The Vaccine is NOT the Mark of the Beast
Pastor Dave Monreal, Lead Pastor
“Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.”
Revelation 13:16-17
Hopefully for most of you this is a fun little article and is not controversial. However, I have had a few people (thank Facebook) who have tried to convince me that the vaccine is the Mark of the Beast recorded in Revelation 13. I’ve mentioned eschatology before (the study of end times) and in full disclosure, I am an historic premillennialist and not a dispensational premillennialist. Most of the people who have made this claim come from the dispensational school of thought. Regardless, I will show you why this cannot be the mark of the beast.
1. People do not mistakenly take the mark of the beast nor are they tricked into getting it. The mark of the beast is something that is done willfully and intentionally in defiance to God and in allegiance to the beast and false prophet. It is not something that is passed off as something else and unwittingly foisted on unsuspecting people.
2. If this were the mark of the beast and if believers do not take the mark of the beast, then one must also believe that everyone who has been vaccinated is not a believer and is on his way to a Christless eternity in hell. The mark of the beast is a differentiator between those who are faithful to God and those who are in cahoots with the Antichrist.
3. Dispensationalists and most historic premillennialists believe that Daniel’s 70th Seven (week or “week” of years) represents a seven-year period. (Daniel 9:24-27) Dispensationalists see the entire 7 years as the “tribulation” whereas most historic premillennialists see the seven years as divided into 3 ½ years of peace and 3 ½ years of tribulation. Dispensationalists believe the tribulation happens AFTER they are “raptured” (removed from Earth) and that the mark of the beast is sometime AFTER the rapture. If that is the case, this cannot be the Mark of the Beast because, according to them, we’d be gone. (Unless #2 is also true, but why are they still here?) For historic premillennialists the mark of the beast is given after the first 3 ½ years so we must believe that we are already in the second half of Daniel’s 70th seven (regardless of when the “rapture” is).
4. Notice also, that the mark of the beast is a mark. There seems to be some demarcation on a person’s hand or forehead without which the person cannot buy or sell. It seems to have political, economic, and religious significance. Unless we believe that the vaccine is radioactive, metallic, or fluorescent (I heard that one today!) the vaccine is not a mark, nor does it leave a mark. Regardless, none of these other things is a mark or physical symbol.
Early in my Christian experience I was told that Ronald Wilson Reagan was the antichrist and 666 was his number (6 letters in each name). Some of the less political persuasions were telling me that barcodes were the mark of the beast, but I wasn’t wearing a barcode it was on my food, so I was confused. Others said it was our social security number, (what about the rest of the world?). Others said it was credit cards but at the time they were harder to get and weren’t handed out like candy at a parade. I was told that magnetic strips on the back of the cards contained the mark. Some argue it will be a GPS or a RFID chip. I’ve head everything from cell phones to Apple pay (why isn’t it universal?). One sermon that was sent to me tried to show how the microscopic design of the vaccine proved it was the mark of the beast.
The mark of the beast is serious, and I seriously believe the vaccine is not it. It will be here someday, but regardless of your theological persuasion, we can say definitively this is not it.
