IS THE COVID VACCINE THE “MARK OF THE BEAST?”

SIGH!  Once again we are seeing the rise of religious zealots who are trying to push their unbiblical ideas down the world’s collective throats.  One of these ideas is that those who take vaccines (i.e. COVID), are “taking the mark of the beast.”

Please bear with me as I attempt to allow Scripture to debunk that silly conspiracy theory via the BIBLE – the instruction manual for human beings, handed down by God Himself. 

To begin with, let’s check out the following scriptures and ask ourselves if the COVID vaccine (and/or any other man-made concoction or device) could possibly refer to the “mark” outlined in the Bible:

• Revelation 14:9. And another, a third Messenger followed them, saying with a loud voice: If any man will worship the beast of prey and its image, and will receive its mark upon his forehead or on his hand, 10. he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of Elohim, which is poured undiluted into the cup of his indignation and will be tormented with fire and sulfur, before the Set Apart Messengers, and before the throne. 11. And the smoke of their torment ascends up for ever and ever; and there is no rest, by day or by night, to those that worship the beast of prey and its image. 12. Here is the patience of the Set Apart believers who keep the commandments of Elohim, and the faith of Y’shua. (AENT)

• Revelation 13: 15. And it was given him to put life into the image of the beast of prey; and to cause that all they who would not worship the image of the beast of prey, should be slain: 16. and to cause that all, great and small, rich and poor, bond and free, should receive a mark on their right hands, or upon their foreheads; 17. so that no one might be able to buy or to sell, except those who had the mark of the name of the beast of prey, or the number of his name. 18. Here is wisdom: let him that has intelligence compute the number of the beast of prey; for it is the number of a man: and its number is six hundred and sixty and six. (AENT)

A few points to consider and questions to ask concerning the scriptures above:

1. What does the COVID vaccine have to do with the ability to “buy or sell?”

2. Does the COVID vaccine contain “the name of the beast or the number of his name?”

3. Vaccines are normally given into the muscles of the upper arm, or perhaps the buttocks.  Nobody gets them in their forehead or on their hands…

Now, check this out:

Revelation 20:4. And I saw thrones, and (persons) sat on them, and judgment was given to them, and to the souls that were beheaded for the testimony of Y'shua and for the Word of Elohim: and these are they who had not worshipped the beast of prey nor its image; neither had they received the mark upon their forehead or on their hand; and they lived and reigned with their Mashiyach those thousand years. (AENT)

Question:

Conspiracy theories aside, how could the taking of a vaccine designed to help prevent illness of death during a deadly pandemic, be considered “mark of the beast?”  I took the vaccine and didn’t get COVID; I’ve never worshiped “the beast of prey” or ANY “image”; nor have I received any “marks” on my hands or forehead that could be construed as evil!  Furthermore, I haven’t been sent by God to the pits of hell for taking the vaccine … matter of fact, He has kept on blessing me in myriad ways…

So, using Bible-only hermeneutics, let’s get real and try to figure out what that “Mark of the Beast” could be.  To do so, we have to understand that YHWH also has a “mark” –  often mentioned as “signs” or “seals.”  Here are just a few examples:

• Genesis 4: 15 ADONAI answered him, "Therefore, whoever kills Kayin will receive vengeance sevenfold," and ADONAI put a sign on Kayin, so that no one who found him would kill him. (CJB)

• Ezekiel 9: 4 ADONAI said to him, "Go throughout the city, through all Yerushalayim, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who are sighing and crying over all the disgusting practices that are being committed in it." (CJB)

• Ezekiel 9: 6 Kill old men, young men, girls, little children, women - slaughter them all! But don't go near anyone with the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." They began with the leaders in front of the house. (CJB)

• John 6: 27. Do not labor for food that perishes, rather for food that endures to life that is everlasting, that which the Son of man will give to you, for this man Elohim the Father has sealed. (AENT)

• 2 Corinthians 1: 21. Now it is Elohim who establishes us, with you, in the Mashiyach, and has anointed us, 22. And has sealed us, and has given the earnest of his Spirit in our hearts. 23. Moreover, I call Elohim for a witness on my soul that it was in order to spare you that I did not come to Corinth. (AENT)

• Ephesians 1: 13. In whom you also have heard the Word of Truth which is the Good News of your life, and have believed in him; and have been sealed with the Ruach haKodesh who was promised; (AENT)

• Ephesians 4: 30. And do not grieve the Ruach haKodesh of Elohim, whereby you are sealed for the day of redemption. (AENT)

• 2 Timothy 2: 19. But the firm foundation of Elohim stands and it has this seal; Master YHWH knows them who are His: and, Let everyone who invokes the name of our Master (Y'shua) stand aloof from iniquity. (AENT)

From the above scriptures we can see that God uses "marks", signs and "seals" to separate the Godly from the ungodly. If you've read the Bible in its entirety, you know that the "godly" are not only those who believe in Yeshua HaMashiyach (whom Christians call Jesus Christ), but also those who follow the teachings and instructions contained in Torah (first five Books of the Bible) - without which man would not know who YAHWEH is, nor who His Son is; nor how to behave towards God and each other!  (Proverbs 4:2 "I give you good instruction: Do not forsake my Torah"; Proverbs 28:9 “If a person will not listen to Torah, even his prayer is an abomination.”)

Moving on…

In Exodus 13:9 we see YAHWEH speaking to Moshe (Moses):  "Moreover, it (the festival of Passover) will serve you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder between your eyes, so that YHWH's Torah may be on your lips; because with a strong hand YHWH brought you out of Egypt." (CJB)

Compare the above with this:

Revelation 13: 15. And it was given him to put life into the image of the beast of prey; and to cause that all they who would not worship the image of the beast of prey, should be slain: 16. and to cause that all, great and small, rich and poor, bond and free, should receive a mark on their right hands, or upon their foreheads; 17. so that no one might be able to buy or to sell, except those who had the mark of the name of the beast of prey, or the number of his name. (AENT)

SEE THE DIFFERENCE? 

The "mark of YAHWEH" is our obedience to His Divine Instructions. The Mark of the Beast is what YAHWEH is ALLOWING Satan and the Antichrist to do in the end times, to kick off the process of separating the sheep from the goats!   In Revelation we find that the beast is “borrowing” that SAME “hand and forehead” concept to put his own "mark" on the gullible  - those he can draw away from YAHWEH! 

Now take a look at this powerful verse:

Deuteronomy 6: 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. (CJB)

Sound confusing?  Does God really expect us to tie and/or bind anything on those parts of our bodies?

No!

Logically, we can surmise that “binding” things on your forehead means to “remember” them (something the brain is designed to do); and that “tying them as symbols on our hands” means, we are not only to remember and DO His commandments, but also to implement, do them, put them into operation.  And how do we implement something?  With our hands!

Our brains send signals to all parts of the body.  Our hands cannot grasp, and our feet cannot move unless they receive a signal from the brain. The part where we make decisions to take action on a thought and which handles our behavior is called the prefrontal cortex.  The thought comes into the frontal lobe (forehead) and then goes through the unique process of order and duration in the different parts of the brain, which sends the signal for action to the various parts of the body.

Returning to Deuteronomy 6:6-8 above, we see that God commanded us to keep his word both in our hearts and brains/minds (prefrontal cortex) to keep us holy/from sinning. When we sin, how do we typically commit those sins? With our hands! A thief does not steal with his ear. An angry man does not strike another with his hair. A man does not kill another with his nose. It’s usually our HANDS that do “good” or “bad” according to what they received from the prefrontal cortex…

In the majority of cases, we commit our sins with our hands. Keeping God's word "on our hands" would mean that we proceed through life NOT allowing them to commit a sin. (There’s a more indepth explanation in my article about the “forehead and hands” mentioned in the Bible.)

The Bible-prophesied end times are inevitable, and MANY bad things are on the horizon.  It’s a battle between “good and evil” (YHWH vs. haSatan) and it is imperative for us to recognize the signs, and NOT make up what those “signs” or marks mean!

So, here is the bottom line:  We don’t know for sure what the mark of the beast is.  However, if it’s a man-made invention of some kind, beware – especially if it is to be placed on your hand and/or forehead and is required for buying or selling. 

I hope you can see now that it’s all about GOD and the spiritual behind-the-scenes battle for our souls; NOT man-made things, thoughts or personal opinions.

Be careful to NOT fall for lies or outlandish ideas!  Yeshua himself gave us a warning:

Matthew 24: 4. Y'shua answered and said to them, Beware, let no man deceive you. 5. For many will come in my name and will say that "I am the Mashiyach." And many they will deceive. 6. For you are bound to hear of revolutions and rumor of wars. Watch out and do not be disturbed, for it is necessary that all these things happen, but it is not yet the end. 7. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and plagues and earthquakes in different places.

8. But all these things are only the beginning of sorrows. 9. Then they will deliver to afflictions and they will kill you and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10. Then many will stumble and will hate one another and will betray one another. 11. And many false prophets will arise and deceive many. 12. And because of the growth of iniquity, the love of many will grow cold. 13. But whoever has patience until the end, he will have life. 14. And this Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.... (AENT)