God’s News In The News

Week One Hundred Fifty-Two

A Digital Dollar And The Mark Of The Beast

We All Knew It Was Coming

He required everyone—great and small, rich and poor, slave and free—to be tattooed with a certain mark on the right hand or on the forehead. 17 And no one could get a job or even buy in any store without the permit of that mark, which was either the name of the Creature or the code number of his name. (Rev 13:16-17, TLB)

This verse in the most important book of prophecy in the Bible was written over 2,000 years ago and has confounded and confused average students to highly educated professionals of the Word of God. The various ways it could happen has changed as technology has advanced from generation to generation. Growing up as a young believer in the 1970s and 1980s the bar code on products became the chief way the mark of the beast was going to happen. The feelings were that in each bar code there was a “666” in it that was clearly there for all to know. It was the lines at the beginning, middle, and end of each one on every product you bought, or so we were told. Regardless of what one might think about barcodes that are used every day in stores all around the world, we can all agree that its invention certainly showed us how such a monetary system could be implemented.

Going Digital

Of course, not having any physical currency to exchange ups the ante for the beast system to become a reality. This, however, isn’t new at all. Credit cards have been around for a long, long time and aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. This does miss the point about the mark of the beast which is that no one can buy or sell except that have it and if you still have some physical money that you can use to make transactions, it is believed you can just continue to use it instead of taking the mark. But what if there is no longer any cash to use? What if that dirty money is replaced by an electronic one, one that can be tracked and monitored? What if the United States told people that they had to turn in those dollars and cents if they wanted to have credit for it? That, my friends is on the horizon as we speak. In fact, such a system will begin as of July of this year as noted in this quote from a Foxbusiness.com article:

The central bank says financial institutions can begin formal certification to participate in the new, speedy service starting in April.

"We couldn’t be more excited about the forthcoming FedNow launch, which will enable every participating financial institution, the smallest to the largest and from all corners of the country, to offer a modern instant payment solution," said Ken Montgomery, first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and FedNow program executive.

"With the launch drawing near, we urge financial institutions and their industry partners to move full steam ahead with preparations to join the FedNow Service," Montgomery added.

The central bank says the FedNow service will allow for financial institutions to process payments around the clock, every day of the year, rather than just being confined to banking hours.

"With the FedNow Service, the Federal Reserve is creating a leading-edge payments system that is resilient, adaptive, and accessible," Tom Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and FedNow Program executive sponsor, said in a statement.

"The launch reflects an important milestone in the journey to help financial institutions serve customer needs for instant payments to better support nearly every aspect of our economy."

Not Everyone Is Happy

While the Federal Reserve touts this as the best financial news since the invention of the wheel or discovery of fire, the feelings of fiscal euphoria are not being felt by everyone. In commentary from the Epoch Times, author James Gorrie opines thusly:

Control over money is likely to be the next level of tyrannical power to come from the left, the Biden administration, and the World Economic Forum (WEF).

We’re about to enter a new era in banking, business, and personal privacy.

Actually, the opposite is true. We’re about to enter a new era where there’s no banking, business, or personal privacy. That era is already upon us; most of us just don’t realize it yet.

That’s a very temporary situation at best.

The new era will become much more apparent with the debut of FedNow.

He goes on to say that they say that this new system is not our to take control over our currency and is not going to replace electronic payments by private companies like PayPal, Venmo, or Zelle to name just a few. He is not convinced:

Those options are competition to FedNow, so one way or another, they will go away or be co-opted into the system.

A Power Grab

To say that Gorrie is unimpressed by the Fed’s specious language is an understatement as evidenced by this quote:

The notion or assertion that FedNow is “a service that will enable individuals and businesses to send and receive instant payments” is disingenuous at best. At worst, it’s a lie.

Built into that quasi-neutral definition is the fact that FedNow signals the elimination of people’s independence and the businesses they own, as well as the independence of banks and financial institutions.

To see why this is the case, simply replace the phrase in the FedNow definition, “will enable individuals and businesses to send and receive instant payments” with, “banks, businesses, and individuals in good (social, i.e., Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)) standing will be allowed to engage in transactions that are specifically allowed and approved by the Federal Reserve rules and regulations.”

In short, if the FedNow program has the power to “enable individuals and businesses to send and receive payments,” it will have the power to prevent them from doing so as well.

To think otherwise is just naive.

Gorrie brings up another avenue of control and that is Environmental Social Governance or ESG. He postulates that having FedNow in place will only allow the movement to have the governments weight behind their goals as seen in this quote from esg.org:

ESG provides a view of a company and its long-term value potential and relevance to its stakeholders. An ESG rating measures environmental and social impacts and the effectiveness of corporate governance in managing them. Organizations create ESG strategies to help them act on and measure what is mutually good for profits, people, and the planet.

Total Control?

If Gorrie is correct, the notion of controlling all buying and selling isn’t just a pie-in-the-sky notion. Here is how he describes one scenario playing out:

I believe the ultimate objectives of FedNow and the digital dollar are, or soon enough will be, to not only gain control over your money, your business, and your life, but in doing so, ensure that you and your business toe the ESG line.

In other words, FedNow isn’t “a service” at all. It’s a power structure being put in place to give the Federal Reserve total control over our lives, with the power to punish us by not approving or restricting transactions and even withholding our “own” money from us, if we have the wrong opinion or otherwise violate their terms of “service.”

If this sounds like China’s social credit system to you, you’re not wrong.

Recall that an ESG-adhering or “woke capitalism” business’s responsibilities are no longer to the owners and shareholders, but, rather, to “stakeholders” in the society, whose interests are represented by the government. The purpose of ESG and stakeholder capitalism is to reshape cultures and make people compliant.

The goal seems to be the transformation of the United States from a nation with freedom of speech, privacy, and the right to run our businesses and our lives as we see fit, into a woke, compliant, and effectively de-nationalized entity that’s in lock step with the diktats of the WEF, via stakeholder capitalism.

Scary, very scary, indeed.

It Is This Bad

Gorrie doesn’t mince words when he sums up the coming social and political quagmire the FedNow system creates:

The soon-to-be-launched FedNow program could enable the federal government to dictate adherence to, and punish violators of, ESG mandates—and any other federal mandates that may come down the pike–such as mandated vaccination for the next pandemic that hits.

The truth is that “stakeholder capitalism,” as the WEF refers to it, isn’t really capitalism at all. It’s warmed-over fascism. The terms are a bit different, but the outcome—top-down control over business, banking, and individual lives—is the same.

Not coincidentally, stakeholder capitalism is a key factor in the WEF’s plan for “The Great Reset,” where LGBTQ+ values and equity are primary goals.

The question now is, just what can we do about it?

And that is a good question for Christians who study Bible Prophecy, isn’t it? We are not powerless to do something, however with something this pervasive being foisted upon us there appear to very few options to mount a revolt. Do we have any viable options?

The Church Always Finds A Way

Just because this is a global push to take control doesn’t make it any different than coming against any government enslaving His people whether it be Egypt, Babylon, or Rome who each controlled the lives of their citizens with an iron hand. They all had ways to make sure people of all stripes toed the line even though a digital currency wasn’t one of their tools to do so. I’m certainly not saying that this challenge is like those others since the technology we have now is the most invasive in the history of mankind. Apart from reading minds, privacy has gone the way of the dinosaurs as the saying goes. But to put forth the notion that God’s people are helpless and hopeless is to belie even a cursory study of Scripture. Need I mention that His Word tells us we are not just conquerors but more than conquerors? And that greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world? On this point, I’m only just getting started. God will send us a Moses or a King David if He has to, but we need not put all our trust in a leader to come save us before we have even a small visage of hope. We already have our leader, and He is more powerful than them all, good or bad. Did I also say that He’s coming back soon?

Fight Like Jesus Did

It’s just that simple, really. He’s already told us how things are going to play out in prophecy and generations of saints of previous generations have known exactly what we know and that a ruler is coming who will implement total control over the world by forcing all people to bow before him or they will starve. They all thought a ruler they knew was that person, but God always toppled them before it could happen. The Apostle Paul assured the Thessalonians that the final one-world ruler wasn’t going to be able to take over while they, the Church was still around. The restrainer was Holy Spirit living in them and no matter how dark and gloomy it becomes, the Antichrist can’t dominate or even be revealed. Paul encouraged them to stand fast in their faith and not to worry. It would be the Apostle John, who would give a clear roadmap to fight even the spirit of Antichrist. In 1 John 4 he tell us to do three things:

  • Test the spirits

This will help us know who to fight. Chiefly determine if they believe and teach the truth about Jesus and who He really is.

  • See who listens to God or the world

John tells us that people who won’t listen to His word are not to be followed.

  • Love each other

Not just a superficial love, but a love that shows up even when other Christians act poorly. If someone doesn’t show true love, according to John, he’s doesn’t have God living in him.

  • Don’t live in fear

Let perfect love cast fear out of you. In doing so, you will boldly proclaim Jesus whenever and wherever He sends you.

This seems like a passive way to fight, but it really isn’t. You see, if you do all the above, in testing the spirits, you will also be in a position to hear God give you marching orders. By loving your brothers and sisters in Christ you will add to the army. By discerning who is really a Christian you will be learning how to discern all facets of the fight. And by not living in fear, you will have the confidence to go into battle and actually win.

The Dollar Isn’t God’s Currency Anyway

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matt 6:25-33, NKJV)

I would be remiss if I didn’t come back to this point. Jesus told us that we shouldn’t worry about the money system, because He will provide for us. FedNow, ESG or whatever this life throws at us, God is still in control.