Antichrist Myths - Barcodes

In 1971 at IBM headquarters, George Laurer was assigned the task of designing a system of codes and symbols that would make the grocery industry more efficient. The result, introduced sometime in 1973, was the UPC barcode. Used in about 90 countries around the world, this system is the most popular of its kind in the world. And it seems like a great idea, making inventory and shopping a lot faster, secure, and with fewer errors — but people began to notice something potentially sinister with those black lines.

You see, rumor has it that the lines (the left, middle, and right) that protrude below the code represent the numbers 6, 6, and 6. One person even put it this way: “It is interesting to note that the Greek word translated ‘mark’ is charagma which comes from the Greek word charax, which means ‘a palisade, like a picket fence.’ When one realizes that this specific word was used back in the first century, and we see today the use of the computer-related bar code, we find the possibilities becoming more than a reality in our day and age” (Robert Van Kampen, The Sign, 1992, p. 231).

The UPC code actually works by representing numbers as a series of seven black and white vertical lines. When scanned by a computer, these groups of lines register the digits you see below the code. Every product you buy has a 10-digit number — the extra three bars allow the computer to know when to start checking for numbers and when to stop checking for them.

Mr. Laurer himself has addressed the rumor this way: “There is nothing sinister about this nor does it have anything to do with the Bible’s ‘mark of the beast’ … It is simply a coincidence like the fact that my first, middle, and last name all have 6 letters. There is no connection with an international money code either.”

He also adds that the three bar codes only resemble the code for 6, but they don’t actually mean 6. Remember, technically, a barcode number consists of seven units. But the beginning and ending guard bars are only three units, and middle guard bar is only five units. So the number 6 and the three guard bars aren’t the same. Technically, from a computer's perspective, the number "666" is not even in the UPC barcode.

From a human’s perspective, it might seem like it represents 666 — but humans have an uncanny ability to see what they want in whatever patterns emerge. That’s why we have to look at the Bible to determine what the mark of the beast and the number of his name really represent. That’s what this website will help you to do.