The New & Improved Mark of the Beast
by Todd Strandberg

The advancement of microchip technology has truly been amazing. In 1976, there were 6,500 transistors on a CPU microchip. Today, there are 233 million transistors on the latest Intel dual processor.

The same technological explosion that has made the internet possible has cleared the way for the mark of the beast to be deployed. Someday, the Antichrist will be able to control all financial transactions, right down to the point of sale. Everyone on earth will be required to receive a mark that will allow him or her to conduct business in the beast's financial system.

In the late 1990s, a company call Applied Digital Solutions came along and generated a great deal of excitement in the prophetic community. The firm had developed VeriChip, a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID,) designed to be injected into animals and humans. The rice-sized chip containes a 16-digit number that could be read with a hand-held scanning gun.

Despite all the fanfare, VeriChip never caught on with humans. Only about 200 people were ever implanted with the device. One of VeriChip's main selling points--tagging children for their safety--is not workable because only a few police districts have the chip reader.

I often wondered how many Christians bought stock in Applied Digital Solutions thinking it would be a guaranteed way to get rich. It's unlikely I'll ever find out. People generally don't like to talk about their investments that turned out to be big losers. If you take into consideration a 10-for-1 reserve split, the stock has gone from $100, to the current price of $1.75. Ouch!

I knew from the outset that VeriChip would never work in a voluntary environment. Most people are turned off by the idea of having an electronic device operating inside their body. Some folks probably fear it could read their thoughts or record their conversations.

The biggest problem was the needle that injected the chip under the skin. It was the size of a ten penny nail, which made insertion a lot more painful than the average flue shot. Revelation says that people will be required to have the mark in their right hand or forehead. I just can't envision people getting jabbed in the head with a giant needle.

"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 " (Rev. 13:16-17).

A start-up company called Somark Innovations has announced that it has developed a method of tagging that does not involve a chip implant. The product is a RFID ink, which acts like a type of electronic tattoo.

The process involves a geometric array of micro-needles, and a reusable applicator, with a one-time-use ink capsule. It takes 5 to 10 seconds to ID an animal, and there is no need to remove the fur. The ink remains in the dermal layer, and a reader can detect it from four feet away.

Unless some unforeseen problem pops-up with the marking chemicals, from here on out, I think RFID ink will have to regarded as the front runner for the mark of the Beast. Most people will except the concept of a tattoo. Unlike the VeriChip, there is now a practical way to ID someone’s forehead, and the permanent nature of this technology matches the Bible's prediction that once a person receives the mark, there is no going back.

Before we get to the final form of the mark of the Beast, there might be a few more technology improvements. With computers doubling in speed every couple of years, we are already beyond the requirements needed to establish a global, cashless community. At this stage, the only thing really missing is the political will to set the mark into motion.

SOURCE: Rapture Ready