Responding to Claims that the COVID-19 Vaccine is the Mark of the Beast

Is the COVID-19 vaccine a gift from God, or is it something we should be concerned about? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts. You can check us out live on YouTube, and you can email us with your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

First up today, we have a voicemail from Sean in Rhode Island. I'm just wondering, this vaccine for the COVID-19, people started saying number of the beast and stuff. I think that this could be a gift from God to end this deadly disease. I don't see an evil intent of it or an evil intent of these lockdowns.

I want to know why people are finding that things that the government does are evil. Right now, I do not think the COVID-19 vaccine is another mark of the beast, but I would like to know what you would think about it. God bless you.

Bye. Yeah, God bless you too, Sean, and it's a really important question that you're asking, a relevant question. We've received actually that question before. Is the COVID-19 vaccine the mark of the beast that's described in Revelation chapter 13? It seems like another thing you're wondering is why the suspicion, why the concern among many people, and also among many Christians within the church today. Let me just say one thing as far as that last part is concerned. I've noticed that for so many believers, the driving force behind a lot of the decisions that we make, and check to see if this is true about you, is fear and suspicion. Fear and suspicion, I think, are driving a lot of people today to make decisions, to say things, to sort of assume the worst about the other side, whatever the other side might be.

I think we have to be careful there. We want to be wise. We want to be discerning, so we don't want to be naive, but we also want to make sure that we're not treating fear and anxiety and suspicion as if they were the fruit of the spirit. This is how we're supposed to approach everything, even the way we think about government and stuff like the COVID-19 vaccine. Now, when you think about what the scripture says, you go to something like the sixth commandment, which says, you shall not murder. Negatively speaking, I think we understand what that means.

We're not supposed to murder, but there's also a positive aspect there in that commandment where each of us as people are called to pursue that which contributes to the flourishing of life, to health, not just for ourselves individually, but also for our neighbors. I think broadly speaking, insofar as there are things that help further the flourishing of life, that promote life and health, I think that those are good things, things that we should be thankful for, things that we should pursue. That could be true of vaccines and of this vaccine in particular, as you were saying. I know that there's a lot of research out there and there are people who are concerned about maybe some of the side effects. A lot of the stuff that I've read, and I'm not an expert on this, so let me just say that, but a lot of things that I've read have been pretty positive related to the vaccines. But I really want to get to what you were asking about there regarding the mark of the beast. Is the COVID-19 vaccine the mark of the beast? Well, that phrase comes from the book of Revelation, chapter 13, beginning in verse 11.

I'm just going to read. This is a vision that John the Apostle had. He said, Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth.

It had two horns like a lamb, and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived, and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. 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, John said. 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. Now, throughout the history of the church and in more recent days, there have been all sorts of ideas about what that mark of the beast could be. Is it some sort of a microchip that they put inside of you, that kind of a thing? Oh, really, I think what John is getting at here is this idea of identifying with idolatrous worship, of identifying with the beast, being marked by him, if you will. I don't know that we're supposed to see it as a literal microchip or certainly a vaccine that somebody could take, and unknowingly they had accepted the mark of the beast.

That's not what's going on here. In fact, throughout the book of Revelation, you have this idea of being marked by God. God's people are marked by him. Revelation 7, verse 3, chapter 9, verse 4, chapter 14, verse 1, chapter 22, verse 4. The people of God, God's elect, were marked on their foreheads with the name of God. Those who are marked with the mark of the beast are those who aren't sealed with the Holy Spirit, those who have identified with this idolatrous worship and essentially accepted the beast and his worship as their own. I think that's the best way to read Revelation chapter 13.

You don't need to be concerned about the COVID vaccine, at least as far as that's concerned, it being the mark of the beast. Thank you so much for your question, brother, and may the Lord bless you. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, we would love to hear from you. Here's the phone number to call. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. By the way, we also have a podcast version of this program, and you can listen to it anytime and hear previous episodes by subscribing to our podcast. And if you subscribe on the podcast app and leave us a five-star review, even more people will hear about the podcast and have a chance to learn more about the core truths of Christianity. Well, let's go to Sonja, who's calling in from San Francisco, California. Sonja, welcome to Core Christianity. Hi, Sonja. Are you there?

I think maybe we lost Sonja. All right. Well, let's go to a voicemail that came in on our line. If you have a question for us again, here's the phone number.

It's 833-THE-CORE. You can leave a voicemail 24 hours a day, or you can record a voicemail on our website. And here's one that we received last week.

Hi, my name is Gloria from North Idaho. My question is, can God be disappointed? Yeah, that's a great question, Gloria. The text of scripture that comes to mind when you ask that question is Genesis chapter 6, beginning in verse 5.

Listen to what the text says. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. And so the Lord said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Can God be disappointed? You read a text like that, and it seems like, yeah, well, God was disappointed.

He regretted it. I mean, that's what the text said, that he had made man. And we have to understand, though, that while I think it's okay to talk like that, and because this is what we just see in scripture, this is how God reveals himself to us, there's also sort of another side of the story that we need to understand here. And that is, in the Bible, what we have is God's revelation to us.

It's as if God is accommodating himself to us, giving us baby talk, we might say, so that we might understand what he's like. The revelation that we have in scripture doesn't exhaust who God is. We could never know God perfectly as he is in his essence, because he's the divine creator. He's the Lord of heaven and earth. He's different than we are. We're creatures. He's the creator.

It'd be sort of like an ant trying to comprehend and understand this radio broadcast, that kind of a thing. And yet, the God who is transcendent, this God who is great and glorious and who cannot be grasped by our minds accommodates himself to us. Isn't that so beautiful, that the Lord would speak to us in ways that we can understand? And so I think what we have in passages like this are God's revelation to us. And God is saying, just right there, this idea of him regretting that he had made man. Now, we know that the Lord knows all things, that he's omniscient, that he's also immutable. That is, he doesn't change.

And here's another big sort of doctrine. He's impassable. That is, he cannot be overwhelmed with suffering. So while God reveals himself in this way, that you get this sense that, boy, God was disappointed that he had made man, we also know that God is unchanging, that he's perfect, that our sin doesn't cause God to have bad days. And thank God for that.

He's in absolute control. So that's something actually that I think each of us should be grateful for, is this beautiful picture of how even though the Lord relates to us, and in scripture we see again there that the Lord was grieved or is grieved by human sin, we know that he's in complete control and that he's perfectly dealt with human sin and with suffering ultimately through his son Jesus on the cross. And so thank you for that question. We're kind of getting into some deep theology here at the beginning of the broadcast, but really important stuff to understand for each of us. Great explanation.

Thank you for that, Adriel. Here's a Facebook question that came in from Cheryl, and she says, I love to read romance novels, but my favorite author always includes very descriptive sex scenes. Can I still read these books if I skip completely through all the sex scenes, or do I need to give this up for good? Yeah, I mean, you could also ask that question about some of the shows that are out there now on Netflix and some of these streaming devices or whatever you'd call them, where people watch movies, shows, and whatnot. So how do you handle this? One, I think, think about what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians chapter four, verse eight, finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. See, I think it's good for us as believers. We have to ask ourselves, you know, what am I filling my mind with? Is it with that which is good and true and beautiful and helping me to fix my eyes on the Lord, to love him better and to love the people in my life better, or is it pulling me away from that?

I think that's a fair question. Now, I also think about what the Apostle Paul said somewhere else in Ephesians chapter five, verses three through five. Listen to what he said there. Sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you.

Must not even be named among you. So serious, you know. As is proper among the saints, Paul said, let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Why? Because Paul says you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. And so really, just those two texts, I think that should at least get us thinking about what is it that I'm filling my mind with?

Is it with the word of God and with his worship, or is it with something else? And the fact of the matter is there are these ideologies that the culture is trying to fill our minds with, and a lot of it comes through media. We have to be discerning, brothers and sisters. We've got to be really careful with this because the fact of the matter is the world wants to instill its beliefs in you, and if that's what you're hearing and watching 24-7, it's going to have an effect on you.

Now I think we also need to be careful that we're not telling people what they can and can't do. Different people, at least when it comes to books or even the television shows that they read, it affects people differently. I remember when it was that war movie that came out many years ago, Saving Private Ryan. When that movie came out, I remember hearing stories of people who would go see the movie who had been in combat, who were having these reactions because of the vivid scenes.

It affected those people very differently than the way it affected others who saw that same movie because of their experience. And so there are some people who maybe they're able to fast-forward a scene or skip over that section because it really is not helpful or good and true and beautiful, and maybe that works for them. And there are other people who say, I'm going to avoid it altogether. I think we want to be careful. There's a degree of liberty here, but we do need to ask ourselves, what am I filling my mind with? What are you filling your mind with, brothers and sisters?

Is it with the word of God and with His worship? And if it is that, wonderful. That's what we need more than anything today in our culture, in this world. We need to know the truth and we need to be immersed in it. And so thank you for that question.

I mean, really, this is going to be, Cheryl, a personal thing for you. You have to check your own conscience here. If you're convicted, if you have this sense of, I'm sinning while I do this, then don't do it. Whatever is not from faith is sin, the apostle Paul said. And so if, as you're reading these things, you're feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit, or you just feel like you shouldn't be reading them, well, then don't.

Set them aside and find something else to do with your time. God bless you. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Here's the phone number to call if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life.

833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673 to talk to Pastor Adriel live. All this week, and maybe the last couple of weeks, we've been giving away something we call our Core Kit. If you're brand new to Core Christianity, we would love to send one of these to you. Yeah, and what we've been saying is that it's a helpful way to learn a little bit more about who we are as Core Christianity, the organization, but also just to get some wonderful content.

We have basically brought together some of our most popular articles over at core christianity.com, as well as some of the questions that we get over and over again, answers to those questions. And so this helpful resource is for you, and it's a free resource. And so get a hold of the Core Kit. We also have a DVD that we'll send you with some great teaching lessons from our founder, Dr. Michael Horton.

So check that out. You can find it at corechristianity.com forward slash kit. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash kit.

And you can call us for that or any one of our resources at 833-843-2673. Let's go to Sabrina, who's calling in from San Diego, California. Sabrina, welcome to Core Christianity. Good morning, pastor.

I want to find out, do you have any recommendations to help encourage my teen to attend church with us? Yeah, well, I think one part of the problem, I remember when I was a teenager and I did not want to go to church, and part of the issue is there's a real lack of understanding when it comes to what's taking place when we gather together as the people of God. And so I would say part of it begins with teaching, with helping to communicate. Why is this so significant? Why do we need this?

Even though it may not be for you the most exciting thing or entertaining, that's never what church was supposed to be. But why do we do it? Well, it's shaping us. It's shaping who we are. As Christians, as the people have gotten, especially at that young age, we're so shapeable. There's so many things, as I was saying earlier, that are vying for our attention.

You think of media, you think of social media. Those things too often are shaping us as opposed to the word of God and the people of God. And so I would say we need to communicate to our children and to each other the vital importance of worship, of gathering together with other Christians around the throne of God to receive His grace and His mercy.

I think for families, it just should be something that we view as a non-negotiable. I think if we're looking for churches to be entertaining or to cater to what we want specifically, what we're trying to do then is compete with the world. And the world is always going to do a better job entertaining than the church is going to do. We need to focus on what the church is supposed to be about, teaching faithfully the scriptures, and to talk about why that's so important for each of us. And so I would say, Sabrina, it starts with understanding those things and instilling that in each other and in our children, in teenagers, and helping them to see, man, you are being shaped right now by all sorts of different things. And more than anything, what you need, what we all need, is to be shaped by the gospel, by the word of God. And I think we can also be honest about the fact that, look, you're going to go to church and sometimes it's not going to be exciting, it's not a fireworks show, that kind of a thing, but we're gathering together with the blood-bought family of Jesus Christ to hear God speak to us from heaven. When we realize that that's what's taking place, I think by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we'll start to want to be there because we recognize that there are gifts being given to us by the Lord, from the Lord, in this place that we're not getting anywhere else in the world. And so, Sabrina, that's a start, and I know there's so much more there, but thank you so much for your question. May the Lord bless you.

You know, Radriel, I have a question for you. Let's say you have a family who currently attends a smaller church where there really are no teenagers. Do you see a problem with the parents saying, hey, you guys, if you want to attend a youth group, a solid Bible-believing youth group, at a different church, let's say on Wednesday nights, we're fine with that as your mom and dad? What's your assessment of that?

Well, I mean, that's a whole other question. I typically try to get people to just immerse themselves in the local church that they're a part of, partially because I think part of what our teens need and what we all need in the church is that kind of cross-pollination with others who aren't in our same stage of life. I think we sort of assume that, you know, what we need to do is get our kids in a church where there are a bunch of other kids that they can just sort of hang out with, you know, during the worship service, that kind of thing. No, what they need is the whole body of Christ, everyone, and they need to be invested in by the older and by the younger, and it's something we're doing together.

And so, I mean, that's a start. I mean, obviously, I wouldn't bind someone's conscience there, but I would say, look, maybe focus on trying to immerse yourself in the life of the local body first. Good counsel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and let's go to Valerie, who's calling in from Glastonbury, Connecticut. Valerie, welcome to Core Christianity.

Hi, thanks for taking my call. I'm wondering what you think about the phrase, preach the gospel to yourself. I've read a few books and heard some podcasts about it, and I love the idea of just being able to remind yourself of gospel promises and about who we are in Christ. But then today, I heard a podcast where the host said, we can't preach the gospel to ourselves. So then I got confused, and I just wanted to know what you thought about it.

Well, personally, I think if by preach the gospel to yourself, what you mean is remind yourself continually of your identity in Jesus Christ, of what God has accomplished for you in him, immerse yourself in that reality. And I would say, man, that's a really good thing. We need to be reminded of that 24-7, because the fact of the matter is, we're prone to forget. We're prone to forget what God has done for us.

It's a sad reality. I think this is why in the Old Testament, over and over again, God warned the Israelites, you need to remember, I'm going to give you all of these rituals to help you remember. I'm going to give you all of these festivals throughout the year to help you to remember what? To remember what I have accomplished for you, pulling you out of slavery, providing for you, all of these things. One of the primary jobs of the believer is to remember what God has done for us. And so if by preach the gospel to yourself, that's what you're referring to, or that's what people are referring to, I think it's okay. I think that we ought to be reminded of those truths, immersed in them, day in and day out, fixing our eyes on who God is and what he's accomplished for us. Now, we can't do that by ourselves.

If somebody had an issue with this phrase, maybe that's what they're getting at. I also need the gospel to be preached to me every week from the people around me. You think of Hebrews chapter three, it says, encourage one another day by day while it is called today, lest we're hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. So we're not only reminding ourselves of the truths of the word of God, of the truths of the gospel, but we're reminding each other.

And so that's so important. If I'm preaching the gospel to myself and it's just me in isolation and I don't have community, that's a problem. But each of us needs to continually go back to the word, remind ourselves of who we are in Jesus Christ. We are the baptized, those who have received the grace of God, those who are united to him. And it's there that we begin to grow and begin to follow the Lord and obey the Lord as we recognize more and more what he's accomplished for us and as we're resting in that. And so I think preaching the gospel to yourself, what we mean by that is reminding ourselves of our identity in Jesus Christ, and we can't get enough of that. So glad you keep coming back to the importance of Christian community, Adriel. That is so key in our Christian life.

That's right. And it is also important that the gospel is preached to us from others, from the outside too, because sometimes we're weak. We can't say it to ourselves. We need others to remind us of what God has done. Thanks for listening to CORE Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-THE-CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this podcast. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.