*Revelation 13:16And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark — the name of the beast or the number of its name.
*Not sure if that means 3 possibilities, as in a mark or a number or the number of his name, or 2 possibilities, as in it means the mark IS the number of his name or his name.
Hi Kenny. Thanks for your post. I found it friendly and approachable, which is a great way to start a discussion.
I'm also unsure as to exactly how these three references will fit together, but I'm quite certain that even if there is a difference between them, there is a strong overlap despite the difference. I think the answer probably lies in the spiritual application of the Mark. The Mark itself will manifest itself physically, but even if it's a microchip implant, there's nothing sinful about microchips in themselves. There is a deeper lesson behind the Mark than just the physical, and I believe that is where the references to the "number of his name" and the " name of the Beast" come in. In other words, taking the Mark shows loyalty to more than just the economic system.
Also, the people that have no problem with a chip in their "arm" are technically correct, that isn't a problem. That may or may not mean they won't have problem with a chip in their "right hand or forehead"
Relying on technicalities could become pretty dangerous when it comes to the warning against the Mark. I doubt God will care that someone took the Mark on the shoulder instead of the hand, because that is the difference between the Law and the Spirit. There is no law which can account for every single circumstance of every single individual. In that sense, the prophecy is not meant to be a law, so that someone could take the mark on their arm (or even their wrist) and say, "Technically it's not on my hand so I'm safe". The spirit of the prophecy is one of loyalty.
And that is if it is a chip at all. Remember, it says a mark? a number, a name, and though a chip will leave a mark, it in itself is neither of those things.
Again, thanks for being so approachable on this topic. I think the key here is an ability to accurately balance the "physical" and the "spiritual" as concepts which dynamically affect one another. There are a few different ways to translate the word for "Mark", and one of the more prominent seems to be "agreement" which I think is perfectly consistent with what the prophecy describes.
The Mark represents a choice. Reject the Mark and depend on God for our daily bread, or reject God and depend on the Beasts' system for our daily bread. The Mark will manifest physically in the form of Buying/selling, but those who take it will be spiritually "marked" as loyal to the Beast. They don't even need to be consciously aware that their decision will mark them as such, in the same way that not all who say, "Lord Lord" are loyal to Jesus.
So, it is possible the mark could be a scar left by a chip/a mark that accompanies a chip, or it's only one of the 2 possibilities that I mentioned earlier, the name or the number, which would rule out chip completely. Either way, I think accepting/volunteering for a chip is a bad idea, even with the very real possibility/probability it is not the mark.
I think it's good to keep an open mind. No matter how sure we may be, there will always be an element of mystery to predictions about the future and our ability to understand them. There was a time when bar codes seemed a pretty reasonable candidate for the Mark. However, microchip implants have definitely surpassed bar codes as far as popularity and viability in the banking world. It may even be that the final product will be a combination of the two, a bar code on the microchip, (or a component of the microchip). I think part of the organizational infrastructure of the chipped-system will include a unique, 12 digit number for each chip, which could easily include a "666".
I'm not saying this is a fact but part of the delusion could be (and no offense intend to the video because IDK) getting us to think it's a chip, then slipping the the real mark in there that may be unnoticed by those who are convinced it's chip.
I think it's more likely that the delusion will be that the Mark will not be overtly religious or spiritually significant. It will have the appearance of just another advance in banking technology. This is why it's so important to relate the Mark of the Beast back to Jesus' teachings about our relationship to mammon (money and the things money can buy). People who are not prepared to seriously question their relationship to money will almost certainly end up taking the Mark for one reason or another, because the stated purpose of the Mark is to control buying/selling. What better way to manipulate people away from the values of Heaven (where we work for love) by controlling the means of daily bread for which most people in the world believe they cannot live without?
I look forward to your response.
