Category: Eschatology

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Why the Vaccine is not the Mark of the Beast.

But this doesn’t mean it is a good idea! I need to state at the outset that I do not think the vaccine is a good idea, and the way it is being mandated casts much suspicion on the science behind it. This is a serious case of state overreach and if authority is granted to the civil government here it will become very difficult to pull it back.

Please do not think that my view that the vaccine is not the Mark of the Beast means that it meets my approval. It is certainly in the spirit of the Mark of Beast, but I don’t believe it qualifies as such.

  1. The rules surrounding Covid-19 vaccines have a strong similarity to the Mark of the Beast (Revelation 13:16-19).
    1. As vaccine mandates become more widespread it seems that employment is nearly impossible, and access to many marketplaces may be denied. So without the vaccine, one cannot buy and sell.
    2. This similarity is a strong one.
  2. If we are to understand the mark of the beast to be literal, it must be literal all the way down. It is not a good idea to take it literally (a mark) and not follow through consistently: 666 on the right hand or the forehead.
    1. The vaccines are not administered, nor do they leave a mark, on the right hand or on the forehead.
    2. The number 666 is not three sixes, but six hundred and sixty-six.
    3. There is no connection between the vaccine and this number.

  3. Worship: along with receiving the actual number, the Beast must be worshipped.

    1. Revelation 14:9 (ESV) 9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
    2. It is not clear that receiving the Mark of the Beast is an act of worship. Worshipping the Beast is accompanied by receiving the Mark, but they are not synonymous.
    3. It is also not clear who is worshipped by those who receive the vaccine, so it is hard to say that they worship the Beast.
      1. Receiving a vaccine does not entail worship, although it may involve worship of medicine, safety, security, or the State.
  4. The identity of the Beast: if the Beast is to be worshipped, then the identity must be known to the worshipper. The connection between the Beast and 666 is intentional, not an accident. I would go so far as to say that receiving the Mark of the Beast is an act of worship of the Beast.
    Again, the issue is one of literal or figurative interpretation.
    1. Is the Beast an identifiable entity?
    2. It must not be automatically assumed that the Beast “the Antichrist,” since that name only occurs in the letters of John and never in Revelation.
    3. The identity of the Beast and the Mark of the Beast would have to be something that Christians in the 1st century as well as today can understand. First Century Christians would have no understanding of vaccines and would be unable to discern the Mark of the Beast, as they were commanded to do (Revelation 1:1 and Revelation 13:18).
  5. Voluntary: The Mark of the Beast seems to be voluntary and received by those who are willing participants in worshipping the Beast.
    1. This vaccine does not fit this qualification for:
      1. Many are vaccinated involuntarily. Not only under duress (such as to keep a job or to maintain custody of a minor child), but it is given to the impaired, frail, and mentally handicapped people are vaccinated without informed consent.
  6. Understanding the Mark of the Beast
    1. To understand the Mark of the Beast of Revelation 13:16, Revelation 14:1 should be read as its context: 14 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads (see also Ezekiel 9:4, Revelation 7:3, 9:4, 22:4).
      1. The Mark on the forehead indicates ownership. All mankind is divided into two groups—those owned by the Beast and those owned by God.
      2. God does the marking of His people by His sovereign act. (Revelation 7:3)
    2. The Mark of the Beast and the worship of the Beast is in antithesis to the Worship of Yahweh.
      1. Deuteronomy 6:8 (ESV) 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
        1. Hand and forehead: thought and work (deeds)
        2. The Beast demands his mark hand or forehead
    3. It is very possible that the Mark of the Beast (666) refers to the name, “Nero” because the numbers six hundred, sixty-six in Hebrew spell the name “Nero.” Hebrew uses letters for numbers. The alternate reading of the text, 616, does the same thing using Latin numbers for letters.
    4. Emperor worship was a widespread demand by Nero by the early Christians. The emperors presented themselves as gods.
  7. Having said this, it should be remembered that:
    1. A government-mandated vaccine is a violation of the autonomy of the human body, and obedience to it forever changes the relationship between the government and the governed.
      1. This is an extreme example of government overreach.
    2. The current vaccines may be among the worst medical disasters unleashed on mankind.
    3. The Christian has an obligation to think critically and act accordingly.
    4. The conscience of the Christian must not be set aside for a government mandate.
    5. No Christian, pastor, or church should enable vaccine mandates.