I have always wondered how we could get to a point where we couldn't Buy or Sell, and now it seems clear from the near collapse of Greece.

"ATHENS — Greeks faced shuttered banks and a closed stock market Monday at the beginning of a fateful week that may determine whether they will be able to hold on to the euro currency...The blows from the breakdown in talks between Greece and its creditors also pummeled financial markets. Asian and European exchanges were down sharply, the euro slumped, and Wall Street plummeted, with Greece less than 24 hours away from being unable to pay its bills." https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/gre...ace1_story.html

The banks closed overnight, people could not access their funds, businesses could not pay their employees or order materials and parts. Basically Greece and its people could not buy and sell, and worse would have happened if it was allowed to run its course and Germany and the rest of Europe had not stepped in, and we still will see.

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/11/greek-banks-to-run-out-of-money-by-monday-without-ecb-help.html

Being shut down was done overnight with hardly a change in current law or use of legislation, with a nationwide effect if not worldwide especially on the various markets. It had a potential to grow into a devastating world wide collapse which caused the US President to press Germany to cave in and give the additional Billions to Greece which I think would have been allowed to separate itself monetarily from the European Union and Euro.

Here is a description of what will happen by Clifford Goldstein, which now has become much clearly how it can occur...

"Buying and selling are a fact of life, as certain as taxes and almost as certain as death. From the time when folks bought and sold by bartering— exchanging sheep and goats for spices and wine—to our present transactions that are transmitted online with the speed of light, the human way of life consists of buying and selling. From the trade routes of the ancient world to Communist China today, and from the feudal system of medieval Europe to Wall Street, human beings have been engaged in a constant exchange of goods and services that are traded for some form of payment. These payments run the gamut from goats to hard cash to online money transfers. In one way or another, buying and selling lie at the core of our human existence. It’s hard to imagine civilization—any civilization— without the ability to exchange goods and services for money.

What, then, are we to make of a warning in the biblical book of Revelation, which explicitly talks about the last days and the events that lead to them? In the context of the great struggle between good and evil that will unfold with increasing drama as we near the end of time, Revelation says, “He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:15–17, italics added).

You can’t buy or sell? You should be killed? Clearly, people will be playing hardball in the last days!"

The pope has earlier made an excepton acknoledging as Christians those members of an other denomination who were apposed to the ordination of women.

Do you think his strategy has changed?

Not quite sure how that relates to not being able to Buy or Sell...

From history we know that the pope gives exceptions to those who are against the ordination of women. So when the stores are closed to those who follow Jesus Christ and His word, you will be able to get a special card to show your supplier because you can "prove" that you are opposed to the ordination of women.

Will you call that an answer to prayer?

Exceptions

The issue will not be women's ordination (that whole heated debate is simply to bring division and take people's minds off the real issues) The ticket to buying or selling will be concerning God's 10 commandment law -- specifically the enforcement of a false day of worship.

There will be buying and selling in the last crises, as those who have the "mark of the beast" will be able to buy and sell. So not sure how banks crashing and all buying and selling comes to a halt is really the fulfillment; though a teetering economy may very well be an excuse to regulate buying and selling.

"The beast with lamb-like horns commands
"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." [Revelation 13:16, 17.] {4SP 279.1}

Our understanding is that the beast with lamb-like horns is the United States. There is nothing to prevent the mark "in their right hand" from being a mark in the VISA or MASTER card people hold in their right hand. Then notice the "or" between three possibilities. This is an indication there is more than one kind of "mark".

We are also told that prophecy is not only given to predict in details what will happen in the future, but also that we might recognize the event when it happens.

I doubt seriously that John the revelator had ever heard of electronic credit cards or knew the exact words to describe these gadgets, but he is giving us a hint.

Long before credit cards, our people recognized that papacy was using Sunday worship as a "mark". There is no reason to doubt this will still be a mark in the future.

In our days the catholic church has given the refusal to ordain women as another "mark" of allegiance where Sunday is not the issue.

That helps us understand the two "or"s expressed by the prophet - provided we are willing to go by the text of Scripture.

I happen to have a MASTER card on an American bank. It has a different mark than banks in Europe are using, so I am having a hard time finding a bank in my country which accepts the mark. I once used this card when entering the parking lot at our closest international airport. I was able to enter, but the machine at the exit refused to accept the card so the gate would not open, and I could not use a different card there than the one used by the entrance. It forced me to leave the car and go to the office where they could trace my use of the MASTER card. With a card they gave me I was finally at liberty to leave the airport area.

This experience reminded me of buying and selling, although in this case I was not buying food or merchandice but a parking space while delivering my granddaughter to the plane on her way home to her parents.

A third mark of allegiance given by the pope himself, that I have noticed, is the belief that salvation is not a free choice of the individual. And the pope himself has declared that this could be his main issue with Seventh-day Adventists and certain other evangelical churches. It is even stated that this is a more difficult matter to solve than issues with the Muslim world.

That mark is in your brain - forehead - and your relationship with your creator and savior.

Why are we not following these emphatic fulfillments of prophecy? What are we afraid of?

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.

I imagine having the name includes having the mark, and having the number includes having the name and the mark. But it is also possible, perhaps, to have the mark without having the name or number.

Philippians 3:15 (ERV)

15 All of us who have grown to be spiritually mature should think this way too. And if there is any of this that you don’t agree with, God will make it clear to you.

The two main MARKS that the Catholic church upholds is
1. The so called "Lord's Day" Sunday
2. The Eucharist

It is the Eucharist doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church which produces their view of ordination which is not acceptable to a true Seventh-day Adventist

That is a stretch Johann, you are really reaching on that one....

We already cannot buy or sell. Anyone (or countries) are forced to use Mystery Babylon's mark which is "fiat money". If we don't, well we go to jail or get killed like JFK was for attempting to go back to the US producing their own money. On the national level, any countries that doesn't are sanctioned or made war upon. That's what we see today going on in the world.

Fiat means "a formal authorization, a decree, an arbitrary order...".
Fiat money is "inconvertible paper money made legal tender by a government decree".

So Mystery Babylon(stemming from the Roman templar; thus an extension of the Roman Empire like the Catholic Church was also) infiltrated the countries government and tricked them to decree in their countries to only use Mystery Babylon's mark(fiat money). The countries that does not comply (like Iraq, Syria, and etc...) well they send their bullies(USA's army) to destroy the country, then establish a White rulers, implement "maritimes laws" and establish their banks to endebt the population. That's what already happened to United States, Canada, Greece, all of Europe, Australia, Japan, etc...

This has been going on for 100 years. Mystery Babylon has already established their empire and have already issued their MARK for 100 years.

Greece is only evidence of this debt system gone to its full end, where the country is so endebted that it needs to sell off all their assets to Mystery Babylon and go a step further to impose more austerity measures on the people. What is happening to Greece is what Mystery Babylon had planned to happen to all other countries by which are also all in debt that increase year after year that is impossible to be paid.

If we let the Bible interpret itself, 666 is found in only one other place in the Bible. AV 2Ch 9:13 . Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

666 was gold (=money) -- which was the currency of exchange in those days.

Yes, but in practical terms you were able to get food yesterday and prepare it for the Sabbath. There will come a time when that will cease, and we can see how that can come about in the events in Greece...


"Here's what former U.S. Treasury secretary Larry Summers wrote this weekend:

Greek banks will run out of cash early in the week, probably on Monday. There will be an immediate need to either provide them with some sort of IOU scrip to meet demand for funds or to resolve them in some way, as Greece lacks the capacity to create Euro. What the Europeans do and the decisions the Greeks make will shape the future of Greece and the Euro area.

It's possible that the scrips will buy some time -- the Economist has an explainer here -- or some eleventh-hour deal will come. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be in Paris on Monday for talks, and a summit of euro zone nations will be held Tuesday to discuss the crisis. Even if it won the vote, Syriza may face pressure to accept a better deal, given that Greeks don't want to leave the euro.

But if the European Central Bank ultimately won't give Greece's banks the money they need, then there are only two ways for them to get it. Otherwise they'll crash and burn. That's to either take it from depositors or to print it. The first option, what's known as a bank bail-in, is what Cyprus did when the ECB stopped propping its banks up two years ago.

But the second option is available only if Greece has a currency it can print. It doesn't right now. It has the euro. So Greece would have to ditch it and bring back the drachma if it wanted to recapitalize its banks via the printing press....Joseph Gagnon, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, explained the mechanics of the so-called "Grexit:"

The first step would be to enact legislation to convert all financial assets and liabilities and all commercial contracts and wage agreements issued under Greek law from euros to drachmas at par (one for one). Banks would need to close for at least a couple days, possibly more, to reprogram their systems."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonk...nations-crisis/

In practical terms you and I can buy food because we are in a country that uses the mark of Mystery Babylon. We both uses Mystery Babylon's mark(=money) to buy food with it. If my country or I use anything else, there will be serious repercaution as we can see happening in many countries.

In practical terms....just because I use Mystery Babylon's mark(money) doesn't mean I have their mark written on my forehead and hands. This type of interpretation or view requires to take Rev 13:17 LITERALLY. The counterpart of Rev 13:17 is Deut 6:5-8. The Jews took it LITERALLY by wearing portion of scriptures attached on their forehead and hands when in their heart they had the golden calf.

"5 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; 7 and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead."

Jesus never did this as He didn't interpret scriptures so literally. He always taught that scriptures was to be in our heart where it belongs.

Those that love the Lord with all their heart will not have the mark of the beast on their hands or forehead. It is when our labor is to get money regardless of ethics of the Lord's law that the mark(money) is upon our hands. When all our thoughts is spend to get money regardless of ethics, then the mark is upon our foreheads.

Our Father looks at the heart and knows who we love: Him or money.

I think the events of the end time will be literal, including not being able to buy or sell, the Lake of Fire and the Wicked perish, to say nothing of going to Heaven with our Lord.

Maybe you haven't taken note of Num 12:1-9. The Lord Himself told us that He speaks to prophets by visions and dreams in symbolic or puzzle like language. Definetly the book of Revelation is all a vision as John makes that clear to us; thus that book is all symbolic -- a puzzle to be figured out.

Num 12:1-9 goes that Aaron and Miryam was arguing with Moses that they were prophets too. It was true that the Lord had used them as prophets too. But this dispute was about AUTHORITY not trying to prove who were prophets. So the Lord came down immediatly to put an end to this and put Moses above Miriam and Aaron by saying :

AV Num 12:6And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, [I] the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, [and] will speak unto him in a dream. 7 My servant Moses [is] not so, who [is] faithful in all mine house. With him[Moses] will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches[as He does with Prophets]; and the similitude of the LORD shall he[Moses] behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

The Hebrew word for "dark speeches" is chiydah that means "a puzzle". chiydah is used 17 times in the Bible by which 9 times in the story of Samsom when he gave a riddle(chiydah) to solve. Also in Ps 78:2 pointing to Jesus who will come speaking in parable = dark speeches "I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:" Most people, even the disciples didn't understand the meaning of Jesus parable. Jesus had to explain(interpret) these to His disciples afterwards.

To "behold the similitude of the Lord" like Moses did, we need to understand the symbolic language that the Lord speaks in. Moses learned the Lord's language (the equivalence of the symbolism) probably during the 40 years in the wilderness when he was being trained by the Lord.

If we read the books of the prophets or the parables of Jesus or the book of Revelation LITERALLY, we will miss out in beholding the similitude of the Lord. We need to seek the Lord to teach us the meaning of His symbolic language that He uses in the Bible to come to behold Him and His ways to save man.

The buying/selling issue described in the Revelation is in the context of Sunday Laws. Evil angels are not personating holy angels or deceased people insisting Jesus changed the Sabbath to Sunday and urging Christians to imprison and decapitate Seventh-day Adventists.