The New Money

Show me the new money

Though few people--including many professing Christians--take the Bible literally these days, there are those who do and they realize that we're living in the period of time that the Bible describes as the last days.

In what way? In the way of money that biblical prophecy clearly reveals will become quite different in the days preceding the return of Jesus Christ. How will it be different? It will be fully electronic, meaning that cash, coins, checks, debit and credit cards will go the way of the dinosaur.

Nearly 1,900 years ago, the apostle John, who was an elderly man confined by Rome to the desolate island of Patmos for refusing to renounce Christ, received an incredible vision from God concerning the end times. That vision included a one-world government and its wicked leader who will institute a global cashless monetary system.

Though that sounds beneficial, the vision revealed that the ultimate motive for this new, global monetary system will be surveillance and control. Here's what John recorded: "He (Antichrist) also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his 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." (Revelation 13:16-17)

John's vision didn't make much sense in 90 A.D when he received it. It didn't make much sense for several centuries, prompting some biblical scholars to question whether the Revelation was a myth that should've been stricken from the Bible. Certainly, some ancient kingdoms instituted marking systems to identify their subjects. But on a global scale?

That was practically impossible to comprehend until the advent of the 20th century that saw an explosion of technology with inventions such as the automobile, airplanes, computers, television, satellites and smart-phones. Many folks forget that a lot of the things they depend on these days didn't exist 100 years ago. That's how quickly technology has advanced the world since the dawn of the previous century.

And the technology now exists to implement a cashless monetary system. Those who are promoting this system claim that it will do away with violent drug cartels and street gangs that accumulate most of their income from narcotics. They also claim that it will eliminate robberies and reduce financial scams that target the elderly.

Though smart-phones now transact a lot of the financial business that used to be transacted by paper money and credit cards, they can be lost, stolen or hacked by cyber-thieves. The ultimate system will feature an embedded computer chip or skin-patch containing a barcode that will be synced with a person's DNA to prevent the device from being used by someone else if it's stolen or removed from its host. Does the technology exist to implement such a system? Not yet, but it's not far away.

In the meantime, the world is preparing for this new economic system by making plans to discard the old system. And the first nation that could become fully cashless is Sweden. From cbsnews.com: Sweden was the first European country to introduce bank notes in 1661. Now it's come farther than most on the path toward getting rid of them. "I can't see why we should be printing bank notes at all anymore," says Bjoern Ulvaeus, former member of 1970's pop group ABBA, and a vocal proponent for a world without cash. The contours of such a society are starting to take shape in this high-tech nation, frustrating those who prefer coins and bills over digital money.  
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sweden-moving-towards-cashless-economy

Since cash has become increasingly scarce in Sweden, crime has dropped. According to the AP: The number of bank robberies in Sweden plunged from 110 in 2008 to 16 in 2011 — the lowest level since it started keeping records 30 years ago. It says robberies of security transports are also down. "Less cash in circulation makes things safer, both for the staff that handle cash, but also of course for the public," says Par Karlsson, a security expert at the organization."

Indeed, that sounds like great news. But as they say: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. And the good intentions of a global cashless monetary system will ultimately become the yellow brick road that leads to the gates of hell.