We have just pasted the day when we were all to have seen the world end according to Harold Camping.  You may not be ready for another prediction but one is coming.  What if I were to tell you that December 21, 2012 was the end of the world as we know it?  I then went on to explain what signs tell me that the end was coming.   The Mayan and Hopi’s predictions are that the world will end on that specific day.  A number are taking this prediction much more serious than the May 21^st prophecy.  Thousands of people in the Netherlands have been preparing for that day by accumulating emergency supplies.  It has been circulating on the Internet, in books and recently a motion picture.  Rumor has it that the government is actually preparing secret underground bunkers. Do you believe the false prediction by Harold Camping will make people more questioning and less concerned about December 2012?

What if I were to tell you that you can know whether you will be raptured or not when the time comes.  Many of us believe Christ will come again twice.  The first time is to meet believers in the air as they are caught up or raptured.  The second time will be when He comes to earth to rule for a thousand years with those who are members of God’s family.  As we have repeatedly tried to point out, no one knows when that will be.  However, I too have a prediction.

First, let me share some background information.  I spent 23 of my 29 years as a store manager.  My last store, based on today’s inflation, would be doing about 55 million in sales.  I would have loved it if we had a cashless society, which is being predicted, and no money to handle.  We would not have to rely on making change and coming up with shortages even with registers telling how much to give back.  The second thing that would have been most advantageous would be having a small RFID implanted on every person. RFID is a tracking system that uses intelligent bar codes to track items in a store.  The code would start with the number 666-.   We could use a wand and be assured that people were who they said they were.  It would let us know if they had money to pay for the purchase.   This would revolutionize retailing and be a store manager’s dream.  Of course, there could be some negatives attached.

I do not think the rapture, believers caught up into the air to meet Jesus, will come before everyone, still living, will be given the test whether they will accept that mark (possibly an implanted RFID, the size of a pin head) or not.  This will be our ultimate test.  Will we trust what the Bible says or will we ignore and turn our back on Scripture when it comes to taking the mark?  Wouldn’t this eliminate any excuses on Judgment Day?  The day of the rapture, those not having a mark will rise into the air to meet Christ.  Those having the mark will remain and go through the Tribulation.  You made the choice and would have no excuse when being judged.

Revelation 13: 16 & 17 – “It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.”

Revelation 14:9 – 11 – “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand,  they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.  And the smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”

Revelation 16:2 – “The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.”  Everyone has been warned not to take the mark.  Only truly committed Christians refused to take the mark and they will be raptured.

Revelation 20:4 – “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

False teachers can leave out Scripture to make their case.  This is exactly what Harold Camping did claiming to know the exact date the world would end.  We cannot say, those beheaded because of their faith died before the rapture or after.  All we are told is they came to life and reigned with Christ.  Unless we know for sure we cannot make the statement the rapture will not occur until we are required to make the choice.

Some people predicting end times, the time of the rapture or who will make it to Heaven and who won’t can be very convincing to those who have not studied their Bible.  Be careful who you listen to and what they teach.  Then check it out for yourself!

I have no idea whether the “Mark of the Beast” will be a test to see who is raptured.  However, if I wanted to I could use certain Scripture to convince some that this would be their test.  But, then I too could be labeled a false teacher.