God has His marks, satan also has his own marks with which he marks people, as, for example, in Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. However, when a man has the mark of God upon his body, satan cannot put any satanic mark on such a person or trouble him in any way, which is why Paul declared in Galatians 6:17, From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. He had been marked several times by the Lord Jesus and therefore satan could no longer put a satanic mark on him. A man cannot be marked by both God and satan; it is either one or the other.
Jesus Christ also conveyed the same concept in John 14:30, "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me" meaning that satan, the ruler of this world could not put any mark on Jesus. Because satanic marks and God’s marks cannot coexist with the marks of God, the best way to avoid getting demonic and satanic marks is to be sure that we have the marks of God upon our bodies. We refer back to Psalm 37:37 above, from where we learn two qualities that will cause God to put His mark on us:
- We have to be blameless – whenever you sin, confess and turn from that sin and all others.
- We must be upright. An upright man is righteous and will do no injustice.
- We must weep over national and global sin. Nehemiah wept over national sin and so too must we. You see, God loves the whole world and so must we.
- There is no place for selfishness in the Kingdom of God. If you are concerned about, and weep for injustices that you observe, God will mark you with His Divine mark, according to this verse of scripture.
This verse is very frightening, particularly for any ‘believer’ who is trusting in the church for their salvation because God says that the destruction should begin at His sanctuary and as we see, it actually began with the elders, because they did not have the mark of God upon their bodies. Anyone who does not receive the mark of God upon them will be subjected to the satanic mark of the beast; such ‘believers’ are fully described in Revelation 13, from where verse 16 says, He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads. At that time, Satan will have the ability to force people without the mark of God to take his own satanic mark regardless of their age, gender or position in society.
That shall not be your portion, but in order to avoid it, you have to have the marks of God upon your life.
When you do have the mark of God, the blessings don’t end on earth; you also enjoy and reign with Christ in eternity, as described in Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
I pray that we shall all be there.If I sin, then You mark me,
And will not acquit me of my iniquity.
