Remember those people in the late ’60s who declared that VISA and MASTERCARD credit cards were “the mark of the beast?” Well, what if they were somewhat right?
Actually, the cards were called by other names back then. VISA was “Chargex” here in Canada, “BankAmericard” in the U.S. and went by other names elsewhere. Meanwhile, MASTERCARD went by the now awkward-sounding name “Mastercharge.” Some Christians (okay, mostly evangelicals) declared this was the beginning of the end when it came to interpreting the “666″ mark in Revelation, but were strangely silent decades later when debit cards were introduced. I’ve never understood what made the difference and the resultant silence on ATM cards.
I remember Pat Robertson (see my post on him a few days ago) commenting that the mark on the hand and forehead were symbolic. The hand represents the work of man and the forehead represents the thoughts of man; the result being an anti-Christ figure who wants to control both.
Today online I ran into Tim Jamz who has a blog page you might want to visit, www.onehigherpower.com In a recent post, on March 28th, he suggests that “the mark of the beast” isn’t the number 666. It’s numbers, period. Our preoccupation with them. Our can’t live without them. Commenting in another forum, Tim said, “Our focus on our own contrived systems of analysis, and the reliance on these systems, separates us from our Creator.”
The road he takes to get to there, an examination of themes occuring in both Genesis and Revelation is going to seem murky to some readers, but you should read it anyway. I found the conclusion resonated more than the premise, but make your own decision. To go directly to that post, titled ‘Lost in Translation,’ use this link: http://onehigherpower.com/archives/153
