Today is the celebration and/or anniversary of something that is seen everywhere but, by now, is often ignored. The story begins in 1949 when Norman Joseph Woodland was at the beach. A stroke of inspiration hit him as he was drawing the proverbial lines in the sand. Drawing from the concept of Morse Code’s dots and dashes, Woodland played with making fat lines and skinny lines. That’s all it took, and idea was born.
On October 20, 1949, Woodland and a friend, Bernard Silver, a graduate of Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania filed a patent application for “Classifying Apparatus and Method” in which they described both a mechanical and electronic method of coding and reading the codes on products. The patent was issued on October 7, 1952, as US Patent 2,612,994.1 Originally, the creation was intended to give grocers a uniform method of inventorying their products and a means to expedite the checkout experience.
There’s just one problem. Drawing the thin and fat lines was easy. However, laser technology wouldn’t be invented until 1960. Without it, there was no machine that could read the lines. The machine had been invented in theory only.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, the device whose idea was born in 1949 was the bar code. On this day in 1974, the first item with a bar code was scanned at 8:01 a.m. in Troy, Ohio. It was a package of Wrigley chewing gum, demonstrating that the bar code was functional on even the smallest product.
As I read this piece of history, I remembered that the bar code also holds a notorious place in American history. It was believed that the bar code was the Mark of the Beast.
Revelation 13:16-18 says, “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: (17) And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (18) Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”
Through the years, many people have been easily swayed by hype and hysteria. One of the earliest things believed to be the Mark of the Beast was The Social Security Number (SSN), first issued in 1936 by FDR’s administration. By default, this made Roosevelt the Antichrist!
Other creations in society that have been believed to be the Mark of the Beast are: credit cards, Bitcoin, palm scanners, smartphones, the Internet, COVID vaccines, and even President Reagan’s house. How does a house fit the bill? The 7,000 sq. ft. retirement home owned by President and Mrs. Reagan was located at 666 St. Cloud Drive, in Los Angeles. Mrs. Reagan petitioned to have the address changed to 668 St. Cloud Drive. However, this didn’t change the perception for many people. Ronald Wilson Reagan (count it… 666!) had been suspected of being the Antichrist for some time. “If the house was number 666, the one inside must be… the Antichrist, right? After all, he had survived an assassination attempt, the alleged fulfillment of Revelation 13:3, “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.”2
Cue the eyerolls!
If we know Scripture, we KNOW there is a day coming when Antichrist will come on the scene and the Mark of the Beast will be instituted. All of society, including technology, is heading towards the fulfillment of that day. There will be a one-world government, one-world church, and a one-world economy just as the Scripture has promised. Does this concern me? Am I worried? Do I think someone is going to lure me in and slip the Mark of the Beast upon me?
Not in the least! In fact, that is an impossibility.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 teaches that we are waiting for the Rapture, the being “caught up” moment where Jesus appears in the clouds and calls us home. Other passages of Scripture teach that we are saved from the “wrath to come,” a reference to those seven years of the Tribulation Period. And 2 Thessalonians lets us know that Antichrist will not even be revealed until we, the Believers, are outta here!
2 Thessalonians 2:7-9 says, “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. (8) And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (9) Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders…” Antichrist cannot institute his policies and plans until he is in charge. He doesn’t come into power until we are gone. Since the Antichrist and the Mark of the Beast don’t come into effect until AFTER we’ve been raptured, I’m not worried or even the least bit concerned.
If you know the Scriptures, they guide us to a place of comfort, rest, and peace. Fear is replaced with the joy of anticipation. This could be the day that the Lord’s trumpet sounds and we are called home to be with the Lord!!
So don’t be troubled by what’s going on around you. Don’t let someone stir you up to believe that the mark is being given today. That time will come but if you know Jesus as your Savior, you won’t be around to see it all happen.
“Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcode
2https://listverse.com/2024/08/26/10-things-believed-to-be-the-mark-of-the-beast/
Images are taken from https://pixabay.com/, https://www.pexels.com/, or https://unsplash.com/images or created in Windows Copilot. According to the websites, they are Royalty Free and free to be used for our purposes.
