As the COVID-19 pandemic continues on, more of us are being faced with the decision to be injected with the COVID-19 vaccine or risk losing our jobs and freedoms. Recently in Canada, governments and employers are requiring people to be fully vaccinated in order to travel, consume goods and services, study on university and college campuses, and go to work. Non-compliance will be met with a denial of these rights and privileges, and even the loss of income.
Many Christians have the feeling that this is somehow connected to the Biblical end-times and the Mark of the Beast mentioned in Revelation 13.
We cannot say with 100% certainty, but it is very likely given the climate we see in the world today with COVID-19 restrictions, vaccine mandates and passports, the lies and censorship in media and social media, that the environment and framework of the Antichrist’s reign is currently being set up.
The Bible shows us in Revelation 13 that the Beast (Antichrist) will become the absolute ruler of the whole world. Through many lies and deceptions, together with the Beast from the Earth, he will convince the world to worship his image. He will also persecute and oppress Christians and Jews, likely because they serve the Living God whom he hates, and they resist his authority (Rev 13:7). In order to buy or sell, he will require each person to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads (Rev 13:16,17).
This suggests that a person’s right to make a living will be taken away and will be tied to a condition (i.e., taking the “mark of the Beast”) and the removal of personal freedoms. Personal freedoms include freedom of speech, freedom of movement, and freedom of religion, which we enjoy today. Although we are not at this point yet, it is likely the world and society today is being conditioned to accept the removal of basic rights, and the framework and system to limit buying and selling and earning a living is being set in place using COVID-related restrictions, “vaccine passports”, and vaccine mandates in the workplace.
Most people have a mobile smartphone with a data connection and built-in GPS. In Ontario, the government will require people to download a proof-of-vaccination app and display a QR code at certain places such as indoor sports facilities, indoor concerts, restaurants, and possibly in the near future, at church meetings. When the QR code is scanned, the government health database will confirm to the business whether this person is vaccinated or not. We believe a similar system could be in use during the future reign of the antichrist to prevent people from buying or selling. The technology exists today!
Already, as of the time of this writing (October 2021), many employers in Canada and the US are requiring their employees to be fully vaccinated. Refusal can be met with termination or unpaid leave. In other words, you must take this vaccine in order to buy basic necessities such as food, pay for medical care, pay bills, make mortgage payments, etc. Universities are requiring the vaccine to go on campus. Some provinces are mandating vaccines to visit shops, restaurants, theatres, and sporting events. The University of Washington Hospital[i] is even taking patients off waiting lists for organ transplants unless they are fully vaccinated – something surely to cause suffering and death.
Using fear of a virus (extreme fear, in some cases), people are willing to give up their rights in return for safety and security. Within a relatively short time, about a year, governments have convinced the majority of Western society to willingly give up their personal rights and freedoms, which were once so highly prized and sought after by many people in developing countries. A precedent is already being set: for the government to take away rights, and for people to accept the removal of their rights. Now that governments see what’s possible and what people will accept, they will do it again.
The media supports this message and stokes fear by highlighting increases in case counts, deaths of unvaccinated people, displaying images of people on ventilators or dying. They deliberately leave out news about recoveries, the statistically insignificant death rates for younger (<60) and healthy people, and they deliberately do not mention deaths and serious illness of vaccinated people. They do not report on differing viewpoints but supresses anyone who disagrees with the government narrative while social media companies assist them in silencing people. The government and media fully know when the people are afraid, the people can be controlled.
Besides fear, we see a concerning amount of hatred and contempt directed at people who refuse or question the vaccine, many of whom are Christians who suspect a connection to the Antichrist and do not wish to defile their bodies (Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19-20) with a vaccine with a questionable safety record. A major newspaper in Toronto had openly stated that unvaccinated people are not deserving of medical treatment at hospitals, and they are deserving of death caused by COVID-19. The Washington Post and New York Time place blame squarely on Christians for sowing “misinformation” and “conspiracy theories” about the end times and the mark of the beast, preventing people from receiving “life-saving” COVID-19 vaccines. Comments left by readers under articles like this are filled with hate and condemnation for these “stupid”, “gullible”, “science-denying” Christians, also often wishing death and the “Darwin award” for these people.[ii]
One sister in the Church in Toronto who works in a local healthcare provider, spoke of managers who wanted to report unvaccinated nurses to their regulatory body to have their credentials revoked, and scrutinize and deny any requests for religious exemptions. The atmosphere of this management meeting was full of hate and anger toward unvaccinated colleagues. It was clear these managers wanted full compliance no matter what. This was not about controlling a disease anymore; it was about power and control. How dare anyone disobey them! Anyone who did not fall in line was to be punished to the highest degree without compassion.
One brother, in a work meeting, listened as coworkers mocked unvaccinated people as rural-dwelling, uneducated, religious hillbillies.
As mentioned earlier, during the time of the Antichrist there will be widespread persecution and oppression of Christians by the Antichrist, but he is not the only one persecuting. Since the whole world willingly follows and worships the Antichrist, they likely share the same hatred toward Christians. It will likely be the same attitude and climate of hate that will compel people during the time of the Antichrist to hate people just as we are seeing today with the way unvaccinated people are being treated – as societal outcasts.
As the Antichrist will have an authoritarian reign, it’s reasonable to assume that he will try to silence any dissenting voices. In today’s environment, we have noticed the discounting and censoring of medical studies showing the vaccines’ low effectiveness against Delta variant infection[iii], silencing of any mention of adverse events due to vaccines, pharmaceutical companies hiding their clinical study data[iv], studies demonstrating the effectiveness of natural immunity from prior infection[v], potential non-vaccine therapies and treatments. This censorship is being carried out by government, employers, regulating bodies[vi], traditional media, and social media. If the vaccines are not very effective against the prevalent strain of the virus then why do governments and companies continue to insist on people taking it? If studies are showing people are acquiring natural immunity, which is many times more effective than the vaccines, then why are these people being compelled to be vaccinated? Why are other effective treatments and therapies being banned and censored? Also, why are COVID policies not being enforced on some politicians[vii] and celebrities[viii] while being heavily enforced on regular citizens such as Christians who want to obey the Bible (Hebrews 10:25) and gather in person[ix] ? Why were anti-Israel protests[x] and Black Lives Matters protests, with thousands of people participating in close proximity allowed, but regular citizens could not go to restaurants and play outdoor sports such as golf and tennis[xi]?
These and other observations bring government and employers’ policies into question. Are they really just concerned about stopping a disease or is there something more? If this is such a serious and contagious disease, surely the disease doesn’t distinguish between rich and poor or political beliefs or faith – unless we are actually being deceived. Remember that Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44) and the whole world lies under his sway (1 John 5:19).
The trend in the world today is toward the Antichrist’s reign – in government, media, society sentiment, and technology. This is becoming more apparent with each passing day and week. These days, it’s becoming more clear with the vaccine being coerced and forced on people and being used as a subject of division and to carry out political and societal agendas. Many people are very worried about these developments, especially since it is now directly impacting their livelihood and survival — but there IS hope!
Although we cannot stop the development in the world, we must see the situation in the world as a warning that we are very likely in the last days and the Great Day of God’s Wrath (“Great Tribulation”) and the Antichrist’s reign are at the door but it is possible to escape these! (Luke 21:36; Rev 3:10)
What good is it if we see that the end of the age is near, yet we don’t do anything to prepare?
The Bible tells us it is possible to escape the reign of the Antichrist. It’s through becoming a firstfruit and being harvested by the Lord (Rev 14:4,5). This is what some Christians call “The Rapture”, when we are physically taken from this earth prior to the Antichrist’s reign. A firstfruit is a Christian who is earlier to mature than the majority of Christians. Only these will be harvested earlier. The rest will have to endure immense suffering and persecution at the hands of the Antichrist.
Many pressures around us are increasing and are trying to make us fall and give in. Many people are anxious over their lives, jobs, families, which, in these days, could be caused by vaccine mandates, but if we don’t clearly see the spiritual battle we’re in and our true purpose in life, then we will not be able to resist. If we don’t learn to fully trust in Him, giving up our own lives and the anxieties that come with it, into His hands, then we will crumble. Every true believer’s faith will be tested and every earthly attachment in our heart will be exposed.
Jesus warned us to be watchful of the signs (Luke 21:25-33), to take heed to prevent our hearts from being weighed down by “carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life”. The enjoyment, success, and anxieties of life will cause us to take our eyes off our true goal. I’ve heard people say, “I have so much to deal with in my job/life/family. When things slow down, I’ll give more time to the Lord”. This is wrong. What if your problems don’t go away? Does that mean you’ll never give more time to the Lord? We will run out of time and it’ll be too late for us. What occupies our minds and our hearts? Do we continually set our mind on things above, on things pertaining to God and His Kingdom, or on earthly things (Col 3:2). Do we realize that we, in our old self, have died and fully belong to Christ, to live only for Him (Col 3:3)?
Our personal goal is not our career and family anymore, it is to become a firstfruit, to have our old self replaced with Christ, and be qualified to reign with Christ when He comes to physically set up His kingdom over the whole earth. This becomes our desire when He and His kingdom become tangible to us through faith, and we see how empty and pointless the world’s pleasures and riches are.
Thank the Lord that He has given us the Holy Spirit which is a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7) so that we’re not powerless and we can clearly see what God is doing and what His enemy is doing. Jesus is our Great High Priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses (Heb 4:15) and intercedes for us before the Father (Heb 7:25). He’s also given us the Church to be a protection for us and the optimal environment for our growth.
We have everything we need to succeed. Let’s wake up and not be asleep spiritually anymore, and stay away from the works of darkness and expose them!
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light … And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
Therefore He says:‘Awake, you who sleep,Arise from the dead,And Christ will give you light.’”
– Ephesians 5:8-14
[i] https://mynorthwest.com/3094868/rantz-uw-medicine-transplant-covid-vaccine/
[ii] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/us/covid-vaccine-evangelicals.html
“Darwin award” – People who have supposedly contributed to human evolution by selecting themselves out of the gene pool by dying via their own actions.
[iii] https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.06.21261707v1
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.11.21261885v1
https://www.jccf.ca/mandatory-mrna-vaccine-mandate-for-alberta-physicians/
[iv] https://www.pharmacy.utoronto.ca/news-announcements/poor-transparency-vaccine-trials-and-secretive-contracts-risk-success-global-covid-19-response-report-finds
[v] https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.24.21262415v1
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.20.21255670v1
https://www.bmj.com/content/374/bmj.n2101
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/94258
[vi] https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/ontario-doctor-accused-of-spreading-covid-misinformation
[vii] https://nypost.com/2021/08/09/private-jets-and-no-masks-how-obamas-party-was-height-of-elite-hypocrisy/
[viii] https://nypost.com/2021/09/21/emmys-granted-exemption-to-covid-19-mask-rules/
[ix] https://www.theblaze.com/news/canadian-pastor-artur-pawlowski-arrested
[x] https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/jews-assaulted-during-a-pro-israel-protest-in-toronto-watch-668300
[xi] https://www.cp24.com/news/mississauga-s-mayor-wants-ford-to-reverse-ban-on-outdoor-activities-including-golf-and-tennis-1.5396911