Prophecy Update #511 – Let’s Face It

Dr. David Jeremiah said, “God didn’t include prophecy in the Bible to confuse us but to enlighten us. It’s important for our ears to hear it, for our mouths to proclaim it, and for the world to hear it.”

Each week we like to focus for a few minutes on Bible prophecy. For one thing, as Christians we are encouraged to understand the times in which we live, and act accordingly.

The apostle Paul encourages us that, “Another reason for right living is that you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for the coming of our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11 NLT).

By far the most well-known of the last days prophecies is what is commonly called “the mark of the beast.”

“Beast’ is one of many names for the world leader most commonly called the antichrist.
His “mark” refers to a time in the future Great Tribulation when he will demand everyone swear allegiance to him or be persecuted.

He will be able to carry-out his threat because everyone will be conducting business by something on or in their hand or forehead. Everyone will be identified, and transact all their business, by a personal and unique identifier.

It sounds a great deal like what we call biometrics today:

“On their right hand” could be fingerprint or palm print biometrics.
“On their foreheads” could be facial recognition or iris biometrics.

Facial recognition is growing in popularity. I read an article titled, Counterpoint estimates more than 1 billion smartphones to be shipped with facial recognition in 2020.

Excerpts:

More than a billion smartphones will be shipped with facial recognition in 2020, as Apple competitors follow it in adopting similar technology, according to a new report from Counterpoint Research.

A number of manufacturers will follow Apple with facial recognition integrated in devices released in 2018, the report says, including Samsung, which will offer 2D facial recognition along with iris recognition, and OnePlus, which will offer 2D facial recognition alone. The trend will continue, with manufacturers choosing between 2D and 3D based on price point. By 2020, nearly 60 percent of all smartphone facial recognition systems will use 3D technology, the firm estimates.

This could lead to facial recognition becoming “the de-facto standard” for device unlocking, Counterpoint says, as fingerprints are now, with more than a billion devices shipping with fingerprint sensors in 2018.

Only five percent of smartphones shipped in 2017 included facial recognition technology, but Counterpoint estimates that number will rise to 23 percent this year, 40 percent next year, and 64 percent of all shipments in 2020.

In another development, recently five states began testing a new cell phone app enabling people to use their smartphones as a digital ID.

I’m not saying facial recognition is the Mark of the Beast. I’m simply pointing out that we are trending towards the things the Bible predicted centuries ago.

Good thing we won’t be here for the future Tribulation. Jesus promised He’d return to rapture His church – which entails the resurrection of the dead in Christ of the Church Age, then the translation from earth to Heaven of all living believers.
It is presented in the Bible as an imminent event.

Are you ready for the rapture? If not, get ready, stay ready, and keep looking up. Ready or not, Jesus is coming!