ginnyrose asked
Ginny,
There have been several precursors to the mark in the past.
Animals have been branded for millennia to identify one man's property from another. Slave owners branded or tattoed the men and women they sold. Thus, the mark could be a symbol of ownership.
Criminals and prisoners have been branded or tattoed on their foreheads, and even had their noses chopped off (or similar mutilations) so that, so long as they lived, they would be identified as a criminal. Thus, the mark could be a declaration of a man's unrighteousness or guilt.
The vast majority of companies the world over boast various "symbols" and "brand names" with which they mark their goods to make them more easily identifiable. As example one, the mark could denote the wearer as the property of another.
The nazis took it one step further and tattoed the arms of their concentration camp victims with serial numbers. This helped them identify one prisoner from another. The mark could be a method of identification.
Which brings me to birth certificates, SSN and SIN numbers we were issued from WWII to present.
[i]The first SSNs were issued by the Social Security Administration in November 1936 as part of [b]the New Deal[/b] Social Security program. By the end of 1937, over 37 million numbers had been issued.[citation needed]
Before 1986, people often did not have a Social Security number until the age of about 14, since they were used for income tracking purposes, and those under that age seldom had substantial income. In 1986, American taxation law was altered so that individuals over 5 years old without Social Security numbers could not be successfully claimed as dependents on tax returns; by 1990 the threshold was lowered to 1 year old[3], and was later abolished altogether. Since then, parents have often applied for Social Security numbers for their children soon after birth; today, it can be done on the application for a birth certificate[4].
[b]Social Security Cards up until the 1980s expressly stated the number and card were not to ever be used for identification purposes...[/b]
The original purpose of this number was to track individuals' accounts within the Social Security program. It has since come to be used as a unique identifier for individuals within the United States, although rare errors occur where duplicates do exist. [b]Employee records, patient records, student records, and credit records are sometimes indexed by Social Security number.[/b] The U.S. military has used the Social Security number as an identification number for the Army and Air Force since July 1, 1969, the Navy and Marine Corps since January 1, 1972, and the Coast Guard since October 1, 1974. [5]
Contrary to popular belief, there is no law requiring a U.S. citizen to apply for a Social Security number to live or work in the United States; however, it is required for parents to claim their children as tax dependents[6]. [b]Although some people do not have an SSN assigned to them, it is becoming ever increasingly difficult to engage in legitimate financial activities without one...[/b] (wikipedia)[/i]
Therefore, the mark could also be a permanant device or number that serves the same purpose as your SSN... with the added bonus that one can't forget it at home (being burned, etched, or implanted into one's accused flesh, and all).
Just imagine: all your medical and financial records, familial relations, religious affiliations, employment information, legal history, race, colour, hair, and eye, face, and DNA biometrics... all conveiniently accessible to anyone with the hardware to read your "number".
Imagine if all of Europe had these SSN cards (let alone implantible microchips) when Hitler ruled Germany! Just imagine it!
But, of course, this could never happen in America...
The Bible is replete with examples of men and women who fell from grace and lost their lives because [b]they surrendered their dominion over their own minds, bodies, and souls to another[/b].
Eve abdicated to Satan. Adam abdicated to Eve. Samson abdicated to Delilah. David abdicated to lust (via Bathsheba)... as did Solomon. Herod abdicated to Herodias' daughter. Judas abdicated to mammon.
Eve wanted to know. Adam wanted to make Eve happy. Samson wanted to get some nooky... as did David... as did Solomon... as did Herod. Judas wanted money.
These are all the examples I can drum up right now as I'm super tired. But my main point is that we in the West have abdicated our freedoms for security and creature comforts. We've all been assigned a number. We can't buy nor sell without it.
Did you know that a cobra can easily stand up and slither out of the baskets of the snake charmer? Or that it can jump four feet in the air? But then why does this deadly, venomous, wild animal stay within the confines of its foot tall basket?
Because it's well fed and comfortable.
Just like all the Israelites were comfortable as slaves in Egypt. Remember, they whined in the wilderness about how much they missed onions and garlic, T-bone steaks and chianti wines, Oprah Winfrey and Wheel of Fortune, Disney World and carribbean vacations, sports cars and SUVs, cell phones and IPods, hot water and flushing toilets and electricity enough to keep your fridge cold and your oven warm... and don't spare the oil...
All these comforts and more can be yours... so long as you have a number.
But beware when the Piper comes a callin'.
[b]"While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage."[/b] (II PET 2:19)
Please consider the following scriptures concerning the liberated children of God:
"[b]I[/b]] am the LORD thy God, which [b]have brought thee[/b] out of the land of Egypt, [b]out of the house of bondage.[/b] Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (EXO 20:2-5)
"Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to [b]let the oppressed go free[/b], and that ye [b]break every yoke[/b]? " (ISA 58:6)
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because [b]the LORD hath anointed me[/b] to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, [b]to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;[/b]" (ISA 61:1)
"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, [b]If ye continue in my word[/b], then are ye my disciples indeed; And [b]ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free[/b]. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, [b]Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.[/b] And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. [b]If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.[/b]"
"But as then [b]he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit[/b], even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, [b]we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.[/b]" (GAL 4:29-31)
[i][b]"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."[/b][/i] (GAL 5:1)
"Because [b]the creature[/b] itself also [b]shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.[/b]" (ROM 8:21)
Now consider the following scriptures on bondage:
"[b]Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image[/b], or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: [b]Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them[/b]: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;" (EXO 20:4-5)
"For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face..." (II COR 11:20)
edit: one more thing. This process is ingenious, slow, and methodical. It took war, economic calamity, and ensuing financial depression to persuade people to accept a number as identification instead of their personal name. The last three generations (at best) aren't aware of the change because it's happened so very slowly (like the frog in the pot), because their parents took a number, and everyone else did, too. They don't know anything different and probably can't envision a time before the number - and would probably be terrified at the prospect of how society got by without it for the previous several millennia.
My bet is that it will take an economic calmity or political and military upheaval on a grand scale to persuade people to take a number on or inside them... for the safety and welfare of the individual and the community, of course...
