Another 'Mark of the Beast' Alert
Today's Wall Street Journal (subscription req) has an interesting article on an emerging technology used by major companies like WalMart to track inventory supplies. RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) has been around for a while but is being used to keep up with everything from lipstick to wrenches.
Now it seem some religious fundamentalists fear this technology is a sign of the biblical "mark of the Beast", the mark that Revelation 13 says will be "be 'in' not 'on' the right hand, and 'in' not 'on' the forehead."
Here is a quote from the article:
Authors Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntire, whose "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move With RFID" has become the bible of the wary, consider the technology an invasion of privacy. While free-thinking libertarians have worried about such threats for years, "Spychips" reveals a deeper fear: Chip implants could be part of the satanic identification scheme, foretold in the Book of Revelation, by which "no man might buy or sell, save that he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of the beast, which is 666." Those without the mark, which itself signals obeisance to the evil one, will find themselves excluded from the chain of commerce, unable to purchase even food.
The idea that technology portend this infamous "mark" has been around for quite some time. When credit cards came out some people saw it as the sign. Others saw some nefarious in the bar code system. For the record, this writer does not believe RFID is the "Mark of the Beast".
However, when this event does happen it will be something totally unexpected. For a discussion of this subject be sure to look at our booklet on Revelation at this site.
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Darris McNeely
Darris McNeely works at the United Church of God home office in Cincinnati, Ohio. He and his wife, Debbie, have served in the ministry for more than 43 years. They have two sons, who are both married, and four grandchildren. Darris is the Associate Media Producer for the Church. He also is a resident faculty member at the Ambassador Bible Center teaching Acts, Fundamentals of Belief and World News and Prophecy. He enjoys hunting, travel and reading and spending time with his grandchildren.
