Make of the Beast
https://www.msnbc.com/news/997952.asp tells of a chip that can be implanted under the skin to replace your Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) card. Could this be the mark of the beast? Before you just say no, consider a few things.
1. I don't think it will be obvious at first that this "mark" is the one spoken of in the Bible. I think many may be fooled into taking it without really knowing what it is they are doing.
2. I can see a time coming when merchants will refuse any other means of exchange since this method is pretty good at ensuring that the person with the "atm" is in fact the proper owner and not stolen. So, they could say it is a security measure.
Now, I believe the bible teaches at some point you cannot do any buying or selling without the mark, so it why couldn't it be something like this?
What do you think?
There is a thread in the LDS board about this, but since it is limited to LDS members I will contribute some thoughts here as I am sure some other Christian members will also feel obliged based on their religious upbringing.
First of all the chip goes in line with secular belief that referrences to hand and mind is based on being able to buy, or power to purchase. Basically it is hare to prove that theory since we are still talking about future events, but I can give my personal opinion.
First of all, the mark of the Beast is 666, which means less than 777, the probable number to represent goodness or even Godhood. The number 6 in ancient times represented less than 7 and thus was considered imperfect. We know that imperfection is not godly and thus we can say that 6 is in fact a representation of evil. If the mark of the beast is 666 then that is triple evil or utter evil. Okay I am ranting... with this number we can determine that the symbols of hand of mind show that men will be engrossed to think (mind) evil and do (hand) evil in a gross degree. Evil in these days happen on large scales. Lastly, I will say that there are products with the actual mark of 666, but that is another thread somewhere here.
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what is the relationship you see between the mark of the beast and this chip that they wanna use to replace the ATM cards? |
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I am probably being foolish, but I really do worry about it. |
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I can see a time in the future where merchants would refuse any other form of payment but this implant because they consider it most secure in ensuring it isn't stolen money or cards, etc. See, I don't think the mark is going to be so obvious as a tatoo of the numbers 666 because I believe there will be some deceit involved. |
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So teneheff, in my opinion you are not at all being foolish to worry. |
To the best of my knowledge, we don't know something of the mark. Coming from a Christian backround, and than moving on to Islam, I tend to see some things that while different, have something very basic things in common (at least in some aspects) This is one of them.
We do believe that the ant-Christ (we call him the Dajaal) will have a mark that will be plain as day, and yet the number of his followers will be overwhelming. For this reason, I don't believe that the mark would say 666 or something so obvious, as he will be able to decieve so many people, so I think it will be something much more subtle than that. Whos going to follow some guy that has 666 written on his forhead?
Based on what I said before, I think it is entirely possible that this will be the way the Dajaal will decieve so many.
We also believe that there are many humans who people precieve to be rightous individuals, but they will be in fact, some of the Dajaals greatest supporters. It makes sense to me, as he is the one who decieves.