Last Saturday there was a paid advertisement in the Post Bulletin entitled “Do not take the Mark of the Beast.” Much of the content is inaccurate, and the suggestion that we should not take the coming vaccine for the coronavirus is quite wrong.
The writer draws heavily from the Biblical book of Revelation. This is apocalyptic literature that needs to be interpreted very carefully. A basic rule of understanding apocalyptic statements is: “It can’t mean now what it didn’t mean then.” When the apostle John wrote Revelation as a prisoner on the Greek island of Patmos at the end of the first century AD, we can be certain that he was not thinking about vaccines, tattoos or holograms and neither should we. John’s readers in seven churches in modern day Turkey understood what he meant and would have been encouraged by his message of the victory of Christ.
For 30 years I had the privilege of leading an extraordinary church in Rochester. Many of the congregation were medical professionals. I was constantly impressed with their compassion and wisdom. Those I know would urge us all to take the vaccine. When it comes it will be a gift from God. As we anticipate that happy day, perhaps we can meditate on some other words from Revelation, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways”.
C. John Steer, Rochester
