Mark of the Beast”

There have been numerous post on social media about the mark of the beast that goes something like this,         lockdowns around the world will be lifted but only for those immune to the coronavirus. You will have to be tested to see if you’ve had the disease or be given a      vaccine. Once that’s happened, you’ll be issued a           certificate, identity card, or tattoo. To travel and work freely, you’ll have to show this proof that you’re not       infectious. In this way, millions will be tricked into           receiving some kind of Mark. Could this be the “Mark of the Beast”? Pastor Ronnie Hampton of the New Vision Community Church in Shreveport, Louisiana put it this way: “They’re gonna come up with a vaccine and in that vaccine everybody is gonna have to take it … and           inside of that vaccine there’s going to be some type of electronic computer device that’s gonna put some type of chip in you and maybe even have some mood,         mind-altering circumstances. And they’re saying that      the chip would be the Mark of the Beast.”

The mark of the beast is some kind of seal that followers of the Antichrist will take in allegiance to him. The     prophecy of Revelation 13:16–17 says that the image       of the beast “forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy   or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of    the beast or the number of its name.”

We don’t know what this mark will look like. A while ago, some thought it was a stamp or tattoo of the number 666. More recently, people thought it might be a bar code. Now a popular speculation is that the mark of the beast will be an implanted microchip that allows people to access their digital currency. But we honestly have no way of knowing what form the mark of the beast will take. Some people fear that they have already taken the mark of the beast. The problem is the mark of the beast does not exist yet. The Mark of the beast does not occur until the anti-Christ comes into power during the period of the Great Tribulation.

Another reason believers in Jesus Christ should not fear getting the mark of the beast is that all believers who are alive before the tribulation will be raptured to be with Jesus and meet Him the air, Paul writes,  “For this we     declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who     are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord    himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of   the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise      first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord     in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”            ( 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).

So, there is nothing anyone can do today to get, take, or receive the mark of the beast. But, more important is that if you are a believer in Jesus Christ you belong to Him  forever. When you were dead in your sins God called    you and made you alive in Him. You were dead men and dead women destined to Hell (Eph. 2:4-8). How can      anyone take from you your salvation, what God gave you no one can take, not Satan, not any sin you commit (John 10:28-30). Let me say to you with complete confidence if you belong to Him you have not and will never take the mark of the beast.

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark