Revelation 13:15–17
And it (the beast with lamblike horns) 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. (ESV)

King County, the county just north of where I live, has a six-month mandate that no one may enter a public space like a restaurant or sports arena without a vaccine certificate, aka vaccine passport, or a recent (3-day) negative Covid test. Imagine that! A six-month mandate! Now almost 1/3 of all Washington residents live in King County and what happens there infects the rest of the state, so while my county hasn’t gone that far into insanity YET, it may not be far off because we now have a Destructocrat-majority county council as well.

Anyway, whether the insanity infects my county or not, I was watching a news segment last night as one of the local newsies was interviewing fans going in to watch the Seahawks as well as patrons of a sports bar across the street from the stadium. They were just singing the praises of vaccine passports and masks. Now, of course, the newsies are lickspittles of the governor and the county executive and this reporter no doubt sought out the most enthusiastic supporters of the mandate – plus those who refuse to submit are staying away from Seattle’s restaurants and arenas and coming into my county to eat and drink, yet the enthusiasm of the interviewees astounded me! They loved being told what to do to keep themselves “safe”!

Now let me hasten to say the Covid mandates, as coercive and anti-science as they are, are not the Mark of the Beast. They do, however, let us know how easily the Mark will be imposed upon those who are not marked as Christ’s own. Imagine for a moment how this world of ours will react when a series of natural disasters occur that put the survival of the race in doubt. And then imagine a “savior” arriving who tells the remaining governments of the world that he has come to save the race IF they will do exactly as he tells them. And what he tells them will cause all who comply to reject the lordship of Jesus Christ. I don’t know exactly what he will say or what he will do, but bowing to his mandates will make perfectly good sense – to all who are not guided by the Scripture and the Holy Spirit.

The Mark of the Beast has both a physical component and a spiritual component. It will be similar in nature if not in fact to the offering of incense on Caesar’s altar; the incense was physical, the offering of it acknowledged Caesar’s divinity. Just as the vaccine passport is the physical evidence of obedience, the willing compliance with the mandates is the spiritual component. If people so willingly comply when the threat is minimal, imagine the rush to receive the Mark when the race is dying in the 100s of millions.

The question before us, however, is not whether we’ll be vaccinated, or wear a mask, or kiss the hand as we bow to the mandates. The question is, what are we doing with Christ right now, today? If Jesus Christ is not the most important one in your life today, odds are he won’t be when the Mark is imposed and you will either embrace it wholeheartedly or take it just to live a while longer. But rejecting Christ is to reject life because he gives eternal life to all who belong to him, so don’t go down that road.