Could Apple Pay be a step towards 666?

Apple Pay on an iPhone and an Apple Watch

Is ‘Apple Pay’ the next step in money?:

October 21, 2014

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple’s mobile payment system, Apple Pay, made its debut Monday. Now you can flash your new iPhone in the checkout line to pay for food, clothing and other goods. There’s no need to pull out your credit card. …

Although security measures are never foolproof, the Apple Pay system is safer than many current pay methods. …

Most retail stores that accept contactless payments should be able to use Apple Pay, as well as Google Wallet, Softcard and other services that are based on a wireless-chip technology called near-field communication, or NFC. It’s possible that some stores have the hardware in place, but haven’t turned on the functionality yet. The debut of Apple Pay is likely to prompt those merchants to do so. http://www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/technology_news/2014/10/apple_pay_qa_what_you_need_to_know

As Apple Pay Arrives, Witnessing the Next Step in Money. Maybe.

Generation after generation of Americans used cash as their primary payment. They then turned to bank checks, later to credit and debit cards. Within a few decades of their introduction, credit cards became ubiquitous: By 2012, nearly three quarters of a billion credit cards were being used in the United States, according to the Federal Reserve.

Think of Apple Pay as taking the card out of credit card. After entering their credit card information into the latest iPhones, customers can wave their phone in front of a properly equipped payment terminal at retailers like Whole Foods and McDonald’s. Customers verify the transaction with the iPhone’s fingerprint scanning hardware.

Today, relatively few people buy things with a wave of a smartphone. In the United States last year, consumers spent $1.6 billion using contactless mobile payments of the sort allowed by Apple Pay, according to estimates from eMarketer, a market research firm. That is just a tiny fraction of $264.3 billion in e-commerce purchases made last year, and an even smaller portion of $4.26 trillion in traditional in-store retail purchases.

“Right now, mobile wallets are sort of like e-commerce in 1995,” said John Collison, co-founder of Stripe, a payments processing firm. “Amazon was one of the big companies that made people feel O.K. to put their credit cards online.” Apple, he said, will do the same for the mobile wallet.

But others point to previous mobile wallet efforts from Google, Verizon and Square, among others, all of which failed to gain wide adoption. And Apple’s largest difficulty could be to persuade thousands of retailers to accept Apple Pay at the checkout line. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/21/technology/as-apple-pay-arrives-witnessing-the-next-step-in-money-maybe.html?_r=0

No doubt the flagship feature of iOS 8.1 is Apple Pay, which allows users of the latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to use their devices as wireless wallets, both in-store and online.

Apple touts the service as the “wallet, without the wallet,” allowing its latest iPhone users to simply tap-and-pay through contactless payment technology.

Although slow to adopt near-field communications (NFC), Apple finally bit the bullet and included it in its latest smartphone line-up. It also works with its Touch ID fingerprint technology, adding an additional layer of security.

While NFC is not included in the latest iPads announced earlier this month, iPad users can still make online payments through Apple Pay.

Apple has partnered with hundreds of banks and more than 220,000 participating stores, including Duane Reade, Bloomingdales, McDonalds, and Whole Foods, with more landing in the coming months. http://www.zdnet.com/apple-pay-new-features-roll-out-as-ios-8-1-released-for-iphones-ipads-7000034842/

A couple of days ago I reported about what was going on in Sweden and Ecuador related to digital money (see Sweden becoming cashless? A prelude to 666?), and the push by Apple seems to be a another step in that direction.

This is potentially prophetic as the Apostle John was told to write:

16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:16-18)

The above was written over 1900 years ago. As I mentioned a couple of days ago, at the time it was written it would seem that there would be no way to stop/monitor buying and selling that Revelation 13:17 foretells. Now, as more and more financial transactions are, or are becoming, electronic, we are at the point that the vast majority of financial transactions can be monitored/controlled.

Who is 666?

Some have various ideas about 666 (see SDA/CCOG Differences: Two Horned Beast of Revelation and 666).

The first writing that have been found that suggests that a Roman is 666 was by Irenaeus, who claimed to have listened to Polycarp when he (Irenaeus) was a young man. Irenaeus wrote:

Then also Lateinos (LATEINOS) has the number six hundred and sixty-six; and it is a very probable [solution], this being the name of the last kingdom [of the four seen by Daniel] (Irenaeus. Adversus haereses, Book V, Chapter 30, Verse 3. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Online Edition Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight).

Here is some of what Herbert W. Armstrong explained about the number 666 discussed in Revelation 13:18,

The expression “the name of the beast, or the number of his name” makes plain that the number 666 is the number of the NAME OF THE KINGDOM OR EMPIRE. 6. The expression “it is the number of a man” must also count this number in the name of the king, or ruler, over the kingdom identified as the “BEAST.”… The Bible describes the symbol “woman” to mean a CHURCH. See II Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7; Eph. 5:23-27. On the other hand, “beast” is a symbol of a KINGDOM, or EMPIRE. The woman of the 17th chapter is described beyond possibility of doubt as the church which did reign over the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire. Let us be consistent. The beast of Revelation 13 is not the WOMAN who rode the beast — the beast is the GOVERNMENT, and the woman is the CHURCH. The beast of Revelation 13 is THE ROMAN EMPIRE!…

The founder and first king of Rome was ROMULUS. The Roman Empire was named after him. His name, the name of a MAN, also is the name of the KINGDOM. And every citizen in the kingdom bears the same name — a ROMAN. When John wrote this Revelation, telling us to COUNT the number of the Beast, he wrote in the GREEK language. Consequently, we should look for this name, and the number 666, in this language recognized in the BIBLE, not in the Latin. We are all familiar with the Roman numerals, where letters are used for numbers. All understand that I is 1, V is 5,X is 10, etc. But many do not know that the Greek language,in which the book of Revelation was written, also uses letters for numbers. In the Greek, the language in which Revelation was written, this name is “LATEINOS.” It signifies “Latin man” or“the name of Latium,” from which region the Romans derived their origin and their language. This word, too, signifies“ROMAN.” In the Greek, L is 30, A is 1, T is 300, E is 5, I is 10, N is 50, O is 70, S is 200. Count these figures. They count to exactly 666! It is indeed no coincidence that the name of the KINGDOM, its founder and first KING, and of each man in the kingdom, counts to exactly 666! Certainly THE BEAST stands identified! (Armstrong HW. Who is the Beast? pp. 14-16)

666 represents those that follow forms of false Christianity–but also symbolizes the beast of Revelation 13:1-10–the final leader of the Holy Roman Empire who will be ultimately influenced by a changed one in the Vatican (by way of a demon-influenced individual who the Bible calls the false prophet, Revelation 16:13, and who is probably an “antipope” in the sense that even Roman Catholics would consider a demon-influenced pontiff an antipope).

Specifically 666 is the number of the first beast in Revelation 13 as distinguished from the Antichrist, who is the second, the two-horned beast, in the same chapter. And as Revelation 13 shows, the two-horned beast works with, and promotes, the seven-headed (and ten-horned) first beast in that chapter. The Bible clearly shows that the 666 power will have control over buying and selling.

This is NOT to say that the use of Apple Pay, of itself, is wrong.

Also, while Apple is not intentionally trying to set up ‘666,’ the reality it has taken a step that seems to be aligning with properly understood biblical prophecy. We are getting closer to the time when more financial controls will be in place–and many already are.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be Barack Obama and the State of the Apocalypse.
Will the Anglo-Saxon Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
Some Doctrines of Antichrist Are there any doctrines taught outside the Churches of God which can be considered as doctrines of antichrist? This article suggests at least three. It also provides information on 666 and the identity of “the false prophet.” Plus it shows that several Catholic writers seem to warn about an ecumenical antipope that will support heresy. You can also watch a video titled What Does the Bible teach about the Antichrist?
Physical Preparation Scriptures for Christians. We all know the Bible prophecies famines. Should we do something? Here is a version in the Spanish language Escrituras sobre Preparación física para los Cristianos.
The Plain Truth About Gold in Prophecy. How Should a Christian View Gold? What do economists and the Bible teach about gold? Gold and silver may drop in value. Inflation/deflation? What do Christians need to know about gold?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2021 or 20xx? There is also a video titled The 6000 Year Plan: Is the end of humanity’s reign almost up?
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
European Technology and the Beast of Revelation Will the coming European Beast power would use and develop technology that will result in the taking over of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies? Is this possible? What does the Bible teach? Here is a related YouTube video: Military Technology and the Beast of Revelation.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2014, 2015, or 2016? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2013 o 2014? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language sermon video: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives.
Can those in the USA/UK see the Handwriting on the Wall? Is everything fine in the USA/UK or is it like the days of Noah? Can we learn from the handwriting that appeared on a wall thousands of years ago? Here is a link to a related YouTube video Can you see the ‘Handwriting on the Wall’?
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
Two Horned Beast of Revelation and 666 Who is 666? This article explains how the COG views this, and compares this to Ellen White. Here is a version in the Spanish language: SDA/COG Diferencias: La bestia de dos cuernos de Apocalipsis y 666. Here is a sermon in the English language: CCOG and SDA differences and similarities.