Is the COVID-19 Vaccine the Mark of the Beast?

Last September an article in USA Today was titled, "Some say COVID-19 vaccine is the ‘mark of the beast.’  Is there a biblical connection?”   I have heard this suggestion from a number of people. Right after the vaccine was released, I spoke with one man who said he had evidence that a microchip of some sort was being inserted into people’s arms along with the vaccine.  What was his evidence?  He has two friends who placed magnets on their arms where they were injected, and the magnets clung to their arms.  Apparently there are some Christians who are afraid to take the vaccine because if it is the mark of the beast, they fear that they will go to hell. What does the Bible teach about the mark of the beast?

Who is the Beast?

To understand the mark of the beast, you must first understand the identity of the beast, both of which are found in Revelation 13.  The beast of Revelation is not a future end-times character, but the Roman emperor Nero Caesar who reigned when the book of Revelation was written.  Why Nero?  

First, we know that the beast was a contemporary of John due to the time-indicators in Revelation which indicate that the events foretold "must soon take place," and "the time is near" (Rev 1:1-3; 20:10).  The book of Revelation was written to a first-century audience about events that were about to unfold, not two thousand years later.

Second, we know that Nero Caesar was a man of great authority, ruling over the entire civilized world at the time (Rev 13:2, 7).

Third, we know that Nero was a man of evil, beastly character.  He enjoyed homosexual rape and torture, and killed his own parents, brother, wife, aunt, and many others.  He was the first Roman emperor to persecute Christians, and it was under this persecution that both Peter and Paul were executed.  At least one writer who lived to see Nero in action even called him a "beast" (Apollinius of Tyana, 4 B.C. - A.D. 96).

Fourth, we can confidently identify the beast as Nero because of his connection to the number 666.  Revelation 13:17 says that the mark of the beast is the "beast's name or the number of its name."  So the mark has something to do with the number of the beast's name.  The next verse, Revelation 13:18, says that the mark is the number of a person, the number 666 (in Greek, six-hundred and sixty-six).  In the first century, they didn't have the arabic-numeral system that we have today.  Instead, the alphabet served a dual function of both letters and numbers.  Each letter in the alphabet also represented a number.  A common practice back then was Gematria, in which a person's name was reduced to its mathematical value by adding up the numbers of each letter in a person's name.  A Hebrew spelling of Nero's name was Nrwn Qsr (pronounced Neron Kaiser).  When added up, it equals exactly 666 (n [50] r [200] w [6] n [50] q [100] s [60] r [200]).  

If the beast of Revelation is Nero Caesar, then both the beast and the mark of the beast are in our past, not in our present or in our future.  They appeared in the first century A.D.  

What is the Beast's Mark?  

There are several other reasons we can confidently conclude that the COVID-19 vaccine is not the mark of the beast.  The mark in Revelation 13 is placed on the body, whereas the vaccine is injected into the body.  Also, the mark is on the right hand or forehead, but the vaccine is injected in the upper arm.  Finally, the mark of the beast is 666, but the vaccine has nothing to do with 666.

So, what is the mark of the beast?  First, we know that it is associated with the beast Nero, because it is "the number of its name (Rev 13:17)."  

Second, we know that it would have been discernable to the first century readers of Revelation, because John expected them to be able to "calculate the number of the beast (Rev 13:18)."  

Third, we should not be surprised if the mark is not literal, but figurative.  Revelation is the most symbolic book in the Bible.  Much symbolism is employed in Revelation to describe the beast.  For example, no one who expects an end-times beast believes that he will have seven heads and ten horns, or that it will look like a combination of a leopard, bear, and lion (Rev 13:1-2).  In fact, the very next verse in Revelation after speaking of the mark of the beast refers to a different mark, this one placed on God's people (Rev 14:1).  No one interprets that mark as a literal mark.

Therefore, we can confidently conclude that the mark of the beast is symbolic of one's allegiance to and worship of the Roman emperor.  Everyone in the Roman empire was forced to worship the beast, or they would face economic and other penalties (Rev 13:16).  True Christians refused to receive this mark because they worshiped Jesus Christ alone.  For this they were severely persecuted.  

The mark of the beast is not the COVID-19 vaccine.  It referred to one's allegiance to the beast (Nero Caesar), which means both the beast and the mark are in our past.