Covid 19 sign

What in the world is all this about a COVID-19 vaccine being the work of the devil or the satanic mark of the beast from Revelation 13? Can you explain why this is such a scary but popular idea right now? Is it really biblical?

Thanks, David

Dear David,

I’m assuming that you’re talking about the current controversy working its way around social media regarding COVID-19 vaccination and the Mark of the Beast referred to in Revelation 13:16-18:

[The beast] also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

It all started with Kanye West.

I’m sure you recall when Kanye West, the famous rapper, recently gave his life to Christ. Many Christians were excited because his large following gave him the potential opportunity to reach millions of people. But now he has said:

It’s so many of our children that are being vaccinated and paralyzed. ...So when they say the way we’re going to fix COVID is with a vaccine, I’m extremely cautious.

They’re gonna come up with a vaccine, and everybody is gonna have to take it … and inside of that vaccine there’s going to be some type of electronic computer device, some type of chip in us, and that’s the mark of the beast.