The "Mark of the Beast"
"He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on [in] their right hand or on [in] their foreheads, that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666" (Revelation 13:16-18).
This prophecy is truly remarkable. Think about it: Nearly 2,000 years ago the apostle John, who prior to meeting Jesus had been a fisherman by trade and had been called an "uneducated and untrained" man (Acts 4:13), predicts that a global economic system will one day be instituted in which everyone will be forced to receive a number, without which they will not be able to buy or sell. It is only since the recent advent of computers, and now electronic banking, that this prophecy could be fulfilled.
There are currently a number of methods commonly used for purchasing items. You can use cash, you can write a check, you can use a credit card, or you can use a debit card to automatically deduct the amount from your bank account.
Smart cards take this several steps further. They look like an ordinary credit card, but there's a big difference: They have a tiny computer chip embedded in their plastic. These electronic marvels not only give you instant access to your bank account, but they can also contain all your passport information, your medical record, driver's license, photographs, welfare eligibility, and other data. Hundreds of millions of smart cards are in use across Europe in the form of health cards, SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards, and ePurse cards. Smart cards are at the heart of the eEurope initiative. European Union officials have announced plans to introduce the electronic health card Europe-wide in June 2004. Over time the card could become a kind of medical passport entitling holders to medical care anywhere in the EU.
We are well on the way to eliminating cash. Advocates of a cashless society have many compelling reasons for it. A primary one is that cash is the mother's milk of drug smugglers, who often deal in cash a suitcase full at a time. With no cash, the sale of illegal drugs would be greatly hampered. In fact, law enforcement agencies say that to eliminate cash would eliminate many or even most kinds of criminal activity.
Your Own Personal Microchip Implant
A cheap and workable solution would be to take a chip similar to those used in smart cards and place it under the skin of each man, woman, and child. In fact, the chip can be even smaller because it is not necessary for all your data to be stored on it, only a unique identifier such as a number sequence. All your data would be stored in gigantic networked databases and the number would access it. Once the chip is implanted, it could be read by an inexpensive scanner, similar in function to the ones that read bar codes in your local grocery store. You would then become your own smart card—and the very expensive problem of making sure the owner of the card is who he says he is has been solved!
A global cashless society is in the making. Fiber optics, satellites, and computer databases have the potential to control the world in a way that boggles the imagination. Many governments and private corporations worldwide are pursuing policies to eliminate cash and checks, while many other countries are testing various methods of doing business without physical currency. For the first time, the hi-tech means of fulfilling the chilling vision the apostle John received nearly 2,000 years ago is here.
The Power Behind the Throne
The coming world leader will demand the world's worship not merely because he has a severe ego problem.—He will be empowered or possessed by Satan himself. "The dragon [Satan] gave him his power, his throne, and great authority" (Revelation 13:2).
Satan has always wanted to be God. This is why he fell in the first place. The prophet Isaiah wrote, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! … For you said to yourself, 'I will ascend to heaven and rule the angels. I will take the highest throne. … I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.' But instead, you will be brought down to the pit of hell, down to its lowest depths" (Isaiah 14:12-15 TLB).
Watch Out for 666!
What Satan is really after when he causes the Antichrist government to set up the coming global financial system is to gain control over the people of the world and to get them to bow down and worship him. This is why the Bible warns, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God. … [T]hey have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name" (Revelation 14:9-11).
Notice there are two components to being the objects of this damnation: worshiping the Beast and taking his mark. The book of Revelation mentions these two things in tandem leading to damnation six separate times. There is a definite link between the two, though at this point in time it is not clear exactly what that will be. At first glance, it would seem the Mark is simply an economic and identification system, but from what the Scriptures indicate, it leads to much more. Beware!
So when you see the world government arise and its leader demands your allegiance, your loyalty, and even your worship, don't fall for it. Regardless of the economic incentives offered or the retribution that threatens those who refuse his mark and number, give your love and worship to the true God, your Creator, who loves and cares for you, and who has promised He will see you through the days ahead if you put your trust in Him. The Bible says, "The people who know their God will be strong" (Daniel 11:32). (For more on this subject, see The Rise and Fall of the Antichrist, also from Aurora Production.)
Footnotes
1. A chip card, the size of a first class postage stamp. It is a key element in over 600 million GSM (Global System for Mobile) mobile phones—representing about 70 percent of the mobile handset market. A SIM is actually a tiny computer in your phone.
2. "Millions of people across Europe will be able to apply for a new EU medical smart card from next year." BBC Web site, 21 Feb 2003.
Excerpted from The Future Foretold, by Michael Roy
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