By Nathan Jones
Will technology be involved in the Mark of the Beast?
Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.
Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based his book Cashless: Bible Prophecy, Economic Chaos, and the Future Financial Order. It concerns the world presently teetering on financial chaos, global interdependency, and modern technology all converging in such a way that a cashless society and one-world economy are not only possible, but inevitable.
Technology and the Mark of the Beast
“He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.” – Revelation 13:16-17
Dr. Hitchcock: I believe the Bible makes it clear the Mark of the Beast will be very simple. The Mark the Bible says will be upon the right hand or the forehead. That it is “upon” is especially clear in the Greek.
People generally have failed to understand the two main purposes of the Mark of the Beast.
Revelation 13:18 tells us the Mark will be the numerical value of the name of the Antichrist. When people take that mark they are taking his name on themselves. And so, first and foremost, the Mark of the Beast will be a global pledge of allegiance or an oath of loyalty that one is accepting the Antichrist as God. This is a spiritual issue, as people will either choose Antichrist or they will choose Christ.
The secondary purpose of the Mark of the Beast will be to serve as a commercial passport used in business transactions.
Taking the Mark will be the one time in history when choosing sides will be a clear cut decision. A person will choose whether they are on the Antichrist’s side when they take his mark, or by rejecting that mark are telling the world that they are instead aligning themselves with Jesus Christ.
To reject the Mark, though, means one will of course have to pay the consequences. As Revelation 14:9-11 tells us:
“If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.”
These verses say that once a person takes the Mark they are doomed. There is no going back and no hope for salvation.
One thing that is important everyone remembers today and that we need to be clear on is that nothing today is the mark of the beast. People can get so afraid that their social security card or this and that is the Mark of the Beast. The Mark of the Beast will be given out after the Rapture. It will be something that people will know they are taking. Those left behind will be making a conscious choice, and we know this because God is going to hold them eternally accountable for what they decide. People don’t need to worry that they are going to somehow take the Mark accidentally.
A lot of the technology today may be leading towards controlling what people buy and sell, but nothing today is the Mark of the Beast. People today do not need to be afraid of the Mark, and we don’t need to be afraid of technology. Technology ultimately is a tool. If it is used rightly it is a good thing. Ultimately, all technology will fall into the hands of the Antichrist — the man who declares himself to be God — and He will use it for evil purposes.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2010
Mark Hitchcock on a Cashless Society
By Nathan Jones
Are we on the threshold of a cashless society?
Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.
Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based his book Cashless: Bible Prophecy, Economic Chaos, and the Future Financial Order. It concerns the world presently teetering on financial chaos, global interdependency, and modern technology all converging in such a way that a cashless society and one-world economy are not only possible, but inevitable.
The Threshold of a Cashless Society
Dr. Hitchcock: I would like to say first of all that cashless is not a description of our bank accounts, if you copy. Some people read that and think, “Hey, that describes pretty well where I feel where I am right now!”
The idea for writing my book Cashless came as I was seeing all the things that are happening in our world today. As you know, Bible prophecy teachers have been saying really since the 1970’s that a cashless society is coming. There have been some books written in the past on the topic, but there have been so many things happening in recent times about this, especially with advances in technology. I thought it would be great to kind of give an update on this economic movement.
While I was working on the book the financial tsunami in the last of Fall 2008 hit. That event put a lot of this whole movement towards globalism and economic cooperation between nations on fast forward. I was amazed that while working on the book all of these things happened and that they are really going to speed up the fulfillment of this prophecy concerning a cashless world society. Such a divine timing on my work feels like God’s providence.
Nathan Jones: Where in the Bible does it say that one day the world will have a cashless society?
Dr. Hitchcock: An important point that I like to make is that the Bible never specifically says anywhere there is going to be a cashless society in the future. But, in Revelation 13 the Bible says that this “beast coming out of the sea” whom we call “Antichrist” — this final world ruler — when he comes on the scene is going to have a man who is kind of his second-in-command and propaganda expert. This “beast coming out of the earth,” I call him the “World Economic Czar.” In the Bible he is also called the “False Prophet.” He is going to set up a system where everyone in the world is going to have to worship the Antichrist and take his mark in order to be able to buy and sell.
Now, with cash people would not be able to control the world economy, because as long as there is cash people can operate outside of the system by slipping some money under the table. For there to be an iron-clad system where you cannot buy or sell — that absolute supply and demand are controlled — it is going to have to be a cashless society. So, Revelation 13 is where I find the cashless society alluded to in the Bible, and many other prophecy teachers have agreed that’s what Revelation 13 means.
Dr. Reagan: As far back as I have intensely studied Bible prophecy, which would go back to the late 19th Century (not that I was alive then, but I read books from back then), I have found people saying there is going to be a cashless society in the future. This is not some new prophecy, nor is it some new interpretation. It’s not something that you are just reading into the news. This is something that people have been saying long before you came on the scene.
Dr. Hitchcock: That’s right. Edward Bellamy wrote his book Looking Backward in the late 1800’s. In 1887, Bellamy was a utopian writer who predicted credit cards as well as a cashless society. This idea, then, has been part of the secular fabric of our society.
Bible prophecy teachers have also seen in the Bible that someone is going to control the world one day. In an economy where one cannot buy or sell, those in power would then have absolute control of world finances, and thereby every single person. This cannot occur without the society being totally cashless.
Dr. Reagan: Revelation 13:16-17 goes, “He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.”And so, if one can’t buy and sell unless they have this mark, then every transaction in the world has to be monitored, right?
Dr. Hitchcock: That’s right. Society will have to be cashless using some type of electronic system for that to be true.
It is amazing that the Bible predicted a cashless society back in the times of wood, stone and togas! This to me is another verifiable point and confirmation that the Bible is the Word of God and that it is true.
Cashless future will be a surveillance nightmare: https://www.vocativ.com/417683/cashless-future-will-be-a-surveillance-nightmare/