Eschatology #9 - The Mark of the Beast
About this sermon
Pastor Dean Odle surveys technologies and political developments that he believes could prepare the infrastructure for the mark of the beast described in Revelation 13. The lesson examines RFID implants, microscopic identification systems, digital identity, cashless economies, surveillance, patents, and proposals for integrating bodies with networks. These examples are presented as possible precursors, not as proof that a specific present technology is already the biblical mark.
Chronological teaching outline
Select a section heading to play the sermon from that moment.
Odle introduces Revelation 13’s prohibition on buying and selling without the mark and asks what practical system could enforce it. He frames current identification technology as preparatory infrastructure while distinguishing preparation from the final act of beast worship.
Workplace RFID implants are examined as keys, payment credentials, and health-data carriers. Odle notes that familiarity and convenience can reduce public resistance to placing persistent identifiers inside the body.
The discussion expands to the Internet of Things and Internet of Bodies, where devices continuously connect people to networks. Odle warns that health benefits and smart-city services could be joined to surveillance and centralized permission.
Microscopic tags and laser-etched identifiers are shown as technologies capable of carrying unique numbers. The engineering explanation is used to argue that future marking need not resemble a visible tattoo or large implant.
Odle plays an old interview in which a political figure recounts alleged conversations with the Rockefellers about population and control. The account is retained as the sermon’s evidence but remains an unverified allegation by the interviewee.
Research associated with DARPA and portable sensing systems leads into discussion of advanced tracking and identification. Odle argues that military or medical innovation can later be adapted for comprehensive civilian control.
The history of Verichip and successor technologies illustrates that a company can disappear while the underlying idea continues. Manufacturing footage and technical descriptions are used to show how small devices can be encoded and implanted.
Cashless initiatives in India and elsewhere are presented as steps toward an economy in which participation depends on digital identity. Odle compares the coming legal pressure with Daniel’s companions, who accepted punishment rather than obey an idolatrous decree.
The lesson places economic enforcement within a larger scenario involving the Antichrist, false prophet, Israel, and a negotiated Temple Mount arrangement. Odle speculates about the qualifications of a leader able to gain trust across Muslim, Jewish, European, and UN constituencies.
Odle considers Muslim commentary on 666 and the reversal of biblical categories he sees in Islamic eschatology. He closes by urging believers to recognize the spiritual worship demanded by the mark and to choose faithfulness to Jesus over survival.
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Lightly edited for readability while preserving the speaker’s meaning and substantive statements.
- 0:00:11
Okay, good morning everyone. We'd welcome our students, Fire and Grace School of Ministry students out there watching and those who will be watching. This is our second semester class, our eschatology block I should say, and this is eschatology class number 10 or week 10 here in our, I think we have 15 week semester set up this year. That may change in years to follow but right now it's been on 15 weeks. But today in eschatology we are going to get into the subject of the mark of the beast and I have quite a bit of stuff to cover. So this is the mark of the beast and we're going to look at the scriptures on this subject of course and we're going to look at what I believe it to be. Now I know there's a lot of people out there who have a lot of different ideas of what they think the mark of the beast is but I do believe that it is some form of implanted microchip, some form of technology, whether it ends up being the RFID chip or not, but I think that it will be part of what is called the mark of the beast. So without laboring the point here let's dig into this. Again the mark of the beast. I just have a little picture there. We'll be delving into all this here in a minute but let's look at the scripture passage Revelation 13 16 through 18 should be familiar to everyone. We're gonna break it down this morning quite a bit. The mark of the beast says here Revelation 13 16 through 18 and he causes all both small and great rich and poor free and bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads 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 600 3 score and 6 or 666 666. All right so we're going to continue on here. This is going into the next chapter of Revelation and this is why this is so very very important. This is a salvation issue. All right if you take the mark of the beast I don't care who you are if you're a Christian non-christian lukewarm Christian anywhere in between if you take the mark of the beast you are damned you are lost forever you go to hell and the smoke of your torment it will ascend up day and night forever. We have big ministries out there like John MacArthur his grace to you guy Calvinist guy wrote charismatic chaos hates the gifts of the Holy Spirit he's a staunch five-point Calvinist has what is his school masters college or something like that anyway John MacArthur has
- 0:03:13
taught that you can still you can take the mark of the beast if you're a Christian and still be saved sorry wrong and dangerous doctrine because let's go back to our verse here this is what Revelation 14 9 through 12 says and the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice if any man say any man if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever and they have no rest day nor night who worshiped the beast and his image and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name here is the patience of the saints here are they that keep the commandments of God new covenant commandments of God and the faith of Jesus this is so important I'm going to read it again this should be memorized this is why I frequently talk about the mark of the beast because I do believe we are in the last of the last days and of course eschatology means the study of final things in time things but this is as in time as you get here both the Antichrist the mark of the beast and the eternal destiny of souls who take the mark of the beast and this goes for any man and remember we're warned in first Peter 4 Peter warned that in the last days many will depart from the faith giving he to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils so we're warned there's gonna be an apostasy we're warned in second Thessalonians chapter 2 that there would be a falling away an apostasy first and then the man of sin would be revealed so we're going to see people depart from the faith but I want to read this again Revelation 14 9 through 12 I cannot emphasize this enough dear students this one is so so important so Revelation 14 9 through 12 and the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice why do you think he's saying it with a loud voice it's important you better hear this listen up if any man worshiped the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever and they have no rest their night there's no annihilation there's no getting out of hell it is eternal punishment eternal damnation eternal separation from God
- 0:06:19
he says here that these people take the mark of the beast will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels in the presence of the lamb and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up and that is present tense Greek verb forever and ever and they have no rest date or night who worshiped the beast and his image and who's over received with the mark of his name here is the patience of the saints and the word patience means why you should endure why you should suffer through whatever you got to suffer through in fact the definition of patience means suffering long without complaint so he's saying here you should be willing to suffer whatever you have to suffer whatever you got to do don't take this mark don't disobey God this is a denial and a rejection of Jesus Christ and his word the Bible says here's the patience of the saints here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus so vitally important issue that should be taught on frequently by pastors and ministers of the gospel and should be shared by all Christians to everyone possible this is what the RFID chip looks like I'm going to talk more about this why I do think this will be part of the mark of the beast not the full thing this is just going to be the technology I believe they use but you notice people are implant implanting it in their right hand here but that gives you a little idea of the size of it the tissue bonding cap the antenna the chip inside is a silicone microchip that we'll talk about more in a moment let's get into this here's some recent articles I wanted to show something this is from September 21st 2018 why and this is the Atlantic why you're probably getting a microchip implant someday microchip implants are going from tech geek novelty to genuine health tool and you might be running out of good reasons to say no all right can you believe that now we're going to go through this article because I want everybody to see it you can look it up for yourself but it says when Patrick McMullen first heard in early 2017 that thousands of Swedish citizens were unlocking their car doors and turning on coffee machines with a wave of their palm he wasn't too impressed sure the technology a millimeter long microchip equipped with a near field communication capabilities and lodged just under the skin had a niche cutting edge appeal but in practical terms a fob or passcode would work just as well well in a 20 year old veteran of the tech industry wanted to do one better to find use for an implantable microchips that was genuinely functional not just abstractly nifty in July 2017 news cameras watches more
- 0:09:22
than 50 employees at three square market the vending solutions company where McMullen is president voluntarily received chip implants of their own rather than a simple scan to function process like most of the Sweden's chip use the chips and readers around three square market River Falls Wisconsin office were all part of a multi-stage feedback network for example your chip could let's continue anyway I think I skipped down but he said the problem McMullen's chips cleverly solve is relatively small scale but it's still a problem and any potential new use case represents a significant step forward for a chip evangelist like him as with most technologies the tipping point for implantable chips will come when they become so useful they're hard to refuse it could happen sooner than you think in September 2017 three square market launched an offshoot three square chip that is developing the next generation of commercial microchips with a slew of originative health features that could serve as the best argument yet that chip microchips benefits can outweigh our anxieties about them though new to the American workplace in this implantable form radio frequency identification RFID technology has been around for decades and has been considered secure enough for commonplace use RFID ear tags are used to register almost all farm and ranch livestock with the US national animal identification system in Australia the system is mandatory if you've checked luggage on a Delta Airlines flight you can think RFID luggage tags for the fact that your bag arrived at the same destination you did and you probably already have personal RFID chip that goes everywhere with you in your credit card so don't tell me that this is not being integrated big time into our daily lives and that it's important to these people this is here but of course the fear surrounding the RFID implants has little to do with RFID itself and everything to do with implantation American pets safely receive RFID implants without complication every day even so many of their owners would cite something akin to safety as a reason not to get one of their own when a company called very chip developed its own healthcare oriented microchip implants in the early I guess they meant 80s here its research indicated that 90% of Americans were uncomfortable with the technology the company got FDA approval for its devices in 2004 but folded just three years later in large part due to studies that suggested a potential link between RFID transponders and cancer in lab animals now let's remember this cancer ulcer sore problem here let's remember that that the RFID
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