The                        
Prophetic Trend
Toward A
Cash-Less Society

[cashles1.jpg]

The Bible predicts that a one world leader will preside over a one world economy
    and certain events are taking place that will make that a reality.

   Let's begin with the Book of Revelation, where John the Apostle describes the following scene: "And I
stood...and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and TEN HORNS, and upon his
horns TEN CROWNS, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy"
REVELATION 13:1.
   This vision of a beast (The Antichrist) with ten horns puzzled John.   However, later the vision's meaning
is explained to him: "And the TEN HORNS which thou sawest are TEN KINGS, which have received no
kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.   These have one mind, and shall give
their power and strength unto the beast"
REVELATION 17:12-13.

   John's vision is prophetic.   It reveals ten kings "which have received no kingdom as yet," implying
that their kingdoms were not around during John's time.   However, they would eventually come into
existence and "have one mind," agreeing and acting as one.   Is there anything today resembling this
prophecy?
  The answer can be found by picking up a newspaper:

EU KILLS BORDER CONTROLS
Brussels, Belgium (AP)

   In a move lauded as a breakthrough in the European Union's drive for unity, border controls between seven EU
nations are being abolished today.   Travelers will be able to keep their passports in their pockets when moving from
any one of the seven -- France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands -- to another.
Greece, Italy, and Austria are expected to join them in June.   But the move comes five years after it was originally
scheduled, and it's on a much smaller scale: several EU members are unready or unwilling to join border-less
Europe.   Britain, ever the halfhearted EU member, has vowed to stay out.   (This article appeared in the Fargo
Forum
on March 26, 1995.)

   These ten unified countries will be known as the EUROPEAN COMMON MARKET and their combined
resources would make Europe an economic super power.   For many years, Bible students everywhere have
considered this unification a fulfillment of Revelation 17:12-13, which will provide a platform for the
Antichrist to make his appearance and seize control.   "These have ONE MIND, and shall GIVE their power
and strength unto the beast"
REVELATION 17:13.
   The European Common Market (sometimes called the European Community or EC) has also been
contemplating the creation of a common currency to be used by all its member nations.   Omni magazine,
June 1991, pg.52, states that "interest in the concept of at least reducing the number of world
currencies has been heightened by the European Community's (EC) drive to establish ITS OWN
CURRENCY to maximize the advantages of the ‘SINGLE MARKET’"
.

   Many have even thought of going beyond a common currency and instead create a world-wide CASH-
LESS system.   In fact, the same issue of Omni, had another article that stated, "CASH AND CREDIT CARDS
WILL SOON BE OBSOLETE."
  Does the technology exist today to set up a cash-less system?   Newsweek In a
July 31, 1989 article (p. 54) stated that smart cards, for example: "Could alter everything from banking
to medical care - and may make the old science fiction notion of A CASH-LESS SOCIETY real. . . .smart
cards are already in duty at the Marine Corp's Parris Island training base in South Carolina.   On payday,
recruits receive chip-based cards RATHER THAN CASH.   When a Marine makes a purchase on base, he
plugs the card into a small terminal and the sum is automatically deducted from his pay.   The base is, in
fact, a CASH-LESS ECONOMY-even the telephones take smart cards."

   Infosecurity News, Sept/Oct 93 (p. 27), writes, "AN EXTRAORDINARY EFFORT is now underway to build
an INFRASTRUCTURE FOR LARGE-SCALE USE of SMART CARDS in electronic data interchange, national
healthcare systems, financial transaction systems and interactive home services. . ."

   A cash-less system would have many advantages, including: The virtual elimination of the selling of illegal
drugs since drug dealers would have every transaction monitored by computers.   It would eliminate tax
evasion since the IRS would monitor every transaction, and therefore cash payments "under the table"
would no longer be possible.   Money laundering and embezzling would be virtually impossible.   The Mafia,
Black Market, and bank robberies would be a thing of the past.   Fewer muggings would take place since no
one would be carrying cash.   The American Bar Magazine quoted Attorney T. Speiser as saying, "if cash
became obsolete, crime would be virtually eliminated."

   Yet a cash-less system using smart cards would still have one large potential problem.   Information
Week
, (p.36), asks "what if a thief swipes your card?"   Infosecurity, (p. 28), states: "the standard question
is: ‘What happens if a user forgets his or her smart card?’"
  However, a smart leader like the Antichrist
would have no problem coming up with a solution for lost or stolen smart cards.   He could simply have
everyone "tattoo" an ID number somewhere on their body.

   Sounds far fetched?   An article from Automatic I.D. News, March 1992 (p. E40) states: "AUTOMATIC
IDENTIFICATION plays an important role in the emerging cash-less society."
  Automatic I.D. News, Sept.
1990 (p.37), has already stated that: "The fastest- growing segment in the access control market. . . .is
BIOMETRIC SENSORS.   These devices identify people by fingerprints, retina patterns and other
BODY-BASED methods. . ."

   Time magazine, March, 1972, pg. 16 stated that: "The Senate Finance Committee last week approved a
bill that would require every child entering the first grade to be issued a Social Security card and
number to carry with him through life. . . . In other words, a number in a central file would track a
person for life from approximately the age of six.   Such a system would further enable the Government to
amass information on citizens and store it in a central computer under a single identification number.
TO DATE, NO ONE HAS SUGGESTED USING TATTOOS."
  Now compare everything you have just read with
what the Bible predicts the Antichrist will do:

"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: 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"
REVELATION 13:16-17.

   Amazingly, Standardization News, February 1990, reported that the European community is considering
using an identification mark.   Page 30 of the report reads: ". . . ONE CANNOT MARKET OR SELL A
PRODUCT UNLESS IT HAS THE EC MARK."
  While the EC mark is not designed to go on anyone's hand or
forehead, its basic function (and the way it's worded) is uncanny when compared with the previous verse.
The Bible predicted this trend toward using a mark to buy and sell and, In fact,

The United States economy has already been using one for several years!

   This "mark" is the familiar UPC symbol (A bar code), which appears on all sorts of products and is
scanned by a laser at your local supermarket.   While no one has had it "tattooed" on their hands or
foreheads, some think we're heading that way.
  Automatic I.D. news, April 1991, p.46 states: "everything
that is being used in the military system has been-or will be-marked with a bar code. . .even down to
individual soldiers. . . . EVERYONE
GETS A BAR CODE."
  Esquire magazine, March 1990, p.89, states: "Entire
hospitals-from bags of blood TO THE PATIENTS on stretchers-are now bar-coded. . . Bar codes can now

be encrypted with secret codes to stop counterfeiters, and THEY CAN BE MADE INVISIBLE and
unreadable, except to a special ultraviolet wand. . .So. . .WILL WE ALL BE TAGGED IN THE END?"

   Could the UPC symbol be a forerunner to the "mark of the beast"?   Let's compare it with Revelation
13:16-18 and see if any similarities exist: "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: 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.   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
[666]."   REVELATION 13:16-18.

   Revelation 13:16-18 refers to a "mark," representing the number 666, used to buy and sell.   In the
past, some have imagined everyone having the number 666 tattooed on their hand or foreheads and
simply showing it to a cashier before paying with checks, credit cards or cash.   However, considering that
the world is moving toward computerized transactions, it is possible the "mark" could be something that
can be read directly into a computer, which brings us to the UPC symbol.   (Keep in mind that to the Apostle
John, back in the first century, a bar code, or UPC symbol, would look like a "mark[.]")
   The UPC symbol is already used in many applications involving the buying and selling of merchandise.
It is designed to be scanned into a computer as part of a computerized transaction system.   And here is
another interesting thing about the UPC symbol: 666 is designed into the symbol!

[cashles2.jpg]    The UPC symbol stands for Universal Product Code.
It is a label commonly found on consumer products.
Various designs are used for the UPC label.   A common
one is shown to the right.   This design consists of
several vertical lines of varied widths used to represent
numbers.   The lines are made to be read optically into a
computer by a laser based scanning device.   (We have all
seen these devices at supermarkets.)   The lines are
broken into two halves with each half containing a 5-
number code used to identify the product and its
manufacturer.   As the computer scans the label, it has
to identify where the label starts, where the two halves
divide and where the label ends.   Therefore, this design
has two long thin lines at the beginning, the middle and
the end of the label.   THESE THREE SETS OF LINES DO NOT DIRECTLY REGISTER NUMBERS.   However, they
are the same two thin lines used to represent the number 6 in the second half of the label.

We are NOT saying that the UPC label is the "mark of the beast[.]"

   We are simply pointing out that the technology exists to fulfill Revelation 13:16-18.   For example, each
UPC symbol of this design can represent a distinct and individual number while also incorporating 666 as
part of its design.   With a UPC symbol laser-tattooed on a hand or forehead, a person could be scanned
upon making a purchase.   Therefore they would be buying and selling using a "MARK" containing 666, as
described in Revelation 13:16-18.

   Finally, let's consider one important implication of the Bible's accuracy in predicting this cash-less trend
we find ourselves moving toward.   If the Bible is "right on the money" when it comes to economics, will it
also be right when it comes to predicting where you will go when you die?

Think about it, and please take the time to read what's written on the back [below]. . . .

IF You were to die today, are you 100% SURE
you would go to Heaven?
  The Bible says
YOU CAN BE SURE (1 John 5:13).

BUT FIRST, you must realize that what keeps
you from going to Heaven are your sins, because:
"...your iniquities [sins] have separated
between you and your God,"
Isa. 59:2.
In fact, in God's eyes YOU ARE A SINNER: "For
all have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God;"
Rom. 3:23.
And Jesus, referring to sinners, said that He:
"shall send forth his angels, and they shall
gather out of his kingdom all things that offend,
and them which do iniquity
[sinners];
And shall cast them into
a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth."
  Mat. 13:41-42

SECONDLY, you must realize that there is
NOTHING you can do to save yourself and earn
Heaven: "For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God: Not of works, lest any man
should boast."
  Eph. 2:8-9   Baptism, good deeds,
church membership, self-righteousness are all
examples of good works that cannot save you,
because: "Not by works of
righteousness
which we have done, but
according to his mercy he
[Christ] saved
us
,"
Titus 3:5.

THE ONLY WAY you can get saved
is through Jesus Christ.   He said: "I am the
way
, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh
unto the Father, but by me."
 
(John 14:6)   THAT'S WHY: "...while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us."

(Rom. 5:8-9)   THEREFORE: You must REPENT
(change your mind); admit that you are a Hell
deserving sinner and can't save yourself.   And
call upon Christ, and Him alone, to save you.
"if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus
[REPENT], and shalt believe in thine
heart
[TRUST] that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
  Rom. 10:9

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