Now we come to what is probably the most remarkable and irrefutable prophecy of the New Testament. Unlike the Seventy Weeks prophecy there is no fixed date for this prophecy; but it is impressive because it is virtually free of double meanings or confusing symbols, and it accurately describes revolutionary developments in world banking that are being planned and implemented right now, even though they would have been unthinkable at the time that the prophecy was written.
The first half of Revelation 13 introduces the Beast (or Antichrist) and a False Prophet (more about them shortly). The second half of the chapter explains how they will be able to control the world through a new economic system. The prophecy says, "He (the Beast) causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads, [so] that no one might buy or sell save those that had the mark or the name of the Beast or the number of his name." (Revelation 13:16-17)
The world's banks are feverishly working toward a monetary system which is based on a tiny computer chip about the size of a grain of rice. The chip can be planted under the skin on the back of your hand and waved in front of a scanner the way items are waved at the supermarket now. It will be able to record every purchase you make, automatically transferring funds from one account to another, in such a way that it could virtually make money obsolete.
(Note: Articles have been edited to it the space).
VeriChip (now re-branded PositiveID) is the only FDA-approved, human-implantable microchip. The rice grain-sized chips contain an RFID chip, which can be scanned like a barcode.
In 2004, the Baja Beach Club in Barcelona was the first outlet to offer the VeriChip for the purpose of buying and selling. It allowed patrons to buy drinks and food with just a "wave of the hand". The club's director, Conrad K. Chase, disclosed that, "The objective of this technology is to bring an ID system to a global level that will destroy the need to carry ID documents and credit cards."
VeriChip's resemblance to the prophecy of a globally-implemented mark used for "buying and selling" is clear, with promoters needing to counter claims of its similarity to what is described in Revelation 13:16-17. Some technical differences to the "mark of the beast" exist - most notably that, to date, it has traditionally been inserted in the left forearm rather than in the right hand or forehead.
Although marketing of VeriChip was reportedly discontinued in 2010, the technology (and the arguments used to encourage people to accept it) will almost certainly evolve in the years ahead.
One thing is certain: The cashless society is an increasingly viable reality. As one billboard, featuring an advert by Maestro for debit cards, confidently exclaimed: "Cash is so last millennium".
(It is important to realise how RFID chips fit into the overall context of the prophecy about the mark of the beast/cashless society. Microchips used for the sole purpose of tracking are NOT the mark of the beast and many people (often conspiracy-theorists) get side-tracked into paranoid hype about government control etc. which detracts from the real issue - our attachment to the monetary system. The mark of the beast is for buying and selling which is why we need to go to the source of the problem by confronting the root of all evil in our own lives.)
Technology to do all of this has been available for some time. In 1995. it was being tested on "smart cards". Now it is being implanted under the skin on people's arms. (See article on page 139)
First the public had to be weaned away from real-life tellers. They needed to get used to making purchases without money changing hands. They needed to learn to accept big impersonal computers knowing about their spending patterns. They needed to become familiar with scanners and universal product codes which could be used to label every person on earth. And they needed to be conditioned to using their bodies for identification purposes: retina scans, biometric passports, handprints, thumbprints, etc. All of this has been leading up to the microchip implant... the Mark of the Beast.
Microchip implants started out only as identification technology, and they were implanted on the arm... not the hand. America's biggest religious cable TV network officially endorsed the implants, stating that there was no connection between them and the infamous Mark of the Beast.
A mere two years later, the same company (Verichip) started marketing an implant that could be used for buying and selling. The Mark of the Beast is here, and the churches were tricked into endorsing it!
In recent years we have seen the Western world experiment with credit cards, identity cards, phonecards, Fly-Buy cards, eftpos cards, and smart cards. Universal product codes are now on virtually everything we buy. The scene is set for microchip implants.
For now, the emphasis is just on identification and tracking. Dogs and cats are already being given micro-chip implants that are used to track them if they should become lost. Politicians and industrialists in Italy are accepting them for the same purpose, in case they should ever be kidnapped. Parents in several countries are being encouraged to use implants on their children in case the children become lost or kidnapped.
But the ultimate use for these cards or implants will simply be for buying and selling... just like the prophecy says.
Microchip implants and a cashless society will improve life in many ways. We can have one universal currency. There will be greater control over drug trafficking (which operates on cash changing hands). Robberies of all sorts (except computer crimes) will drop dramatically when there is no longer any cash to steal. People will never have to worry about losing their card, because it will be right there on the back of their hand. All in all, implanting a microchip on every member of the public will make the world far more efficient than it is at the moment.
But the problem for any who take Bible prophecy seriously, is that, along with the prediction that this would happen has come a sombre warning: "If anyone worships the Beast and his image, and receives his mark in their forehead or in their hand, the same will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. They will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment ascends up for ever and ever. They have no rest day nor night, who worship the Beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." (Revelation 14:9-11)
We know from reading The Revelation that a time is coming, a period of at least three and a half years, when everyone will need the mark in order to buy or sell anything. We understand that Christians will not be taken to heaven before this happens; and it is clear that they will be subject to the wrath of God if they do take the mark. What are you going to do about it, and how are you going to live?
The answer is that you will either give in and take the mark or you will be forced to live by faith.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus urged his followers to consider the birds and the flowers, noting that they didn't have jobs or bank accounts, and yet God took care of them. He said that his Father would take care of us too, if we would just work for his kingdom. (Matthew 6:19-34)
Jesus taught that we should stop working for food (John 6:27) and start working for God. He said that when we spend our time working for (i.e. being a servant of) money, we show our contempt for God. (Luke 16:13) He called on his followers to leave their fishing nets (Matthew 4:18-22), leave their jobs with the government (Luke 5:27-28), and give up everything they own to become his true disciples. (Luke 12:31-33; 14:33) To date, very few people have ever taken any of those teachings seriously. Do you know of any church that teaches people to live like that?
But now, as we move closer and closer to the actual implementation of the Mark of the Beast, Christians who have, in the past, made excuses for not living by faith are going to be forced out of their lukewarm indifference. They will either have to sell their soul to the Antichrist, by taking the mark, or they will finally have to start living by faith, the way Jesus intended for them to be living all along.
This is part of the "bitter" truth of The Revelation. And it's a bitter truth which you need to confront now, before it is too late.
Christians are rapidly being indoctrinated to take the Mark of the Beast, and the indoctrination is coming from some surprising places. The past ten years has seen worldwide interest in an overpriced series of novels supposedly based on Bible prophecy. Well over 100 million copies of books in the "Left Behind" series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have been read by virtually everyone in Western society who has an interest in Bible prophecy, thus putting the books on the New York Times best-seller list.
Yet this same series has subtly undermined the seriousness of the biblical warning against taking the Mark of the Beast in a number of deceptive ways. We will list them below:
1. The secret rapture. The first book in the series says all Christians will supernaturally vanish sometime before the persecution of believers begins. This popular teaching, called 'the secret rapture', implies that present believers will never have to make a choice for or against the Mark.
2. A meaningless mark. When the Mark of the Beast finally gets a mention in the series, it has nothing to do with buying and selling. Consequently, the book's heroes get the best paid jobs, working personally for the Antichrist. Christians are even awarded contracts to do such things as setting up the Antichrist's security and computer systems! The 'mark' itself is a simple tattoo on the forehead (no mention of hands) which Christians can get around by just wearing a baseball cap!
3. Faith in fate. Readers of the series are told that it does not take courage to refuse the Mark; anyone who has said a ritual prayer "asking Jesus into their hearts" will be guaranteed protection from the Mark, without any effort on their part. They can even turn totally against their faith and still they will be saved, because not even God can take back the salvation he has given to them.
4. Biloyalty. After the book has convinced many of its readers that it is impossible for them to take the Mark (because the ritual prayer has bought them eternal security), it goes on to say that even if they take the Mark, they will not be punished because "nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, and that has to include our own selves."
To prove this, the authors create a subplot where a teenager is physically forced by his parents to take the Mark. One of the book's heroes compliments the boy about the way in which he received the tattoo. He says, "I'm glad you didn't just scream out that you are a believer."
From this apparent tragedy, the book's heroes discover that they have just what they need to continue their life of luxury. They even give this horrible distortion of the truth a name. They call it bi-loyalty. The teenager responds, "I love that term bi-loyal," and he goes on to show what an advantage having the Mark can be!
And yet, hardly a word of protest has come from the religious masses of the West who are lapping up these damnable lies of the devil!