Epicenter, a Stockholm-based startup, unveiled a new way of carrying around a COVID vaccine passport – in a microchip implanted under your skin. The implant can be read by any device using the near-field communication (NFC) protocol – technology used for contactless payments and keyless entry systems. In a video shared by Epicenter, Hannes Sjöblad, chief distribution officer, has the chip in his arm and simply waves a smartphone over it to pull up his vaccination status. “Implants are very versatile technology that can be used for many different things, and right now it is very convenient to have COVID passport always accessible on your implant”, he said in a statement.

 Many venues, restaurants, bars, concert halls and museums, across the US are requiring visitors present their vaccination status to enter the building and Epicenter wants to make presenting this information as easy as possible. “In case your phone runs out of battery, it’s always accessible to you. So of course, that’s how we use this technology today, next year we are going to use it for something else,” said Sjöblad.

 The microchip sits directly beneath the skin, either in the arm or between the thumb and forefinger. According to Sjöblad, the procedure is “completely reversible” and does not require a special phone app. This technology in its current development is meant to allow for easier access to one’s vaccine passport, but it is easy to see how the technology could be further developed for other means.

 Epicenter’s implanted microchip is not a new innovation, as the company has been using it for years – and with its own employees. In 2015, the company announced it had implanted the microchip in more than 100 of its employees, which allows them to open doors, operate printers, or buy smoothies with a wave of the hand. The chip is implanted with a simple injection of a syringe and with a click, a microchip is injected in the employee’s hand. When activated by a reader a few inches away, a small amount of data flows between the two devices via electromagnetic waves. And although the microchip passports are not yet ready for market, it is safe to assume that is how they will be implanted.

 While putting a vaccine passport on this type of technology is clearly not the mark of the beast from Revelation 13, the technology being developed could be laying the foundation for the future mark. If this technology is implanted into the human body, then it could not be faked. Unlike a tattoo or some other physical mark, this “mark” would be digitally read and impossible to fake. If this technology allows for your vaccine passport to be read, then other data could also be placed in this as well.

 For example, if the technology is used to identify a person and can be used for payment or even for opening doors, it could easily be tweaked into a type of mark. Revelation 13:17 states, “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.” Perhaps in the future, this technology, or something like it, could be used to allow access to grocery stores or the technology could be used to check out through your bank account instead of using cash, ensuring that you had the mark of the beast before you were able to purchase your goods.

 While the technology alone is not necessarily a negative thing and could be used for good in many cases, it may also be possibly laying the foundation for a future Tribulation period.

 PRAY: As the world seems to move closer to the Tribulation period and the return of Jesus Christ, pray for the expansion of the Gospel and for people to come to salvation.