A Swedish company is making headlines by calling to mind a nightmarish image for Christians around the world.
A video from the South China Post went viral Friday for showing the microchip technology recently introduced by the Stockholm-based startup, Epicenter. The company’s “chief disruptor” Hannes Sjoblad demonstrated how their product, the size of a grain of rice, has been adapted as a Covid passport, implanted under the skin in the arm or hand.
Sjoblad said the company developed the tech for other purposes, but quickly realized it had potential for use as a kind of Covid passport, storing data about vaccine status that can then be read by any device using the near-field communication (NFC) protocol. “Implants are a very versatile technology that can be used for many different things,” he said, adding, “Right now it’s very convenient to have Covid passports always accessible on your implant.”
According to the U.K. outlet Metro, his chip is already being used by about 6000 people in Sweden, who also use them to store their financial information, enabling them to buy goods with the swipe of a hand.
For Christians, the description of the microchip immediately called to mind the Apostle John’s prophecies in Revelation 13:15-17:
The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 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.
This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.
Epicenter says the chips can also be used to store such information as building access codes, bus passes, and gym memberships. The development comes just as numerous nations around the world are requiring citizens to show proof of Covid vaccination to travel, shop, attend public events, and visit public places.
On social media, the reaction to the idea of implanting Covid or any other personal data in people’s hands was overwhelmingly negative.
Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-CO) tweeted, “Hey, remember when this was a conspiracy?”
“So convenient! Not at all concerning,” commented veteran investigative journalist Sharyl Atkisson.
“Just today I was bitching about how stupid paper vaccination cards are and asking for an easier solution.. but this is ahhh… not really what I was thinking,” said YouTuber Casey Neistat.
Ryan Grim, D.C. bureau chief at the left-wing news outlet, The Intercept, tweeted, “Is this parody or real? Lord.”
Finally, one Twitter account quipped, “Remember your crazy Christian relative who warned you about the Mark of the Beast? You owe them an apology.