The "mark of the beast" is a scratching(actual Greek) "in the right hand or forehead". (Rev.13:16). Its purpose is to link people's identification to the anti-christ & so "that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark.....". (Rev.13:17).
This will occur exactly in the middle of the final 7 year Tribulation period (as shown below). Today's technology clearly has readied the world for the accept- ance of a 1-mark system by which to "buy or sell", at the hands of the forthcoming antichrist.
Today, with Identity theft already recog- nized as a worldwide problem with the use of a single card for identification & purchasing of goods , then growing popularity of the embedded microchip into the skin or hand (shown by News articles below) is the world's best solution.
This rapidly growing concept has now begun conditioning the world for what could be the very next step worldwide. That is, not an embedded "chip", but a "mark" (a "scratching", like a tattoo) on the right hand or forehead, which cannot be lost or stolen.
"And he (antichrist) causes all, the small & the great, & the rich & the poor, & the free & the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or their forehead, & he provides that no one should be able to buy or sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name." (Revelation 13:16,17).
