Is It Finally Here?
Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 03:23PM 
Christians are having a fit over the "Real ID Card." To no one's surprise, some are claiming this is the dreaded "mark of the beast." According to an article on STLtoday.com (Click here: STLtoday - News - St. Louis City / County) . . .
"Several evangelical Christian groups say the federal Real ID Act, which will standardize state drivers licenses and link them to corresponding national ID numbers by 2009, represents the `mark of the beast,' the devilish number 666 that is attached to the godless. The nearly 2,000-year-old passage is referenced along with the prophetic locusts, plagues, oceans of blood and rivers of fire found in the Bible. Soon after, according to scripture, the antichrist takes control of the world and Jesus Christ returns. In short, new national ID numbers could spell the beginning of the end, some Christians believe `This is getting treacherously close to prophecy in the scripture,' said Irvin Baxter Jr., founder and president of Endtime Ministries in Dallas. And some Missouri legislators are listening. Some Christians interpret verses from the book of Revelation that say humans will be `marked … so that no one can buy or sell who does not have that mark' as a prophecy of a global numerical control system to be used by the beast, or antichrist. The number would be used during the Great Tribulation, which some Christians believe will precede the second coming of Jesus. State Rep. Jim Guest, a frequent participant on Baxter's radio show, is sponsoring a bill that would exempt the state from complying with the federal law. The Missouri House overwhelmingly approved Guest's bill last Thursday, 146-4. It has moved to the Senate for consideration. Guest, a Republican from King City in northeastern Missouri, said his main reservation with the program was its potential for `Big Brother-like' abuses. `We could be tracked by machines everywhere we go,' said Guest, referring to provisions that require `machine-readable' technology in the ID cards. `This could signal the death of individual freedoms and rights.'"
Christians have worried about social security, credit cards, product ID#'s and bar codes when they were first introduced--rarely ever thinking to ask "just what is the theological significance of the mark?" Meanwhile, the implications of such cards upon civil liberties should be given careful consideration even apart from end-times nuttiness. You gotta love the prophecy pundits--sometimes they warn us about the right stuff (the loss of personal liberties) for all the wrong reasons (misunderstanding the Book of Revelation).
Come to think of it, given the crappy rate of return the government gives me back on all that money I paid into social security, that can only be the work of Satan!
Reader Comments (21)
zrim "
I'm not quite sure. Obeying totalitarian hate speech laws clearly contradicts the great commission. Canada is now persecuting Christians for evangelizing, and Australia banned the insulting of religious figures (Mohammed) in one of its provinces.
The problem with his view is, it can be used as a pretext for doing all sorts of things. I'm not sure if it's even his view or if he's just trying to generate discussion.