I like a good bit of technology, especially when it makes my life easier or more fun! At the same time I’m not a natural worrier. So when I received my first debit card with contactless technology I rejoiced. How easy was that to just tap the card rather than inserting and trying to remember which pin number goes with which card – no I don’t have the same number for all my cards!
In the same way, I grinned and nodded my head in appreciation when my kids told me that they would have to pay for snacks and school dinners with their thumb print. Then there are all the science fiction films where entry to buildings or payment for items is based on a retinal scan or some other biometric reading. Fun, fun, fun.
Yes I know that there are dangers in all of this. Our digital identities can be cloned, computers hacked, data sold or stolen. Even foreign governments may be secretly monitoring me through my phone’s technology. Perhaps I’m a bit too relaxed, even though I do take internet security fairly seriously.
To top it off, today’s passage always niggles at the back of my mind. I grew up with the understanding that this ‘mark of the beast’ would be some form of bar code imprinted on either your right hand or forehead and that Christians should resist this at all costs, even though it would mean you couldn’t legally buy or sell anything. With that scenario in mind, all the technological advances were leading inexorably to this fateful end. So BEWARE.
Today I’m not sure if I come to the same conclusion. We are told that if we were wise we would calculate the number of the beast. If we have a peek into chapter 14 we are told that the saints refused to be marked. Again it is another of those times where we are left with conjecture and questions as we read Revelation. While I seek to be wise and alert, I will enjoy technology as it advances.
KHCF Daily Bible Reading 