On the Brink

"I always avoid prophesying beforehand, because it is a much better policy to prophesy after the event has all ready taken place" -Winston Churchill

     Every generation since the first century CE has entertained the thought that they were the last. Every generation, and specifically those of the Jewish and Christian faiths have prepared themselves for the possibility that they would live to see the realization of the abstract concept we call the end of the world. Granted, I haven't lived for very long, and I don't have much to compare the past few years to, but I am highly skeptical that I am the last generation. I could be totally wrong, but I suspect that things will get a whole lot worse before there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

     However, this past week, the world experienced yet another birth pain that will lay the foundation for the prophesy of Revelation 13:16-17. The verses say, "Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name." On September 19, Google released what they are calling "the next big shift" in payment. Google Wallet is a mobile device application that uses near field communication to allow you to pay for almost everything by only tapping a button on your device screen. It's scary. "In the past few thousand years," says the website, "the way we pay has changed just three times--from coins, to paper money, to plastic cards. Now we're on the brink of the next big shift." 

     I'm not saying that I think Google is going to turn evil, but I think that the world has just seen the baby steps of a changing way of commerce; one that has the potential to fulfill the prophesy of Revelation 13. "This is just the beginning..." says the website. What happens when it becomes normal for electronic devices to be implanted in your head or wrist?

     Coincidentally, Google made this announcement the week before Yom Teruah, the Hebraic feast that looks forward to the return of the Messiah. In English, it is called the Feast of Trumpets, and it is the first of the three Hebrew fall feasts that commemorate future events. We may not be the last generation, but we are certainly close, and we have the chance to prepare each year for the coming days of trial and joy.

     And the ironic part is that I'm writing this post on a Google hosted blog platform...