Biometrics and the Mark of the Beast
You don’t have to be a prophet to know that the world-wide increase in terrorist activities will lead the world to adopt technologies designed to bring safety to its people. With that increase in safety and security comes an exchange in levels of freedom. The more you increase safety, the more you yield up freedom in order to obtain that level of safety.
In response to this increased need in security throughout the world, a new commerce has arisen with technological solutions for a price. Enter in biometrics. Biometrics is combining science, technology, and individual and unique body composition identifiers to come up with a highly sophisticated and accurate means of individual identification.
According to an Internet article, “biometrics comprises methods for uniquely recognizing humans based upon one or more intrinsic physical or behavioral traits. In computer science, in particular, biometrics is used as a form of identity access management and access control. It is also used to identify individuals in groups that are under surveillance.”
Physiological biometric uses incorporate identification markers through fingerprint, face recognition, DNA, hand and palm geometry, iris recognition, and even odor scent recognition; anything and everything that uniquely marks us as individuals. Behavioral biometrics measures voice, typing, and gait characteristics that identify us.
The need to address identity theft has spurred the biometric market to bring an answer. To convert the biometric input, a software application is used to identify specific points of data as match points. The match points in the database are processed using an algorithm that translates that information into a numeric value. The database value is compared with the biometric input the end user has entered into the scanner and authentication is either approved or denied (Internet article). The future holds mechanisms to decode an individual's DNA instantaneously to provide absolute certainty of identity.
This technology is already used in the passports of many countries. India is using it in its census which will eventually lead to a national identification card, and the United States is also in discussions about issuing a national ID using biometric technology as part of immigration reform.
Looking to God’s prophetic Word, we read of the end times in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 which states:
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
Paul goes on to say in verse four, “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.” This tells us that for those of us who are living for Christ, we will be able to recognize the season for the end, just as we recognize signs for other seasons such as spring, summer, fall, and winter. We aren’t promised to know the exact time or hour, but we can read the signs and know we are getting close. I’m telling you today that the signs say we are getting close!
The way the world is going now, it’s hard to imagine there being a time we can call a time of peace and safety, but if we apply this to Jerusalem, God’s thermometer, it makes much more sense. Every day, Jerusalem and Israel are dealing with some very un-peaceful and non-safety issues. But, a time will come where they will finally be able to say peace and safety thanks to a world leader who will broker the deal of the century that will bring peace and safety and in this deal, he will deliver the Temple Mount for the construction of the Third Temple signing the greatest peace treaty in history and finally bringing peace to the Middle East. This is what every US President since Jimmy Carter has worked hard to achieve.
But, the peace and safety will not last. Another terrorist group will rise up to challenge this world leader, the Antichrist. He will fight and struggle with them. He will label them terrorists and draw the world and its resources against them. These “terrorists” are the two prophets of God (Revelations 10:7), or the two witnesses, and then later, the Antichrist, wages war against God’s people (Revelation 13:7). He uses the technology of biometrics to separate his people from those of God with the Mark of the Beast, the terrorists against his evil plan (Revelation 13:16-18).
The technology is here today to allow the Book of Revelation to come to pass. Many Christians are always automatically resistant to any technology that seems related even remotely to the Mark of the Beast. Although there is no doubt that biometrics is related to the Mark, use of this technology will not condemn anyone to an eternal hell. The true Mark of the Beast is definitely to be avoided, but it won’t happen until the mid-tribulation point. The precursor to taking the Mark of the Beast is that those who do are already following and worshiping the Beast, who is the Antichrist:
Revelation 14:9-11 adds, “Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. 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 ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
This marked group will further suffer because Revelation 16:2 reveals the pain associated with the mark, “So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.”
As terroristic activities increase, the technology will be honed to manage those activities. Lot’s of resources will be employed to increase this technology, which, in itself, is another prophetic fulfillment revealed by Michael to Daniel in Daniel 12:4 where he says the last days will be characterized by an increase in knowledge or technology all designed to bring humanity peace and safety from itself.