And the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and 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. Revelation 14:9,10
One of the rumoured aspects of the Obamacare legislation in the United States that was frightening to many Christians (and to a great many non-Christians as well) was the proposed requirement (it actually wasn’t true) to have microchips implanted within every citizen’s body, a chip identified as an ‘implantable radio frequency transponder system for patient identification and health information.’ Such an intrusive device would allow the government to easily track and monitor everyone almost all of the time. According to many people, this microchip is either a forerunner to the mark of the beast or is the actual mark of the beast. Bible scholars have debated whether such technology can or would be used for that purpose. There is no doubt that such a microchip would be a dangerous and invasive breach of personal privacy that should be totally unacceptable to any free people. But an accurate study of the Scriptures indicates that this technology does not – at this time – have anything to do with the mark of the beast. So we can relax about that.
According to our text, the mark of the beast condemns the bearer to eternal damnation. All who receive it are forever doomed. But the mark of the beast cannot be received now by any Christian, because our salvation is secure. Eternal life cannot be cancelled by an RFID chip, or a tattoo, or by any other physical thing. Otherwise it would not be eternal life. This is why it is important to clearly understand the difference between our current dispensation of the day of grace and the upcoming time of tribulation. The beast, the devil’s man, will rule in the tribulation, and he will require everyone to receive his mark. The only way to receive his mark is to bow down and worship him. And only those with the mark will be able to transact any business, such as buy food, during that time. They will be like the people of North Korea who must worship the current ruling member of the Kim family in order to obtain food and any other necessities of life. During the tribulation, those who do not receive the mark will either die of starvation or be slaughtered for their failure to do so, just as North Koreans die today for not worshipping Kim. That is why most of those who receive the Gospel during the tribulation will be martyrs. They may not escape the wrath of the beast but they will escape the wrath of God.
No one today is receiving the mark of the beast, although it is conceivable that some of the devices in use today could be used for the mark. We can’t know that, of course. But what we do know, we should take comfort in. Firstly, we cannot come under the curse of the mark of the beast; the rapture will make sure of that. Secondly, the fact that technology exists that could meet the needs for such a mark reminds us that the day of the rapture must be very near. And the hope of our Lord’s soon return is our greatest source of comfort and encouragement. -Jim MacIntosh