JOE HAWKINS
"He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads" (Revelation 13:16). These words written 2,000 years ago depict a future global system that controls who can buy or sell (Revelation 13:17). I'm coming at this from a Pre-Trib Rapture view and hold to the view that believers will be raptured before this Beast system fully manifests, yet we already see its technological groundwork emerging.
In this article, we explore how astonishingly close modern technology is to enabling the kind of total surveillance and control described in Revelation 13, why these advancements are accelerating, and what prophetic significance they carry. The goal is not to set dates or induce fear, but to analyze the signs with a sense of urgency and ask whether the focus should shift from the tech itself to the mindset that would embrace it.
The tech is here and it's not going anywhere, but are people's minds ready? Are they being preconditioned or coerced into accepting such a system. Much like the frog slowing boiling to death in a pot of water; is society's mind being slowly conditioned to accept this future Beast System?
A Prophecy 2,000 Years in the Making - Why Our Generation Is Unique
For nearly nineteen centuries after the book of Revelation was written, its vision of a global regime seemed incomprehensible. How could "authority...over every tribe, tongue, and nation" be given to one leader (Revelation 13:7) in an age of quills and scrolls? And how could a mark control all commerce when most trade was done with coins and bartering?
Moreover, a key prerequisite for end-times prophecy was missing: the nation of Israel. From the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. until 1948, no generation witnessed Israel reborn as a nation. Yet Bible students knew it had to happen, as Scripture foretold Israel's dispersion and regathering. The re-establishment of Israel in 1948 was a prophetic milestone no previous generation had seen, and it signaled that the clock for the "last days" was ticking again (Matthew 24:32-34, Isaiah 66:8).
At the same time, the past century unleashed a surge in knowledge and technology that is utterly unprecedented. The angel told Daniel that in the time of the end, "many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (Daniel 12:4). I believe that is more in relation to going back-and-forth to Scripture, however there is application here. Today, exponential increases in knowledge are the new normal. What took centuries of progress now happens in years, months, days, and even hours! From the invention of computers to the internet to artificial intelligence, technological advancement is accelerating at breakneck speed.
This explosion of knowledge is not random; prophecy watchers see it as providential. It's as if the stage is being rapidly set for fulfillment of what Revelation describes. No previous generation had the capability to literally track every person's buying and selling, or to monitor behavior worldwide in real time. Ours does. As Jesus said of end-time signs, "when you see these things, know that it is near--at the doors!" (Mark 13:29).
Global Surveillance: The Rise of All-Seeing Eyes
Revelation 13 envisions a world where no one escapes the Beast's reach (Revelation 13:7). How close are we to a system capable of tracking every human? Consider the dramatic growth of surveillance technology. By the end of 2021, over one billion surveillance cameras were installed worldwide, roughly one camera for every eight people on earth. Many of these are tied into AI-powered systems that can recognize faces, track movements, and compile digital dossiers.
In China, for example, the government's massive "Skynet" camera network (estimated 600 million+ cameras) and social credit system foreshadow how a centralized authority could monitor compliance or dissent. Western nations, too, have rapidly expanded CCTV networks in the name of security. Today's advanced facial recognition can identify individuals in a crowd within seconds, and AI analytics can flag "unusual" behavior automatically.
AI surveillance systems are increasingly ubiquitous. Modern cities are blanketed with cameras on streets, buildings, and even in smart home devices. Powerful algorithms can sift through feeds from thousands of cameras simultaneously, meaning an AI "watcher" could theoretically keep tabs on an entire population's whereabouts. The mass data collection by Big Tech companies and governments adds another layer. Our smartphones, searches, social media, and purchases are constantly harvested for data. It's often said that agencies today know more about us than we know about ourselves.
As Yuval Noah Harari has observed, past tyrants like the Gestapo or KGB could not surveil everyone effectively--but soon, "corporations and governments will be able to systematically hack all the people. We humans should get used to the idea that we are no longer mysterious souls - we are now hackable animals." Harari warns that the combination of biometric sensors and AI could create a "digital dictatorship" of total monitoring.
Imagine a regime knowing not only where you are and what you do, but even how you feel about the supreme leader. Harari paints a chilling scenario: a future North Korean citizen forced to wear a biometric bracelet 24/7 - "You listen to a speech... and they know what you actually feel... if you're angry, they know, you'll be in the gulag tomorrow." This kind of intrusive surveillance was pure science fiction a few decades ago; now it's on our doorstep.
Importantly, such technology aligns uncomfortably well with the Beast system's goals. Revelation 13:15 says the False Prophet will cause those who refuse to worship the Beast's image to be killed. A feat that implies identifying and locating dissenters. Under pervasive surveillance, identifying non-compliant individuals (e.g. those who won't take the mark or worship the Beast) becomes feasible on a global scale.
We already saw a preview in how some governments tracked people during COVID-19 lockdowns via cellphone location data or enforced quarantine with electronic monitoring. The infrastructure for global tracking of every human is being erected now under various guises--public safety, health, anti-terrorism, etc. Each rationale edges us closer to an "omnipresent" monitoring network. The Beast system will simply inherit and weaponize it fully.
Cashless Society and Digital IDs: Precursor to the Mark
John's prophecy could not be fulfilled in a world of strictly physical cash and local marketplaces. But in our digital economy, the pieces fit. Revelation 13:17 says "no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast". To control all buying and selling, currency itself likely becomes centralized and digital. We see a strong push toward cashless transactions, credit cards, online payments, and now Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) on the horizon. Digital ID programs are being rolled out worldwide, aiming to give every person a verifiable e-identity linked to their finances, medical records, and more.
The United Nations and World Economic Forum have championed the idea of universal digital identification (such as the ID2020 initiative) as a way to include everyone in the financial system. But prophecy students note: what is sold as inclusion and convenience could easily become a tool for exclusion and coercion. Once your money is just bytes in a cloud ledger, access can be turned off with a keystroke. A digital ID tied to a central system could be required to log onto the internet, travel, or make transactions. Exactly the kind of control the Beast will need to enforce the mark.
It is sobering to see how quickly people embrace the technology that could enable the mark. In some countries, governments are testing biometric ID payment systems (scanning your hand, face, or eyes to pay). Companies have begun implanting microchips in employees for building access and cashless cafeteria purchases. One U.S. tech company's CEO even boasted about hosting a "chip party" where employees voluntarily injected an RFID chip the size of a grain of rice into their hand. He envisions that "eventually, this technology will become standardized allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc."
In other words, one small implant could replace your wallet, keys, ID cards - EVERYTHING. It doesn't take much imagination to see how such implants (or a future iteration of them) could fulfill the role of the mark of the Beast in controlling commerce. The technology itself isn't the mark, of course, but it demonstrates the "architecture" of control is here. Even Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, spoke in a 2016 interview about this coming transformation.
Beyond implants, governments are also proposing digital health passports and national ID apps. In India, over a billion people are enrolled in "Aadhaar," a biometric ID program using fingerprints and iris scans for authentication in banking and public services. The European Union is planning a digital identity wallet for all citizens6. These systems promise greater efficiency but they also create the framework where one central decision can lock a person out of society.
In his warning to world leaders at Davos, Harari said that if a 21st-century tyrant manages to get biometric sensors "under the skin" of millions, the result would be "the worst totalitarian regime in human history", one that even Stalin could only dream of. That phrase "under the skin" is striking. It echoes the kind of invasive control Revelation implies with a mark in the hand or forehead. Harari's point was cautionary, but others speak of these same capabilities as positive innovations.
Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum often discusses the "Fourth Industrial Revolution." A fusion of technological breakthroughs that blur the lines between the physical, digital, and biological realms. Schwab noted that this revolution will lead to microchips that can be implanted in the body and even the brain. In one interview, he described a timeline: "At first, we will implant them in our clothes... then we could imagine implanting them in our brains or on our skin... in the end, maybe, there will be direct communication between our brain and the digital world." This isn't a conspiracy theory; it's a stated vision from the architect of Davos.
When powerful leaders talk of internalizing technology into the human body ("under the skin"), prophecy watchers can't help but recall the language of the mark. Schwab's top advisor (Harari) adds that this kind of intimate surveillance tech can "go under the skin, collect biometric data, analyze it, and understand people better than they understand themselves." The convergence of these ideas (microchips, biometric surveillance, AI analysis of behavior) reads like a prelude to the Beast system.
In any case, the fact that world leaders are openly pursuing the ability to monitor, chip, and data-mine humans should set prophetic alarm bells ringing. The Beast system described in Revelation will have exactly those powers. It will "monitor everyone all the time," to quote Harari's description of a digital dictatorship. The groundwork is being laid in plain sight.
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