IS VACCINATION THE MARK OF THE BEAST?

Recently, some New Testament readers have read Revelation’s "mark of the beast" as a coded reference to Covid vaccines. Public demonstrations against Covid vaccinations have included banners that reflect protestors’ refusal to "take the mark of the beast."

In times of crisis, the Bible brings comfort and clarity to millions around the world. As we face the difficulties and uncertainties of a global pandemic, Scripture is a reminder of past trials and future hope. Yet many readers use the biblical text as a kind of crystal ball that offers encrypted allusions to present predicaments.

But does this understanding of mark do justice to the original Jewish context of Revelation?

Surely this understanding of Revelation removes the mark from its historical context and forces a modern supposition onto an ancient idea.

The original, Jewish meaning of the mark has nothing to do with being vaccinated. Instead, for a person to take the mark of the beast is a symbolic way of saying that one has abandoned the commandments of God.

The book of Revelation envisions a time when a beast will arise and not only cause but force everyone "small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark” (Rev 13:16-17).

This mark of the beast is designed to mock the seal that God places on His followers. Just as God marks His people to save them, so Satan's beast marks his people to save them from the persecution that Satan will inflict upon God's followers.

Certain Bible-believing circles have equated these words with the rollout of Covid vaccines; to receive vaccination is tantamount to being "marked" with the beastly blot. Even on a surface reading of Revelation, this equation is dubious. Vaccination needles go into arms, not hands or foreheads, and refusing a vaccine does not eliminate one’s ability to truck, barter, or exchange - online economic transactions don’t require vaccination cards.

Understanding the real meaning of the beast’s mark depends on careful exegesis, not on current events.

To these believing circles when they interpret it in this manner, they must rather consult the pages of Scripture, rather than front page news, the biblical connotation of the mark becomes clearer. Revelation describes the mark being placed on "on the right hand or the forehead" (Rev 13:16), which echoes the description of God’s commandments in the Torah: "Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads" (Deuteronomy 6:8)

Based on this verse, later Jews affixed Tefillin (תפלין) - small boxes containing biblical texts - to their hands and foreheads. In the Greek New Testament, tefillin are called "phylacteries" (φυλακτήρια; Matt 23:5), and observant Jews wear these ritual adornments during prayer to this day. Thus, from a Jewish perspective, it is immediately clear that the “mark of the beast” takes the place of the divine commands; to accept this mark is to reject the will of God.

A vaccination shot is wholly unrelated to one’s ability to follow biblical mandates.

Revelation also invokes imagery from Ezekiel. Before the Babylonian exile, the Lord commands,

" Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark (תו על-מצחות; tav al-mitshot) on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all detestable things that are done in it" (Ezekiel 9:4). This “mark” (תו; tav) saves everyone who wears it from the destructive force of Babylon (Ezekiel 9:6).

Revelation inverts the prophetic scenario. Rather than people receiving a mark on their foreheads for salvation, John envisions people getting marked for destruction. Those who are marked in Ezekiel represent the righteous remnant of Israel that has stayed true to God and upheld the heavenly commands;

Those marked in Revelation choose to side with the beast rather than the Lord.

The event in Ezekiel has precedent in Exodus. Describing "the meaning of Passover" Moses tells his people, "On that day tell your son, 'I do this because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.' This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand (ידך; yadekha) and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the LORD (תורה; torah) is to be on your lips"(Exodus 13:8-9)

As in Ezekiel, those whom God saves bear the divine mark. Later in the same chapter of Exodus, Moses tells the people to consecrate their firstborn to God, and the rationale for this practice is a recollection of Israel’s salvation. "When Pharaoh suddenly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my first born sons. And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with His mighty hand"(Exodus 13:15-16)

The mark of the Lord signifies salvation from death and destruction, and Revelation presents the negative inverse for those who take the mark of the beast.

In Revelation’s original context, the “beast” (θηρίον; therion) represents Rome, also called “Babylon.” Ultimately, John sees the demise of the Roman Empire and, by extension, all who have received the mark of the beast: "A second angel followed and said, 'Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries. A thied angel followed them and said in a loud voice: 'If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of His wrath"(Revelation 14: 8-10)

While those who side with Rome meet with destruction, those who stay true to God enjoy everlasting life: "...They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.(Revelation 20:4)

Frankly, the notion that the "mark of the beast" is a Covid vaccine makes a mockery of the biblical passage. If the beastly mark were a shot in the arm, it would mean that anyone who decided to protect themselves from a deadly pandemic would miss out on eternal life.

Vaccination cards will not bar entry into the kingdom of heaven.

Rather than being concerned about their names being on file at a vaccination site, Christians should be focused on having their names “written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev 21:27).