My pastor just called me and pointed out a connection that I had never seen before. He noted how the mark of the beast mimics the tefillin in its placement on the hands and forehead. I never even thought about that but now that he mentions it I don’t know how I missed it!
Think about it like this: The Shema (Deut. 6:4-9) is a call to exclusive devotion to the God of Israel; Israel is commanded to love the LORD with all their heart, soul, and strength (vs. 5); these words are to be in their hearts (vs. 6), and taught to their children (vs. 7), but also bound to their hands and foreheads as symbols in addition to being written on the doorposts of their houses (vs. 9).
So along comes this beast having horns like a lamb and speaking like a dragon (Rev. 13:11 — both symbols that hearken back to different episodes of the exodus story I should note) whose purpose is to get people to worship the first beast (vs. 12) and to be marked on the hand and forehead (vs. 16 cf. 14:9, 11) with the beast’s number. And why shouldn’t the beast try to mimic God in this? He tries in plenty of other things.
But in addition to mimicking God he appears to be mocking him (and his people) as well. The tefillin are a reminder of all that God has done; that he has brought Israel out of Egypt (cf. Exod. 13:9, 16) into a land with large, flourishing cities that they didn’t build, houses filled with all kinds of good things that they didn’t provide, wells that they didn’t dig, and vineyards and olive groves that they didn’t plant (Deut. 6:10-11). It’s a symbol of God’s gracious provision. There’s nothing gracious about the mark of the beast; it’s forced (ποιεῖ – [T]NIV[2011]) on those who bear it (Rev. 13:16) and a constant reminder that one cannot even provide for oneself without obtaining the mark (Rev. 13:17).
I’m going to take a look at Beale a little later and see if he has anything to say about this.
B”H
