The Mark of the Beast?
by Lawrence Jackson

A Horrific foreshadowing of things to come

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Revelation 13:16-18

Even a casual glance through the book of Revelation should make the reader wonder, What does God mean by the 'number of the beast' which is referred to in this passage in Revelation. No doubt, a great many of the future's events will be shrouded to us until the Lord reveals them to us.

There is a shocking detail of everyday life for those who have become more and more dependent on electronic communication.

What I wish to share may get a little technical, but I'll attempt to be as straightforward with my observation as possible.

Whenever you type in an Internet address, there is a protocol, or the set of rules that permit information to be sent to and from your computer and a remote computer.

The acronym HTTP stands for: Hyper TexT Protocol

This protocol is a very GOOD thing. Whenever you visit a WebPage, send a credit card payment, get or send an email, or do any number of Internet related things your computer is basically networked into another computer that is allowed to save, retrieve and modify files to your own computer. Now, those are the very same things that you normally do on your own computer. One of the fundamental aspects of the Internet is that it allows other computers to do the exact same things to your computer that you do which are:

The hypertext protocol just sets up the rules of do's and don'ts for the remote computer for our safety.

You can (and routinely do) bypass the http security by sending and receiving things to and from your computer. Downloads can retrieve any kind of file to your computer, while submit buttons can allow you to send just about any thing from your computer to another computer.

Again, the HTTP protocol basically prevents unknown users from wreaking havoc on the world, by keeping 'honest users honest'. Unwanted activity ranges from sending harmful programs, such as viruses, planting spyware programs that observes and reports your activity, or creating programs which can literally 'take over your computer' allowing another person to do 'who-knows-what' on your system WITHOUT YOU EVEN KNOWING IT!

But the Hypertext protocol sets conditions which when met allow remote operators to do all of these very things! But the Internet gives a remote operator not only the ability to READ, WRITE, and MODIFY information from your home computer, but also to your credit and debit accounts! Of course the locks and securities are much more complex for this than for a routine 'download', but on a technical level it is all the same type of operation: Which are either to

To guard against unwanted activity, each file that resides on a remote computer, (often called a SERVER) has READ, WRITE and EXECUTE permissions that need to be set for it. Each file has a 'label' that determines who can look at a file, and who can modify it.

Now if you've ever 'Uploaded' a file to a hosting computer, you may never deal with setting FILE PERMISSIONS. Normally, files that you upload to the Internet for WebPage construction are automatically for viewing (READ) only, nothing more. In this case as a 'webmaster' you can 'upload' all day and the web surfer can likewise 'download' all day. Nothing particularly special or interesting is happening with these operations. HTML pages are simply being created for other people to look at.

However, if a surfer (the CLIENT computer) wishes to leave information at a site in the form of a GUESTBOOK, MESSAGE BOARD, MEMBERSHIP, etc, data needs to be created and eventually modified on the SERVER.

In other words, your home computer is

READING

WRITING

EXECUTING

files on a REMOTE computer. This exchange is amazing and literally connects computers all around the world. Perhaps not at all the same time, but the Internet is indeed a GLOBAL link to every computer in the world, hence the name the World Wide Web.

Shockingly enough, in order for your home computers to be able to modify the files on the SERVER, those files have to have a 'setting' in place which will allow you to do this.

That file setting is chmod666

My information is based on a portion of text from a text book I'm using to learn database interaction. I welcome any corrections to any inaccuracies in my observations

"CHMOD 666 is the permission to set for a data file that is going to be updated and written to by another script. Almost all scripts will be CHMOD 755, unless they contain raw data that needs to be dynamically updated; in those cases the file will be CHMOD 666."

The operation goes something like this:

CLIENT computer (your home computer): I want to see http://www.yahoo.com SERVER computer (remote computer): ok, here you go here's http://www.yahoo.com and everything you need to view this site which are these graphics, these HTML files, and other stuff that I'm just gonna put in your TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES directory. CLIENT computer: Ok, that's cool, send it on over, that' why I'm here... SERVER computer: Right on, here it comes. index.htm [chmod755] someOther.htm [chmod755] coolGraphic001.gif [chmod755] coolGraphic033.gif [chmod755] CLIENT computer: Good, I can see it all! No wonder you guys are called Yahoo! CLIENT computer: Hey, Let me see some more stuff. I wanna buy a car this year! Let's see the AUTO pages! SERVER computer: I'm here to serve. Here you are: http://www.yahoo.com/AUTOs SERVER computer: Here comes everything you need autos.htm [chmod755] someOtherAutoIndex.htm [chmod755] coolCarGraphic011.gif [chmod755] coolCarGraphic012.gif [chmod755] coolCarGraphic013.gif [chmod755] CLIENT computer: Oooh yummy, look it all the selections. CLIENT computer: Say, I think I wanna go ahead and BUY one from you guys! SERVER computer: I'm thrilled! Let me help you with everything you need SERVER computer: In order to remember you when you come back I'll save a spot for you right here on my hard drive. But you'll have to tell me some things about yourself. SERVER computer: Do you have a problem with that? CLIENT computer: No, no, that's why I'm here. I figure if I'm gonna be buying a car I gotta tell you something about myself. CLIENT computer: What do I fill in? SERVER computer: Yes, coming right up. I'll leave these with you... SERVER computer: Here comes everything you need autosSalesPitch.htm [chmod755] autosCarOptions.htm [chmod755] autosApplication.htm [chmod755] yourPersonalInfo.dat [chmod666] coolCarGraphic011.gif [chmod755] coolCarGraphic012.gif [chmod755] coolCarGraphic013.gif [chmod755] CLIENT computer: Alright, gimme a sec SERVER computer: Take your time. I'll be here. Just send it on over when you're done.

Ok, the example here isn't really creepy because of a potential monetary transaction being made over the Net. It's creepy because the one SWITCH that allows information (ANY INFORMATION, by the way) to be stored on a REMOTE computer is chmod666. Now while there may be any number of technical reasons why this number was allowed, there is no escaping the attention that this number gets in light of the Holy Scriptures, and for good reason. Those who are obscene enough to brand themselves, knowingly or unknowingly with this mark will forever be locked out of Christ's Kingdom. Even though the short-term penalty will be the inability to buy or sell (perhaps, over the Internet based, cashless system), those who are faithful to Christ will reign with Him when He returns.

The chmod666 code releases the security on a file on a remote computer so that other users on the web can alter it. The technical details of HOW that file is modified depends on the programming language and the types of operations that you want to perform are a whole 'nother story, and not so very interesting.

The detail, and perhaps a very small detail that I wanted to point out is that unknown to most people is this:

Using the internet, sending and receiving emails, signing guest books, filling out polls, signing on and making posts to message boards, and setting up any number of miscellaneous accounts, relies on a pivotal 'mark' on the files which allow you to or keep you from doing this is chmod666. If a significant connection could not hithertofore been able to be seen between this cryptic number and things that you do in your everyday life, maybe one can now. Actually, a connection was made when you got your ISP and sent your first email. It is unknown if the connection between 666 and your day to day buying and selling will ever become any more visible than it is made here but for God's sake, don't ever let this number, or anything with this number, be implanted onto any part of your body. Micro chip implants could very well INTERACT WITH THE INTERNET using chmod666 and could bring about a horrible, eternal penalty from God. Even though you may not be in with the IN-crowd and maybe in the near or distant future you won't even be able to buy or sell just on the Internet, it's a small price to pay to avoid a sure curse from God. Hey, you may not even be able to buy or sell at all without the chmod666 chip in the near future! But for the love of your eternal soul, take these things to heart, and don't get branded with a chip that may or may not boast of it's triple 6 powered mark!!

I theorize that in the not too distant future the chmod666 personal data file will not be sitting on a remote computer, or on a satellite roaming earth's orbit, but the chmod666 file could be attempted to be placed on the body of each and every person. (That implant that everyone seems to want so bad) Information can simply be sent and received via wireless internet permitting or denying that person any number of rights, privileges and services based on any number of personal variables determined by income, assets, or any other number of personal details.

The last thing I care to do is start some kind of panic, but is there not even a loose connection here?

Lawrence Jackson- January 20, 2002