The Image

"And he (the 2nd beast) had power to give life to the image of the (first) beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causes 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, except he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." ~Revelation 13:16-17

There is coming a time in the not-so-distant future when there will be a world ruler who has control over very living person, whether they live or die, depending on their allegience to this ruler, AKA the antichrist, or false christ. We are slowly approaching a system whereby buying and selling can be closely monitored, and the people controlled and under the watchful eyes of 'Big Brother'. Since 911, and because of lawlessness, security is constantly stepping up measures to track and monitor people, especially those who are defying the system. I even read a recent article that explains a concept that security is testing out whereby one small section of a city is watched for any suspicious activity going on that might lead to a crime. If someone is acting suspicious, they will be able to move in quicker before the actual crime just by analyzing the situation first, almost similar to a system Orwell termed the Thought Police in his book 1984. Sometimes I even wonder if many of our systems set up today are not the direct result of having borrowed from these visionaries. Well, that system had such control that he explains they were watching constantly, even in his own home, every move and every word that was spoken via a small monitor that was 'watching' him. Wow, that sounds so familiar. What is practically in every home today, that is gaining more and more control of our daily lives in how we communicate and do business today? Of course it's our modern day computer. And even though we are the one's looking at the computer, I believe someday, in the not-so-distant future, it will be looking at us! Clever move I should say...to make what was once a leisurely item an absolute necessity of life! Gee I wonder who orchestrated that one...

In any case, it makes me wonder...what will this image look like? Will it simply be a highly advanced form of our computer that is able to monitor each of us, even at home? I once made a small prediction of my own when I told a friend that someday I believe that our computers will be incredibly interactive with us by being on standby constantly and being able to 'sense' when we are in the room via sensors, like that of a light sensor. I mean seriously, wouldn't it be much more functional if our computer could turn on when we came home simply by sensing that we were home, instead of going through the whole turn-on, turn-off routine? I think it will definitely be an option in the future. Maybe it will even talk to us, similar to the testing that's being done now on vehicle voice-response systems that can interact with the driver by asking questions, making suggetions and even checking email and responding back and composing mail! Pretty incredible. But that is exactly where the future of vehicles are going, advancing more technologically than ever. It seems that information is just becoming more and more accessible everywhere we go. Pretty soon, the thought of actually living in your car will actually be desirable! lol My Marketing teacher said a few weeks ago that in the near future, a person will actually be able to literally build his own car borrowing on many different parts, creating a car that is unique all it's own. And we're well on our way arent we...we already have that concept down on the internet with various packages, but this will totally redefine the meaning of uniqueness. Image is becoming more important as well as being able to be unique and expressing that uniqueness to others. Who knows what this image will be, but it doesn't sound too far-fetched or too far in the future before it's revealed.

One last insight...one song from shockrocker Marilyn Manson is called The Mechanical Christ. Upon seeing that, my initial reaction was my disapproval of yet another blasphemous song that attacks God's Son. But as I sat there thinking about it, I thought 'wait...there is another christ coming though...a false christ. It doesn't necessarily attack The Christ, Jesus.' And I thought hmmm...mechanical christ...technological advancement...X-Men...nanotechnology...the very real possibility that nanotechnology may be the next step in human advancement by altering our bodies, and the possibility that this false christ may, in fact, not even be human, or may be a highly advanced form of human life, a hybrid development of science that achieves the ultimate advancement of man in our ever-evolving thirst for perfection and power. Cause you have to think...the bible says the world will come to an end, a halt so to speak, when Christ returns...the enemy is working hard cause his time is short...so, he must be working towards a goal, using technology as a means to an end right? All of man's advancements therefore are all working towards a common goal to fulfill the purposes of the 'god of this age' who is in control for a time, who is behind the scenes orchestrating things because the world 'is under the sway of the evil one.' Not all are under his power, mind you, but those who are not God's are being used by satan to satisfy his purposes, whether it's a conspiratorial group known as the Illuminati, or just your ordinary joe who things messing with Ouija boards are harmless. They are both under demonic influence who are behind the scenes working to bring about the reign of the antichrist, the false christ, who will reign for 3 1/2 yrs before all hell breaks loose...literally. This man will make a 7 yr peace treaty with various nations to bring about peace, then will break it after 3 1/2 yrs. I do believe it will really be peaceful as other commentaries have suggested...but it will be a false peace...it will not last.

Don't be deceived...it might look like things are looking up and gov't is making changes to bring about a more peaceful and safer place to live. They are only doing their job to serve and protect. But things will get worse...things will get darker. No amount of demonstrations against worldly agendas are going to bring about a better life. There's no point in focusing on trying to bring about reform...the only thing we can do is stand on the foundation of Christ and continue to be a witness as well as a testimony of God's power to change people through the death and resurrection of Christ. Until He comes again and puts a stop to it all, things will decline just as He said it will. But He said 'don't worry...for I have overcome the world.' Our faith should not be in a system that can stop the evil entities of the worldly system...it should be in Jesus Christ, who has already overcome the world through His death on the cross, defeating sin and death and the grip of the enemy once and for all! And furthermore, if the end of all things is near, and the antichrist is even nearer, then the rapture of the church is even NEARER! As God removed Lot from Sodom before He destroyed it for it's horrendous sexual immorality, so will He remove the church before His wrath falls upon a God-rejecting world, to bring about the possible salvation of countless people still living in sin. When the heat is turned up, people will make decisions.