Two weeks ago we spoke about the “end sign” of earthquakes that is covered in Matthew 24, and last week we covered “that knowledge will increase” from Daniel 12:1-4.  

This week – #8 is the Global Currency that we find in Revelation 13:16-17.  “It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.”  

Many believe that cryptocurrency will be the Antichrist money of choice.  The idea of a one-world currency is vaguely suggested in the Bible.  

Revelation 13:16–17 says that the Antichrist will require everyone to have the mark of the beast to engage in any financial transactions.  

It’s unknown what exactly this mark will be, but it’s entirely possible that some kind of cryptocurrency will be involved.  That would certainly be more efficient than printing and distributing a standardized physical currency all over the world.  

It’s possible that the mark of the beast will be what allows people to access the cryptocurrency in their virtual accounts. 

One man in Iceland has already implanted a chip in his hand to access his bitcoins.  The current popularity of bitcoin doesn’t mean that bitcoin will be the Antichrist’s one-world currency.  In fact, it probably won’t. Bitcoin is only one of over 1,000 different virtual currencies, including Litecoin, Ethereum, Zcash, Ripple, and Monero.  

It’s more likely that, if the Antichrist uses a form of cryptocurrency, it will be original, and more advanced than anything we have today.  

Today’s cryptocurrency is not a sign that the tribulation has begun or that the Antichrist is on the scene.  

In the tribulation, new Christians will refuse to receive the mark of the beast.  

If the mark is required to access cryptocurrency, tribulation saints who have that cryptocurrency will simply lose their money.  Experts admit that so far, getting humans to adopt microchip implants has been a struggle.  

But the marketing “tipping point” for implantable chips, will come when they become so useful, they will be hard to refuse.  Right now, thousands of people in countries like Germany and Sweden have already opted to get chipped for easier financial transactions.  

Sven Becker, head of “I am Robot,” tells Euronews that 2,000 to 3,500 people in Germany have implanted a microchip under their skin, as a substitute for key cards to the gym, office, and house.  

So, you might be asking yourself, “why would people do this knowing Gods word?”  

Well, unfortunately most people don’t know God’s word, and the people who make the chip are marketing such as bringing a digital identity to the real world, can have seemingly “magical” implications: rooms that automatically adjust the thermostat to your preference when you enter, cars that start your favorite radio station when you sit down, TVs that continue whatever show you were watching when you sit down in front of them, stores that use drones to deliver contents to your cart that you need while you shop, and so on.  

Don’t buy into the illusion or conveniences.  

God bless!  Can’t wait for His return.

 

Karen Y. Stevens is the founder of Orange County Christian Writers Guild