Revelation 13:16 “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and 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.”
Background
The book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ is the last book in the Christian bible and contains prophetic visions of events that will unfold in the end times. The book was written by John, one of Jesus’ original twelve disciples, and according to many scholars and historians, believed to be the only disciple, besides Judas who committed suicide, to not be martyred. He was however, according to early Christian writers, poisoned and boiled in oil, neither of which harmed him. John was banished to the Island of Patmos by Emperor Domition for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While he was in exile on the island of Patmos, he received visions of past and future events.
The future events John saw in his visions were apocalyptic events that describe the end of humanity as we know it, the destruction of the earth, and a creation of a new heaven and new earth. The Beast mentioned in Revelation 13 is also known as the antichrist, a charismatic leader who will convince most of humanity that he is some sort of savior that will bring peace to the earth. He will do this by first brokering a peace deal with Israel that will allow them to rebuild the Temple of God in Jerusalem for worship.
After the antichrist convinces most of humanity to follow him, he will begin a reign of terror the likes of which has never been seen in history. He will force all of humanity to receive a mark on their right hands or foreheads without which no one will be able to buy or sell anything.
Events of the 20th Century
Starting in the early 20th century a series of events started to unfold which made the end time apocalyptic events mentioned in the bible more plausible.
- The invention of automobiles, airplanes and computers:
The book of Daniel, another prophetic book in the bible states that in the end times many shall run to and fro and knowledge will be increased.
Daniel 12:4 (KJV) But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. - The invention of the atomic bomb:
For the first time in history, mankind had the ability to annihilate most of humanity,
Revelation 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
- The formation of the Nation of Israel 1948:
This in itself was a fulfillment of prophecy:
Deuteronomy 30:3 “Then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where He scattered you.”
Ezekiel 34:13 “I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.”
The peace deal the Antichrist brokers with Israel could only happen after 1948, since before that time there was no nation of Israel to broker a peace deal with. - Television:
The invention of television along with the world-wide network of satellites made it possible to broadcast images around the world, thus making it possible for one leader, i.e. the antichrist, to reach the entire population of the world.
- The internet:
Invented in the 1960’s by the U.S. Department of Defense and was originally called ARPANET or the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. The internet allowed, for the first time, worldwide communications at near instantaneous speeds.
- UPC codes:
In 1974 the first product was purchased using a Universal Product Code (UPC), otherwise known as a bar code. For the first time in history, a product, or presumably a human, could be branded with a universal identification code and tracked using computer systems.
- Personal Computer:
The first personal computer the Altair, was marketed in 1974 but was used mostly by geeks and hobbyists. Personal computers started to gain popularity in the 1980’s and for the first time, computers were widely available to the general public.
- World Wide Web:
Invented in 1989, the World Wide Web is a combination of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) which is the language that web pages are based on even to this day, a Uniform Resource Locator (URI) which is kind of an address for a website otherwise known as a URL, and a protocol called Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) which allows for the retrieval of linked resources across the internet. The World Wide Web, which sits on top of the Internet, brought the internet down from the government and academic level to the individual PC user level, allowing ordinary citizens to communicate with people all over the world vastly increasing the amount of information the ordinary human had access to.
- E-Commerce and electronic transactions:
In the 1990s, along with the advent of Personal Computers and the World Wide Web, came the dawn of E-Commerce and electronic transactions. Credit cards had been around for quite some time, but the use of them was still relatively rare up until this point. If you wanted to use a credit card at a department store the cashier would have to pull out a large piece of equipment from under the counter, load a three page carbon form into it, and imprint your credit card information onto the carbon form using a large lever. These carbon copies would be collected and mailed to the credit card companies for payment. This is why credit cards have raised numbers and letters, although those are now being phased out. Using a credit card in a store was somewhat frowned upon since this was a time consuming process that held up the line at the checkout.
- Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) had its roots in the early 20th century with the invention of Radar, but didn’t start gaining commercial attention until the 1960’s when several companies Sensormatic, Checkpoint and Knogo developed versions of them for theft protection. The miniaturization and technological advancement of RFID continued into the 1990’s and reached a point where the RFID tags were small enough that they could be implanted into animals and humans. In 1998, British scientist Kevin Warwick became the first human to be implanted with an RFID chip. His implant was used to open doors, switch on lights, and cause verbal output within a building.
21st Century
The 21st Century has brought us even more advancements:
- Near Field Communications (NFC):
NFC is a set of communication protocols for communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1?1/2 in) or less. NFC devices are used in contactless payment systems, replacing credit cards, e.g. Apple Pay. - Implantable RFID chips:
Implantable RFID chips are now commercially available through a company called dagerousthings.com (yes that’s their real name). These RFID chips are enclosed in a small glass cylinder which can be implanted into the hand. These are some of the capabilities of the chip:- Information Storage
- Access control
- NFC Applications
- Launch URL’s
- Deep Fakes:
How will the antichrist be able to deceive so many People? Jesus says in Matthew 24:24 “For there shall arise false christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Deep fakes are synthetic media created by artificial intelligence which can take an existing image or video and replace it with someone else’s likeness. They are very difficult to detect, even by professionals. - Nanonetworks:
Nanonetworks are networks of nanorobots which are on a scale ranging in size from 0.1 to 10 micrometres and constructed of nanoscale or molecular components. Our bodies actually already contain nanorobots, in the form of walking proteins. The nanorobots that scientists are working on would presumably be designed for benevolent purposes like delivering drugs to a specific area of the body. However, like every other technological advancement mankind has made, nanorobotics will eventually be used for nefarious purposes. In theory, it may someday be possible to build a nanonetwork that can take over part of the body’s central nervous system. This could be used to force the brain into being more susceptible to suggestion, i.e. they could possibly be used to make someone more susceptible to believing deep fakes. This may seem farfetched, but keep in mind that truth serum drugs perform essentially the same function and they have been around for many years.
The Mark of the Beast
“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads”
This brings us to the main topic. First of all, I would like to state that it is not universally agreed upon by scholars that the mark of the beast is a physical imprint or technological device. The right hand in the bible is symbolic of ruler-ship, authority, sovereignty and strength. So receiving the mark of the beast on one’s right hand, could simply mean that all authority is surrendered to the antichrist. Or receiving the mark on the forehead may be a metaphor for one’s will being subjugated to the antichrist.
I want to point out however, that Revelation 13:17 states that the purpose of the mark is to control commerce. This is not some ethereal subject, or abstract metaphor. It will take advanced technology in order for a single leader to control all commerce on a large scale. Technology that until recent times, did not exist. Let’s take the right hand for instance, why does the scripture mention a hand or a forehead. This is taken from dangerousthings.com own website regarding the hand: “Because chip implants are small, the reader must be extremely close. This is why chips are typically placed in the hand so you can easily position your chip implant close to the reader.”
Why does the scripture mention the right hand? At this point there is no technological requirement RFID chips to be on one hand or the other. However, keep this in mind, the right side of a person’s body is controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain. The left hemisphere of the brain performs all logical, scientific and mathematical functions. So in theory, if there is some sort of brain/computer interface built in the future, it may be focused on that part of the brain and devices implanted on a person’s body may require nerves that are attached the left brain hemisphere.
Why does the scripture mention the forehead? Well, this is pure speculation on my part, but not everyone has hands so the forehead would be the next easily accessible body part to scan without being personally invasive. We already have certain businesses and institutions scanning our foreheads for temperature, so scanning our foreheads with a new type of electronic device will not seem extraordinary.
In conclusion, all the science and technology is lining up for the prophetic end time events foretold in bible to occur. However, I don’t think true bible believing Christians have to worry about being duped into receiving the mark of the beast inadvertently. I realize some Christians are concerned about the COVID-19 vaccination being somehow related to the Mark of the Beast. While it’s true that nanotechnology is currently being developed that could fit inside a syringe and injected into the body, I don’t believe the technology is quite there yet for anyone to be able to use it for nefarious purposes. Not that it won’t be possible in the future. But, I believe the choice will be clear between worshipping the antichrist and following the true Christ as long as you know your scriptures. Jesus said “those who have an ear, let them hear”. If you attend a church that discourages you from bringing your bible to service, then you should prayerfully consider finding another church.