Mark of the Beast Foreshadowed in England

Revelation 13:16-18 has long intrigued eschatologists because it reference to a system of a mark or marks imposed by the Beast and required to buy or sell (i.e., to participate in commerce). It states, in the King James Version:

    16 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.

A lot of people, scholars and lay people alike, often focus on the mechanics of such a system rather than the spiritual implications of the mark. For instance, I've read theories that the mark will a system using tattooed bar codes (because bar code use guide lines--which are just a double line--at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the code; and 6 also happens to be a double line), RFD type chips, and even theories that an Arabic symbol for Basmala (in the name of Allah) resembles 666 written out with Greek letters.

    But other authors have instead suggested a more spiritual interpretation. John, who wrote down the Revelation, lived in the time of the Roman Empire and so, these authors reason, we should instead look at that time period for patterns or ideas to interpret what is written. These authors note that Roman slaves would typically be tattooed or marked as slaves on the forehead or right hand with the name or symbol of the owner. Moreover, people that were particularly devoted to a particular god or political leader might also have something similar to the slave mark on their forehead or hand to advertise their devotion. In this respect, it is not much different from elsewhere in Revelation where the righteous are described as being marked by the Lord on the forehead. 

    Thus, whether or not there will be a literal mark, each person will be spiritually marked (a meta-physical mark, if you will) showing God (and, likely, the Beast) their true loyalty. I suspect that when we reach the end times and the Beast rules much of the world there will be a physical mark, but the point is that there needn't be a physical mark and the restriction on buying or selling could be accomplished by something similar to the Social Credit Score used by the Chinese, or the e-verification of vaccine status used in some countries or provinces. 

    The following story illustrates how this meta-physical mark could work in practice. The article is from PJ Media and entitled, "British Social Worker Deemed 'Unemployable' Due to Christian Beliefs." The subject of the story is Felix Ngole, a refugee from Cameroon, who wound up in the UK and successfully attended college (or "University" as they term in England), studying to become a social worker. He received an employment offer from healthcare provider Touchstone Support Leeds, which offer was later withdrawn because of Ngole being a devout Christian. The issue wasn't Ngole's qualifications:

    Touchstone, which was recruiting for Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), not only considered Ngole to be the ideal candidate for the position, but the company also gave him “the highest marks of any candidate on an equality and diversity assessment,” according to Christian Concern.

    But then Touchstone told Ngole that it had “significant areas of concern” about his “suitability for the role.” The CEO told him that “In particular, we can see that you have very strong views against homosexuality and same sex marriage, which completely go against the views of Touchstone, an organisation committed to actively promoting and supporting LGBTQ+ rights.”

    Ngole told Touchstone that he wouldn’t discriminate against anyone he served or assisted, but he added, “What I cannot do, and you cannot reasonably expect me to do without yourselves being discriminatory, is make my participation in the ‘promotion of homosexual rights’ a condition of my employment.”

    There are a few key points to take from this. First, as you will note, Touchstone was not simply an organization that was committed to not discriminating against LGBTQ individuals, but, in its own words, was "committed to actively promoting and supporting LGBTQ+ rights." (Underline added). In other words, what started out ostensibly as an organization to provide mental health and wellbeing services has become a political (some would argue religious) organization to advocate for degeneracy. And notwithstanding their supposed commitment to diversity, inclusion, and respect, because of their loyalty to the LGBTQ+ philosophy and lifestyle and proselyting for the same, they won't hire an African refugee because of his Christian beliefs. (They, on the other hand, have no issue with hiring Muslims although Muslim views on homosexuality are far harsher than any Christian; but, as the saying goes, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"). For all intents and purposes, Touchstone is an anti-Christian hate group. 

    Second, and more ominously, the article indicates that Touchstone was recruiting for the NHS. In other words, it was screening who would be able to work for the NHS which, in this case, meant screening out Christians. And the British government is apparently fine with this. 

    Third, this is an example of the victim hierarchy. With so many victim groups, there has to be a way of ranking victimhood to resolve conflicts between members of different victim groups. It's complicated and it often changes. In very general terms, as best as I understand it, race generally trumps sex, and LGBTQ+ standing (at least for now) generally trumps race.  But rest assured that you will lose points for being straight, white, male, socially conservative or Christian. And if you are all five, you are the Western equivalent of the untouchables (Dalit) under the Indian caste system.