Is the Coronavirus Vaccine the Mark of the Beast?
“He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.” (Revelation 13:13-18)
As American society continues to secularize at a rapid pace, we have forgotten many biblical allusions and metaphors. Yet one biblical reference that remains in the cultural consciousness is the “Mark of the Beast.” Lately this topic has come up in reference to the Coronavirus vaccine. Is the vaccine the mark of the beast? After reading Revelation 13 above, I think we can answer this question conclusively. Some things in Revelation are difficult to understand, but this particular issue is not an enigma. The vaccine is not the mark of the beast. We can be confident of this for four reasons.
First, the mark of the beast will coincide with the rise of the Antichrist (see Revelation 13:1-10). The Antichrist may very well be alive and on this earth today, but he has certainly not manifested himself in any of the ways Revelation 13 describes. While there have been many evil men throughout human history who have fit the description of an antichrist, as of yet not one of them has been this individual. Not even Hitler, Stalin, Mao, or any other murderous tyrants have turned out to be the Antichrist. No doubt the twenty-first century will reveal men just as wicked as these, but as yet we know of no one who is “making war with the saints” and "who has authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation.” Furthermore, the Antichrist will be worshipped: “all who dwell on the earth will worship him.” Revelation calls the Antichrist “the beast.” We can’t have “the mark of the beast” without "the beast.”
Second, nothing in Revelation 13 indicates that the recipients of the mark of the beast are unaware they are, in fact, receiving the mark of the beast. Revelation 13:11 names another beast that is known as the False Prophet. Our passage above indicates that the False Prophet deceives people by performing all kinds of convincing signs and miracles. He points people to idolatrous worship. The mark of the beast is associated with this worship. In other words, the mark isn’t something one receives by accident. The mark is accepted by someone who has been seduced by the False Prophet or coerced by the fear of losing out on the ability to participate in the economy.
Third, we can learn from history that almost every generation has interpreted the mark of the beast as something in their time. Much like identifying the Antichrist or predicting the date of Christ’s Second Coming, each preceding generation has missed it. It might behoove us not to read our contemporary situation into the Bible unless there is clear warrant to do so. As I pointed out above, we do not have that.
Finally, although our assumption is that the mark is something visible, there is the very real possibility that it may not be. The word that is used here for “mark” could also be used to describe a seal. Just like followers of Jesus are sealed by the Spirit of God, the mark of the beast might function in a similar way. In that case there would be nothing on the body or in the body. The mark would be spiritual in that case. An additional case for this is that the “hands and forehead” where the mark is located are reminiscent of what God told His people in Deuteronomy. He told them they should love Him with all their heart and soul and that they should bind God’s commandments on their hands and on their foreheads (Deut. 6:8). This passage of Scripture deals with the heart, and although it is certainly not wrong to strap a copy of God’s Word physically to one’s body, surely the point is deeper than that. One’s hands and one’s head should be filled with the Scripture. The hand and head imagery of the mark of the beast seems to be a similar concept.
Revelation 13 is not so much about the mark of the beast and the antichrist as it is a call for God’s people to be faithful to Him today. Revelation 13 is a warning to God’s people about the perennial danger of idolatry and the deceptive nature of sin. Generally, people don’t worship idols because they set out to reject God. People worship idols because they listen to false teaching and they are deceived. If we stay grounded in God’s Word we won’t be deceived and we won’t be taken in by the latest speculative prophecy out there.