“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.”
Revelation 13:16-17
In my January 26, 2017 post (The Mark of the Beast), I tried to explain the significance of a very poignant prophecy regarding one of the major signs of the Last Days. If I may, let me give you a quick reminder of how the mark of the beast will highlight yet another fulfillment of a 2,000 year prophecy given to John in the Book of Revelation. In the Last Days the false prophet, in anticipation of the coming one-world rule of the anti-christ, will impose an economic requirement on ALL people of the world. They MUST take the mark of the beast in order to be able to buy or sell anything. By taking the mark however, unbelievers will willingly and knowingly also be worshipping the anti-christ and his one world rule! In that post I attempted to show the reasons why the concept of such a mark could be sold to all as being a very good idea. Of course, I was being extremely facetious and said directly DO NOT EVER TAKE THE MARK OF THE BEAST!
So, why now write about the distinct possibility the iPhone could in fact be prophetic fulfillment or be very similar to the mark of the beast? A couple of recent occurrences made me realize how the iPhone could, in fact, be a very possible complete fulfillment of this major prophecy and its ultimate warning to all.
Several weeks ago while on vacation, I was in a train station waiting for the train to take me into the downtown area. I noticed there were many others also waiting for the train to arrive. While waiting I realized EVERY single person there was on their phone! What they were doing is irrelevant! The fact that a technological piece of equipment introduced in 2007 was controlling the ENTIRE attention of 20-25 people thousands of miles away from my home to me was absolutely shocking. Not surprisingly, what I also noticed was they were either holding their iPhone in their hand or had it pressed against their head while they talked (“…in their right hand, or in their foreheads..”). This caught my attention immediately and reminded me of the prophecy of Revelation 13.
Today, we (according to a recent poll 80% of all Americans) can do almost anything on our phone, from reading emails to talking to our friends; apply for loans; pay for goods and services; board planes; watch live news events and weather reports; listen to music; etc. I guess the question begs to be asked, what can we NOT do today on our iPhone? Or, perhaps better yet, in 6 months or a year, what will we NOT be able to do with it?
A few other examples of the omniscience of the Internet and its availability on the iPhone? The other day my wife was in a store and stopped to look at purses. She did not buy one nor even talk to a salesperson about it but THE VERY NEXT DAY she had an email from that store with that purse on sale! Coincidence? I doubt it. We are under constant surveillance by a myriad of electronic devices and sources. The Chinese have just unveiled a new form of biometric artificial intelligence that can recognize the facial identities of over 2 billion people in the world based solely on their facial features, even when they are wearing a disguise. One of my daughters just bought a new iPhone X which allows her to log on without putting in a password or using a fingerprint. It goes by facial recognition. In addition, the iPhone will track your movement EVEN when it is in airplane mode! Fox News recently did a segment and showed one of their reporters walking around Washington D.C. with two phones, one turned on and one turned off. Both phones accurately showed the path he travelled around the city. Would it surprise you if a global leader enforced a system where you could ONLY buy or sell using an iPhone designated exclusively to you and unusable to anyone else?
That’s not all! Did you know banks in the U.S. are beginning to reduce by the hundreds the number of branches dealing in cash transactions? Why use cash when you can pay for groceries or pay Uber drivers instantly with PayPal on your iPhone? Amazing to me still is how many stores today even have a problem accepting payment by check. More and more stores, services and utilities are expecting automatic payments on line via your phone. Again, there is almost never a problem today using your phone anywhere to pay.
With all due transparency, yes I do have an iPhone and use it extensively. I do not pay bills with it but I do watch my personal financial transactions through my bank, purchases on American Express (OK, my wife’s purchases), etc. I may feel somewhat misguided, because I do have LifeLock which monitors my accounts for possible abuse but I still have had issues. Identity theft continues but WILL BE fixed in the very near future…
In addition, I was very shocked the other day when I was informed companies like Facebook, Yahoo and Google were starting to restrict the information received by their members through newly imposed algorithms and “political correctness” policies. Since beginning this blog last year, I have been amazed at how many of my friends and family with whom I am connected with on Facebook DO NOT receive or see my posts unless they have already subscribed and receive the email post directly from me. I always assumed if I put it on Facebook or LinkedIn ALL my contacts would see it. They don’t! This even applies to my closest family members!
I will give you another example of how political correctness is high-jacking our comments made on social media. If your iPhone is connected to the internet and notifications are turned on for your calendar, Apple will place holidays automatically in your calendar to remind you of upcoming events. For example try this. Go to January 1, 2018 and New Years Day is shown. Go to July 4, 2018 and what do you see? Independence Day. Now, go to April 1, 2018 and what is shown? April Fool’s Day. But, what is NOT shown for April 1, 2018? Easter!!! Yes, Christmas is still shown on December 25, 2018 but that is also a day celebrated with gift giving by many with no religious affiliation. Some Jewish holidays have also been removed (Passover in 2018 is on also April 1st and is not listed). Apparently, these companies do not want to offend non-Christians without worrying whether they will offend Christians and Jews. Check out the attached link to get more details on this abuse http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/02/16/apples-ical-calendar-mysteriously-deletes-easter.html
Hopefully, your take away from this post is not necessarily whether the iPhone will be the actual mark of the beast but rather the technology, which has NEVER BEFORE existed but which was prophesied 2,000 years ago to exist in the Last Days, is now readily available for the entire world to be eventually subjugated to receiving a mark without which they will NOT be able to buy or sell. Yes, the idea of an implanted chip is still a distinct possibility but with billions of iPhones already available; well accepted in the whole world; and, access to the internet controlled by others who will ultimately support the anti-christ, the iPhone may be the perfect solution! I must remind you once again, if you are here on earth and we get to the point where ONLY by having the mark (whatever form that may take) is required to buy or sell, DO NOT FALL FOR THIS DECEPTION! As the Bible says clearly in Revelation 14:9-11:
“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead , or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. “
Knowing ahead of time the punishment which awaits those who disobey God makes it so much easier to instead simply NOT ACCEPT THE MARK when we are told by the anti-christ we MUST take it or not be able to buy or sell anything. I will always follow God’s commandment and take great comfort in knowing I am doing what He told me to do. Hopefully, you will pass this message along to warn others and, as we are ALL instructed to do and that is to “…therefore, comfort one another with these words.”
May God Bless You!
Maybe the number of his name is your personal number????
???
So does that mean you are getting rid of your iPhone? I have considered getting rid of mine
Only if I am told that I won’t be able to buy or sell without it. Actually, my intent was to say the technology now exists to do everything via an iPhone, chip, etc. This has never existed in history but was fulfilled in 2007 with the introduction of the iPhone. May God Bless you!!
Wow! Thank you! I was beginning to think I was the only one who was thinking this way. I feel God has opened my eyes to this also. I am now faced with the dilemma of giving my 14 year old a phone that i desperately don’t want him to have and become so reliant on like most people are and not be able to function without it when the time comes.
Sweden is implanting rfid chips in peoples hands now. India has Aadhaar, an identification system that every citizen must have in order to conduct commerce. We have the watches now. It keeps getting more and more intimate. It will be rfid chips, and people will just unknowingly accept it in the name of convenience.
There’s a reason why I googled if the cell phone is part of the mark of the beast, with whats going on right now, the whole world has been shooken and come to a stand still in the name of Corona virus, and my new cellphone has the biometric system, facial recognition, then look up what that is! It’s associated with the id2020 and the microchip, I am wondering if this is cellphone is the dragon that revelation 14 talks about, and tge digital reader, the chip is the mark of the beast
Interesting Marg! My post tomorrow is all about ID2020. It will be published at 7am CDT. Would love to hear your thoughts. God Bless you!
The sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is waw, in English it’s equivalence is w. It has a numerical value of 6. WWW is literally 666. After the World Wide Web was invented in 1989 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the world’s first smartphone with the web enabled on it came out seven years later in 1996. Mobile commerce began in 1997. Now while we have not seen a restriction on all persons to buy and sell only on their smartphones yet, Facebook is coming out with a global digital currency called Libra this very year. I do not think we are very far away.
It is most important to redefine, or actually, define what to worship actually means. Modern thinking has peoples understanding of this concept all wrong.
Showing allegiance to or a feeling or expression of adoration and reverence for something, i.e. precious metals and stones, or a ruler of men or any object that we place above GOD in importance.
To worship a smart phone or the internet (www) or technology is exactly what the vast majority or earths population is already doing .
The transition to by and sell dependence is only a by product of the technology everyone is already participating in the worship of.
You forgot to mention the logo of the Apple on the back of the iphones. Speculative but “the forbidden fruit” could be his mark.
A “mark” in Strong’s Concordance is cháragma, a sculpture, etching, or engraving. I believe our phones are the marks, not some logo or even a microchip. 0.0000013% of the world’s population has a microchip implant, as opposed to 80% of Americans having a smartphone. Do not be afraid. Revelation 13:16 prophesies all men, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads. It is coming true. 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. In Massachusetts it is illegal to refuse cash. But many places, including Israel and Italy, they placed limitations on cash up to a certain amount. The beast is not the antichrist. Dan. 7:23 says beasts are kingdoms. There are two beasts in Revelation. The first one, the one from the sea, has an 8th head (king) described in Rev. 17. This is the antichrist, the 8th king, the one that comes up from the abyss. The 2nd beast, the one from the earth, will make an image (statue, wax figure, AI robot) in honor of the beast from the sea. Interesting how there were 7 Italian kings from the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 to the end of WWII in 1946. Victor Emmanuel III was fatally wounded by an Austrian grenade but healed. The last king reigned only 34 days (Rev. 17:10). Likewise, there were 10 German heads of state from 1806 to 1945, the last being Adolf Hitler. And his Holocaust lasted 42 months (Rev. 13:5), from 1941 to 1945.
It’s been interesting lately seeing people being refused entry to different stores and services if they don’t have the Covid app.. obviously it’s a special case, but it serves as a reminder that we truly have entered a digital era that is progressing very quickly.. I personally don’t feel comfortable with all this smart tech.. it just a reminder to me that man thinks he can do it better than God, but really it’s just creating a society of zombies pretty much.. I’ve been making steps to get away from tech myself, and get back to living a life more in line with how God intended us to live.