The other day, a doctor who works in Boundary Trails Hospital near Winkler was interviewed. He said that there are people who have COVID and have died of it, all the while refusing to accept the fact they are infected. One man upon hearing he was diagnosed with COVID, refused to be hospitalized and went home. He subsequently died. People would rather die than accept that COVID is real.
Most of the COVID patients in that hospital, he said, had not been vaccinated. Indeed, in the Southern Health Region of our province, the rate of vaccinations has been very low.
That’s because, largely, of a belief being held in that part of the province which is also highly churched, that Globalists are conspiring to use this “Pandemic” as a way of ushering in a One World Government, to be led by the Anti-Christ. The vaccinations that are now happening all over the world, they say, are leading us to the Mark of the Beast, as prophesied in the Bible: “He (the Anti-Christ) also forced everyone… 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” Revelation 13:16-17.
So, as a Pastor, very well acquainted with the Bible and its prophecies, I thought it would be good to address this issue. To those who believe that there there will be an AntiChrist who will appear at the end of the age, as foretold in scripture, here is a question: if there is an underlying attempt to bring in the Mark of the Beast through this pandemic, should we try to stop it? Since it has been prophesied, then it has to happen, regardless. Indeed, how can we stop it?
Let me give you an analogy: you are living in 33AD and you are a close friend, a trusted confidante, of Pontius Pilate. One morning you head to his palace where he is judging a young Nazareth prophet. He asks you what he should do: “Do I release Him since He is innocent or do I give in to the demands of the Jewish leadership and have Him put to death?” What would you tell him? If you say, “Release Him”, you stop His death on the cross. And that, in turn, stops the forgiveness of all our sins.
By doing so, you would actually end up working against the plan of God. And for Jesus, dying by the hands of evil people, was part of God’s plan: “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross” Acts 2:22-24.
You see, the death of Jesus on the cross had to happen! Jesus’ death led to the salvation of multiplied millions and even billions, including you and me. If He had NOT died, we would all be on our way to Hell!
So also I believe it’s the same with the end times: the Mark of the Beast, even if it’s through a vaccine, HAS to happen; it’s “God’s set purpose and foreknowledge”.
But also remember, after the Mark of the Beast, there will be this wonderful event:
Revelation 21:2-4 “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of Godis with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”
As it has been prophesied, so will it be.
