“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 13:16-17
When Patrick McMullan wants a Diet Dr Pepper while he’s at work, he pays for it with a wave of his hand. McMullan has a microchip implanted between his thumb and forefinger, and the vending machine immediately deducts money from his account. At his office, he’s one of dozens of employees who have been doing likewise since 2017.
McMullan is the president of Three Square Market, a technology company that provides self-service mini-markets to hospitals, hotels, and company break rooms. In August 2017, he became one of roughly 50 employees at its headquarters in River Falls, Wisconsin, who volunteered to have a chip injected into their hand.
The idea came about in early 2017 when he was on a business trip to Sweden—a country where some people are getting subcutaneous microchips to do things like entering secure buildings or booking train tickets. It’s one of the very few places where chip implants, which have been around for quite a while, have taken off in some fashion.
The chips he and his employees got are about the size of a very large grain of rice. They’re intended to make it a little easier to do things like get into the office, log on to computers, and buy food and drinks in the company cafeteria. Like many RFID chips, they are passive—they don’t have batteries, and instead get their power from an RFID reader when it requests data from the chip.
Steve Kassekert, vice president of finance, is so used to using his hand to pay for a soda at work that he was annoyed when the RFID reader on the vending machine went down a couple of months ago.
“It’s just become such a part of my routine,” he said.
Christians need to live by faith that only God will provide and not any implanted RFID chip. Today in prayer, ask the Lord for wisdom and fully give Him your heart this day.
“The seal of God marks out people belonging to him, and so for preservation for his kingdom. The mark of the beast similarly identifies men as his servants, and this mark they cannot live.” – G.R. Beasley-Murray
God’s Word: “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.” – Revelation 14:9-10
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