Why The COVID-19 Vaccine Is Not “The Mark Of The Beast”

Revelation 13:16–17 (NRSV): 16 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, 17 so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

I had a recent Facebook conversation in which I explained why I didn't think that the COVID-19 vaccine, or government certifications or travel restrictions related to it, had anything to do with “the mark of the beast” of Revelation 13, as some seem to be saying. I also explained why I don’t regard Revelation as predicting specific events that are happening or will happen in our days. So unlike some people, I am not concerned that getting the vaccine or getting it in my “right hand (arm)” means I am taking “the mark of the beast,” and I don’t think you should be so concerned, either.

A reason I feel this way is because (to put it simply) the Book of Revelation itself says several times that the events it’s warning its first-century readers about were to happen “soon,” not after 2,000 or more years:

1:1 Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἣν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς δεῖξαι τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐν τάχει, καὶ ἐσήμανεν ἀποστείλας διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου αὐτοῦ τῷ δούλῳ αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννῃ,	1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
2:16 μετανόησον οὖν· εἰ δὲ μή, ἔρχομαί σοι ταχὺ καὶ πολεμήσω μετʼ αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ ῥομφαίᾳ τοῦ στόματός μου.	2:16 “Repent then. If not, I will come to you soon and make war against them with the sword of my mouth.”
3:11 ἔρχομαι ταχύ· κράτει ὃ ἔχεις, ἵνα μηδεὶς λάβῃ τὸν στέφανόν σου.	3:11 “I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.”
11:14 Ἡ οὐαὶ ἡ δευτέρα ἀπῆλθεν· ἰδοὺ ἡ οὐαὶ ἡ τρίτη ἔρχεται ταχύ.	11:14 The second woe has passed. The third woe is coming very soon.
22:6 Καὶ εἶπέν μοι· οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι πιστοὶ καὶ ἀληθινοί, καὶ ὁ κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῶν πνευμάτων τῶν προφητῶν ἀπέστειλεν τὸν ἄγγελον αὐτοῦ δεῖξαι τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐν τάχει.	22:6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true, for the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
22:7 καὶ ἰδοὺ ἔρχομαι ταχύ. μακάριος ὁ τηρῶν τοὺς λόγους τῆς προφητείας τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου.	22:7 “See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
22:12 Ἰδοὺ ἔρχομαι ταχύ, καὶ ὁ μισθός μου μετʼ ἐμοῦ ἀποδοῦναι ἑκάστῳ ὡς τὸ ἔργον ἐστὶν αὐτοῦ.	22:12 “See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work.”
22:20 Λέγει ὁ μαρτυρῶν ταῦτα· ναί, ἔρχομαι ταχύ. Ἀμήν, ἔρχου κύριε Ἰησοῦ.	22:20 The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Per BDAG (Bauer, Danker, Arndt, and Gingrich, the authoritative New Testament Greek lexicon), here are the two words translated in English as “soon,” followed by a listing of which word each of the above verses uses. References to the above verses are bold-faced and underlined:

* τάχος, ους, τό (Hom. et al.; ins, pap, LXX; TestSol 7:3 D; Just., D. 68, 3) ① a very brief period of time, with focus on speed of an activity or event, speed, quickness, swiftness, haste, μετὰ τάχους with speed (Pla., Prot. 332b, Leg. 944c; POxy 2107, 4 [III A.D.]) MPol 13:1. • —ἐν τάχει (Pind., Aeschyl. et al.; Galen, CMG V/9/2 p. 25, 25 al.; ins, pap, LXX; Jos., Ant. 6, 163; 17, 83) quickly, at once, without delay Ac 10:33 D; 12:7; 17:15 D; 22:18; 1 Cl 48:1; 63:4. • —τάχει (Tetrast. Iamb. 2, 6, 1 p. 287; SibOr 1, 205; in Plut., Caes. 717 [20, 4], Lys. 438 [11, 2] w. the addition of πολλῷ, παντί; cp. Just., D. 68, 3 σὺν τάχει) quickly Rv 2:5 v.l. (s. Tdf.). • —τὸ τάχος as acc. of specification, adverbially (very) quickly, without delay (PHib 62, 13; PPetr II, 9, 2, 9; PSI 326, 12; 495, 17; 18 [all III B.C.]; LXX; Jos., Ant. 13, 8. Without the art. as early as Aeschyl.) 1 Cl 53:2; B 4:8; 14:3 (w. all three cp. Ex 32:7). ② pert. to a relatively brief time subsequent to another point of time, ἐν τάχει as adverbial unit soon, in a short time Lk 18:8; Ro 16:20; 1 Ti 3:14; Rv 1:1; 22:6; 1 Cl 65:1; • shortly Ac 25:4. • Cp. ταχύς 2. • —DELG s.v. ταχύς. M-M. 

** ταχύς, εῖα, ύ (Hom.+) ① pert. to a very brief period of time, with focus on speed of an activity or event ⓐ adj. quick, swift, speedy ταχ. καρπός fruit that ripens quickly 2 Cl 20:3. • ταχὺς εἰς τὸ ἀκοῦσαι quick to hear Js 1:19 (Lucian, Epigr. 18 ταχ. εἰς τὸ φαγεῖν; Sir 5:11; Libanius, Or. 33 p. 186, 15 ἐν τῷ δῆσαι ταχύς, ἐν τῷ κρῖναι βραδύς ‘quick to arrest but slow in deciding’; cp. PsSol 4:5 ταχὺς εἰσόδῳ εἰς πάσαν οἰκίαν). ⓑ mostly in the neut. sing. as adv. ταχύ (Trag., Hdt.+; pap, LXX; En 97:10; TestSol 4:2 P; Jos., Bell. 7, 394, Vi. 149). α. quickly, at a rapid rate ταχὺ ἔφυγον Mk 16:8 v.l. • —Mt 28:8. β. without delay, quickly, at once (though it is not always poss. to make a clear distinction betw. this mng. and the one in 2) Mt 5:25; 28:7; Lk 15:22; J 11:29; Ac 14:2 D; 1 Cl 23:5ab (Is 13:22); • 53:2 (Ex 32:8; Dt 9:12); Hm 9:7. • This is prob. the place for the ἔρχεσθαι ταχύ of Rv 2:5 v.l. (many cursives and printed texts), Rv 2:16; 3:11; 11:14; 22:7, 12, 20 (P-ÉLangevin, Jésus Seigneur, ’67, 209–35). ② pert. to a relatively brief time subsequent to another point of time, neut. sg. as adv. in a short time, soon (cp. 1bβ above and τάχος 2). • Mk 9:39 (soon afterward); • Hv 3, 8, 9; m 12, 5, 3. • This is also prob. the place for the μετανοεῖν ταχύ of Hs 8, 7, 5; 8, 8, 3; 5; 8, 10, 1; 9, 19, 2; 9, 21, 4; 9, 23, 2; • εἰς ταχεῖαν (sc. ὥραν) soon AcPlCor 2:3. • —DELG. M-M.

* Revelation 1:1

** Revelation 2:16

** Revelation 3:11

** Revelation 11:14

* Revelation 22:6

** Revelation 22:7

** Revelation 22:12

** Revelation 22:20

As G. K. Beale points out in his commentary on Revelation (New International Greek Testament Commentary), the author of Revelation regards his times as “the last days” that Daniel wrote about. So Revelation itself tells us that it is about events beginning to happen or soon to happen, and not about events that won’t happen for another 500 or 1,000 or 2,000, etc., years. Per Beale:

Simply put, John understands Daniel’s reference to a distant time as referring to his own era, and he updates the text accordingly. What Daniel expected to occur in the distant “latter days”—the defeat of cosmic evil and the ushering in of the divine kingdom—John expects to begin “quickly,” in his own generation, if it has not already begun to happen.⁶

⁶John’s understanding of Daniel 2 as having already begun fulfillment is not unique in the NT. Luke 20:18 ( = Matt. 21:44) quotes Jesus as equating the “stone” of Dan. 2:34–35 with his own ministry. The same “inaugurated end-time” view of Dan. 2:35 is probably also apparent in Rev. 12:8 (see the comments below on that verse). (p. 153, Introduction)

...

The significance of this OT background for v 1 is best understood from examination of the following phrase, δεῖξαι … ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι (“to show … what must come to pass”), which, together with ἐν τάχει (“quickly”), is derived from Dan. 2:28–29, 45 (as discussed above, pp. 152–53). ἐν τάχει (“quickly”) is a deliberate substitute for Daniel’s ἐπʼ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν (“in the latter days”; e.g., Dan. 2:28) and connotes neither the speedy manner in which the Daniel prophecy is to be fulfilled nor the mere possibility that it could be fulfilled at any time, but the definite, imminent time of fulfillment, which likely has already begun in the present. This may be evident as we recognize that ἐπʼ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν (“in the latter days”) in Daniel 2 must be understood as referring only to the temporal aspect of the prophecy’s fulfillment and not to the rapid manner in which it is to be fulfilled. John’s substitution of ἐν τάχει implies his expectation that the final tribulation, defeat of evil, and establishment of the kingdom, which Daniel expected to occur distantly “in the latter days,” would begin in his own generation, and, indeed, that it had already begun to happen (for the idea of tribulation preceding the divine kingdom see Daniel 7, which is a parallel prophecy to Daniel 2).

Therefore, it is also unnecessary to introduce into v 1 the idea that John has a prophetic perspective in which, for various reasons, what is actually to occur in the distant future is perceived as near. Some believe that John was expecting only a coming crisis of persecution. But that he was also anticipating God’s victory over evil and the inauguration of the kingdom is clear from the Daniel 2 (and 7) context, as well as from what follows in Revelation 1. (pp. 181–182 on Revelation 1:1)

  The Book of Revelation concludes with this warning:

Revelation 22:18–19 (NRSV): 18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; 19 if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Those who interpretatively “add to” the meaning of Revelation by trying to make it be about events in the year 2021 may inadvertently be doing what the author warns his hearers and readers not to do.