For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.
Last month I highlighted a Crown Ministries piece on how we're becoming a cashless society when I asked How Much Cash Do You Use? In that case, the question and post centered around the practical day-to-day side of using or not using cash. But for knowledgeable Christians, the promise of a "cashless society" often brings about fear mixed with hope.
Before we get to why, here's a summary of what Crown said:
The world is moving towards a financial system that doesn’t use currency. More people are using debit and credit cards. The day will come when using cash is unusual to make purchases.
The practical threat to Christians is the invasion of their privacy. Every electronic transaction is recorded and can be traced. Technology isn’t evil, but evil people can use technology for evil purposes. It could be used to identify and persecute Christians.
The Bible tells us not to be fearful about the end times. We must trust in God; our faith is in Him. We don’t have control over changing technology. We need to be alert and aware of what’s going on.
Ethan uses modern technology to make online purchases and pay bills online. He uses a debit card and doesn’t see a problem with the technology. We just need to be aware that it could be misused in the future.
We can’t stop what’s going to take place. The U.S. and the world is becoming a cashless society. We need to adapt to it and be cautious. Scripture says no one knows when the end will come but we’re in the end times.
Be on guard, but don’t be alarmed until a mark is required on your forehead or your right hand to be able to buy and sell. Man’s economy will one day be controlled by the anti-Christ and Satan.
This is a sobering topic. Most of us are using less cash, more electronic transactions. What’s happening is bigger than us, and it can make you feel powerless. As Ethan said, we need to be aware of what’s going on but not alarmed about it. We need to be prepared, but not panic because God is sovereign. We can’t prevent the end times, we can only discern them.
Ok, so those of you not familiar with the Bible may be thinking, "What the Sam Perkins is he talking about?"
Let me attempt to translate.
In the book of Revelation (last book in the Bible), it discusses the "end times" -- the time when the world goes to the dogs and ultimately Christ returns to earth. Unfortunately, there's a lot of the former before the latter. And for Christians there's an especially horrible financially related event -- because they are Christians and refuse to accept the "mark of the beast", they will not be allowed to buy and sell anything.
Here are some of the verses that are related to this topic:
Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. Revelation 13:11-17
Granted, Revelation is filled with symbolism and is difficult to read and decipher (even tougher than most books of the Bible), and many different denominations disagree on what the book says, means, etc. But it's pretty clear that this passage predicts that there will be some way to control the general population based on allowing or not allowing people to buy and sell.
How can this happen? In the past, it seemed like impossibility. But if everything is electronic and "the system" is subject to control by anyone (as with a cashless society), then how it could happen seems to be much more possible. And if it does and you're not one of those who can buy or sell, things get tough pretty quickly. Imagine not being able to buy food, clothing, shelter, and on and on.
I'm not saying this will happen soon, that anyone should be panicked, that a cashless society is necessarily bad, that an underground monetary system wouldn't pop up in this scenario, and so on. All I'm doing is drawing the line between what the Bible says and how it happening seems much more reasonable in light of the cashless society conversation. I figured that both Christians and non-Christians would be interested in the topic -- the former to weigh in on their beliefs and the latter at least curious enough to know something that others believe might happen.
And now I'll let all of you discuss the issue in the comments...
*Yawn* run-of=-the-mill scare-mongering. That "Don't be alarmed, but..." is just so classic!
I thought that the "mark of the beast" to buy and sell thing already happened to Jews during the Holocaust.
Also, I don't see why a cashless society is likely to be more dangerous for Christians than one that uses cash for everything. All merchants have always kept records of what they buy and sell and usually the names of people they sell to as well. You should check out the account books from the American Colonies or Napoleonic France--complete records of everything have survived in many cases to the present day--without credit or debit cards.
Christians need to focus on what they do every day, not obsess about the financial system.
Posted by: KH | March 07, 2010 at 08:12 AM
Christians should not fear if they truly put their trust in the Lord. Another way to clearly see that the world is heading toward the end times. No-one will know the date or time, but we will know what to expect during the the final days. Fear or hope, you decide.
Thanks for the article! The more truth we gain by reading and referring to His love letter to us all, the more comfort we take away.
Posted by: BibleDebt | March 07, 2010 at 10:00 AM
My grandfather was an old-time hellstone and brimfire preacher. In the early 80's I recall reading a brochure at his house about how credit cards were in fact "the mark of the beast" and a tool of the devil. Which of course we now know to be true.
Posted by: Christos Alanne | March 07, 2010 at 10:15 AM
Are there really people out there who believe electronic funds transfers are a tool of the Devil and a sign of impending doom? That's amazing.
Posted by: Funny about Money | March 07, 2010 at 10:19 AM
The way I understand it … The sign of God: "I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Ezekiel 20:12. God's sign, the Sabbath, represents His holy power to rule as Creator and Saviour. It is His seal, or mark of authority. Since the symbol, or mark, of God's authority and power is His holy Sabbath day, it seems likely that the symbol, or mark, of God's challenger--the beast--might also involve a holy day. From the Catholic catechism: “We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday." Here is another Catholic statement: "The Church is above the Bible; and this transference of Sabbath observance from Saturday to Sunday is proof positive of that fact." Choosing to obey the laws of the papacy (Sunday) rather than the laws of God (Sabbath) will leave you with the mark of beast.
Posted by: stoihi | March 07, 2010 at 11:30 AM
Being and older guy I read this book in the bible as a kid. I never thought it possible not to be able to do commerce without a mark on your forehead. As we are painfully aware that could happen in a few years.
Posted by: Daddy Paul | March 07, 2010 at 06:04 PM
stoihi,
its generally considered polite to provide actual citations for your quotations.
On the substance of your post-
The Sabbath is just one of many 'signs' between God and humanity. The Exodus is a sign, the Passover is a sign, Isaac's birth was a sign, the Holy Spirit is a sign, and most of all, Jesus' life, death and resurrection is a sign. To say that the Sabbath is the greatest of the signs belies Jesus' teaching that the Sabbath was created for humanity, not humanity for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27), and his consistent teaching that the focus on the Sabbath in the 1st century was missing the mark-that rather concern for justice mercy and faithfulness was the core of our relationship to God and each other (Matthew 23). Since the Sabbath is simply a regular remembrance of God's loving work in creation, I confess I have trouble getting worked up about which day it is celebrated-either Saturday, Sunday, or Thursday for that manner.
Also, while I notice the move towards electronic money which does get my privacy concerns going, (think about FMF's post on how many different ways our credit and finance are tracked and its just mind-blowing what corporations can do, and I'm equally weirded out by what humans can do to each other-http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Human-t.html) I'm with FMF, that I'm happy to engage in black market commerce if it becomes ethically troubling to work within the law. And if we want a little bit more of a metaphorical interpretation of Revelation, Wikepedia (I'm feeling lazy, and they do a good job here) has a nice summery:
"New Testament scholar Craig C. Hill, a Methodist, says, "It is far more probable that the mark symbolizes the all-embracing economic power of Rome, who's very coinage bore the emperor's image and conveyed his claims to divinity (e.g., by including the sun's rays in the ruler's portrait). It had become increasingly difficult for Christians to function in a world in which public life, including the economic life of the trade guilds, required participation in idolatry."...The verse is also seen as making a pointed ironical contrast with the Jewish institution of tefillin – bible texts worn bound to the arm and the forehead during daily prayer. Instead of binding their allegiance to God to their arm and head, the place is instead taken with people's allegiance to the Beast.
Posted by: StL Pastor | March 07, 2010 at 09:05 PM
StL. Pastor,
I know it is considered polite to provide actual citations... I was in a hurry, but here they are:
The first quotation: Peter Geiermann, The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (St. Louis, B. Herder Book Co., 1957 ed.), p. 50.
The second quotation: The Catholic Record (London, Ontario, Canada, Sept. 1, 1923).
A seal is what makes a document official, and it normally contains three characteristics: Name, Office, and Territory. An example would be "Cyrus king of Persia" in Ezra 1:1. The fourth commandment is the only one that contains all three elements of a seal: (1) "The Lord"--His name, (2) "made"--His office as Creator, (3) "heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is"--His territory.
Posted by: stoihi | March 07, 2010 at 10:22 PM
First, it was Bill Gates and the Microsoft logo being the 666 sign. And now this?
Posted by: FM | March 08, 2010 at 01:14 AM
Why is it that non-belivers have to belittle or mock Christian beliefs? For whatever the reason, we are moving to a cashless society and that should concern everyone. You don't have to be religious to want privacy.
Posted by: CC | March 08, 2010 at 09:39 AM
I find it amazing that Crown says that no one knows when the end will come, yet they can say we're in the end times. If they don't know when the end is, how can they be sure we're in the end times? Ah yes, it's that pre-millenial crap that is taught in some Christian circles that takes all the symbolism in Revelation and tries to pinpoint the end times. Do you really think that God would dangle this "riddle" called Revelation in front of us to give Christians something to do, rather than preaching the gospel and changing lives?
I am a Christian and I can honestly say I believe the Bible when it says "no one knows the hour". I take that at face value. I also am wary of "false prophets" who try to pinpoint the end times through various interpretations of Revelation.
Posted by: mikegardner64 | March 08, 2010 at 10:10 AM
Hey stoihi, thanks for continuing the conversation.
I think its worth noting that the Catholic Record is not an official teaching organ of the Catholic Church, and after having read the article in question, the quotation you cite seems to be the commentary of a single Catholic bishop, I'm not sure its fair to paint all Catholics with that brush.
But you are certainly right that the Catholic church believes that tradition sometimes supersedes the Biblical text, as the Holy Spirit continues to work in the world and in particular in the church.
I'm not sure I agree with your interpretation of a 'seal' and how it applies to the Ten commandments. Using your language, it is clear that "YHWH" is God's name, and "Your God" is his title and 'made heaven and earth' or 'brought you out of the Land of Egypt' or 'God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob' are the distinguishing characteristics (e.g. territory) of YHWH, the God in question.
It seems like a stretch to read the mention of creation in only one of the two lists of the ten commandments (the Deuteronomy 5 passage says nothing about creation in regards to the Sabbath) as a particular highlight to that commandment, or to apply a common Near Eastern tactic of kings to YHWH's self referential style and draw major theological conclusions about important commandments. This is particularly true because Jesus himself has already highlighted the commandments to love God and to love neighbor as the greatest commandments.
Posted by: StL Pastor | March 08, 2010 at 10:51 AM
I have Jesus and my guns to support him if need be! :)
I'll put the mark of the beast on their foreheads if they'd like!
Posted by: Hmmm | March 08, 2010 at 01:56 PM
Why would a Christian care about physical markings when their soul is whats at stake?
Posted by: Brandon | March 08, 2010 at 03:23 PM
I agree with Mike. "Scripture says no one knows when the end will come but we’re in the end times" is a ridiculous statement. There have been generations and generations of Christians who have said "I know the end times will happen during my lifetime." Personally, I think focusing on something like this (the end times) is just silly, and a poor use of the time and talents that God has given us.
Credit cards are not the mark of the beast. I think the real clue that the end times are here is when we are all forced to worship something and if we don't worship it, we are killed. According to the quotation you copied here, FMF, that would happen before the mark of the beast would be applied. So, I won't have to worry about the mark of the beast because I will already have been killed by the time those are given out.
Posted by: spivey | March 08, 2010 at 09:50 PM
The 'mark of the beast' (a visible mark on one's forehead or hand?) could be used as a requirement for buying and selling even in a pure cash society -- unless you could show your mark, noone would buy from you or sell to you. No need for electronic identification at all.
As a Christian, and an information technology professional developing software for buying/selling in the marketplace, I don't think there's any more danger of social or governmental control over our buying and selling with electronic payment systems than there is with paper money or coinage. Or paper checks and money orders. All of the systems I've worked with are designed to ensure privacy and anonymity where it matters.
Any hype over this ought to be compared to the "Y2K" scare of 10 years ago -- many people who don't understand information technology believe it is this powerful, centrally controlled system that itself controls everything else. Not so. Shoot - I can attest that it can be difficult to get two or three different electronic systems to share information reliably, much less the thousands of systems that exist out there.
I wasn't worried in 1999, and I'm not going to worry about this now....
Posted by: Rob | March 10, 2010 at 09:50 AM
Even with cash, this can happen, its quite simple the government controls and prints cash, look at North Korea banning currency ,or if one prints too much money it becomes worthless paper, electronic payments are usually not visible, one would not need a "mark rather an invisible barcode".
In a non-electronic society , a mark is more likely, think of North Korea forcing its citizens to wear a mark and its army inspecting and observing stores to make sure they have the mark.
The mark doesn't have to be visible it could be a mandate for a certain style or characteristic which doesn't have anything to do with electronics.
By the way countries tend to limit technology and electronics in most third world countries under dictatorships due to fear of global ization and spread of influence
Posted by: Factcheck | March 22, 2010 at 01:16 PM
WAKE UP IDIOTS.. THE MARK IS YOUR SS NUMBER.. EVERYONE HAS ONE... THE END IS COMING.. BUT THE END OF WHAT.. IS THE QUESTION
Posted by: JUST LURKING | January 01, 2011 at 07:42 AM
Today is February 7, 2011. There is, to this day, no legislation in the works to turn the US into a cashless economy, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. In fact, it would be easier to make the transition under extreme duress, simply by inducing panic with a phony crisis. Simply throw the economy into a major tailspin by causing panic on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, employers will lay off millions, the dollar devalues to a fraction of what it was a week before the crisis ensued and the people and their reps in Congress will go along with any solution the rich, powerful bankers offer up. Just remember how easy it was to shake down Congress during an election year for $700 billion for the big banks on Wall Street. A little fearmongering and they got what they wanted.
Today, all the physical elements for a cashless society are already in place. All that is needed is the right amount of economic calamity to get us accept it, to herd us all into that corral, where they'll brand us all.
I grew up in an atheist family, where anyone who dared explore a belief in God or Satan or even believe in UFOs would be branded a lunatic. My parents strictly forbade us bringing any religious books into the house, as they felt that the religious crowd were all nutcases who use religion as mind control. Then I started to read about our march toward a global economy and what the Book of Revelations says about it. Revelations was written at a time when it would have been impossible for any man or nation to rule the entire world. Today, it can happen. All the necessary elements are in place! And if it's possible, you can bet someone will try to pull it off. That made a believer out of me. But even if you aren't religious and still choose not to be, you should still be aware of the loss of privacy and your rights as a human being if we end up with a one world government and no cash to use as an alternative to the cashless paradigm that is to come.
Posted by: manicdrummer | February 07, 2011 at 03:43 PM
Just Lurking:
The only people that have a Social Security number are U.S. Citizens. Therefore, how could the entire world be controlled by that number? Also, it is assigned and therefore cannot be refused, as opposed to a physical "mark" on your hand (or forehead if you are and amputee).
I'd think again about your assessment and use of the caps lock when expressing your idiocy.
Posted by: MM | February 08, 2011 at 11:28 PM
The mark will buy goods and services in a cashless world, but it will not buy a block of ice or a glass of water in Hell.
Posted by: Harry | March 19, 2011 at 02:38 PM
I think that with the excuse being id theft we will be implanted with a microchip in our right hand or forehead that will identify us as we buy and sell. We already have them less than the size of a grain of rice to identify a lost pet.
Posted by: Anna | September 26, 2011 at 11:07 PM