It’s round up time at OK Corral, a busy time of year for the cowboys.  Drawing their branding irons and mounting their horses, these heroes of the west ride off into the sunset.

Ranchers have devised a wonderful technique that solves an ancient problem of whose cattle are whose.  This system is to take a red-hot branding iron from the coals and sear a permanent mark on the hunches of their cattle.  This mark cannot be removed or destroyed, eliminating any confusion of who owns which cow.  So a cowboy, riding on the back of his horse, will lasso a calf, tie his legs together, turn him on his side while the calf is resisting, and sear a permanent mark on his tender young thigh.  You can imagine the sense of pride that wells up in a rancher's heart when he looks out his back door to see a herd of cattle with his mark of ownership on their hides.

"He also forced every one, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name." (Rev. 13:16-17)

  When Christ looks upon the earth, He sees more than a herd of cattle; He sees individual lives with individual needs.  The Bible says that He knows us by name and knows the number of hairs upon our heads.  The analogy we see in Psalm 23 is of a shepherd Who tenderly takes care of all His flock's needs, even to the point of laying down His life for the sheep.  Jesus said that He would leave the ninety-nine and go in search for that one lost sheep.  Finding that sheep causes heaven itself to rejoice. (Luke 15:4)  The imagery that is used to describe Jesus as our shepherd reinforces a sense of His tenderness and protection over us, even in the valley of the shadow of death! 

When God puts His mark upon His people, it is not just a sign of ownership but a sign also of His love, faithfulness, and presence in our lives.  In the Old Testament, God commanded that each male child be circumcised.  This circumcision confirmed God's covenant with His people.  In the New Testament, (after the resurrection of Christ) the mark becomes the promised Holy Spirit. (Eph.1:13-14)  The evidence of the mark of the Holy Spirit is peace, guidance, and a life of separation and holiness.  The difference between God's mark and the cattle rancher's mark is that the calves were given no choice in the matter.  To the calf, the mark had no meaning except a dim memory of pain.     

When God marked us out from this world it involved our will, our desire, and our surrender.  This is beautifully illustrated in Acts 2 verse 41.  After Peter preached that powerful message on the Day of Pentecost, three thousand people, before the eyes of all men, willingly moved into the river and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.  A baptism that would mark them out as separated for the rest of their lives.

Now, let us look at the grim imitation that Satan has to offer this world. Satan is not very original. In Satan's pride, he is constantly trying to beat God.   Let us not forget the fact that the greatest motivating factor in all that he does is to assert himself as being God.  God has His Kingdom of light.  Satan has built his Kingdom of darkness.  God has created nutritious and healthy food.  Satan has twisted that food into making it destructive and unhealthy.  God has sent His Son, to be the Christ.  Satan has sent his man to be the Antichrist.  God has appointed prophets; Satan has appointed false prophets.  God has put His mark on any that are willing to come to Him and be His child.  During the great tribulation, Satan has devised a way to deceive the nations into receiving his mark.  He certainly does not get an "A" for originality, but his means suits his purpose. 

Christ desires His mark of ownership upon us so that He may bless us and that we may live our lives the way we were created to live, set apart and free.  Satan wants his mark of ownership so that he may control us.  In his twisted mind, in owning and controlling us, he has become god.  Satan has desired to be in control of this world since the dawn of man but in doing so, he still has God to contend with.  Satan is the prince of power in this world, but God's master plan is still alive and well on Earth today. 

In Revelation, it is clear that Satan will be in absolute control of this world for seven years.  In second Thessalonians 2 verse 7, Paul says that when he takes control of this world in the form of the Antichrist, it will only be when God allows him to do so and not before.  In reading history, we can see a pattern of Satan trying to take control of the earth before his time.  He used people like Alexander the Great, Nero, Stalin, and Hitler. There are many others in whom Satan would want to use as a tool of control over the entire earth but it was not God’s time.

GOD'S TIMETABLE
Genesis 11, is the account of man building a tower toward the heavens.  All of mankind on the face of the earth was able to work together on this tower.  In verse 6 the Lord said,

"If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  Come let us go down and confuse their language so that they will not understand each other (Gen. 11:6,7)." 

God, according to His master plan, dispersed man all over the face of the earth to separate them by culture and language.  Inuit people in the Arctic Circle, Aborigines in Australia, Pigmies in the Himalayan Mountains, thousands of different cultures with different ideas and diverse thinking spread throughout the world.  The advantage of God arranging man in such a manner is that it would make it very difficult for Satan to take control of the entire earth as a one-world leader.  This is Satan's ultimate goal, which is clearly seen in Revelation.  It has not been until our modern day that he would be able to achieve a one-world government.  Every man woman and child on the face of the earth under the control of one man, the Antichrist. 

The more our technology advances the smaller our world becomes.  There is no place on the face of the earth where man is not able to go.  This is all a part of God's timetable.  It will not be a fluke or accident when the Antichrist takes control of the earth.  God will not exclaim in the heavens "Oh no! What has gone wrong?"  Nothing is going to take God by surprise. 

THE NUMBER "666"
The more money you have, the less cash you handle.  It would be preposterous to think of Donald Trump buying a hotel with cash.  Large amounts of cash are moved through electronic banking systems.  Credit cards, another form of electronic money, are one of the most commonly used devices today.  Although cash is still more convenient for buying a chocolate bar or a bag of carrots, it has a big disadvantage when it comes to large purchases.  The first is that it can be stolen.  There is no identifying factor that it is your money therefore making it a target for thieves.   Secondly, it can be counterfeited.  The more high-tech printing that is available to the masses the greater the risk of counterfeiting.  Thirdly, and most importantly, cash can not be regulated by the government.  Cash can be passed back and forth under the table to elude the taxman.  Cash can be used in buying illicit drugs and in financing the underworld.  The government can do little about this because cash does not identify its owner.  The problems of using paper money are strong arguments for a cashless society.

 A cashless society would virtually eliminate the underworld.  Every dollar would be accounted for by the government, hence taxed.  The honest taxpayer would applaud such a move because he has been paying more than his share to cover for what the government has lost with the tax evader.  Yet, the biggest selling point of the cashless society is convenience.  Mankind will sacrifice a great deal for the sake of convenience.  The staircase may be healthier to use but the elevator is more convenient.  There may be more risk in a cashless society for government control but it is far more convenient.  Think of owning just one card and being able to do all your business transactions with it.  Every line of credit you have will be on that card.  Your employer will directly deposit your weekly paycheck into that account.  Your mortgage and electrical bill will be automatically withdrawn.  You will never have to worry about a late payment and the price of goods and services will go down because they will not have to be concerned about collecting money in arrears.

   Let us take this whole scenario one step further.  There is a lot of research and money going into microchip implants.  Why?  Because there is high demand for a system that is quick, secure and effective.  In any technology, there is always a race to find a product that is also simple, convenient and cheap.  But no technology exists in a vacuum; it is a response to a recognized need.  Thieves are no longer a group of men riding horses with scarves covering their mouths.  Our modern day outlaws operate on the cutting edge of technology.  It is a real job for the police force to keep one step ahead.  Credit cards can be stolen or forged.  This is why there is such an interest in identification devices such as microchip implants. The problem is that they are very expensive, fairly slow, and awkward to use.  Who wants to walk up to a bank teller to have an ultraviolet light shone into his eye to have his retina identified?

Let us go back to the cattle ranchers for a moment.  We can exchange their horses for jeeps, their cowboy hats for helmets, and their branding irons for "Acme Electronic Chip Inserters".   This may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but microchip implant technology is already being used today.   A homing device put into the ear or under the skin of your dog or cat will help the Humane Society identify and locate your lost pet.  The chip will transmit relevant information such as vaccination shots, age, name, and owner.  They will soon be using microchips as locating devices for young children.  Just think how comforting it would be to a mother, especially in our day and age, knowing that her child is just one beep away.  It would also thwart the would-be child molester or kidnapper, making them think twice before abducting a child. 

In Revelation, Satan has set up a world society in which every man, woman and child will have a number registered by a world government.  No one will be able to buy or sell unless he is registered.  The number must be permanently impregnated onto the body.  If Satan were to try doing this today, it would not go over very well, but our societies thinking is rapidly changing.  What would be unacceptable yesterday has become common place today.

If you have given yourself to Christ, you are of a different Kingdom.  You have been bought with a price.  Do not allow anything to be implanted into or on your body no matter how convenient or how socially acceptable it may become.  Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  If you believe in the Bible, then you will see in God’s Word it is clear that Satan is moving to control the entire World.  He is moving toward that end even as you are reading this.  Jesus is calling us to be on our guard, eyes wide open, spiritually discerning.  Following Christ means taking a stand.  Being “in this World and not of this World”, willing to be ridiculed because of and for Christ.

All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Mark 13:13