We reserve a few minutes Sunday morning to suggest news, or trends, that seem to be predicted by a literal, futurist reading of the Bible. We anticipate that the remaining 500 or so end times prophecies will become history just as every previous prophecy.

We are careful to use recognized, reliable sources for news. There is a lot of sensationalism surrounding unfulfilled Bible prophecy, and we don’t want to add to it.

We’re not saying the things we report are the definite fulfillment of prophecy – only that they are the things you’d expect by holding a Bible in one hand, and a newspaper in the other.

Bible futurists have long understood that, in the Last Days and going into the Great Tribulation, there would be a global system of personal identification by which everyone will conduct all their business.
This system will be controlled by the world leader the Book of the Revelation calls “the Beast.” Three-and-one-half years in to the Tribulation, the Beast will demand everyone swear allegiance to him. Those who won’t worship him will be blocked from buying or selling anything.

Until recently, it was hard to believe that the global population would willingly give up their privacy in favor of an identification system like the one predicted in the Revelation. COVID-19 could be accelerating global acceptance of some sort of contactless digital ID.

Let me read excerpts from an article titled, COVID- 19: Digital identity can lead us out of lockdown.

The coronavirus crisis brings the need for effective digital identity into sharp relief, as social distancing measures are imposed worldwide: remote access to systems and services is more in demand than ever, and calls are growing on governments to forge a path out of lockdown.

… countries across the world have deployed mobile digital identity mechanisms in their responses to the pandemic, with state governments in India for instance using time-stamped selfies from smartphones to monitor quarantine compliance, and operators in South Korea working together to enable online verifications using mobile phone numbers.

Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates called for the use of digital identity to support lockdown exit strategies, via digital certificates to indicate who has been tested, recovered, or been administered with any eventual vaccine. 

Approaches of this kind are being actively considered by the US Government, according to Dr Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“The initial COVID-19 vaccine supply will be limited, so it will be essential to verify that each dose reaches a real patient. Corruption, leakage, and even accidental duplication waste precious supply and are deadly,” explains Prashant Yadav, a senior fellow at the US-based Center for Global Development.  “Biometric digital IDs can be a gamechanger. They can help governments target population segments, verify people who have received vaccination, and have a clear record.”  
As hundreds of millions of of people grow increasingly restless to see loved ones and get back to work, such ‘immunity passports’ are in growing demand.   
“Within a matter of weeks, healthcare facilities and COVID-19 testing services could start issuing digitally-signed credentials about a patient’s COVID-19 status directly to their smartphones,” writes one participant in the COVID-19 Credentials Initiative, a collaboration of more than 60 organizations working to deploy digital identity solutions to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

https://www.gsma.com/identity/covid-19-digital-identity-can-lead-us-out-of-lockdown-but-user-confidence-is-key

It’s not being a conspiracy theorist to see one scenario that calls for everyone in the world to be vaccinated, and to be able to prove their COVID-19 status digitally. Without proof of the vaccination, you could be barred from entering stores and other buildings. That is to say, you won’t be able to buy or sell anything.

Digital ID is not the Mark of the Beast. But it is perhaps the underlying mechanism that will be in place when the Beast demands to be worshipped.
We believe the resurrection and rapture of the church is imminent. It could happen any moment; nothing needs to happen before it. It will happen before the Tribulation.

Jesus will come, in the clouds, and raise the dead believers of the Church Age. He will transform the bodies of living believers to glorified, resurrection bodies. We will join Him in Heaven while the earth endures one final seven-year campaign of severe evangelism.

Are you ready for the rapture? If not, Get ready; Stay ready; Keep looking up.

Ready or not, Jesus is coming!