The Devil, The Mark, and Hegemony

It’s interesting to see The Lord of the Rings making a comeback. Perhaps the story will help people see the reality of evil we are in, and in many ways contributing toward. The dark, metal-forging, nature smashing, movement of the “Orcs”, across the world, attempting to overcome the small spiritual minority of the elves is symbolic of what is currently happening with us. A dark force has opened to rid traditional life and culture, bringing in a technological and industrial order of submission. It’s antichrist!

One reason I think that the Apostles and Christ speak of an antichrist “already” in their present time is because the very nature and plan of the devil is relatively limited as well as timeless. He has a certain way to ensnare all people that he has been practicing since the beginning. This way that he has involves the “lust of the flesh, and the pride of life”. We know this from reading the Holy Scriptures, but what does this look like in day-to-day life and culture?

What is the one thing that most people across the world think will fulfill their desires and needs? Currency! All throughout the Scripture we see the mention of currency. Saint Paul the Apostle says it is “the root of all kinds of evil”. Christ mentions it more than any other earthly topic. So, it stands to reason that the devil would capitalize on this issue. But how?

It is true that the devil can tempt us on an individual basis, but is this his primary task? It seems that his demons are for that, for tormenting people on an individual basis. The devil is called “The Prince”. He is the ruler of his kingdom. He is planning and orchestrating, and in many ways copying what God is doing. God is primarily concerned about the Heavenly Kingdom. Satan is concerned about the earthly kingdom. He even at one point offered (tempted) it to Christ on a “high mountain, where all the kingdoms of the world can be seen”.

Mark of the Beast

Satan’s kingdom controls much of the world with various types of communities that exclude Christ’s Church from their governing powers. These controlling/conquering communities (secularized empires) have economies that require the survivors to submit to unethical occupations that are completely wrapped up in secularized ideals and missions. In the past five years, this “survivor economy” has hit the red zone with people everywhere speaking of how they are fearful of their corporate and government employers and how they are doing business. It’s much worse than a “stage being set”. It is more like a war being waged, triggering our fear of what Saint John in Revelation calls “the mark of the beast”.

The mark of the beast has to do with people making the final dedication to these new, unethical economies that are against Christ. The mark has always been here for people to receive in a spiritual manner. How it will manifest in these last days remains to be seen, but nonetheless, this economy of the devil is nothing new. It’s how he constructs and organizes the lust of power and pride, and it is something that the Apostle John and many other saints say is going to one day come to full fruition on earth in an apocalyptic nature.

History of the Mark

The system of the Beast began immediately after Christ’s death and resurrection with certain (mainly religious) groups who in the pre-Nicene days vehemently fought the Church with culture and community to such a radical extent that saints such as John Chrysostom had to publicly denounce their culture, explaining how we should have no part of them whatsoever. Canons where eventually made to boycott these “Jewish” people and the Church calendar itself was designed so that we would not be interacting with their festivals and business. This is one serious issue Saint John Chrysostom warned the Church about: how the Jews tempt us to be a part of their extravagant festivals and culture. The involvement in society and government was a very hard push for the Jews, creating a very tempting alternative community and economy. God eventually destroyed Jerusalem, and then Rome, scattering the Jews and bringing another governing factor for Satan to take part in ruling his kingdom: Barbarians.

In the early west, Barbarians were a serious problem. They were not just warriors, they were vagabonds, gypsies, etc. They infiltrated the west so badly that it could no longer grow into the Christian empire that it was always expected to become. Not only did Rome fall to them but the vast majority of the Church in the west also fell to them and their worldly system.

The Modern West

The west is now a global ruling society of hegemony, who enslaves women and children across the world. Of course, the west is not evil in and of itself. The roots of many martyrs reside in the west, including St Peter himself within St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. But since the reign of Charlamagne, it has morphed into a complete travesty and in many ways, a demonic force. Its economic system is beastly to the core. It’s a slave based, consumerism society with little to no spiritual guidance. It fosters what the devil needs to continue his earthly reign.

The devil’s “Mark of the Beast” described in The Revelation is the soul binding element of the devil’s system. It is something that we dedicate our “hand” (actions) and/or our “forehead” (thoughts) to, as described in Saint John’s Revelation. If there is to eventually be a literal mark, it will be received so easily by people because they will already be in submission to this mode of action within the worldly cultures and economies. These are unethical economies that are committed to slavery and hedonism, which, by the way, could very well be currently at an all-time high within world history.  The millions of women and children enslaved to build our iPhones and other toxic devices, and give us our cheap Walmart goods, comes at a price, and it looks like the west must finally finish footing the bill.

The monetary system of USA and Western Europe can no longer hold Russia down, who will not stop short of anything less than freeing the world of its unipolar system. There will be new economies, Russia leading one, with the Church, and likely America leading another, with ecumenism. With prayer that is accompanied with life (not temple-prayer-only that seldom lives itself in action) our soon-to-be collapsed nation will be rescued by nations that are led by Christ.

Our hope is in Christ and his commands to unify and commune with each other. This will look like it has in times past, where we form our own economies, and sub-economies, even if it means moving from the cities to the countryside, where we can live peace-filled lives together. This will be how we create sustainable environments and more localized parishes where people actually know each other and live amongst each other. With God’s help this new way of Christian living will last us all until his return.