Over the past few weeks, I have seen many videos with opinions about these things. A number of people, even people who do not know Christ as Savior, are afraid that the vaccine is the mark of the beast. Even many individuals who do know Christ or who claim to be saved are teaching that this is the mark of the beast. Other people are afraid of the signs they see in the heavens. Some have reported the sun looking like a big red ball. Others thought the moon looked strange. There was one report about water near the Dead Sea turning blood red. What should we make of all these things? Is the mark of the beast here? Are we going through the time of the tribulation? Let us take a look at what the Bible says for ourselves.
The vaccine and the way it is being used to take control of people worldwide can certainly set the groundwork for the mark of the beast. There are many places where people are losing their jobs or are not allowed to go into stores or some other public buildings without proof of the vaccine. The pandemic is also being used as an excuse to start monitoring people’s finances, at least to some extent. It is also helping to propel us toward a cashless society. However, there are a few reasons why we can know that the vaccine is not the mark of the beast. Let us look at a couple of these.
1. The vaccine is not given in the right hand or in the forehead. Revelation 13:16 says, “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.”
2. The penalty for refusing the vaccine is not death or beheading. (See Revelation 13:15 and 20:4)
3. There has not arisen a beast (anti-Christ powered by Satan himself) that has received a deadly wound with a sword and then survived and then set up as the god that everyone must worship at the penalty of death. The man of sin has not been revealed. There is no one person set up as controller and ruler over the whole earth. (See Revelation 15:11-14 and II Thessalonians 2:3)
What about the luciferase that is in the vaccine? Some people have looked at the verse which says that the mark contains the number or name of the beast and then looked at the possible ingredients of the vaccine and come to the conclusion that the vaccine must contain the number of Satan if it contains luciferase since Lucifer was Satan’s name before he fell. However, there are some problems with this thinking.
Luciferase has been used in the research of the vaccine, although there is conflicting information as to whether or not the vaccine actually contains it. Luciferase is a light producing enzyme that can glow green, especially in ultraviolet light. Luciferase might be used in the vaccine, but it also being studied in some types of medical imaging and it is the enzyme that causes lightning bugs to glow green. The mark of the beast isn’t flying around outside in your back yard in the form of a bug, and you haven’t received it if you have had the vaccine.
Signs in the Heavens and in the Earth
Changes in the sun.
Is the tribulation here since the sun looks different?
In 2017, some people in the US were noticing that the sun looked different. It was redder than usual. Meteorologists explained that this was due to wildfires in northern Montana and southwestern Canada. Winds were causing some of the smoke to drift down to other areas. When smoke or dust accumulate in the atmosphere, it often causes the sun to look more red. Other types of particles that get into the atmosphere might cause the sun to scatter different wavelengths of light and give it a different hue.
In 2020, the reddish hue of the sun was again attributed to smoke particles in the air. This year, 2021, it is again being said that the red look to the sun is being caused by smoke. Now, a bigger question might be, why are we having so many fires the past four years?
Does the fact that the sun appears to be having a darker red hue than usual and that it looks bigger than usual to some people mean that we are in the tribulation period? What does the Bible say will happen to the sun during the tribulation? Revelation 6:12 says, “and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.” In Revelation 16:8, an angel pours out his vial upon the sun and it becomes so hot that it scorches men with its heat. Later in the tribulation, we see something else that happens to the sun, and also to the moon and the stars, “And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.” (Revelation 18:12) Is the sun doing any of these things? If not, then we are not in the tribulation period. There may be some unusual phenomena in the sun, but it is not being caused by the changes that will occur when God pours out His wrath during that great Time of Trouble.
Changes in the moon.
Some people have thought recently that the moon looks odd. This is surely a sign of the end times. Well, has the moon become as blood (not just a bit red tinged as in a “blood moon” but really a dark hue as if it is blood)? Has one third of the moon darkened along with the stars and the sun so that half the day is dark? If not, then these are not signs that we are in the tribulation period.
Signs in the waters.
Lastly, people are noticing what they think are unusual things taking place on earth – such as increased earthquake activity, and changes in bodies of water. There have been several reports during the last few years of different bodies of water turning red. When one looks into these stories, one sees that there are various causes – the chemical makeup of the water, excessive growth of a certain type of algae, release of red dye into the water, or some type of pollution.
What does the Bible say will happen to bodies of water during the tribulation?
According to Revelation 8:8, a third part of the sea will become blood. It does not say it will turn blood red. It says it will become blood. As a result of this, a third part of the creatures in the sea will die and a third part of the ships on the sea will be destroyed.
When the two witnesses are here on the earth, they will have power to turn water into blood. This is not the power to turn water red, but to turn it to blood. (See Revelation 11:6) Later, the sea will become as the blood of a dead man, and the rivers and fountains of waters will become blood. (See Revelation 16:3,4)
While the things we see today may remind us that there is coming a day of great trouble when God pours out His wrath upon the earth for judgment of sin, they do not indicate that we are in the tribulation period now. As we can see from the verses we looked at, conditions during the tribulation will be much worse than what we observe presently. Also, God has words of encouragement for those who know Him and trust in Him, “2) Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3) For the customs of the people are vain…. 6) Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. 7) Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee…. 10) But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.” (from Jeremiah 10:2-10)
“Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.” (Hosea 14:9)
We need to take the advice of the apostle Paul who encouraged the Thessalonians not to be troubled thinking the day of Christ is already here. That day will not come until the man of sin is revealed and is sitting in the temple, setting himself up as God and declaring himself to be God. “1) Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2) That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3) Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4) Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” (II Thessalonians 2:1-4) This has not happened yet. There is no temple. There is no man of sin sitting in the temple claiming to be God. God is still extending His hand of mercy. Let us take heart and remain faithful; let us work while it is still day. The night is soon coming when no man can work, but the night is not here yet. Let us redeem the time remaining to us so that nothing be lost.