In the End, The Central Issue Is Worship.
Social Controls, CBDCs & Bio-Metric ID Systems.
By Evans Lang’o.
April 9th 2024.
The Tower of Babel.
“And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth”(Genesis 11:4).
After Noah's flood, the children of men embarked on an ambitious plan of building a tower. They “decided to build a city, and in it a tower of such stupendous height as should render it the wonder of the world". “Babel builders determined to keep their community united in one body,.” They also intended “to found a monarchy that should eventually embrace the whole earth.” In the end, “their city would become the metropolis of a universal empire; its glory would command the admiration and homage of the world and render the founders illustrious.” A “magnificent tower, reaching to the heavens, was intended to stand as a monument of the power and wisdom of its builders, perpetuating their fame to the latest generations.” (Patriarchs and Prophets pg. 118.5) .
Though God confounded the plans of the ancient Babel builders, through the ages, the spirit that was in them has manifested itself among men, kingdoms, and nations as recorded in sacred history. That spirit that was inspired by the devil is at work in modern-day Babylon. When tempting Jesus the bible accounts that, “…the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Mathew 4:8-9). Though the devil did not overcome Christ through such temptations, like the builders of Babel, men have fallen for his devices to the extent that he is surprised, and in Daniel’s Prophecies the scripture has an account of superpower nations, their rise, role and fall on the stage of world political theater and how economy plays a role in this .
The Superpowers in Daniel’s Prophecies.
To Daniel was revealed “the history of the kingdoms, statesmen, councils, powerful armies” and how they have acted their part. Prominently brought out are the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. “Thou, O king, [art] a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou [art] this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all [things]: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise”(Daniel 2:37-40).
The same history is repeated in the seventh chapter of the Book of Daniel. “These great beasts, which are four, [are] four kings, [which] shall arise out of the earth. “Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth [were of] iron, and his nails [of] brass; [which] devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet.” “Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces”(Daniel 7:17, 19, 23).
It is God’s wisdom to use the symbols of a statue and beasts to represent these superpowers so that even a child can understand. The chronological rise and fall of these superpowers from the time of Daniel is first Babylon, which was overthrown by the Medo-Persians, Medo Persians were overthrown by Greece, and the Roman Empire overthrew Greece. As in the scripture, this chronology is supported by history, but we will not deal with that for now.
New Testament Super Power.
From the time that the Roman Empire (Daniel's Fourth Beast) overthrew Greece, it ruled and by the time the New Testament opens it is the superpower that is first brought into the record. “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.([And] this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed every one into his own city. To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child” (Luke 2:1-3, 5). Caesar Augustus is the title of a Roman Emperor. As recorded in Luke, the Roman Empire (Daniel’s fourth beast) held sway since the spirit of world dominion as in builders of Babel was in it. It was so powerful that it controlled the global economy. Daniel described it thus, “shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.” Financial strength is essential for military strength and super powers know this. As recorded in Daniel, the Roman Empire (fourth beast) will hold sway until the kingdom of God overthrows it, no other kingdom will. Given the nearness of the Kingdom of God, it means that we are living at a time when the power that will have dominion over the earth is of a Roman element.
Apocalyptic Super Powers.
It is the Roman power that put Christ on the cross, a Roman seal was on his grave, and Roman soldiers guarded his tomb. God continues the subject of the Roman Empire in the twelfth chapter of the revelation. "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads” (Revelation 12:1). In this text, it is revealed how the devil through Herod (a Roman king) represented as a dragon, sought to kill Jesus at his birth. In scripture, the devil is the dragon, but because the Roman Empire acted his part here, pagan Rome is therefore symbolized by a dragon.
In the thirteenth chapter of the Revelation the leopard-like beast (Kingdom) that gets its power from pagan Rome (dragon) is the papacy. That is evident for it is the only system that meets the character that the Bible gives to that composite beast (Kingdom). It arose out of a thickly populated geographical area, an influential world power that seeks worship, persecuted and is blasphemous.
Therefore, at this end of the world, the mighty beast (Kingdom) that is brought into the light of prophetic torch is papal Rome. And since that system gets its power from the dragon (the devil in primary sense and pagan Rome on a secondary sense), it must have also adopted their character. What was the nature of Rome? According to Daniel, it would “devour the whole earth,” and according to the Gospel of Luke, it taxed the whole word. What is the character of the devil? He claimed to be the true king of the whole world. Therefore, the desire to have worldwide influence and have dominion over all the earth and its economy is to be found in the papacy. That is why Prophet John described it as “and the entire world wondered after the beast” (Revelation 13: 3). There is another name that is given to this system, and that is BABYLON.
"I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration"(Revelation 17:3-6).
In the scripture, a name represents a character. The name Babylon is derived from the Hebrew root word Babel which means confusion. As seen at the beginning of this text, what was the desire of the builders of the tower of babel? “to found a monarchy that should eventually embrace the whole earth”. Therefore, through the help of the second beast of Revelation 13:11 (which prophecy interprets as America), the papal system (Apocalyptic Babylon), is "to found a monarchy that should eventually embrace the whole earth.” like the builders of Babel intended.
How does it do this?
Revelation 17:3 says the “woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast.” We had seen that a beast represents a kingdom/nation; therefore, how the papal system will get world dominion is through the help of the nations of this world, by controlling them (seating on). “The great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication”(Revelation 17:2). “And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her”(Revelation 18:9).
Who else does she control to do her bidding to help her rule the whole earth? It is the deceived business people. “The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her,” “The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing”(Revealtion18:11,15). Just like God came down to put to check the builders of the tower of Babel, so will God soon arrest this system of confusion, and at that time the deceived business people will realize how deluded they were to do the bidding of this system.
In this union which also incorporates the deceived religious world, God revealed a movement that “causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads” (Revelation 13:16). For this system to be able to CAUSE ALL, it means it has the power to control all. Men will do anything for money, and the devil knows that to bring people to the point that they will pay him homage, he needs to control buying and selling, the economy that is. Unrighteous economic prosperity has always been his tool of deception, “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Mathew 4:8-9).
Social Control , CBDCs and Social Cards.
Today nations are in a mad rush to meet the goal of having a legal identity for all. In countries like China, big business companies have cooperated with governments to build an artificial intelligence surveillance system. With spy cameras all over, people’s everyday lives are being tracked, and one is awarded points (Social Credit Points) according to how loyal they are to the government. Those with low social credit points are denied essential services, for instance, they cannot travel, cannot get a job with the government, cannot access certain buildings, are denied the privileges of accessing their social media sites, and in some instances, arrests are made. Courtesy of Artificial Intelligence, China has raised eyebrows for it has managed to turn some of the states into an open prison (New York Times).
There are also countries that have rolled out social cards programs. A social card is an electronic identity document in which various payment functionalities are integrated. The primary goal of such cards is to enable cashless transactions for public services, an integrated service delivery. Depending on the agreement between a government and social card service providers, scenarios where the card can be used, are like Identification application, biometric application, EMV application, loyalty application, and also wallet application among others. With this card, governments can track the effectiveness and usage of its social services.
One of the nations that have launched such is India, and its national identification system is the world’s largest biometric identification system. It has been hailed as a program that will fix corruption and change the relationship between the government and the masses; it is regarded to be a solution to welfare problems. However, not long since the program began, there have been outcries that it constitutes the most extreme breaches of rights to privacy and the right to life. Such social cards are set to help in travel, banking, insurance, health records, social security, mobile phone and such like. However, such countries where this has been implemented governments and businesspeople are pushing people to provide this card for almost every other aspect of their lives (Washington Post).
Therefore, CBDCs and social cards open a whole world of possibilities when it comes to social controls. From Bible prophecy point of view, the papal system or modern day Babylon is bent on causing the whole world to pay it homage through worship. One tool that it will use to gain this, through the help of the mightiest nation (s) and merchants of the earth, is economic control. 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” (Revelation 13:16). Looking at how artificial intelligence and social cards are structured, whether by chance or design, do they not offer this system one of the best means of forcing men to pay them homage?
Where these programs are being introduced, people are locked out of social services until they register. When they shall be fully implemented, will they not offer an opportunity for social control to achieve a desired end? You get locked out of almost every other aspect that gives you access to social needs until you comply. “and all the world wondered after the beast”; “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” Revelation 13:3,8.
NB: Though, social cards might offer such opportunities of social control, any number attached to such cards is not the “mark of the beast” neither are they the number of the beast “666” as this good explanation of what CBDCs are seeks to show .
Nothing New Under The Sun.
In the Bible, because of the spirit that inspired Pharaoh(s), he was also called the dragon. “Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers”(Ezekiel 29:3 ). Pharaoh also made the life of Israelites difficult when they were just about to leave for the Promised Land, and the central issue was worship. “And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish [ought] thereof: for they [be] idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go [and] sacrifice to our God”(Exodus 5:6-8). “The thing that hath been, it [is that] which shall be; and that which is done [is] that which shall be done: and [there is] no new [thing] under the sun”(Ecclesiastes 1:9).
God’s People Delivered.
With prophetic eyesight Jeremiah looked at the deception that modern Babylon would use to be worshiped and said “Babylon [hath been] a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad” (Jeremiah 51:7). Isaiah looked at the devil who is behind this scheme(false worship) and said thou “[That] made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; [that] opened not the house of his prisoners?” (Isaiah 14:17). But salvation will come when Christ shall stand, talking about Christ, the psalmist wrote “ For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth; To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;” Psalm 102:19-20.