Revelation 13:16-17 He caused everyone to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. No one was allowed to buy or sell unless they bore the mark of the beast.
“Hear o Israel, the Lord is one. You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.” When the law was given to God’s people, they were instructed to bind those words on their forearms and foreheads as reminders of this new covenant. It was a declaration of total surrender to God with every part of their being. The same idea is used with the mark of the beast. It is a symbol of a covenant. Once again, “on the forehead or hand” speaks of a commitment, with all of one’s mind and strength, to the ways of an “anti-Christ” source of government and life.
There have been many attempts to predict what form this mark might take. End times films of the 70s showed people receiving a tattoo in the middle of their foreheads or right hand. The exact format of this mark is not the important factor. The “mark of God” on someone’s life has to do with what we see in them. It is their fidelity to the ways of God. “On the hand or the forehead” speaks of submission in thought and action. This new agreement, however, will not be one of love, but one of compliance through fear and coercion, as no one can buy or sell unless they submit to the new covenant.
There has been chatter about the covid vaccines being the “mark of the beast.” I am not going to waste time on such speculations. My words have nothing to do with that idea. The current use of mandates, coercion, and divisive rhetoric, however, is deeply disturbing. It reveals how “fidelity to a system” can be believed, preached, and imposed without any physical mark. Bearing the mark of Jesus does not make one anti-vaccine, but it should make us anti-division and anti-coercion. I am against the spirit in this world that is anti-Christ, and coercion is always used by leaders who operate in that spirit.
No matter the format, when people are forced to make a decision based on working or not working, we should pause and consider the dark spirit promoting this idea in Revelation 13. Regardless of one’s opinion of the vaccines, we should remember that all people are capable of great evil. Leaders, scientists, pastors, and teachers, all of us, can do great harm – especially when we believe we are right. We must challenge ourselves to be more like Jesus. We must remain sober and wary against giving powers to any institution that can lead to people being denied services and work unless they comply. We should refrain from lending our minds and energies to supporting such efforts. Humility and gentleness are clear marks of the spirit of Christ. They are a good foundation from which to reconsider our response.