Vaccines and the Mark of the Beast

Recently, someone emailed a question about taking the COVID Vaccine and the Mark of the Beast. She told me of a “Facebook friend” who is always shouting about these things and touting that the Mark of the Beast is in fact COVID 19 Vaccines. She said that she was inundated with messages of dire consequences of taking the COVID 19 Vaccine and asked me whether I thought it is the Mark of the Beast.

The short answer to this question is, “No.”

My more detailed answer, for those who would like to know what I personally think on this subject, is copied from my email here. As a side note, I’m not interested in publicly debating with people on this issue. If you (the reader) have a different opinion from me, you are within your rights…
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You ask some deep questions, and I am so glad to engage with you over these issues. I hope my words make sense to you and bring you some comfort. Over the years we have seen many people make dire predictions about the imminent end of all things, the mark of the beast, the antichrist, the return of Christ and the tribulation, amongst other things. I must say that all of these predictions have proved to be false, not true, useless in fact. All the scare-mongering has only served to confuse and bring discouragement to many.

Please hear me carefuuly: In the first place, my advice to you would be to minimise the influence your Facebook friend has on your thinking. From your description, he sounds like he has a long way to go. His advice is dangerous and insensitive to who the Holy Spirit is calling us, as His people, to be. The Bible repeatedly tells us to walk in faith, to disallow the effects of fear in our thinking and actions, and to be a good witness to Jesus, through our words and actions.

It must be said, in my case, I have had the two doses of vaccine and have suffered no ill effects from them other than a slightly sore arm and a bit of drowsiness the next day. It has not impaired my love for the Lord, nor my devotion to him, nor has it affected my thinking. Taking the vaccine has not caused me any hardship. I’m not suddenly out of touch with the Holy Spirit, nor am I suffering from any ill effects in my spiritual walk.

Also, concerning the mark of the beast; when it comes, it will be a definite choice to ally one’s self with the enemies of God. It will not be a thing where people can be “tricked” into going to hell. You need not fear it in any way. There have been many things that people have said IS the “Mark of the Beast, a small list of some of them are:

- - Some coins of the Roman Empire
  - Marks of witchcraft in the dark ages
  - Credit Cards
  - Barcodes
  - QR Codes
  - Australia Card
  - Medicare card
  - Cashless society
  - Donald Trump insignia
  - RFID chips injected under the skin
  - Various Vaccines (yes, the fear over vaccines is not new)
  - Tatoos
  - COVID Vaccine
  - Many, many others.

Christians are very creative when it comes to predicting end times. We have been told by various ‘authorities’ that the end of the world and the second coming of Christ are about to happen, not hundreds, but THOUSANDS of times. Every single one of them was wrong. The internet has just given all these people a larger voice, but it doesn’t give them authority.

The thing I want to say is, don’t worry about it. All these self-pronounced experts in eschatology are drops of water in a very big bucket.

In your email, I loved what you said. “the Lord already claimed His children when He died for us, so therefore we are marked by God and covered by His blood.” This is the truth, Holly. You are marked by the Holy Spirit and He knows you, loves you and will eventually bring you home to heaven to live with Him in eternal glory. How good is that!

We can all feel safe in the Lord. When the time comes for the Mark of the Beast, it will not be a thing that people are tricked into, it will be a definite choice to follow satan instead of God. Whatever form it will take, you do not need to worry about it nor fret that people will be inadvertently and unknowingly condemned. The Lord is not stupid, nor is He a cruel ogre. He loves people and does not want anyone to perish, but that all should come to eternal life through Jesus Christ.