Listen to Nancy’s answer recorded live on Moody radio, here:
Just a few months ago, we were praying for a vaccine that would put an end to this horrific virus. Now we have a few of them that hopefully will keep millions of people from suffering and dying. Not everyone is celebrating. Many are skeptical that the vaccine will cause more harm than good because they lack information.
We all have reasons for our choices as to whether or not we will take the vaccine. I have had a vaccine shot and am glad I did. Others have said “no” to it, which is fine. However, what is not fine are those who are telling people that the vaccine shot is the mark of the Beast, and if they take it, they will lose their salvation. In no way does the Bible support such a claim because there is absolutely no link between the vaccine and salvation.
The confusion about the Beast comes from Revelation 13. In verses 16-18, we read, “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.”
This verse could not be referring to the vaccine for many reasons:
1. The Beast comes after the rapture from the earth of all Christians. Revelation 3:10, “Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” We, as believers, are not of this world; we are passing through. We are at a time that we must patiently endure life on earth until Christ returns for us!
2. We know that the Beast is an individual who will be possessed by Satan to be the world leader, the antichrist. He is looking for followers who will take an oath to follow Him, not trick them to follow him through a vaccine.
3. The Beast will not come until the church has been raptured. He will come when the Holy Spirit, who indwells all believers, departs from the world in what we call the rapture. “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God” ( 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-4).
Jesus has made it very clear that if you are a faithful follower of Jesus, you are sealed in Him, and no one can snatch you away. The Beast’s mark will be a ceremony for those who are willfully choosing to follow Satan, the antichrist. The religion embraced by the antichrist and his followers will be Satanism.
In times like these, we need not fear but instead put our trust in the One true God. Jesus claimed to be God and then proved it by dying for our sins and then being resurrected to life. When we believe, we will have peace in the midst of chaos and the hope of going to our home in Heaven and living forever with Jesus where there is no sadness, loneliness, pain, suffering, or death.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going. Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” ( John 14:1-6).