Preparations for the Mark of the Beast: We're Almost There

Thanks to Ellis for bring this up - its been a while since the issue has been discussed.

[Warning: this is a long post]

It seems clear that the groundwork is now being prepared for general acceptance for the Mark of the Beast, as described in Revelation 13:16

"He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or 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."

Before proceeding, it must be pointed out that the "mark" could manifest in several ways. It is often assumed that it will be a high-tech implantable device which will contain financial information, health information, and of course GPS tracking. However, some prophecy watchers envision a tribulation period which, because of the massive destruction that occurs during this period, the entire world will be reduced to a "third world" scenario and the "mark" will simply be a tattoo - and this simple tattoo will allow people to trade, barter, and transact "business" in this "post-apocalyptic" world.

I can see that as a distinct possibility. However the advances in technology and its potential use for the future "mark" are hard to ignore. Additionally, the progress that has been made with this technological capability seem more and more inline with the prophetic scenario and we seem to be rapidly moving in that direction.

First - some background on this.

As with everything else we watch these days, the progress towards the "mark" has been stepwise. First, we are watching the proposals for a national ID:

Dems spark alarm with call for national ID card

Democratic leaders have proposed requiring every worker in the nation to carry a national identification card with biometric information, such as a fingerprint, within the next six years, according to a draft of the measure.

The national ID program would be titled the Believe System, an acronym for Biometric Enrollment, Locally stored Information and Electronic Verification of Employment.

That alone is really really "coincidental" isn't it. The BELIEVE SYSTEM? Really?

That is interesting because ultimately, the "mark" will be the visible symbol of what one BELIEVES. If one places their "belief" in the antichrist, then they will receive the "mark" - if one refuses to "believe" in the antichrist they will be forced into hiding and an underground market to buy or sell goods....The "Mark of the Beast" system will reveal what one believes. How interesting.

It would require all workers across the nation to carry a card with a digital encryption key that would have to match work authorization databases.

“The cardholder’s identity will be verified by matching the biometric identifier stored within the microprocessing chip on the card to the identifier provided by the cardholder that shall be read by the scanner used by the employer,” states the Democratic legislative proposal.

Also see:

Orwellian: "The Believe System"

“Creating a biometric national ID will not only be astronomically expensive, it will usher government into the very center of our lives. Every worker in America will need a government permission slip in order to work. And all of this will come with a new federal bureaucracy – one that combines the worst elements of the DMV and the TSA,” said Christopher Calabrese, ACLU Legislative Counsel.

It would require all workers across the nation to carry a card with a digital encryption key that would have to match work authorization databases.

“The cardholder’s identity will be verified by matching the biometric identifier stored within the microprocessing chip on the card to the identifier provided by the cardholder that shall be read by the scanner used by the employer,” states the Democratic legislative proposal.

The American Civil Liberties Union, a civil liberties defender often aligned with the Democratic Party, wasted no time in blasting the plan.

So we have the first stepping stone in place...Now we come to the new health care law:

First, lets look at the health care law and what it actually states:

Another hidden secret in Obamacare: "RFID Chip Implants"

H.R. 3200 section 2521, Pg. 1001, paragraph 1.

The Secretary shall establish a national medical device registry (in this subsection referred to as the ‘registry’) to facilitate analysis of postmarket safety and outcomes data on each device that— ‘‘is or has been used in or on a patient; ‘‘and is— ‘‘a class III device; or ‘‘a class II device that is implantable, life-supporting, or life-sustaining.”
What exactly is a class II device that is implantable? As you saw earlier, it is the device approved by the FDA in 2004.

That FDA approval:

A class II implantable device is an "implantable radio frequency transponder system for patient identification and health information." The purpose of a class II device is to collect data in medical patients such as "claims data, patient survey data, standardized analytic files that allow for the pooling and analysis of data from disparate data environments, electronic health records, and any other data deemed appropriate by the Secretary."

Let me pause here.

This is getting a lot of press, and as I review the various blogs, articles, discussion boards, one aspect becomes apparent: there are scoffers and extremists.

As far as the "scoffers" - they are attempting to say that this FDA approval has to do with pacemakers, breast implants etc., and has nothing to do with an implantable microchip. This is blatantly untrue. Class III devices are items such as breast implants, pacemakers, heart valves etc. Class II devices, such as the implantable microchip , specifically, "an implantable radio frequency transponder, RFID chip." In fact, the application for this FDA approval, by Digital Angel was specifically for the purpose of gaining approval specifically for the implantable device that is under discussion. So the "scoffers" are absolutely incorrect on this point.

OK, back to the law:

The very first two items in the list mandates that the secretary first gives a unique identification to each of the items listed in paragraph 1 which is:

‘‘a class III device; or ‘‘a class II device that is implantable.”

Then, the very next thing the secretary is to do is to create the process by which “patient safety and outcomes data from multiple sources”, which is electronic medical records, that are linked to these newly and uniquely identified items from paragraph 1 which are the class III and class II implantable devices.

“In developing the registry, the secretary shall…”

And the law continues on with a laundry list of items that the secretary must do in the process of creating this registry. In this laundry list of items to do, Line 17, subparagraph B: "validating methods for analyzing patient safety and outcomes data from multiple sources and for linking such data with the information included in the registry as described in subparagraph (A)"

From breast implants, to pacemakers, to RFID chips which one is the only possible one that can used for the stated purpose in section B which is, “for linking such data with the information included in the registry”?

As we know from subsection A, the information in the registry is the name of a device. In plain speak, we are in a clear way being told that our electronic medical records are going to be linked to a class II implantable device!

What does this mean?

What we already have already seen in just the creation of this registry, is the device that will serve as the link, which is an RFID microchip that is categorized as a Class II implantable device, as well as what it will be the link for which is your electronic medical records.

In case the law wasn’t clear enough on that point, still in the laundry list of things to do a few more lines down on the next page, page 1005

“The Secretary to protect the public health; shall establish procedures to permit linkage of information submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A, remember subparagraph A is the class 2 implantable device reference) with patient safety and outcomes data obtained under paragraph (3, which is electronic medical records); and to permit analyses of linked data;”

Now on Page 503, section E Lines 13-17 and I quote: "encourage, as appropriate, the development and use of clinical registries and the development of clinical effectiveness research data networks from electronic health records, post marketing drug and medical device surveillance efforts". Let me say that again, medical device surveillance efforts!

More below:

Now lets look at section 163 of HR3200, which gives the government a direct electronic access to your bank account which will work in conjunction with an implanted chip.

Page 58 Lines 5 through 15 reads:

(D) enable the real-time (or near real time) determination of an individual’s financial responsibility at the point of service and, to the extent possible, prior to service, including whether the individual is eligible for a specific service with a specific physician at a specific facility, which may include utilization of a machine-readable health plan beneficiary identity detection card; (E) enable, where feasible, near real-time adjudication of claims.

So putting this together we see the following:

What does this mean? It means that the government will give everybody a health ID card that contains a machine readable device (magnetic strip or RFID chip) similar to a credit card. Embedded in this chip or strip is your Health Identification Number. When you visit a medical provider, the medical claims will be processed while you are still in the office. The medical providers will be paid in real time. The portion that you owe will be deducted from your bank account, in real time, according to HR 3200.

Notice here in this part which is at the beginning of 2000 plus pages of the law, it is carefully worded “which may include utilization of a machine-readable health plan beneficiary identity detection card”. Here we are told that it may be a card. As you have already seen, deeper in the law [Sec. 2521 Pg. 1000] what this “may” utilize is clearly spelled out as a “class II device that is implantable”.

A card or an implantable microchip?

We can only speculate at this point why the law is set up this way. Most likely this section was written to account for the gap in time from when the process of chipping begins to when everyone has received a chip. A means of starting with a card for the sake of expedience while the process of chipping citizenry plays out. One thing is certain, the law mandates that within 3 years we will all have a chip under our skin that will serve this purpose.

Evidence of this logic is found in the deadline set for the start of the registry on page 1006

"EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish and begin implementation of the registry under section 519(g) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as added by paragraph (1), by not later than the date that is 36 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, without regard to whether or not final regulations to establish and operate the registry have been promulgated by such date."
Also on page 259, this law requires the use of Electronic medical records system in all hospitals by 2012 which will leave a gap of at least a year before the class II implantable device is required.

The following represents the most logical conclusion from the details within this law:

Republican Congressman Ron Paul from Texas, states on his website:

"In “real world speak”, according to this report, this new law, when fully implemented, provides the framework for making the United States the first Nation in the World to require each and every one of its citizens to have implanted in them a radio-frequency identification microchip for the purpose of controlling who is, or isn’t, allowed medical care in their country".

I believe Mr Paul correctly captures the essence of this law: "...provides the framework for...a radio-frequency identification microchip for the purpose of controlling who is, or isn't, allowed medical care"

That is from a currently serving member of congress. Cutting through all the political ease, the bottom line is that eventually if you want to participate in a government healthcare plan you will have to have this chip implanted in you. This law mandates that you have to have insurance and by virtue of this law guarantees that all private healthcare insurers will be driven out of business with only the government option left. We will be in a single payer system and you will have to have an imbedded chip to be a member of this system and it is mandatory that you be a part of this system.

The following quote is equally important and accurate:

This new law, when fully implemented, provides the framework for making the United States the first nation in the world to require each and every one of its citizens to have implanted in them a radio-frequency identification microchip. In theory, the intent to streamline healthcare and to eliminate fraud via "health chips" seems right. But, to have the world's lone superpower mandate a device to be IMPLANTED is not just scary. It is prophetic!

Is this in its current form the mark of the beast? No it is not. The Bible is clear that this will not become the mark of the beast until midway through tribulation when it is somehow associated with a sign of allegiance to the antichrist and it is in someway imprinted with a number or symbols associated 666.

However this is the very mechanism by which it will happen and obviously since the mark will be on a global scale, this has not fully played out. Keep in mind though, we are already staring down the barrel of a global government who will implement this on a global scale.

Also, the rapture is a game changing event.

I tend to agree. Often the effects of the Rapture are underestimated, and that is a mistake. The Rapture of the Church will be an enormous, epic event - certainly a "game-changer" in the world:

If the global government hasn’t come to fruition at the point of the rapture, it will overnight when the rapture happens and this law will be applied across the board. I wouldn’t be surprised if same healthcare ruse won’t be applied under the premises that the mass disappearance of people is a global healthcare emergency and the application of this law [globally and under a global government] will prevent others from disappearing or at a minimum be a means of determining what happened via the tracking capability inherent to RFID chips.

And the following is also highly germane to this discussion:

Now I’m going to ask you the question that I asked earlier: Is it now starting to dawn on you just where exactly we are in prophecy? By virtue of the fact that this hasn’t sent tremors through the Christian community, one can only assume that community is asleep at the wheel

Maybe everyone is so bogged down in all the other evil facets to this new law that this has slipped through the cracks. I tend to doubt that is the case though. I think the reason that hardly no one has seemed to even so much as mentioned this is because human nature is kicking in and it’s hard to get past the logical mind when it is telling you that this just can’t be or this is somehow a misrepresentation of the new law and all those who had a part in it.

Captain Edward Smith, captain of the titanic said this statement shortly before the titanic embarked on its maiden voyage:
“I cannot imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.”
The point here is that people to tend see and believe what they want to see and believe and in this case, what’s easiest to not see and not believe.

Also of interest is an older "debate" which is been surpassed by modern technology. The debate used to be "an implantable microchip can't be the 'mark' because the 'mark' is a visible mark, one that can be visibly seen, and an implantable chip cannot be seen."

And along came Somark, who developed the technology which can now be used in ink based tattoos:

RFID Tattoo: Somark of the Beast

ST. LOUIS, Mo., September 9, 2008 - SOMARK Innovations, Inc. has released a technology white paper' on its RFID ink tattoo platform technology.

There are two ways SOMARK ink can be read. The first involves a handheld reader that only works when the surface of the reader is in direct contact with the tattoo. This method of reading is quick, easy and inexpensive. The second method of reading is more involved and expensive, but allows for remote reading of the tattoo similar to the way RFID tattoos are read through the use of a panel reader

And this brief summary:

The SOMARK Tattoo

Back to the original "issue":

Another article provides a timeline of pertinent events and milestones:

Another hidden secret in Obamacare: "RFID Chip Implants"

2004:
Class II implantable devices receive FDA approval and verachip VeriMed electronic health records system also received approval from the FDA.

2009:
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act authorized $23 billion in stimulus funds for health care information technology. In conjunction with that, VeriChip re-launches VeriMed electronic health records system which is a system that is made up of implantable RFID microchips, handheld scanners for emergency room personnel to read these chips, and online electronic personal health records.

2010:
HR3200 was passed by the House and signed into law by the president
Now looking at the new law, Page 259 Electronic Medical Records system will be required for all healthcare providers by 2012.

Pages 1001-1002:
A national medical device registry is created and populated with devices. Chiefly noted among them, a Class II medical device that is implantable.

Pages 1002-1004:
Mandates the use of class II implantable devices to serve as the link between you and your electronic medical records.

Page 1005:
The secretary of human services will establish the procedures for the linking of the Class II implantable device and electronic medical records.

Page 1007:
Secretary of health and human services is given full power to intact all items required in the creation of the registry as well as the power to dictate how the devises listed in the National Medical Device Registry are to be used and implemented.

Page 503:
Medical device surveillance is authorized.

Page 58:
The link to your electronic medical records which is the Class II implantable device will also be linked to your bank account.

Page 1006:
Without regard to whether or not final regulations are in place, you will be required to get a Class II implantable device linked to your medical records and bank account in order to participate in the government healthcare plan.

Pages 155-158:
It is mandated that you have health insurance or you will pay $100.00 dollars per day that you are not covered.

Page 159:
The IRS will enforce healthcare enrolment and fines for not caring health insurance.

Lastly:
This law mandates that you have to have insurance and by virtue of this law, guarantees that all privet healthcare insurers will be driven out of business with only the government option left. We will be in a single payer system and you will have to have an imbedded chip to be a member of this system and it is mandatory that you be a part of this system.

One more link, this one provided because it seems to appropriately characterize the current situation:

Microchips in Obamacare?

But H.R. 3200 wasn't passed; the bill that became law was H.R. 3590, and it contains differences from the many earlier generations of the bill.

According to the analysis, released by attorney Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation, while "bells and whistles are ringing far and wide" over the many legitimate concerns raised by Obamacare, there is no requirement for people to be implanted with health-care devices – yet.

"The language of this section makes it very clear that the Secretary of Health and Human Services … is given broad power over the collection of data pertaining to medical devices," he wrote.

"No part of [the health care bill] explicitly calls for the mandatory implantation of medical recording or tracking devices into individuals," he said.

However, the door was opened, he concluded.

"Since [the Health and Human Services Secretary] is responsible for 'validating methods for analyzing patient safety and outcomes data from multiple sources and for linking such data with the information included in the registry,' … it would seem incumbent upon him or her to not only track the medical devices, but to also track the health and lifestyle of each patient treated, so as to properly analyze 'postmarket safety and outcome data,'" the analysis said.

"With potential micro-chipping, there is no roadblock placed by the government, but a mandate that, healthy or not, guilty of a crime or not, one must be subjected to physical bodily invasion and constant monitoring," the analysis said.

"Sadly, under Obamacare, since the government now has a fully and deeply rooted monetary and political interest in the health of its citizens (not to mention an ego interest in forcing this round peg into a square hole), many things that would have fallen short of meeting this strict constitutional standard can now soar effortlessly over this ever shortening standard of scrutiny," the analysis said.

"If this were allowed in the future, it would not only fly in the face of the Constitution, but God, the natural law, and each and every individual right that has been recognized since the beginning of time," the analysis warned.

In other words, we now have the provision for mandatory microchipping, which is exactly what we would expect as we approach the Tribulation. The road has officially been paved for the "mark" to take place. All elements are in place.

What about the Revived Roman Empire? Where are they in all of this? After all, we know that the antichrist will arise from the EU's "progression" into the 10 kings phase.

Well, a prophecy watcher may find this interesting:

The EU is in the process of launching "Project Galileo":

Project Galileo

Galileo is a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) currently being built by the European Union (EU) and European Space Agency (ESA). The €5.3 billion project is named after the famous Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei. One of the political aims with Galileo is to provide a high-accuracy positioning system upon which European nations can rely independent from the Russian GLONASS and US GPS systems, which can be disabled for commercial users in times of war or conflict.[1]

Galileo satellite navigation project

As the US prepares to launch its third-generation global positioning system (GPS) and Russia and China push ahead with their own competing systems, the European Union continues to face delays and soaring costs with its prestige project.

Galileo will include up to 30 satellites delivering geographical positioning data, similar to the data provided today by the GPS system developed and operated by the United States military. The first two satellites are to begin operating later next year.

Well, that is certainly interesting isn't it?

Look what Australia is up to:

E-Health bill paves the way for PositiveID human implantable RFID

There is indeed a surreptitious plan to set up the ground work for this system to progress seamlessly to implantable RFID microchips. All that would be required is a simple distribution of the PositiveID microchip and the necessary RFID scanners into the medical infrastructure the software side would already be functioning at full steam.

“The Australian healthcare sector is a complex of public and private interests, hospital and community facilities, GP’s, laboratories, health funds, professional associations, special interest groups and individual consumers”. The introduction of this system would aim to revolutionize the way medical records are accessed and updated, ensuring every time it is accessed by a medical professional, the information is up to date and accurate


In addition to helping consumers protect themselves from identity theft as it pertains to credit fraud, we are also focused on combating the growing problem of medical identity theft, which affects 7 percent of identity theft victims”. How noble of Scott

I believe this last paragraph reveals how this will be 'sold' to the population at large: by making the case that this will eliminate identity theft, fraud, etc.

Let’s move to the hardware side of things, as we already have established that Medicare is providing the 16 digit number. Why 16-digits? Introducing the PositiveID implantable RFID microchip. The microchip itself 6.contains only a 16-digit number that when scanned with a hand held reader, connects to a secure online database. The database houses the patient’s identification information and personal health record data.

It has been established already that IBM has seed funded PositiveID since inception, would it come as any surprise to you that 10.Medicare relies on IBM for its technology infrastructure and has just paid $189 million for a one-year extension on a services contract? Of course not. This is the most disturbing element, the very people designing and maintaining the system currently in use in Australia, are also the ones behind the PositiveID RFID microchip for humans.

The article suggests that social and ethical concerns “plague the technology” yet goes on to imply that “Initial adoption of the invasive technology has met with some success but any real assessment of the industry is prejudiced by the commercial monopoly of the VeriChip Corporation [now known as PositiveID]“. “Security and convenience are generic wants” and “Care-related humancentric RFID devices provide unparalleled portability for medical records.” To all the disbelievers that think the human microchipping agenda is light years away, think again, this article was published in 2006.

To summarize, this all seems quite obvious:

The technology for what could end up representing the biblical "Mark of the Beast" is clearly in place and the process of gaining public acceptance is just beginning.

The "provision" for this implantable microchip and the "technology" is already in place. All that is left now is the implementation.

The reason this is so significant biblically seems obvious:

If we are indeed approaching the Tribulation, then all of the elements seen in Revelation 6-18 must be at least close - not only as far as technology, but in terms of public acceptance.

A great example of this is found in Revelation 11, where the scriptures detail the "two witnesses" preaching from the streets of Jerusalem will be killed by the antichrist and the entire would will "gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial". Three days later the entire world will see their resurrection.

This scenario would have been impossible 50 years ago. But now, with satellite technology allowing for the world to witness events in "real time" via television. This prophecy is now possible for the first time in human history.

The same can be found for the "mark". Fifty years ago, implementation of this mark would have been impossible. But now, in our "Brave New World" it is entirely possible and governments are paving the way for this through legislation.

These articles and the legislation we have reviewed reveals just how close we are to the beginning of the Tribulation.

Its time to start looking up - as directed by the Gospels (luke 21:28).

Our redemption does indeed appear close at hand. Very close.