He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666. Revelation 13:16-18
The U.S., EU, UN and Russia are working busily behind the scenes to escort Israel to her date with rebellion against the covenant by the establishment of a Palestinian state on covenant lands. The LORD has impressed upon me the need to continue my series of articles about preparing for the last days. The most important step we can take as believers is to be aware. Be aware of God's will through the prophecies of the Bible and aware of what is happening around us. We are to be second coming watchers and as such we must be aware of pitfalls that could ensnare us or lead us astray.
Since the days that the book of Revelation was written man has speculated about the 'mark of the beast.' But recently there has been an avalanche of articles and teachings in regards to the 'mark.' Up until now I have not had freedom from the LORD to express the understanding He has given me on the subject in other than vague ways. But now the time to understand the revelation about the 'mark' has come.
Every article I have read and teaching I have heard has been at least partially centered around the work of the Advanced Digital Solutions Corporation. They have advanced a technology that goes by the marketing names "Verichip" and "Digital Angel." Both of these technologies are basically a computer chip the size of a grain of rice that is injected into the human body. That is where the similarities end. The "Verichip" is the simpler of the two technologies, because it is mainly designed to store basic information such as: medical, social security number, name etc. etc. The information can be retrieved by scanning over the area of the body that hosts the chip with a hand held scanning device. The "Digital Angel" works as a tracking and position locating device. It can also transmit a person's vital signs. The tracking is done using satellites and has been shown great attention by the military. You may have heard some years back about these chips being used to track lost pets. The U.S. government has now approved them for use in humans.
Every article has suggested that the chips were actually the mark of the beast in preliminary form or are precursors of things to come. I disagree with these suggestions based on the scriptures the LORD has shown me. What follows is a biblical explanation of why the 'chips' are not the 'mark of the beast' and what the mark actually will be.
The word for the term 'mark' in Revelation 13:16 is translated from the Greek word charagma. The word charagma is translated literally as: an imprinted mark character inscription. The word, as used in antiquity, most often referred to the stamping of coins and branding of slaves. And was used to show ownership of the imprinted object. Hence Caesar's portrait on a coin indicated that it belonged to Caesar and the brand on a slave indicated whose property the slave was.
Many have erroneously interpreted verse 16 in the KJV as something that will be placed in the body, that is, under the skin or within the body. The KJV reads, . . . to receive a mark in the right hand . . . while the NIV reads, . . . to receive a mark on his right hand . . . What is the correct interpretation? If read literally then both and neither. The use of it in both the KJV and the NIV may contextually be seen in the light of an imprint. An imprint is a print achieved by applying pressure to transfer an image to a surface. Hence the use of in (such as embossing) or on (such as printing or branding) would imply the same meaning using the word charagma.
We can thus say that the 'mark of the beast,' according to the Greek word charagma, means to literally imprint a character in the surface of the skin of a person's right hand or forehead.
So what significance do the 'chips' have in last days prophecy? They are conditioning agents. That is, their convenience, like credit cards, conditions people to accept a world system. This conditioning breaks down individual freedoms by subjecting the people to dependence on the government. They are willing to exchange their freedom for convenience and ease of feeding their desires. To belong to the world system gives the masses with no hope, a false hope and security, compliments of world government. For every convenience that you accept from the system it traps you into deeper dependency on that system. The appeal of the mark to the antichrist is not in tracking people but in controlling people through their purchasing power. By taking his mark as a sign of allegiance you will be allowed to participate in his system. That is, you will be able to buy and sell, you will be able to eat and you will be marked as his. This is just as our brothers and sisters in Christ of the first several centuries were tested. If they denounced Christ and took vows to the emperor then they were issued a certificate that enabled them to function as a citizen in the Roman system, but if they didn't then they could lose their jobs, their homes and in some cases their lives.
The government, now or future, has no need to track us. Government power comes solely from those who concede to being governed. The more power over us we give them the more power they have over us. To get us to give them power is relatively easy. Find out what appeals to human desire and then gain control of it. Once you control it then you give it out incrementally. A little at a time doesn't alarm anyone, in fact people justify taking the bait to themselves as something they can control. Soon people are hooked and it becomes another indispensable necessity of life. If you doubt this then ask yourself this question: Do most people control their credit cards or do most credit cards control their people?
We know the government is willing to spend almost anything to get what it wants, but even if the earth's population were reduced by two-thirds to around two billion people will governments pay the $200 each that it would cost for every person? Even if these costs could be brought down due to the shear volume of people it would be an unimaginable load on any government to cope with monitoring such a complex system, even with super computers. But if you remove monitoring people as the motive and replace it with control then the scenario becomes much simpler and manageable. War will be ongoing to the end and ever more terrible. People will be in great fear. Naturally government will step in to protect those who show their allegiance.
I think
we as Christians must calm our imaginations somewhat. Some
things will certainly seem surreal in the last days but many things
prophesied about will appear to be almost everyday common to people
with false hopes.
I urge you to renounce your credit cards, divest yourselves from the stock market, and take a good long hard look at your life and determine what you control and what controls you. If you can't do that now will you realistically do it later?
"If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. Revelation 14:9-12