Our Mark

I have been asked to lead our women’s Bible study class this week. We are currently studying the book of Revelation. Somehow, I ended up with a particularly difficult session. Here is what I will be sharing:




While studying at Purdue, I always knew when Easter was right around the corner. Every year hundreds of students would walk around campus with a dirt smudge on their foreheads. I could not fathom why anyone would attend classes looking like they just cleaned out an ashtray with their hairline. However, I did know that brightly colored eggs and chocolate bunnies would soon follow.

Then, my junior year, I dated a Catholic. I learned about Ash Wednesday first hand. My boyfriend and I (and every other Catholic student on campus) went to mass on this particular day to stand in line to wait for the priest to smear ashes on our foreheads. As I stood in line I looked around at all the faces that had dared to participate in this holy event. Did they frequent St. Tom’s every Sunday? I know I didn’t. Did they come to hear a message about the season of Lent? Again, I didn’t. Were they all there just to get their ashes so that they could report back to their mothers that they had participated in the ritual and were ready for Easter? I am not sure.

Now, many years later, I am sure I am sure of something. I am sure that we are all waiting in line for a mark on our foreheads. Ezekiel tells us that God commands a man with a writing kit to “put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable thing that are done…”

That mark is going to be either a “X” or a “+” right smack in the middle of our temples, right in the front of our heads, for all to see. And contrary to the Catholic ashes this mark is going to be permanent. More like a tattoo. But trust me when I tell you that you are going to want it to be permanent. You aren’t going to want to wash this one off because later in that same chapter of Ezekiel we are told God then commands that everyone in the city, old men, young, men, women and children are to be slain. “But do not touch anyone who has the mark.” (Ez 9:6)

Just like the Israelites in Egypt needed a sign or mark on their door post for the angel of death to pass over them. We too are going to need this mark for our own protection from the wrath of God. In Revelation we are told that God is going to send locusts with the power of scorpions to earth to harm “those people who do not have to seal of God on their foreheads.”

We can chose to wear this symbol of the cross or not. But let me warn you that not wearing this specific mark does not mean you will have a vacant spot on your head. You see, everyone else who does not receive this mark will receive another. It is called the mark of the beast. I doubt it will be obvious like a “666” on your crown but it will be a mark indicating that you worship the imagine of the beast, the devil, rather than worshipping God.

Yes, we are all in line for a mark of some sort. We get to choose which one. But this is more than just some ashes we can tell our moms about. Or even a smudge to wear around campus for the day. This is a mark that that will determine where you spend eternity.  Make your choice and get your mark.