Is the RFID Chip the Mark of the Beast?

[Omena]

Just because the antichrist is going to use a technology for evil, doesn't mean the technology itself is evil. And don't forget, IF RFID is the technology used for the MOTB, it will most likely be connected to the antichrist thru the internet. If you're going to remove yourself from MOTB technology, you probably need to remove yourself from the internet too!

I agree that the technology itself is not evil, but rather how it is used. I feel the same way about money (i.e. physical cash) as well. In itself, it's only little bits of paper and metal, but it can be used for very evil deeds and it also has an incredible power to pull people away from God.

Personally, I will not take the MOTB but I'm going to keep on using the potential technology until they tell me I have to put it on/in my right hand or forehead.

This is basically what my question was aimed at. Is it really just a matter of saying "I won't take it" when the time comes, or will it be a lot more challenging than we think? In a way, it's almost like saying "I'll agree to be tortured and killed when the time comes". I hope and pray that I'll be willing to refuse the mark on that day, but I know my flesh is weak. That's why I'm thinking about the possibility of "training" our flesh to learn to live without a lot of the comforts that the MOTB will entitle us to (i.e. buying things as basic as food and shelter). I'm not talking about immediately selling your house and refusing to buy bread, but if we spent a few years learning to live on less, and even got used to the discomforts of not being allowed to travel or buy anything that requires a credit card, we would probably be able to refuse the mark with more ease than someone who chose to wait until the last minute.

I think this is really where CG's comments come into play, regarding what Jesus said about living through faith in God to supply our needs, rather than money.

 

[Christian Seasteader]

Is it really just a matter of saying "I won't take it" when the time comes, or will it be a lot more challenging than we think?

I think it'll be a hugely challenging decision. And I think a lot of Christians will take the Mark. And I think some Christians won't even know what they're accepting.

 

[RDKirk]

And I think some Christians won't even know what they're accepting.

I absolutely disagree with that part. If we define "Christian" as "having the Holy Spirit abiding within," I totally disagree that a Christian will not know what he's accepting. Jesus said that the elect will not be deceived.

 

[Mazzaroth]

I absolutely disagree with that part. If we define "Christian" as "having the Holy Spirit abiding within," I totally disagree that a Christian will not know what he's accepting. Jesus said that the elect will not be deceived.

Huh!?

Matthew 24:24 (KJV)
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

 

[like eagleswings]

I absolutely disagree with that part. If we define "Christian" as "having the Holy Spirit abiding within," I totally disagree that a Christian will not know what he's accepting. Jesus said that the elect will not be deceived.

The true church,will be well gone by the time the beast turns up.

 

[RDKirk]

Huh!?

Matthew 24:24 (KJV)
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

You understand the grammatical subjunctive tense "if it were possible" means "it is not possible."

 

[RDKirk]

The true church,will be well gone by the time the beast turns up.

That depends on one's millennialist bent, if one has a millennialist bent at all. I'd prefer a pre-millennial rapture myself...with a strong possibility that I'd be dead by then anyway.

 

[Omena]

It's true that the verse does say: If it were possible, meaning it won't be possible.

But this begs the question, who are the very elect? Can we just say that all those who have been born again are the very elect? This muddles the point even further, because people have different interpretations of what it means to be born again. How many people out there claim to have the Holy Spirit because they fall down on the floor or speak in tongues at church every Sunday. Is that really what the Holy Spirit is all about?

I don't think any of us can be 100% sure that we will not take the MOTB, because we've never been faced with that sort of a decision in all our lives. To me, the very elect will be those who are willing to die for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven and a better world. I certainly hope I'm among them when the time comes. I think the teachings from Jesus about this subject (making money/working for God) are fantastic for preparing us to avoid deception. If we accustom ourselves to NOT relying on money to survive, the mark of the beast (and any other further advancements in banking tech) will, for the most part, be pointless to us.

 

[candle glow]

Great post, Omena. Who are the elect? People who follow Jesus and do what he says.

I've said several times now that there is a VERY strong connection between the spiritual lesson behind the Mark of the beast (i.e. buying and selling) and what Jesus said about how we cannot serve God and money at the same time without cheating one or the other.

The elect will hear that kind of message and act on it. The Revelation itself says that the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. Without the teachings of Jesus, there is no point in even trying to understand prophecy. He is the one who makes it all make sense.

People who believe they cannot live without forcing others to pay them for their help will almost certainly take the Mark, because that is exactly what the Mark represents.

They've spent their whole lives listening to the values of the world, so they will not know how to survive by the values of Heaven, where people work for love and God takes care of them, like Jesus promised when he told us to consider the birds and flowers.

It's not that these Christians will be totally ignorant, but it will be that they choose to ignore their conscience. Fear will get the better of them and they will convince themselves that the Mark is not really the Mark; it's just another way to buy and sell.

Only people who follow Jesus will see the deception, because it is the practical application of his teachings which exposes the lies of the monetary system.

We were not created to serve in a system where people only help each other because they are fearful that they will die without forcing others to pay them for their help. That value is of the world, a foreign concept to Christians who have been born again into a completely new system where people work for love.

To these people, it makes no difference what physical shape the Mark takes, they will see it for the counterfeit that it is, while the rest of the world will see nothing more than a new way to buy and sell.

 

[Alithis]

The true church,will be well gone by the time the beast turns up.

that's a very big assumption
based on a relatively young doctrine

 

[Hinton90]

I've read through every response, and have come to the conclusion that really none of us know whether or not it'll be the mark of the beast, but the mark of the beast will be in the form of money. The RFID contains everything about you, including money, so it's likely.

So, I have 3 questions for all of you.

1) Would God really allow us to take the RFID chip without letting us know it's the mark? It was going to be released last month, but it was postponed, I believe until 2015, maybe next year. I definitely think it's a possibility that it will be the mark, but what if it comes out and there's nothing big that tells us it's the mark, such as the AC showing himself?

2) In today's society, to get land in a 1st world country, like the USA, you have to pay for it, therefore it's nearly impossible to live in a communal society. While I'm 100% certain we can live without money, the government is certainly making it VERY difficult. If the RFID were the mark, how would YOU survive?

3) We're always told that Jesus wasn't religious. Jesus is God, therefore God is not religious. I'm not saying religion is a bad thing here, but I'm getting to the point... God loves everyone, not just his followers, he wants them to do good and help others, so what about people that don't know about the mark's definition as told in The Bible, but are decent human beings in nature? They won't have a clue! Would God only let us know through written word that not everyone has access to, that this is the mark?

Maybe we will all get a sign from the heavens telling us it is the mark, I HOPE that we do.

One thing is certain, there are going to be a lot of confused people over the next decade or two.

 

[Christian Seasteader]

The true church,will be well gone by the time the beast turns up.

that's a very big assumption
based on a relatively young doctrine

True that.

 

[like eagleswings]

that's a very big assumption
based on a relatively young doctrine

well thats what i believe, but if the beast comes, i be ready. anyway,i got me sas survival handbook

 

[candle glow]

Excellent questions, hinton. Thanks for asking them.

1) Would God really allow us to take the RFID chip without letting us know it's the mark?

The physical shape of the mark shouldn't really matter so much as the spiritual lessons behind the Mark. This relates to God looking on the inside and not on the outside.

The Mark represents a system of loyalty. We will show our loyalty by taking the mark or rejecting the mark. The Mark's purpose is for buying and selling. Jesus taught that we cannot work for God and money at the same time without cheating on one or the other.

In the kingdom of Heaven, we share with each other just because we want to. In the worldly system, we only share with each other if someone pays us to. They are two different systems.

People who reject the mark will show their loyalty to the values of Heaven. People who take the mark will show their loyalty to the values of this world. That is how we will recognize the Mark. This is why it is so important to take Jesus' teachings seriously.

therefore it's nearly impossible to live in a communal society.

We don't need to buy land in order to live communally. The church is the body of believers , not the land or the buildings where they live. The hardest part of living communally is finding people who are willing to do it in obedience to what Jesus said.

what about people that don't know about the mark's definition as told in The Bible, but are decent human beings in nature? They won't have a clue! Would God only let us know through written word that not everyone has access to, that this is the mark?

This is why Jesus told us to go into all the world to preach the gospel. It's also why he told us to be born again. There is a witness which can come through our words, but there is also an extremely powerful witness which can come through our actions.

If Christians started taking Jesus teachings' seriously, like living by faith and working for love rather than for money, it would create a huge witness to the world around us.

People need more than churchy sermons and admonishments to read the Bible. They need to see people genuinely living the way Jesus and his followers lived.

The Mark deals with issues of greed and loyalty, but that message is hardly being preached anywhere.

 

[Alithis]

what candleglow said.

 

[candle glow]

well thats what i believe, but if the beast comes, i be ready. anyway,i got me sas survival handbook

HA! SAS!!! That's where I first learned to tie knots! There is also a bit of poetry there too,in the traps section (roughly paraphrased):

Strangle, dangle, mangle, tangle,
some animals are easier to strangle, some to dangle, some to mangle and some to tangle;
strangle, dangle, mangle, tangle.

^.^

 

[Omena]

3) We're always told that Jesus wasn't religious. Jesus is God, therefore God is not religious. I'm not saying religion is a bad thing here, but I'm getting to the point... God loves everyone, not just his followers, he wants them to do good and help others, so what about people that don't know about the mark's definition as told in The Bible, but are decent human beings in nature? They won't have a clue! Would God only let us know through written word that not everyone has access to, that this is the mark?

I personally believe that anyone can hear from God, and they don't need to have converted to Christianity in order do it. I back up what Candle said, in that God knows all of our hearts. He knows which of us are on the right path spiritually, and IMO, it's more important to be on that path than on a theological path. It's true that there will be some people who genuinely did not know about the MOTB, but I think if their heart is in the right place, and they just want to do what is right in life, God will speak to them.

Has anyone ever seen the movie "The Stand"?

 

[like eagleswings]

HA! SAS!!! That's where I first learned to tie knots! There is also a bit of poetry there too,in the traps section (roughly paraphrased):

Strangle, dangle, mangle, tangle,
some animals are easier to strangle, some to dangle, some to mangle and some to tangle;
strangle, dangle, mangle, tangle.

^.^

thanks bro, yep its in the handbook

mangle,strangle,dangle,tangle. deadfalls mangle. snares strangle.saplings can take the prey in air-it dangles. a net tangles.

a book by John "lofty" Wiseman

 

[Hinton90]

Has anyone ever seen the movie "The Stand"?

I looked at the reviews for it and to be totally honest I'd be terrified to see it.

I already know martial law will go into place, I don't want to know details, and I know stephen king is smart enough to deliver very specific and gruesome details.

:shudder:

 

[Omena]

It's a bit of a scary movie, but it was essentially inspired by the book of Revelation. However, there are some "hollywood" type scenes (romance and lust etc.) Overall the message is a good one and relates very much to the concept of people from all walks of faith being able to hear from God, and being given the choice to choose the side of God, or the side of the devil.

One of the great lessons in the movie is that we can't form any kind of government against the anti-Christ. I don't believe that's how God intended it, because he prepares us to be persecuted and killed for our faith. It's not easy, but if we embrace that, it becomes the most powerful testimony and example in the world (much like Jesus dying on the cross).

Not taking the mark of beast will almost automatically place us into the camp of persecution, although the Revelation does talk about a "wilderness" which the believers will flee into for protection of some sort. I've often thought this wilderness could be literal (i.e. the woods or mountains etc.) or perhaps it could simply be a metaphor for a place to hide in any location (i.e. even in the middle of a city). What do others think?