Moving to an Entirely Cashless Society
Moving to an Entirely Cashless Society
By Nathan Jones
Will the world soon become entirely cashless?
Our special guest on Christ in Prophecy, Dr. Mark Hitchcock, answers that amazing prophetic question. Mark was a lawyer who felt called by the Lord to give up his legal career and enter into full-time ministry, so he enrolled in Dallas Theological Seminary. Since 1991, he has been the Senior Pastor of Faith Bible Church in Edmond, Oklahoma. Mark’s published many books related to Bible prophecy, including one of his best titled The Amazing Claims of Bible Prophecy: What You Need to Know in These Uncertain Times.
Mark has written another whole book on the coming cashless society. For years he has been warning us that cell phones will most likely play a part in the Mark of the Beast. He points out that people today just can’t live without their cell phones. People are buying now solely via their mobile devices. Society is leaving cash behind. But, does that mean that in the end times the Bible predicts the world will go entirely cashless?
Moving to an Entirely Cashless Society
Mark Hitchcock: Bear in mind the Bible never directly says the world is going to become a cashless society. But, there are clues. The entry point for this idea can be found in Revelation 13. This chapter talks about a Beast, who is also called the Antichrist, and he will become the final human world ruler. The chapter reveals that no one under his rule will be able to buy or sell unless they take his mark, which is either his name or number involving 666 placed on their right hand or forehead.
Stop and think about that fact for a moment. If there’s cash, people will be able to purchase on the black market. The only way a person could control all of global commerce is by instituting some sort of cashless society. I think since the Antichrist is going to control world commerce, that indicates to us that he’s going to be able to control it through a cashless system.
And, that’s basically where we are going. Literally everybody I know under 30 doesn’t ever carry money. I’ll be buying gas, and I pay cash for everything, but look over and they’ll be buying something that is just $3, but they don’t have cash for it. So, it’s interesting with the younger generation, that’s the way they purchase. Millennials are already cashless really in many ways.
Many very practical reasons exist for going cashless. For one, electronic cash prevents counterfeiting. Just think of all the disease that comes from handling money. Without cash the government can dry up the funding for the drug trade. So, there’s all kinds of logical reasons for going cashless.
The main reason the world will become cashless is because it allows one man to control the entire world’s economy. Nobody can buy or sell unless they give homage to the Antichrist. To control people, he’s going to have to institute some type of electronic system in order to control their money, and therefore their basic necessities. And again, that system is the very system we today are moving towards, and moving towards very, very rapidly.
Many people speculate that the Mark could either involve a microchip, or a tattoo, or both. A tattoo would make sense because the Apostle John could see it in order to describe it. The Mark was visibly on the skin, rather than in the skin. Tied to an electronic system, the Antichrist then could cut off people’s money supply with just the push of a button, and that person would starve. A cashless system almost guarantees obedience. Today we live in such a time period when the technology is there to actually make this Mark happen.
How would the Mark system work? With phones possibly. Your phone even now is your gateway to ecommerce. Your thumb print can go along with that for security, or something else that identifies you, such as an iris scan. Biometrics help make sure that the person who’s got the phone is the owner. Now almost everything can be done from a smart phone.
I remember years ago when I was traveling on Southwest Airlines for the first time. Southwest Airlines boasted they had become cashless. Cashless is where all facets of society are definitely headed.
Again, the Bible never says there is going to be a cashless society, but it says one man is going to dominate and rule over the entire world economy, and no one can buy or sell without taking his mark. I think that situation mandates some kind of a system that can be utterly controlled. And, it’s not even hard to imagine, for we are seeing this very thing happening right before our very eyes.
The Mark of the Beast Today
But, I can assure people that there is no way that they can take the Mark of the Beast today? So many people are terrified that they might accidentally get chipped and take the Mark of the Beast. Nobody has to worry about accidentally taking the Mark of the Beast, because, first of all, we’re not in the Tribulation period yet. The Antichrist is not here ruling. We don’t even know who the Antichrist is.
Another thing is, people when they take the Mark of the Beast will only be accepting it voluntarily. By taking it, they are going to be giving homage to the Antichrist. So, nobody can accidentally take the Mark of the Beast. And, nothing today is the Mark of the Beast, because the Antichrist isn’t here yet. We’re not living in the Tribulation period. We just cannot take the Mark at this time, either on purpose or accidentally.
Think about how good technology has been for mankind. Technology isn’t inherently evil. Technology isn’t evil, it is just how it’s going to be applied in the future for ill purposes that technology becomes a problem. Even a national ID card would provide convenience. We shouldn’t be paranoid thinking that every technology that comes along is leading to the Mark. No technology we see today is the Mark of the Beast, so people can relax about it.
So, please, don’t be worried about accidentally taking the Mark of the Beast, because you can’t. The Mark won’t even be instituted until the middle of the Tribulation, halfway in, and Christians will be raptured out long beforehand.