Episode 10 The Mark We have been warned for 2,000 years about a mark that is coming. A mark to be used by the beast to manipulate trade, politics, and religion. He will use it to control society by giving the appearance of power, control, of being an all-seeing and all-knowing entity. He will seek to control who works or who travels, what and where you worship, or even who eats. Access to society, to survival, will be all dependent on who has received his mark of loyalty. For centuries, we have wondered how this could possibly work, or what it might look like. Would it be a coin, or a firebrand, tattoo, social security number, a credit card, barcode, microchip, or RFID implant, palm payment, a vaccine, duo skin, biometrics, or a combination of all of it? The Bible tells us a number is associated with the mark. 600, three score, and six, or 666. The Bible says it's the number of a man, the number of the beast. We have been warned since Jesus gave John the revelation that this is coming. He tells us to understand, to judge, to watch for it, to consider what it might be. So Christians move cautiously as new systems come on the scene, especially as everything is rapidly merging into a single system of credit, currency, health, and ID. Though most of the world are biblically illiterate, many are aware of at least this particular prophecy. If a 666 comes to the total of a price, it is quickly rounded up. Addresses are skipped like the 13th floor on a building. Yet rebels have embraced it and proudly display it for shock value. As we enter the last days, think about how subtle the beast could be. Could Christians fall for the mark, be sucked into his controlling scheme? As a reminder, the Bible says in Revelation 14, verse 9 through 11, And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast in 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 a 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 forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Notice, it's whosoever receives the mark of his name. They get God's wrath. They get God's indignation. They shall be tormented with fire and brimstone. Their torments ascend forever and ever. These who take the mark have no rest day or night forever, no matter how they take it, willingly or by deception. To take the mark is to bow to the beast, to surrender all to him. Your life is in his control. Whether you can buy or sell means to participate in society, to be able to have a job and to sell your time and your talents, to earn money, to be able to purchase groceries or go to a restaurant or to be allowed in a mall or a shopping center, to see a concert or go to a movie, to stay in a hotel or rent a car, to move freely about on roads, to cross state lines, to have access to medical help or police protection. The human factor has been the weak link in rolling out a harsh system like this in the past. Sympathetic Germans sold food to Jewish people with a sad story or a crying baby or maybe a sick grandma. People have compassion and people take risks. The vice grip of control weakens in a system with people. But we have been lured away from human interaction. Self-checkout will just deny you if your card is 10 cents short, right? No loyalty card? No discount. You pay a higher price. Sam's Club? Costco? No membership. No access at all. You're not allowed to buy. McDonald's? Starbucks? Domino's? Pizza? Dunkin' Donuts? All ask. Will you be using your mobile app today? How long until it's not an option? But it will be the only way you can pay. The only way you can do business with them is with their mobile app. No app, no card, no cash, no bank, no sale, no service, no food. And that is almost upon us right now, today. Now introduce a global government. with a global currency that will provide you global health care, but only for participants in the global society. And boom, you have surrendered your life to who? To God? Who are you trusting in? Who are you looking to for life and for help? Is it God or his enemy? The scary part is that every step was volunteer. No one forced you. was always an option to say no. Just don't shop here. Just don't go there. Just don't participate. God warned us about this in the garden, that the serpent was very subtle. That's why God has been warning us for centuries. Mark 13, 32-33 says, But of that day and of that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven. neither the son, but the father. Take ye heed, watch, and pray, for you know not when the time is. For the son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and command the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore, for you know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch." Notice the emphasis on watching. looking, watching, being aware. The world makes fun of us. It's just a social security number. It's just a credit card. It's just an implant so I don't lose my social security or my credit card. It's just a convenient app that saves me money. It's just a tap. It's faster. The line goes better. It's caring and concerning for all those around me. I can't get the deals unless I go along with it, or I can't fly without it, or it's part of my job, or my job require it, and it's all rolled into one. It's convenient. It's evil. It's controlling. It's deceptive. And like a frog in a pot, it'll slowly boil to death. You are trapped. You are trapped because your alarm bells that the Bible has been giving you to watch for, to wait, and to discern about have been turned off because you were busy and it was convenient, because it was cheaper, because they convinced you that it was loving and that it was better. You know, it is better if we don't have countries and those borders are evil. It's keeping people out and we're keeping people in. Or, you know, elections. Elections are so controversial. Wouldn't one president be better? Maybe a potentate over everything. So many wars are fought about borders and religions and countries, and why don't we just do away with those? And why not worship the Potentate? He protects us. He's the one that gives us jobs. He's the one that allows us to buy or sell. He's the one that supplies our foods and keeps us safe and provides hospitals. And who could even make war with him? He controls all the nukes, right? Who was like unto him? Let's give him all our power. Let's worship him and the dragon who gives him his power. Do you see how subtle that was? The next thing you know, we're quoting everything that the Bible has warned us about in Revelation 13. As a matter of fact, we were almost quoting it verbatim. Revelation 13, verse 4, And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast. And they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? And who is able to make war with him? Revelation 13, verse 16, 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 forehead. And that no man by ourselves say he had that mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom, that him that hath understanding count the number of the beast. It is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred three score and six. Could it or will it happen so easily, so smoothly? Will it be such a slippery slope? What if God loves us enough to let us practice, to do a dry run before this mark is upon us? What if something global were to happen? Would we volunteer for the greater good, for the love of grandma? Would we surrender our bodies to an experiment, to a talking head in a white coat? Would we really go to abandoned grocery stores and tents in a parking lot and drugstores to get this cure and not to a doctor or a hospital? Would we follow the World Health Organization over people and friends who love us and whom we know? Would the threat of our jobs and travel and dining out and movies and ballgames pressure us to voluntarily take an experimental vaccine? Would we be lured into it because of a free Big Mac? Because of shakes and a fry? Because of a discount or a ball ticket? What if it was a practice to see how well our discernment was working? Did we search the scriptures and pray about what to do? Did we see the pattern of not being able to buy or sell or move about or trade or go to work as the things that he has been warning us about from the scriptures? Did we seek counsel and research alternatives to this vaccine? The vaccine wasn't the mark of the beast, but it has proved to be evil and deadly. But what if the next thing they try to push on us is the mark of the beast? Satan and his man, the beast, are imitators of God. God seals us with the Holy Spirit. God is all-knowing, and he knows where we are at all times. God provides for us. Jesus is the great physician who cares for us. Satan is not any of those things. Yet he will pose as God in his place. He is called the Antichrist, or God in Revelation calls him the beast. Praise God the mark is not upon us yet. and I call you to shake off past failures or lack of discernment and to wake yourself up to the wiles of the devil. We all need to watch. We all need to open our eyes to test and examine all things. We need to seek God's word for counsel, for signs of the times. We need to realize that it is later than you think. Charter City is stunned by the sudden rollout of Rook Unlimited's most fantastic device ever. The SmartMark. Throw your other devices away, because the SmartMark is more than just a phone. It's part of you. Use it as cash. Book your travel. And even shoot video. Distribution points are all over the city. And don't let the lines discourage you. The Rook Unlimited Smart Mark is worth the wait. I never realized how wonderful technology could make me feel. The Smart Mark has brought order to my life. And the best part? It's absolutely free!