Link from my friend Adam. Citizens of the United States of America, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean will soon be able to travel between their respective countries carrying only an RFID card as proof of identification. The new card, which is expected to be rolled out by next April, is proposed to help cut queues at border controls and provide increased security by enabling the cardholder to be screened by computer. It will also pave the way for the introduction of electronic passports the following year. The card holds no biometric details of its owner, but contains only a unique identification number, which correlates with a record held on a computer database. Because of this fact, it is able to broadcast its radio code a lot further than electronic passports, and is less likely to be useful to thieves.

Quote: "What it will look like? Much like a driver's license. It will have a photo of you and printed information similar to what is on a passport: name, date and place of birth, gender and the card's issuance and expiration dates. A computer chip will be embedded in it.
What will be on the computer chip, and how will it work? The chip will contain only one piece of data: what the State Department calls "a unique identifying number that has meaning only inside the secure CBP [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] computer system." Border officials will use radio frequency identification, or RFID, scanners to "read" the chip at checkpoints, just as they do with chips on new passports. Unlike the chip on a passport booklet, which officials say has a range of 4 inches, the chip on a passport card will be readable from about 20 feet, said the State Department's Barrett. (Some critics contend that, with powerful enough equipment, the passport-booklet chip also can also be read from many feet away.)

According to the article, from January 31st the US government will start requiring proof of identification for US citizens wanting to cross state borders. Some US states are presently working on creating an RFID-enabled driving licence. The United Kingdom is working on its own RFID identification card scheme. Eventually governments around the world hope to move to solely to electronic means of personal identification. For the world it is a safer way of identifying people, but for Christians who believe that we are now living in the last days, it's a fundamental step towards the implementation of the Mark of the Beast. And as RFID becomes more and more commonplace, the idea of actually implanting these chips into the human body is now being seriously contemplated.

Quote: "Experiences of those who have experimented with embedded chips give some clues to how useful these could be for the masses. In one instance an American physician tried to study the medical legal, moral and privacy aspects of an embedded device. The implantation of a RFID chip in his upper right arm was a five minute painless procedure. There were no physical side effects like itching or changes in skin appearance. The implant enabled the physician to carry out routine functions without any hindrance and the chip was not detected by airport scanners or metal detectors, making live easy.

Of course there are problems to overcome. For this particular physician, his chip set off in-store alarms which operate on the same radio wavelength. The chips can also cause infections, and some research indicates that they may even cause cancerous tumours to form. There have also been reports that they are incompatible with MRI scanners, and there is a risk to those who have pace-makers fitted. Several US states have banned the compulsory implantation of humans with these chips, fearing the technology could be abused if companies decided to make it a requirement for employees to have them fitted. For example, security firms, banks and airports could all benefit from the technology. Some people are already demanding their children be fitted with the chips so as to prevent kidnappings, like that of Madeline McCann.

As we can see, we are now living in the days when the prophecy of the Mark of the Beast can be fulfilled. According to Scripture the False Prophet will be the one who will make the Mark compulsory (Revelation 13:6). And in the book of Revelation, accepting the Mark is also closely associated with the worship of the Beast. So I don't believe these electronic passports or VeriChips are the Mark of the Beast, but they may well be the prototype of it. The Bible strictly warns us that whoever accepts the Mark and worships the Antichrist will never have eternal life. You can look at that two different ways. Those that make a profession of salvation and yet accept the Mark were never genuinely saved to begin with. Or, those who are genuinely saved will never accept the Mark. Those who have accepted Christ for salvation are already sealed with God's Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), and we are identified with the Man who has the marks in His hands. No person on this earth or in heaven can ever take that away from us (John 10:28-29). Have you been sealed with God's Holy Spirit? Are you sealed unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30), when Christ comes to the air for His Church? Trust in Jesus Christ for salvation today.

Revelation 14:9-12
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Source LA Times, India Times