Verichip Implantable RFID Chip
The Verichip Corporation has created a stir of late through its marketing of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips which can be implanted into animal tissue, even human beings. On its website, the company markets these wireless services as helpful with “patient identification, infant protection, wander prevention, and asset tracking.” Its VeriMed system is a poster child for the benefits of RFID implantation:
Unlike traditional forms of identification, the VeriChip can’t be lost, stolen, misplaced, or counterfeited. Because it’s inserted under the skin, it’s always there when you need it regardless of where other kinds of identification might be.
Using a handheld reader, healthcare professionals are able to securely access a patient’s unique VeriChip ID number which can be looked up in a designated secure healthcare information database, allowing them to immediately take the safest course of action.
Indeed, the potential of RFID technologies in business and many other fields is enormous – and so is the controversy. The idea of being implanted with computer technology is a step too far for many. Many privacy advocates and Christian prophecy students alike see the RFID chip as, well, creepy and sinister. There’s no shortage of theories linking the chip to world dictatorship and even the Mark of the Beast. Take a peek:
But is this the real “Mark of the Beast” prophesied in Revelation 13? For those who may be unfamiliar with the language or even the and topics the Bible predicts a mark associated with a “beast,” language which is commonly thought to be symbolic of a world dictator called the Antichrist, a title meaning one who stands in opposition to Christ.
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six (666). (Revelation 13:16-18, KJV)
There are several things here which should prevent undue panic among Christians that RFID is the Mark of the Beast, at least in its current form. First, the Mark of the Beast is something that the Antichrist causes people to receive or at least offers to them. It is therefore connected to a particular person, the Antichrist. Thus: no Antichrist, no mark.
Second, no one is allowed to buy or sell without having the Mark. Thus, this mark will supersede existing currencies.
Third, the Mark is also connected and is perhaps an additional option along with the name of the Antichrist or the number 666.
Finally, the word “mark” comes from the Greek charagma, a word which has to do with etching or carving. Some Bible scholars therefore would deny that something implanted under the skin meets the qualifications. It could be something more like a tattoo, perhaps with magnetically readable ink, if you will.
In any event, if there’s no beast on the scene, you can’t have a mark of the beast. So until there is a real, live Antichrist it’s probably premature to say that RFID is the mark, or anything like it.
I would also add that in my opinion the Mark will be very overt and visible, as people will be all too happy to flaunt their devotion to the Antichrist and his reign. Scriptural passages such as Psalm 2, Rev. 6:15-17, and others demonstrate that at the end of days there is a very conscious and very willful rejection of the God of the Bible.
Of course, that’s just my opinion. What do you think?
