As a young boy, I remembered hearing a story in the book of Revelations. When the devil came back to Earth, he would command people to follow him. He would command a lot of people. In order to buy/sell/engage in commerce, people would have to have a mark on the forehead.
As a young boy, I thought this was just a legend. At best, maybe it was a metaphor. Having a mark to display your submission is odd. Who would agree to this? And why would you need a mark just to buy a loaf of bread?
Some people would dismiss this story as a silly myth. Others believe it to be a prophesy of things to come. If you needed a mark just to engage in commerce, this would mean that you are completely controlled by something. And if you had this mark taken away, you would probably die or have to comply to get it back.
The closest system I've heard of this today would be some sort of social credit score. Today, when a man's personal information is all over the internet, an organization could monitor what a man did/would do/or even thinks. In other countries, I've heard that acting or behaving in a way the government doesn't like would have you restricted from travel or even using a checking account. In the future, a man could be thrown in prison just because he doesn't like the selection of stamps issued by the post office. This is what people fear when hearing mention of the mark of the beast.
But I wonder what the mark of the beast is really referring to. After all, there are several systems today that control a man. The IRS comes to mind. You can be tracked with your social security number and you need to provide that number whenever you want to open up a bank account, get a drivers license, get a credit card, get a passport, etc, etc. And if you act out of line or commit acts of fraud, you can be arrested and thrown into jail.
So I wonder if we are already living in the world that Revelations foretold.
