Is The Mark Already Here?

DISCLAIMER: As of 2023, I no longer hold to a Dispensational or Premillennial eschatology. Perhaps in the future I will write more about what I do believe, but for now I will just say that I lean toward Amillennialism with a partial preterist understanding of the end times prophecy found in scripture. I’m leaving this blog post up as a reference to my past understanding of eschatology. I do still hold the position that the Covid Vaccines are not the mark of the beast. 😉

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If you know me personally, or follow my Facebook page, you know that I’ve been talking about this post for well over a month now. I’m sorry for the delay in getting it out. As you may already know, I’m a mom and wife who also works a full-time job, and our family is in the process of finding a new home. So, squeezing in the time for all the research, writing and editing of something like this is tough to say the least! I really appreciate your grace and patience with me in getting this out. It’s very important to me that I do my best when I put out content of this nature.

In this post I’m going to use scripture to refute the claims made in a video sent to me by a friend. I’ve been sent a handful of videos making similar claims and randomly selected this one to write about. I started out writing this post according to the order of the video, but because the creator revisits some same or similar issues numerous times, I decided to break it down by subject matter instead. Something to note off the bat is that this video makes multiple claims, so I want to clarify that the focus of my post is that the Covid 19 vaccines are not separating people from God for eternity. My focus is not on how the vaccines could be physically affecting people or whether or not the vaccines are preparing us for the beast system. Below is a link to the video and Brighteon account that had it posted. I suggest watching it first. It’s only 12 minutes long.

“The Mark Of The Beast Vaccinations – The Abomination Causing Desolation In Our Bodily Temples / The 3rd Temple (Part1)” by “The King Is Coming” account on Brighteon

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THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTEXT

The video starts with a few isolated verses of scripture. Below I have the verses used, then the verses in context, and finally a brief summary of them.

• 1 Corinthians 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,”
  • 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 “‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated by anything. ‘Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food’—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ‘The two will become one flesh.’ But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

My summary: Christians are to flee sexual immorality. This was specifically written by the apostle, Paul, to the Church of Corinth. These were people who had accepted Christ and lived in a culture that was thick with sexual immorality used in pagan worship. If applied correctly, we can certainly still use these verses for instruction today, but it does need appropriate interpretation and application. The full passage above is stating that there is something inherently different and worse about sexual immorality, especially for Christians because we become the temple of the Holy Spirit when we become Christians. The reason for this is that there is a “marriage” or “oneness” that happens when two people engage in sexual acts. The same is not true, however, of ingesting food, which is why Paul contrasts with that at the start of the passage. Based on the full context of this scripture, you can now see how the verses used in the video may not have much relevance when deciding whether or not to get the Covid 19 vaccine.

• Psalm 139:14-17 “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!”
  • Psalm 139:1-24 “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and am still with you. Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”

My summary: David is praising and worshiping God, then lamenting and crying out to God about his persecutors, and finally, repenting for his complaints and asking for God to redirect his path. Though he makes the point that God is the author of his life, his focus is on God in this chapter, not on writing out the science of creation.

Why evaluate these verses? Two reasons:

1. To hopefully call attention to the importance of reading verses in context in an attempt to properly exegete the scriptures.
2. To show how the original intended purpose for these verses doesn’t seem match the apparent agenda that the video above is trying to assign to them.

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BIOLOGICAL CHILDREN OF GOD?

Following these verses in the video, the narrator speaks about how human DNA is marked with the name of God based on the strands in human DNA and the numerical values of the Hebrew alphabet. I’ve heard and seen this before, and if that was truly God’s intent, it is amazing! However, it seems to me that it’s a stretch to read into the numbers in this way. In fact, scripture refers to this sort of practice as a form of divinity known as reading or interpreting omens (finding/assigning meaning to numbers, events, things, etc.) and it forbids us from taking part in it.

• Deuteronomy 18:10-12 “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you.”

The narrator then goes on to talk about how every person is God’s child. That is a new age belief, not a Christian one. People are not naturally born as God’s children. God’s creation? Yes. His children? No. We must be born again (of the Spirit, brought about by conversion into Christianity) to become His adopted children. Because of this anomaly in the video’s language, and a few other instances, I’m going forward in this post with an understanding that the creator of this video may very well hold to a new-age or gnostic worldview, versus a biblical one. (Click here for a great article from GotQuestions.org on Gnosticism.)

Below are a few scriptures showing that people are not God’s children from the time of natural birth but must be born again. This is not an exhaustive list.

• Ephesians 1:3-14 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” (emphasis mine)
• Ephesians 4:17-24 “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ! — assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Emphasis mine)
• Romans 7:14-25 “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”
• John 3:1-8 “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.'” (Emphasis mine)
• Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

All that to say that there is no “god-gene” according to scripture, as the video states. Putting the “enemy-DNA” into our DNA or RNA is something that makes sense if you have a gnostic worldview where it is necessary to attain and revere some sort of secret knowledge to advance spiritually. However, this is not true if you have a biblical, historical Christian worldview, because the enemy cannot take away what God has given to believers – His Spirit:

• Ephesians 1:13-14 “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

In my experience and observation, it’s not uncommon for someone with new-age or gnostic beliefs to associate themselves with Christianity and use parts of the Bible, or other religious texts, where it suits them but dismiss the parts that don’t. Unfortunately, this vantage point has permeated parts of the Church body as well. There are a number of celebrity pastors (usually in the Word of Faith, Progressive, or New Apostolic camps) who have taken to mixing Gnosticism into their teachings. This is dangerous ground that we’re warned about repeatedly in scripture.

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HYPER-SPIRITUALIZING

Hyper-spiritualization is a theme that I’ve noticed is popping up all over the place recently. In real life conversations with friends and family, my social media newsfeeds, articles and videos by both conservative and progressive news sources, and religious content creators, etc. This is also something I observed repeatedly throughout the video. What do I mean when I say “hyper-spiritualizing”? Generally, I mean someone is assigning spiritual meanings to all things, or things that aren’t logically or biblically meant to be only spiritual. In the video I noticed an over-spiritualization of two things: (1.) the process that happens in the body when the vaccine is introduced, and (2.) many verses in the Bible, by allegorizing things that are literal events, not only spiritual ones:

1. Saying that the name of God is being erased and that the scroll of God in man is being sabotaged and that it “is a cleverly engineered coup on a worldwide scale to throw off the rulership of God over His creation.” That’s quite the statement. Can creation throw off the rulership of the one who created them? The video claims that God is in all people. That’s not true. And it says that our salvation comes from within our natural selves. In fact, the video even refers to instructions from within being destroyed when the “potion” (vaccine) is inserted in the body. Does anything good come from within man? Yikes!
   
   
   • Romans 9:20-26 “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea, ‘Those who were not my people I will call “my people,” and her who was not beloved I will call “beloved.” And in the very place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,’ there they will be called “sons of the living God.”’”
   • 1 Corinthians 2:14 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
   • Ephesians 4:18 “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.”
   • John 3:3 “‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God'”
   • Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
   • Mark 7:14-23 “And he said to them, ‘Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from the outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean) And he said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’” (Emphasis mine)
     
     
2. The appearance of the anti-christ, the building of the third temple, the abomination of desolation, and the mark of the beast are actual physical events that will take place according to scripture. How can we tell? When reading the following passages, consider the grammar, writing style, context, and all of the descriptors used. These are important principles to consider anytime we’re studying scripture as they tell us whether the writing style is poetry, allegory, literal historical writings, prophecy, etc. They also inform us of the tone and intent of the author. Keep in mind as you read, if you find a passage of scripture that lists multiple requirements all in the same passage, they will all be in the same literary style. For example, when Revelation 13 says that the mark will be required for buying and selling, and it specifies that the mark will be in the right hand and the forehead, we cannot pick which one is literal and which is allegorical. They are either both literal or both allegorical. Also, if the third temple is the Body of Christ, as referenced in the video, why do 2 Thessalonians 2, Matthew 24, and Daniel 9 all have language that contradicts that theory, stating that the man of lawlessness (a literal man) will exalt himself as God while sitting in the [literal] temple of God? Finally, scripture is clear that it will take wisdom, not secret or special knowledge, to understand what the mark is once it is present on earth.
   
   The very last scripture reference in the video is 2 Corinthians 6:16, but the narrator goes on to read through the end of the chapter and then defines the Greek word for “unclean thing” as “foul, unclean, demonic” and is obviously speaking of the vaccine. However, the context of 2 Corinthians 6 is speaking about not being unequally yoked with the unbelievers in Corinth, not rejoining their old pagan culture and ways, and that they can expect persecution for their new way of righteous living in Christ. And we can see that just by reading the full chapter and each of the chapters in 2 Corinthians leading up to it. So, this chapter is not making an argument against a literal third temple, nor is it referring to a vaccine or any kind of injection, but rather about living as a light in the darkness of their surroundings and exemplifying the gospel message.
   
   
   • 2 Thessalonians 2 “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” (Emphasis mine)
   • Daniel 9:24-27 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” (Emphasis mine)
   • Matthew 24:15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)” (Emphasis mine)
   • Revelation 13:11-18 “Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.” (Emphasis mine)
   • Revelation 14:9-11 “And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.’” (Emphasis mine)
   • Revelation 16:2 “So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.”
   • Revelation 19:20 “And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.” (Emphasis mine)
   • 2 Corinthians 6 “Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, ‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.'” (Emphasis mine)

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SUBJECTED SOVEREIGNTY

There seems to be some confusion throughout the video with regards to God’s sovereignty. Is God sovereign and in control of all of His creation? Or is He subject to the authority of a created being? This is another reason that I suspect that the creator may not be coming from a biblical worldview, but more of a gnostic one. The question is posed: who could be behind this plot to overthrow the rulership of God? (Paraphrased) It answers using Psalm 2:2-4 and then asks: “Is it not the carefully placed sulfide bonds that depict Yahweh’s name which are disrupted and broken asunder by the vaccine contents?” Then goes on to define the words band and cord and elaborates saying, “Is the DNA not entwined like a rope? Perhaps now you can see the plan the kings of the earth, the elite, who are banding together and arraying themselves against the Lord.” There are three things to note here. First, we know from scripture that our enemies are not flesh and blood. Second, the video actually only displayed Psalm 2:2-3. Third, if the video creator had read all of Psalm 2 (or even the first and fourth verses with the two they cherry-picked), they may well have discovered that nobody can overthrow the rulership of God, and God laughs at such a notion. Yet another example of why context is so important. Anyone can select a couple of verses from the bible and make them sound like they say something that they do not say. (See 2 Peter 2:1-3)

• Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
• Psalm 2:1-4 “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.”

There is a very heavy emphasis throughout the video on Satan and his motives and abilities to destroy what God has created. Yes, Satan wants and tries to keep our focus off of God and prevent us from an eternity with Him, but he cannot do all that this video claims he can do. Satan is not like God. He is a created being. Is he powerful? Sure, to an extent. Is he so powerful that he can steal away the eternal souls of true believers who have been sealed with the Holy Spirit? Let’s go to scripture…

• Ephesians 1:13-14 “You also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory”
• Romans 8:38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• John 10:28-29 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

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THE DECEPTION AND THE FALLING AWAY

I found it very ironic that the video went on to describe the great falling away and deception spoken about in scripture. Do you think that it could actually be a bait and switch by the enemy that is happening here? As we heard the narrator define apostasia, the Greek word for falling away which means defection from truth, I could not help but think that is exactly what is happening in this video. A defection from truth. Whether it is part of the end times deception and falling away, I don’t know, but I do know this is a gross twisting of scripture. We are repeatedly warned in the Old and New Testaments to watch out for false teachers and to test the spirits. -Something that is done by comparing everything to the Word of God in its correct context. This is why it is crucial for brothers and sisters in Christ to have biblically sound teachers, and why there were so many instructions given to the Church about who is and who is not fit to be a pastor/elder/teacher in the New Testament.

Let’s pause and reflect for a moment. So far in this video, the creator has managed to twist scripture, condemn believers who have taken a vaccine, make incorrect claims about God and Satan, cherry-pick scripture to fit an unbiblical narrative, completely undermine the true gospel message by claiming that all people are natural-born children of God with a god-gene in them, and use divination and numerology to “prove” said god-gene. Forgive me for sounding somewhat short at this point. I’m pleading with all of you who are reading this: Please do not be deceived into thinking that the mark of the beast is something people will be tricked into taking. They will want to take it, knowing what it is. They will be actively worshiping the beast and his image.

• Revelation 18:21-24 “Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, ‘So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more; and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more, and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.'”

The word that many, including the creator of this video, focus on in Revelation 18 is sorcery from verse 23. Yes, it is true that the word transliterates to pharmakeia in the Greek, and that we have derived our word pharmacy from this word. However, that does not automatically mean that modern medicine is what the Bible is referring to, or that we can or should make that leap in our interpretation and application. Here is a link to the Blue Letter Bible Lexicon for the word pharmakeia. Note in the Greek Inflections section part way down the page that this Greek word only appears three times in scripture, and all three times it is used in a unique form. Please be sure to read all the way down to the Thayer’s Greek Lexicon section where it defines the use of the word specifically in Revelation 18:23 as “sorcery, magical arts… tropically, of the deceptions and seductions of idolatry”.

As the narrator described the drug or poison being put into the bodies of the victims, she described that it is no coincidence that it is causing death, blood clots, heart attacks and strokes, and states, “the word tells us that the life is in the blood.” But the life is not in our blood. And the life that scripture is referring to is eternal life. That life is only found by the penal substitutionary atonement of Christ dying (spilling His blood) for us on the cross. It is about Jesus. Not about us.

• Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.”
• Hebrews 9:6-14 “These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

The following is a direct quote from just after the 9-minute mark: “It is Satan who seeks to kill, steal and destroy. Jesus came that you may have life, and have it abundantly. Satan desires to remove God’s image and replace it with his image. Revelation 14:9 tells us that he plans to remove God’s name and replace it with his name. Revelation 14:11. Ask yourself, who else could be behind the erasing of God’s name in your DNA scroll? Beloved, God says His people perish for lack of knowledge…”

I will list the verses below that the video referenced in that quote, but I think it’s important for us to recognize that in John 10, the life that Jesus is speaking about is eternal life, and how He is the only way into that eternal life. He’s not speaking about worldly health or prosperity. In fact, we are told numerous times in scripture that we, as Christians, will experience suffering, persecution, and even martyrdom in this world. (See John 16:33, Romans 5:3-5, Romans 8:18, Romans 8:28, 2 Corinthians 4:17, Philippians 1:29, Philippians 3:10, 2 Timothy 3:12, James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 4:12-19 & 1 Peter 5:10. This is not an exhaustive list.) Also, the thief that Jesus is referring to is not Satan, but false teachers and prophets who lead the sheep astray. This is evident when we read that verse in context. As for Revelation 14:9-11, I’m not even sure what the video was referring to because it’s so different than what I read in scripture. In the final sentence of the quote in the previous paragraph, she partially quotes from Hosea 4:6, “Beloved, God says His people perish for lack of knowledge.” This partial quote from scripture would lead one to believe that God says His people perish for lack of any knowledge, but that is not true. God is specifically speaking to His people (Israel) about His law (the Bible), which can be seen in the full verse below.

• John 10:7-15 & 27-28 “So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. … My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
• Revelation 14:9-11 “And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.'”
• Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

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WRAPPING IT UP…

As the video approaches its end, starting around the 8-9-minute mark, I want to point out a tactic that is being used. As you listen, you can note the increase in the volume and intensity of the music. Also, note the change in the tone and type of language being used. Rather than just informing the viewer of the content, there seems to be a change wherein the narrator begins referring to the viewer as ‘child’ or ‘beloved’ or some other endearing term and is emphatically advising the viewer to keep themselves safe. These kinds of tactics are frequently used to persuade you by pulling on your emotions, rather than appealing to intellect and logic. This can be known as a “thought stopping device” and is used in sales, marketing, and yes, even churches. When you hear these tactics being deployed in a Christian setting, that is the moment you should really cue into what is being said and critically compare it to the word of God.

• For example, at one point she says, “Do not run to Egypt or Babylon for help. Do all you can to boost your divinely built immune system naturally and do not allow yourself to be deceived.” What a bizarre mixing of things tied together. What does this even mean? I encourage you to go to scripture to seek out what actually happened with the Israelites in Egypt and Babylon. And remember as you read that we are not Israelites under the Old Testament Law, so those stories are not about us. (Hint: in most cases they’re not about the Israelites either, but about God.)

Could it be that the body is physically being sabotaged by the vaccines, as is asserted numerous times in the video? Sure, that could be. Could the vaccines be leading us down a path that prepares us for the beast system and the mark? Again, it’s possible. But those are not my focus in this post. The point is that the vaccines are not separating people from God for eternity. And telling people that they are, especially brothers and sisters in Christ, seems like a pretty bold thing to say because it is essentially telling them that they are condemned to hell forever. I do not believe that is our role in a time when the mark is yet unknown. What we can know according to a careful examination of scripture is that the Covid 19 vaccines are not the mark of the beast, and that we are still to share the simple gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, even those that have been vaccinated.

I really hope that this has been helpful and encouraging to someone out there. May God bless you all and give you peace and rest in Him in this tumultuous season we’re living in. Keep reading the Bible and seeking out discernment and wisdom in it. It really is sufficient for us today and for the rest of time.

Blessings,
Robin 💞