To ask what is the mark of the beast?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

I've noticed references popping up to this on a few threads here and am confused - one on a Madonna thread the other on a conversation about microchipping people, something to do with an 'end of days' scenario.

Having never studied or read the Bible I only have the vaguest idea of what it is - but why is it being drawn on now with regards to technology?

I thought it was part of a Biblical story, so obviously something very religious folk would be concerned with, especially those who believe the end of the world is nigh. But I really don't get why it is popping up randomly in conversations about other stuff?

Maybe that's why Americans were so reluctant to embrace chip and pin. Though they have chipped cards now.

Its related to the 5 families that control the world supposedly. www.google.com/amp/s/www.beyondsciencetv.com/2017/07/13/5-families-that-control-the-world/amp/

The next stage of the plan is fake an alien invasion to cause mass panic and thats when the new world order or one world government will start. Also monster energy drinks are supposedly satantic.

I am not a believer in all of this but I like conspiracy podcasts and find it interesting.

Does anyone remember the film The Omen?

Hell, yeah

Didn't La Hurley name her son Damien as a swipe at the ex?

Also monster energy drinks are supposedly satantic

Would not surprise me

My brother thinks that green food is the work of the devil

Maybe that's why Americans were so reluctant to embrace chip and pin.

More because US banks tend to be local - unlike in the UK. So much harder to work together to implement something like a Switch network. Or so I was told when I asked if they also used quills, ink and wax seals for writing checks ....

The next stage of the plan is fake an alien invasion to cause mass panic and thats when the new world order or one world government will start. Also monster energy drinks are supposedly satantic.

Yikes. Where does anyone find the energy and motivation to even want to set up a new world order? I mean, why would you bother, if you're already super rich and powerful?

To be fair monster drinks probably are not at all good for anyone.

My daughters DOB is 06.06.06 but I dont believe in the devil lol

Don't all bar codes contain the three lines which each correspond to the number 6, so 666 is in every bar code?
(Disclaimer - my DH said he read it somewhere so I have no idea if it's true!)

Ds1 had a tiny red birthmark on the back of his neck

I was fairly positive that if i got a magnifying glass it would read 666

I might check him next time he comes home

socks and sandals?

"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, 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."

Can be interpreted as anything but often as microchips in the body for contactless payments

16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 and 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. 18 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 Six hundred threescore and six.

The above is from The King James Version, it varies a little bit from each version. It is from Revelations chapter 13, verses 16 to 18. The whole of Revelations is about a dream that John had, and in the dream he was told to deliver the message to “ the 7 churches” . The Beast part is only a tiny part of the Revelation, but many people sort of focus in on that part, and ignore the rest.

I am a Christian and have attended churches regularly for the 10 years or so. Never ever heard anything about the mark of the beast. I guess all groups have their odd/extremist members so perhaps it's from a strange evangelical (date I say possibly American) Christian group. It's certainly not mainstream.
Only reference to Satan I have ever heard at church is more of a symbolic sign of evil. I definitely believe there is evil in this world.
It's tricky as a lot of the Bible is allegory, or written specifically for the culture of the time, and things have been changed so much in translation.

Don't all bar codes contain the three lines which each correspond to the number 6, so 666 is in every bar code?
(Disclaimer - my DH said he read it somewhere so I have no idea if it's true!)

I just knew someone would post this. In a normal EAN or UPC Barcode ( the two most common varieties) you can “sort of” translate the beginning, middle and end part of the Barcode as “666”. To do this however, you would have to translate these parts of the barcode in a totally different way to the rest of the barcode, and sort of squint a bit, lean to the left, and totally disregard mathematics. It’s a bit like people thinking there are hidden messages in Beatles records if you play them backwards.

You don't have to be even broadly Christian to be a mason - you don't even have to profess a belief in God, just acknowledge that there could be a higher spiritual being, whatever you choose to call it/him/her.

Surely every iron maiden fan knows this one😁.

This is from part of the New Testament, The Book of Revelations of St John the Divine. Some christians believe it to be a book of prophecy predicting the End of Days when Armageddon, the last battle, will end everything, Christ will rise again and usher in a new era of peace and love for those who have been "Saved". For centuries people have interpreted current events as fulfilling the prophecies. As times have changed, different signifiers have been chosen. Currently, technology's the thing. Effectively there's always a cult or sect ready to prove we're all doomed and why, here's the 'proof.' The internet, home of paranoid delusion, has spread and distorted these beliefs and they're beloved of American conspiracy theorists. So the mark of the beast is whatever its decided it is at the time.

and 668 is the neighbour of the Beast.

@DGRossetti thank you for making me laugh out loud

Monster energy drinks are definitely the work of Satan. The hallucinations and jitters from that amount of caffeine are insane.

Not too sure that the mark of the beast is important, either the Bible is literal or it isn't. Either option makes very little sense if you also have to make the rest literal or make it allegorical.

O forgot, the Beast is the AntiChrist, both human and Devil as in film TheOmen, or Rosemary's Baby.

This video explains why Monster are devil worshippers.

I always thought Revelation was the product of someone who had spent too much time eating hallucinogenic mushrooms in the desert. Or, as we were taught in New Testament (not to be confused with New Testament Greek, which was an entirely different form of torture) that it was a metaphor for Nero's persecution of the Christians in the 60s (CE). Which does broadly fit with the dates of St John the Divine.

As an Anglican, though, I have never encountered it in Bible Study - Revelation tends to be preferred by the Evos and more excitable parts of the church . I'm quite High, but even we don't get to talk about the juicy bits

666
biblehub.com/revelation/13-18.htm

there were 4 horses, also. The fourth was a pale horse, hence the (allegorical) Clint Eastwood film "Pale Rider". (although Pale Rider was also clearly a rip-off (homage) of Shane)
biblehub.com/revelation/6-8.htm

www (world wide web) - is also correlated with 666. Spooky, eh?

www.av1611.org/666/www_666.html

Agree Hefzi, it's not a CofE thing really is it? I once spent an afternoon sitting between a 7th Day Adventist and a Muslim, lecturer gone awol. My companions were talking about shared beliefs they had in common. End Times, Armageddon, Rapture etc. I was very surprised and came away far more informed than previously.