Is India’s New Data System the End-Times Mark of the Beast?

According to a story published in The Wall Street Journal (“India’s Biometric Feat: Big Boon or Big Brother” by Newly Purnell, Dec. 22, 2018), the nation of India has implemented an electronic data system which can control access to goods and services for India’s 1.3 billion people.

If this sounds like the basis of a system where “No man may buy or sell, except he who has the mark,” (Rev. 13:17), read on.

In 2010, India set out to develop a system that would provide national identification numbers to allow citizens to have access to government welfare. Many Indians are illiterate and are so poor that they have no electricity. So, to reach people living in primitive conditions, the Indian government turned to the rapidly developing science of biometrics. Using eye scanners for iris patterns and fingerprint readers, even the poorest and least educated can now be read into the most sophisticated data system in the world.

The system is named “Aadhaar,” a Hindu word meaning “Foundation.” True to its name, other uses beyond the intended welfare payment controls are being built on the “Foundation.” Aadhaar 12-digit personal ID numbers are now required to open a bank account or obtain medical treatment. In many cases, the number is now required for school enrollment, train tickets, telephone purchases and even admission to sporting events. The Foundation has indeed been put in place for total government surveillance and economic control as described in Revelation 13:17.

Other governments have been watching the Indian program and are already using biometrics to control their populations. China uses fingerprint and facial recognition technology to suppress the Uighur people in Xinjiang province. They are planning a national system of ratings to limit or deny services and opportunities to those who are out of favor with the government, including Christians, who are coming under increased persecution. Authoritarian regimes around the world can be expected to follow.

So far, the democracies of the U.S. and Europe have not joined in the rush to use biometric data for economic control purposes. However, pressure for a “cashless” society continues to build from tech companies and big government advocates, and some businesses are now refusing to take cash. We must pray that our leaders will continue to stand for individual rights and against biometric controls.

Let us not be fearful but instead remind ourselves that we live in the greatest revival in history, when millions and millions of people are being added to the kingdom of God. Our prayers must also be focused on the great harvest.

But we must also be aware that before Christ returns, the Antichrist will come. His tool for economic control is in place in India, and we should watch the expansion of these biometric surveillance systems as another sign of Christ’s Second Coming

Even so, come, Lord Jesus. {eoa}

Ron Allen is a Christian businessman, CPA and author who serves in local, national and international ministries, spreading a message of reconciliation to God, to men and between believers. He is founder of the International Star Bible Society, telling how the heavens declare the glory of God; the Emancipation Network, which helps people escape from financial bondage; and co-founder with his wife, Pat, of Corporate Prayer Resources, dedicated to helping intercessors.