Rev. 13:16-18 says, "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: 17 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.  18 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."

Under the new covenant revealed in the Bible, people are saved by virtue of being sealed in our hearts (spirits) with the Holy Spirit. Eph. 1:13-14 says we are "sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest (deposit) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession..." II Cor. 1:22 says God "hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." In this mark of the beast we see the other half of the third part of the Satanic trinity: the part that interfaces with the image; the part that counterfeits the Christian being sealed with the Holy Spirit.

Notice the three class distinctions: there is no middle class at all. There is small and great which answers to political power, intellectual ability, the soulish realm. There are rich and poor which answers to economic power, ability to buy and sell, the realm of the body. There is free and bond which answers to religious power, the realm of the spirit.

There are two ways of looking at the class distinctions: to the natural mind the small, rich and free represents those who are small in number, rich in goods and free in the system while the opposites represent those who aren't; but to the spiritual mind, the small, rich and free represents those who are humble before God, rich in spiritual gold (Rev. 3:18) which are good works, and free in the spirit to live or die for God. Christians, no matter when they live on earth, are overcomers in the Lord Jesus.

Notice he ‘causeth all...to receive.’ In order to be effective, this mark must be received - freely taken by the receiver’s action. Consider the difference between an adult and a small child who have to get an inoculation: the adult will receive it because he understands why it is given, but the child will fight against it with everything he's got. In no way does he receive it. This mark is a counterfeit of the Christian being sealed in the heart with the Holy Spirit. Just as Christians receive this willingly, so will those who decide to take the mark. The mark is without effect if it is forced on someone.

The mark alone does not cause eternal damnation. Rev. 14:9-11 says God will pour out his wrath on those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark. Notice there are three qualifying factors. Rev. 16:2 says a grievous sore will fall on those who have the mark of the beast and worship his image. This verse has two factors: the worship is required in order to get this sore. Years ago when grocery scanners first came out they had a notice posted inside them under the glass that warned of the possibility of laser radiation. (Wonder what that might look like?) Rev. 19:20 speaks of the false prophet deceiving those who received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image: this verse also has two factors.

Notice that sometimes the mark of the beast is mentioned first, and sometimes the worship is mentioned first. While God will not condemn anyone who has the mark placed on them without the corresponding worship, no one should think he can receive the mark so long as he does not worship. ALL who RECEIVE the mark will also worship. There is no point whatsoever in receiving this mark if it is not going to be used. I believe using the mark to buy and sell will involve worship.

I have read of plans for womb to tomb identification: newborns having a microchip 'installed' before they leave the hospital. Those newborns, as well as the mentally deficient and anyone else who has this mark installed without understanding what it is, are not condemned. They have to know what they are doing.

Notice the mark goes in the right hand or forehead. Because most people are right-handed, the right hand is generally stronger than the left, and the right hand represents works. While Rev. 22:4 states that in the new creation the people of God will have his name in our foreheads, no Christian ever receives a mark in the hand. Jesus is the only one who is entitled to a mark in his hands because he is the only one ever who works were perfect, and the marks in his hands are nail prints. We use the right hand to pledge allegiance, greet a friend and take an oath. Picture a person placing his right hand on a scanner. The right hand is one of the locations for the mark because it represents salvation by works and allegiance to antichrist. The other location is the forehead. When a person bows his head he is demonstrating submission. The lesser submits to the greater. In this case the greater will be worshipped. When a person bows his head to the scanner this is what he is doing: worship.  The forehead represents submission to the antichrist in rebellion against God.

I have a friend who is a nurse at a local hospital and several years ago she attended an in-service training session and held in her hand the chip that the hospital intends to inject in patients’ right hand or forehead. The staff was told that the webbing between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand was specified because, through use, the muscles are better developed than the left hand, and the muscles and tendons are necessary to hold the chip in place and prevent it from being caught in the blood stream and wandering throughout the body before being eliminated. There is a small depression in the frontal bones of the forehead that a chip can be wedged into. Again, this location was picked to keep the chip from wandering.

What we used to call a 'chip' (back in the olden times 18 years ago), we today know as a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) transponder. This small capsule, about the size of a grain of rice, has been implanted in millions of animals worldwide and it had a major marketing test with the introduction of the Mobil Speedpass a few years back. The commercials actually showed people 'waving' their hand at the gas pump to pay for the purchase. A huge step was taken toward implanting humans with this 'chip' on October 13, 2004 when Applied Digital Solutions received FDA approval to implant humans with the chip for medical tracking purposes. In November they hired a marketing firm who planned to enlist community leaders nationwide to get 'chipped' thus promoting the technology, and in January 2005 they hired two Washington DC lobbying firms. Obviously they have plans that reach beyond medical records retrieval.

The mark itself will undoubtedly be a chip of some kind that can interface with a computer. The Greek word that is translated as 'mark' is charagma and it is defined as: a scratch or etching; from charax: to sharpen. It will probably be injected with a needle. I have heard that the chip can contain GPS technology (unconfirmed) and that at least one satellite is in place to track them (also unconfirmed). If true, it’s beyond credibility that that kind of money would be spent to track a lost cat or a stolen emu. But spend money to track and control humans? Absolutely!

The mark is not necessarily a tattoo, although some outward sign may be included just to show who is legal, loyal and approved and who isn't. We hear all about smart cards that are able to contain a person's entire history, but the mark does not need to be a smart chip, it only needs to contain a number that can access the files in the computer. The scanners that I have used to demonstrate the technology contain an RS232 port to cable them to a computer. It has been amazing to watch the developments of RFID technology over the years.

"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." Not only will the mark be a sign of allegiance to the antichrist, it will also be used to buy and sell. It will be THE medium of commerce and only those who have the mark will be able to buy and sell. This does not mean that those who resist will automatically starve to death: antichrist cannot prevent exchange by barter even though there may be a heavy penalty for it, and he absolutely cannot prevent God from directly meeting his people's needs as he did when Israel was in the wilderness.

Special note to those who are reading this after the rapture: if it is at all possible for you to store up any food or water, do it NOW. It would be wise to identify a place away from the cities where you might be able to hide. If at all possible, make plans NOW for survival later when things are going to be really tough.

Along with the mark, this verse includes the name of the beast, and I have no idea how this might come about. It also includes the number of his name. In Hebrew and Greek (the languages of the Bible) the letters of the alphabet are also used for numbers. It appears that the name of the beast adds up to a certain number. I don't bother trying to figure out who he is by using occult number systems.

"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 three score and six." Six is the number of man in general, but it seems that this man will be the perfect personification of the number. The verse says "here is WISDOM. Let him that hath UNDERSTANDING COUNT..." then it tells us the number. Since we know the number it seems that it should be easily recognized, but the verse says it will take wisdom and understanding to COUNT (to compute) the number, I believe because it will not be readily apparent to the casual observer.

In our time we are seeing a reversal of the general reluctance to using the 666. It is used in the logo of the Trilateral Commission and other businesses, but we Americans have been using a 666 to buy and sell since about 1973.

It is true that the bar codes (UPC codes) on our groceries and other merchandise are computer language, but that does not mean they can’t have another purpose. There are variations in the different UPC codes used, but they all contain a 666 which is recognizable in the example above. The most common UPCs have five numbers on the left and five on the right. On each end and in the center there is a a pair of bars that extend lower than the other bars, the pairs on the ends to tell the computer to start and stop reading, and the pair in the center to divide the numbers on the right from those on the left. These bars are marked in yellow in the illustration above. On some UPCs there will be added two more pairs of bars just inside the stop/start bars that also extend below the other bars. On these codes there may be a number printed on the outside of the code, halfway between top and bottom or towards the bottom, which these extra bars refer to.

The computer does not read the numbers printed at the bottom of the code, it reads the bars. Counting the bars that are shorter than the end and center bars, you will find twenty bars, ten on each side, or two visible bars for each printed number. (The codes also contain white bars.)  There are two different sets of bars used in this code, the bars on the left from set A and the bars on the right from set B, so the bars representing the number six on the left side will be different from the six on the right side. However, in checking this out for yourself, you will find that the pair of bars from set B, or the right side, that represent the number six, are identical to the bars that tell the computer to start, divide and stop reading. These bars are never identified on the UPC code, indeed its' originators deny that they represent 666, but if you check the code for yourself, you will find that the start, divide and stop bars are always present and they always match the pair of bars that represent the six on the right side of the code.

While this code is NOT the mark of the beast, it IS being used to buy and sell every single day.