(A church we came upon yesterday. Now I need to reconsider if statues are false idols...)
Unfortunately, we don't have too much to go off of based on the passage in Revelations, except for this...
Firstly, the mark is obviously symbolic of something. There are those who have suggested that the mark be taken literally, such as a bar code or a chip, but I don't think this is the case. I believe that the mark will be something distinctly obvious in distinguishing between the marked and the unmarked.
Secondly, we have the usage of the word "or," suggesting that the mark can be one of the two: either a mark in the hand, OR the forehead. Regardless, today's phones have evolved to the point where both are now applicable: our phones are always in our predominant hand (which, for most people, is the RIGHT hand), and facial recognition is also used for various things nowadays.
Thirdly, the following passage tells us this:
A person is not able to buy or sell -- therefore, make a living -- unless they have a phone. It is no secret that most banking, and most money for that matter, exists only online. Now take into account how many jobs have "required" that you have a cellular phone if you wish to be employed? In fact, I did not acquire a phone until I was 19, because my first job at Walmart required that I have one.
As for name, this could be a hint to a company/brand name, or perhaps a physical form of identification (an ID card). And number -- the number 666 -- has been interpreted in a multitude of ways. It has been interpreted literally; as a sum of numbers; it has been analyzed by each individual number. I cannot say much, but it would seem apparent that 666 is a symbol for something else.
(Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/giftsondanielevangelist/posts/24193854266893328/)
Having the "elites" monitor us via our phones is terrifying enough (y'know, hearing our conversations and watching us through our cameras?); nobody should ever have that kind of private access to others. Yet, therein lies the problem...
I hate feeling tied to every person on earth. We should not be able to see everyone's most intimate moments, their most unhinged behavior, listen to their intrusive thoughts. We should not be exposed to every world conflict, opening ourselves up to such evil and violence. We should not be able to say whatever we want without concern for the people we're speaking to. We should not feel obligated to keep in touch simply because we can.
I do not enjoy what phones do to me. If I use it to check one specific thing, I end up getting sidetracked and sucked into the world of posts and reels. Everything is incredibly fake -- coordinated, orchestrated to appeal to strangers online. I see something that makes my blood boil, I leave a few replies to others, which in turn exposes me to others' negativity and hostility. Getting sucked into these quarrels takes me away from the present, from my FAMILY. Why do we get so caught up with people and things that DO NOT MATTER?
On top of, again, our phones give us a sense of animosity that otherwise would not exist if not for the sheltered nature of cell phones. A woman should not be able to wish death on my children and I without any consideration as to how those words could effect us.
(Upset that I run an unrestricted community group -- not anything that I said! 😅 Just didn't like that I wouldn't censor opinions)
