We should expect other religions to talk about love and morality. Thirty-six percent of those with a neighbor who died of the virus increased their Bible use (1.7 times more than average), and 33 percent of those with a close personal friend who died increased their use (1.6 times more than average). Baptist: Does COVID-19 Fulfill Biblical Plague Prophecies? Therefore, let us use this time to love and serve our fellow man through this crisis; let the Kingdom of God that resides in us be reflected in every dark crevice and corner of this diseased, fragile and fallen world. According to Evans' studies, the majority of "mark of the beast" believers appear to be politically conservative and from Protestant Christianbackgrounds. Cumulative number of positive nucleic acid test laboratory detections. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Rev. Help train Christians to boldly share the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that clearly communicates to this secular age. Between early 2019 and 2020, the percentage of US adults who say they use the Bible daily dropped from 14 percent to 9 percent, according to the State of the Bible 2020 report released today by. Doubts and fears caused by the barrage of malicious misinformation on social The Devil doesnt care if people believe in God. The bad news is the human heart is an idol factory. Emergency roomphysician Stephen Smith at Hennepin Healthcaretold USA TODAY he hasn't heard the 'mark of the beast' as a reason to not get vaccinated but a few other outlandish reasons. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. The church age is symbolized by pictures (the measured temple, the trampled witnesses, the woman protected in the wilderness) and numbers (42 months, 1260 days, 3 years). without symptoms, May 1, 2021, Retrieved from The World Health Organization has given this particular coronavirus the acronym COVID-19 for "coronavirus disease 2019". 6 Cleveland Clinic, How Much of the Population Will Need to Be Womens Bible engagement dropped by 7 percentage points between January and June, compared with 6 percentage points for men. Thats where the picture comes from, but what it points to is a counterfeit Christ. Second, to come up with 666, you have to spell Neron Kaisar incorrectly in Hebrew. United Methodist: So, according to many scholars, 666 is most logically a reference to Nero. We are told that 666 is the answer to the question. First, it is far from certain that most of Johns audience would have known Hebrew. While most Bible readers (65%) prefer a printed version, millennials are about as likely to read the Bible digitally (52%) as they are in print (48%). (not representing all COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong) 107. ; Given 40, the Mertens function returns 0. What You Should Know About Biblical Complementarianism, Liberalism Is (Still) a Threat to Fundamentalism. The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Federal Government's COVID-19 Vaccine/Therapeutics Operation (formerly known as Operation Warp Speed), to ensure the BOP administers the COVID-19 vaccine in accordance with available guidance. The findings are consistent with other studies on the impact of religious affiliation and human flourishing, according to VanderWeele. The study also found that people are more hopeful when they read Scripture more frequently. 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 (vv. The company received its full stamp of approval from theFood and Drug Administration late last month. With that as a basic outline, lets go verse by verse through the second half of the chapter. There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands, and there will be terrifying things and great miraculous signs from heaven. We can see that Latino/Latinx and African Americans are . In January, women were slightly more Bible engaged than men (19.1% vs. 18.8%) and 2 percent more likely than men to be Bible centered (a Barna and ABS designation for individuals with the highest level of influence from Scripture in their daily lives). There are other scriptures in the Bible, where God declares plagues over nations as an act of divine judgment for disobedience. Their question was an honest and heartfelt one, and clearly, they were anguished about it. Most of the interpretations are not widely followed. God can also use a pandemic to fulfill His purpose of redemption, teach us obedience and gratitude, and even stir up a revival. We should expect them to talk about the cross. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-much-of-the-population-will-need-to-be-vaccinated-until-the-pandemic-is-over. 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 - If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the . . He said the study is important because it helps reveal the human toll of the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdownssomething that cant be measured by stock market data or gross domestic product. On May 18, Indiana confirmed its first case of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C . So he asked his dad: "Is this the end of the world?". But there are also problems with the calculation. last week, the total remained essentially unchanged Thursday. And yet, what is so beautiful about Gods Word is His promise to love us and provide for us, regardless of how dire our situation is: Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you(Isaiah 54:10). So the number of the beast could refer to Nero. All sorts of numerical schemes have been concocted in various languages to try to decode 666. This coronavirus originated in China and seems related to the wildlife trade there. Williams has worked in hospitals inTexas, New York, California and Hawaii in her three years as a nurse. He convinces us that sex will be most fulfilling when it is most free of commitment and ethical norms. and even silly scare stories about What were seeing is that as people are just given the opportunity to share and listen to each other and to process and to engage on Scripture in a group setting, were seeing those trauma symptoms come down.. When we see the number forty used to denote time in the Bible, we are being told that something extraordinary and definitive is happening. Jeremiah lived about nine hundred years after the covenant made with the Israelites and God through Moses. to be highly effective for preventing disease, and serious side-effects are very rare.4The very real danger from a COVID-19 infection is much greater than any theoretical risk from the vaccine. The scripture reads: "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. COVID-19 vaccination named missional priority According to the Bible, plagues are said to be one of the signs that herald the end times and the return of Jesus Christ. Turn!," the Pete Seeger song that became a hit for the Byrds. ", "The Bible speaks of someone identified as the 'Antichrist'and he will require people have a 'mark'that people will receive to buy and sell," Laurie told USA TODAY in an email. Although the coronavirus is the most disastrous plague that has impacted humanity this century, there is no evidence in the Bible to suggest that COVID-19 is one of the plagues prophesied in Scripture. https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/most-covid-19-cases-are-spread-by-people-without-symptoms As of September 10, 2021 63% of the US population over 12 has been fully Over 2 billion people are fully vaccinated world-wide. No one knows exactly where this imagery comes from or if it even has allusion to anything in the first century. In order to understand the mark of the beast in Revelation 13:18, we need to see what is happening in the rest of the chapter. The Biden-Harris Plan to Beat COVID-19: Review details of the Biden-Harris plan to beat COVID-19 and download The National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/facts.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fvaccines%2Fvaccine-benefits%2Ffacts.html 2 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), How to 16-17). All of which is to say, whatever you think of the way the medical establishment and the media and our politicians have handled this global pandemic, the mark of the beast is not going to be found in an implanted microchip. The world has a way of operating and when we choose a different way, we must be prepared for setbacks, strange looks, and often shame and suffering. 21:17). More on that in a moment. The churches have an important and profound role in contributing to peoples well-being in generaland especially so during this time, he said. In times past, terrible diseases like smallpox, polio, The annual report also showed that millennials read the Bible more frequently than any other generation, with 26 percent reading it multiple times each week. Some people are at higher risk of more severe disease or outcomes from COVID-19 infection than others. Evans said that lack of trust in the government and medical field is a driving force behind the "mark of the beast" belief. Kevin, for example, in our simplified scheme would be 11+5+22+9+14, which equals 61. What do health care workers say? So, as Jesus said, there is no good reason to believe to prayers for an end to those diseases came in the form of the vaccines that have The findings were published in October in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in a report co-authored by VanderWeele, Plake, Jeffery Fulks of ABS, and Matthew Lee of Harvard. 3 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), In the ancient world every letter corresponded to a number, just like A might equal 1, and B equal 2, C equal 3, and so on. vaccinated against COVID-19. China's number of working people has fallen by more than 41 million in the past three years, reflecting both the coronavirus pandemic's toll on the economy and a decline in the working . people are more hopeful when they read Scripture more frequently, National Well-Being Measures Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Online Samples, With Gossip of the Gospel, the Church Grows in Nepal, A Christian Approach to Social Justice Is Slow, Careful, and Self-Reflective, Our Attraction to Idols Remains the Same, Even When the Names Change, Turkish Christians Plead: Dont Distribute Bibles After Earthquake, After Pushing for UMC Unity, Former Bishop Joins New Denomination, Everything Everywhere All at Once and the Beautiful Mystery of Gods Silence, Complete access to articles on ChristianityToday.com, Over 120 years of magazine archives plus full access to all of CTs online archives. The second beast is the Minister of Propaganda, deceiving people to follow after the first beast. By the end of September, 56% ofpeople in the USAare projected to be fully vaccinated and 59% by Jan. 1, 2022, according to data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Fifth, finding hidden, precise meanings in numbers is not the way numbers work in Revelation. Vaccines for COVID-19, September 1, 2021, Retrieved from Peer-reviewed data has deemed the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines safe, and they demonstrated 94% to 95% effectiveness against the virus, according to a study published in the New. If 7 is the number for God, then 6 is the number of that most resembles, but is not, Godnamely, man. 1. Remember, the first beast is the perversion of the state, and the second beast is the perversion of Christianity. He entices us to make money the desire of our hearts. We find God in all the wrong places. By the end of September, 56% ofpeople in the USAare projected to be fully vaccinated and 59% by Jan. 1, 2022, according to data from the, wrote anop-ed in August for the Midland Reporter-Telegram, Ivermectin is not a proven treatment for COVID-19, Pregnant unvaccinated nurse and her unborn 'sweet baby girl' die of COVID, What we know about the mu variant and why Fauci is 'keeping a very close eye on it', Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. This highly infectious virus was first contracted in November 2019 in Wuhan, the capital city of Chinas Hubei province, through animal to human contact at the Huananseafood market. 13-14). What is the significance of the number forty in Scripture? COVID misinformation: FDA warns about ivermectin as COVID treatment. As a number of major countries have now transitioned to weekly updates, there is no need anymore for immediate updates throughout the day as soon as a new report is released. Every letter could also be a number, so names could be translated into numbers. Dozens of pastors across the Bible Belt have succumbed to coronavirus after churches and televangelists played down the pandemic and actively encouraged churchgoers to flout self-distancing . Adding up some subsets of its divisors (e.g., 1, 4, 5, 10, and 20) gives 40; hence, 40 is a semiperfect number. that the end of the world is near? Rabbi Yosef Pinto, an respected Israeli mystic, has claimed the coming of the killer respiratory disease was predicted in the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. questions, but it does have a lot of related information. Heres my humble opinion (he said humbly! Smith said one woman brought her child in for a fever and cough, and he explained that the toddler might have COVID-19. Any or all of these may serve as background imagery for these verses, but the mark in reality is not a visible mark. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. Investigation of a person positive for COVID-19 is completed by the public health agency in the state where the person resides. Some of the names in the list are absurd. vaccinated as soon as possible. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/diseases/forgot-14-diseases.html So if we can find a religious-like feeling in political activism or spirituality in the entertainment industry or experience transcendence in art or make a god out of the family, then the Devil has won. Resting Not Vexing, Our Anchor in a Sea of Chaos and Consternation, Tradition, the Bible, and Americas Debate over Slavery, From Wretched to Needy: Changing a Classic Hymn. The second beast lives wherever the Devil entices people to worship something man-made, to make an idolatrous image out of anything other than Jesus Christ, who alone is the image of the invisible God. While many will turn to the Bible for answers in unsettling times, they often stop reading faithfully after a while. Gretchen Whitmer encouraging vaccines in Michigan:"Diabolical Michigan Governor Whiter wants her citizens to get the Mark of the Beast to participate in society.". anyone who predicts the end is near. The same journal published that the Johnson &Johnson single dose shotprovided protection against the virus and was effective against hospitalization and death. "All these are the beginnings of sorrows." The passage is attributed to Jesus Christ who told his followers what to expect before his second coming. The four horsemen that are mentioned in Revelation 6:8 have each been allocated power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.. But they can The ABS researchers, poised to publish their study of Bible usage, had another thought: What if, instead of releasing their new data the week of Easter, they held on to it and did a second survey? She said vaccines are not a magical shot that cures all, but they're one of many tools to fight the virus. In the middle of a global pandemic, a contentious election, and social unrest, the American Bible Society (ABS), with assistance from Harvard Universitys Human Flourishing Program, found a strong correlation between Scripture reading and hope. Forty days and nights of rain during the flood, The Jews journeyed through the desert for forty years to the Promised Land, The prophet Ezekiel laid on his right side for forty days to symbolize the sins of Judah, Elijah fasted for forty days on Mount Horeb. But the researchers recognized that along with all the bad things brought by the pandemic, they were presented with an opportunity. (1 Peter 5:7) 7. The connection is only a correlation. also recommend vaccination. "God will not doom people for taking something unwittingly.". still infect other people nearby, including people in high-risk categories. The data covers the period from March 2020 until mid-February this year. As the spread of the coronavirus continues, both Christians and non-believers alike ask themselves, Does this fulfill biblical plague prophecies?. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. In May, Feaman wrote on his blog of Gov. The beast gives breath to these things so that they seem god-like in our eyes. now controlled or eliminated those diseases as major threats.5, We now have vaccines that have the ability to put an end to the COVID-19 There were priests and sacred rituals and officials insisting on the deity of the emperor. Sixty percent read the Bible four times per year or less. The priests of Egypt had their secret arts too. About half (49%) of Americans with a family member living in their household who died of coronavirus said they increased their use of the Bible2.3 times more than average. Three of the largest online evangelism ministriesGlobal Media Outreach, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and Cruall reported increases of people seeking online information about knowing Jesus. Rev. (March 2): China's number of working people has fallen by more than 41 million in the past three years, reflecting both the coronavirus pandemic's toll on the economy and a decline in the working age population.Some 733.5 million Chinese people were employed in 2022, according to the country's statistics bureau. that could make them very sick or even kill them? Even young and healthy people can be infected with COVID-19. We must have them. Whats happening now looks like society-wide response to trauma, in a way. The prediction faded from public memory and the book's author, Sylvia Browne, died in 2013. VanderWeele notes, though, that the data showed wide variance in economic impact. Indonesian. If you're heartsick over racial injustice. The number of Covid-19 infections in Scotland has risen, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In acute hospitals, 12,582 confirmed cases . What have we seen with this second beast? The Shincheonji Word Seminar held in August attracted 1,700 pastors and 28,000 people globally. ", New COVID-19 variant: What we know about the mu variant and why Fauci is 'keeping a very close eye on it'. Rather, it is the alarming rate at which the COVID-19 virus is spreading, its highly infectious nature, and the fact that a vaccine has not yet been discovered that is causing widespread consternation. US AMA: COVID-19 vaccines: patient FAQs But the evidence shows that Americans who actively engage with the Bible and in corporate worship score higher on every measure of human flourishing, including better mental and physical health and a deeper sense of character and virtue. might get very sick or die from COVID-19.1,2, Jesus taught that one of the most important of all commandments is, "Love 4 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Learn more >>. More than a third (35%) of Americans say they never read the Bibleunchanged from last year but up from 25 percent at the annual reports inception in 2011. Americans who live in a household that owns a Bible (77% of the population) are as likely to use a Bible app as those without a Bible in the house (56% vs. 55%). National Well-Being Measures Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Online Samples shows that happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, feelings of meaning and purpose, and financial and material stability all declined sharply between January and June. Idolatry will boast of great accomplishments, even miracles. Dont let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, I am the Messiah, and saying, The time has come! But dont believe them. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. When the pandemic hit in March, there were initial signs it might be having an overall positive effect on American spirituality. They encouraged, and sometimes made mandatory, the worship of the state. Bible readingalong with other forms of community and discipleship, such as going to church or participating in a small groupappear to contribute to peoples sense of well-being and happiness, said Tyler VanderWeele, director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard Universitys T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The truth is that the COVID-19 vaccine encourages the body to create copies of the spike protein found on the coronavirus's surface. Also since Jesus spoke those words, thousands of people have Financial and material stability, as would be expected, took the heaviest blow for many people, falling by 16.7 percent. Luke 21:11 - And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. Its actual name is SARS-CoV-2, although that is seldom used by the press. Until the question came again. More details on the reporting schedule. Adam MacInnis is a journalist based in Nova Scotia, Canada. 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 (v. 12). "Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father." 1 Timothy 5:1. The number 666 represents a threefold falling short of perfection (dragon: 6, beast: 6, false prophet: 6). social media. How false worship today resembles false worship in the Old Testament. What could be more loving than wearing a mask and The data reflects a rapid rise in . and protect other people. You could understand this to mean 666 is a number of a man or 666 is the number of man. I think its the latter. Myths and Facts about COVID-19 Vaccines, September 7, 2021, Retrieved from Why do people callCOVID-19 vaccine the 'mark of the beast? Some think the coronavirus is one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. In January 2020, Plake and his colleagues at the American Bible Society decided to expand the number of questions they asked in their 10th annual State of the Bible study. Effective February 1, 2023, the Coronavirus Tracker has switched from LIVE to Daily Updates. 7-day Average Daily Total and Skilled Nursing Facility-Associated COVID-19 Laboratory Confirmed Case Deaths by Date of Death 1,2,3,4,5. I think that this period has showed a period of reflection of what really matters in life, VanderWeele said. The Devil is perfectly happy to have everyone searching for God. Between early 2019 and 2020, the percentage of US adults who say they use the Bible daily dropped from 14 percent to 9 percent, according to the State of the Bible 2020 report released today by the Barna Group and the American Bible Society (ABS). Misinterpretations ofRevelation13:16-18 can stem from social media where people can spread unreliable information, according to Laurie. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Although the coronavirus is the most disastrous plague that has impacted humanity this century, there is no evidence in the Bible to suggest that COVID-19 is one of the plagues prophesied in Scripture. ): 666 is not meant to be a riddle hiding the name of the beast; 666 is simply the name and number of the beast. After a sharp increase in the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in B.C. (since 30 January 2023)@. 30 Verses to Reflect on in the Book of Hebrews. This figure uses a 7-day rolling average to show the daily number of all COVID-19 deaths and COVID-19 deaths among residents of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) over time. 6. You cannot tell the difference between flu and COVID-19 by symptoms alone because some of the symptoms are the same. by all major health organizations. "The COVID-19 vaccine or any vaccines have nothing to do with any of this.". Women lost more ground than men in Bible engagement, and levels of engagement evened out among the genders for the first time in the surveys history. Sneak Peek Interview: Laura Wiflers New Childrens Book, Receiving Not Achieving. We are not told to solve the question of 666. vaccinated helps to protect you, and also helps to protect other people who
Gilbert Artemus (Artie) Darrell