WHAT IS THE MARK OF THE BEAST?
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What if the ‘mark of the beast’ isn’t a chip implanted underneath the skin of every man, woman and child on the planet? What if it is a cashless financial system, and people, both good and bad, without any thought of eternal consequences or the spiritual implications of participating in the system, go along with it because that is the way business is done?

With the popular movies and books espousing the dispensational pre-millennial doctrine, many people think that there is going to be some kind of evil dictator, a smooth operator who will have all the answers to every problem in the world, and will require everyone to receive an implanted chip so that he and his minions can keep track of them Big Brother style. They also think that they are going to be raptured off the earth before the bad stuff really starts to happen. They may not realize how they are setting themselves up for some really bad times. After all, if you think you are going to be removed from the scene before the final great tribulation period starts, then (a) why worry about it? and (b) nothing you see happening around you can be part of that tribulation since you won’t be here for the real thing.

Consider the impossible task of chipping every person on the planet. How could it be physically possible to chip all the babies being born every day in every nation in the world? It would require massive expenditures and provide employment for the majority of people on the planet – if it could be done at all, and it does not seem possible that it could be.

The Big Brother surveillance society is well on its way, and is already pretty much here for that matter, but chipping everyone on the globe is an impossible task, even for the antichrist. If it were true, imagine the investment possibilities for those people who don’t care what kind of company they sink their cash into as long as there is money to be made. You could invest in foundries where crews would be working feverishly day and night cranking out those chips without ever being able to keep up with the demand. And you could sink a few dollars into the schools that were training all the new workers to implant the chips. And think of the opportunities in transportation companies, as all those newly trained workers raced to every nook and cranny on earth trying to keep up with the endless supply of new babies being born!

Some writers have even speculated that the mark would be some sort of tattoo, which would somehow be considered a beauty mark or status symbol, so all would want one. Granted, we see a lot more tattooed people today, but it is unlikely that everyone would get one even if it were possible.

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Rev. 13:16,17.

The Apostle John was recording what he saw in his vision. He had no way of knowing what he was looking at. His time was completely different than ours. He would not have known about biometric identifiers such as unique fingerprints. If you were placed into a totally foreign environment and told to describe what you saw, no matter how accurate your description, you would be relating it within the limits of your experience and your observational powers. For example, if you were placed in a sterile microbiology laboratory, how would you describe what you were looking at? You could say that you saw a bunch of squigglies moving around, but that would be about it. You would have no idea of what you were really looking at, or its significance.

While the books and movies focus us on the evil intent of the beast system, look at the wording of the verses again. What John is specifically describing is a mechanism for conducting financial transactions. The beast system has control over the ability of people to participate in the financial system.

Is it possible that what John saw in his vision were people standing in front of scanners? And that going through that scanning process was a necessary part of conducting financial transactions in the end times? Could ‘a mark in their right hand’ actually be people putting their right hands into fingerprint readers; and ‘in their foreheads’ be people putting their faces up to optical recognition scanners? That is why John saw people’s right hands and ‘foreheads’ being checked and thought they must have some kind of physical mark. Remember, there wasn’t any such thing as machinery in John’s day. How could he describe a biometric identifying machine? Actually, people are ‘marked’ with unique identifiers, as each person’s fingerprints and eyeball iris patterns are unique to them.

Consider how well that actually fits with both the scripture and what we see in the world today. There has been a deliberate, concerted effort toward cashless financial transactions for decades. That is one reason for central bankers moving away from pesky things like the gold standard, that require accountability, and toward fiat currencies, where money is whatever they say it is, and they control its issuance.

Years ago I read a book by a well-known Christian author who was struggling with the issue of whether or not to use credit cards. After much consideration, she decided that she could use credit cards, but when debit cards came out, she would no longer participate in the system. I don’t know how that turned out for her. But millions of people nowadays, including Christians, get their paychecks deposited directly into their bank accounts, shop online, and think nothing of using credit and debit cards to make financial transactions daily. Many people work in environments that require them to use swipe cards to clock in and out of work, and access computers. Some even have to provide biometric identification to access secure facilities and computer networks. There is even a push for new national ID card standards, containing biometric data, all in the name of fighting terrorism.

Why couldn’t the beast system be a ‘voluntary compulsory’ system of finance? Voluntary in the sense that anyone who wanted to conduct business within the system would sign up, compulsory in the sense that those who chose not to sign up would be excluded from conducting any transactions in the business world. In principle, it would be much like today’s credit card system. You are not required to sign up with a credit card company. That is your choice. But you cannot use their credit card unless you do sign up. When you sign, you agree to all the terms and conditions – even if you may not realize what you really signed until you miss a payment.

The biometric scanning system would do away with the impossible task of chipping everyone. Anyone who wanted to join the network would have to come to scanning stations and sign up. Presto – logistical problems solved. Most people would not give a second thought to signing onto such a system. You pay for internet access, don’t you?

A whole host of other crime problems would be largely solved as well. That would be another attractive feature for beast system sellers. If everyone who wanted to conduct any kind of transaction could only log on to the network by providing positive biometric identification, much of the identify theft and computer hacking crimes would disappear. Muggings and armed robberies would decrease because there would be no cash to steal, and credit cards would be obsolete. Illegal cash-only businesses, such as drugs and prostitution, would be hampered, as there would not be any cash money.

Medical personnel could access the system and instantly obtain the complete medical histories of people who needed medical attention.

Such a system would need little selling to most people. It would be viewed as progress. People would buy into it voluntarily in order to be able to buy and sell, conduct business, and hold jobs. Anyone who wanted to access any kind of network beyond their home would have to log on to a central computer system. All financial transactions of any kind would be conducted within that system.

How close are we to such a system? Thirty years ago, there were no such things as public internet, personal computers for the masses, and cell phones. Today they are each commonplace. It is now possible to communicate in real-time with people on the other side of the world, and to conduct our financial transactions electronically.

A new internet is under construction right now. The new internet will be faster, more secure, and not as cluttered as the one we use now. Could the new internet be the vehicle that the beast system uses to bring everyone into its web? Could there be something in the signup agreement that most people will go along with as no big deal, but true followers of Christ will find so objectionable that they will not be able to participate?

I am certainly no scholar in Hebrew or Greek, or much anything else for that matter, but I have read where the letter ‘W’ has a numeric value of 6 in both Hebrew and Greek. I have always found it interesting that the worldwide communication system we know as the internet has been called the ‘world wide web’. The ‘www’ that precedes web addresses would then reduce to ‘666’. For years, the bar code labels found on UPC codes all had the number 6 at each end and one in the middle, making a 666 combination on all of them. Many still do.

If there is such a system, then what about the part of the scripture that says it is the number of a man? There are many scriptures that operate on multiple levels, both literal and symbolic and combinations in between. The end time scenarios are likely to play out on a minimum of three stages at once: the political, economic and religious arenas. The Great Reckoning, a fascinating book from several years ago, argued that as computers and technologies advanced, the potential would exist for control to be centralized in a single individual. Far from being the liberating technology it would be billed as, super technology would have the effect of concentrating absolute power into the hands of a select few individuals, maybe even just one. That book was not religious in nature at all, but that conclusion fits neatly into beast system end time scenarios.

Is there a deliberate attempt toward such a system, or does it just seem that way because of the exciting advances in technologies? Time will tell, but it looks like another piece in the end time puzzle is fitting neatly into place.