The tragedy is that the Jews depended on this physical mark instead of the spiritual reality it represented (Deut. 10:16; Jer. 9:26; Ezek. 44:9). A true Jew is one who has had an inward spiritual experience in the heart, and not merely an outward physical operation. People today make this same mistake with reference to baptism or the Lord’s Supper, or even church membership.
Would trust in the physical mark explain or otherwise apply to the mark of the beast on the forehead or hand? Would the name "the beast" adopt to the debauchery of man into beasts, as noted earlier?
