Revelation 13:17: 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.

People with the mark of the Second Beast will increasingly control world economies¹ through secret combinations² that first began when Cain killed his brother Abel to obtain his flocks.³ The Second Beast already controls specialty markets such as tobacco, alcohol, drugs, pornography, gambling, and human trafficking.⁴ The economic control of the Second Beast can also be seen today in organized crime syndicates such as the Mafia⁵ and drug cartels.⁶ The Second Beast will continue to diversify and increase his control of world markets,⁷ until his economic control becomes complete⁸ during the Great Tribulation just before the Second Coming.⁹

John predicts that during the 3½ years of the Great Tribulation before the Second Coming no man might buy or sell unless he worships the image of the First Beast.¹⁰ This is the antitype for the economic coercion found in the ancient Roman Empire,¹¹ where emperors used economic force to compel people to worship their image.¹² The empire did so by issuing emperor worship certificates for normal business activity.¹³ Similarly, throughout the Dark Ages, the Roman Catholic Church exerted strict economic controls¹⁴ and other civic sanctions¹⁵ against religious heretics.¹⁶

People who worship the image of the First Beast receive the mark, or the name of the beast,¹⁷ or the number of his name.¹⁸ This means that worshipers of the First Beast will know the signs, oaths, and agreements of the secret combinations¹⁹ that will exist during the Great Tribulation.²⁰ When the Great Tribulation ends at the Second Coming,²¹ all marked people and nations will be destroyed.²² In that day, the world economy of the Second Beast (Modern Babylon) will also collapse suddenly and completely.²³