This leads us to the question: Is this mark of the beast an actual physical mark that is going to be on the hand or on the forehead? Everything that we have discussed this far would lead us to say that even if there is a physical mark, that is not the main point of the text. The point is that these people are spiritually identified with the goals and purposes and activities of the anti-Christian kingdom. The seal on the head of the 144,000, the elect of God, is not a physical seal, is it? The reference is to the fact that spiritually these have God’s Spirit working in them. They live for God. They pursue God and His kingdom. They will not fall away from that, even at the end. And so too, the main point here in the evil copy is that spiritually in these people’s understanding and life they give themselves over to the kingdom of man. They serve it and they submit to it.1
Cory Griess
16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,