Transcript of a published teaching by David K. Bernard, transcribed from YouTube. An attributed primary source — not Acts 2:38 Life doctrine text.
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Summary
Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.
The frame text, and what the mark of the beast is
- The frame reads the starting text: the frame reads the revelation passage in which john describes a vision of a prophetic event we have come to call the mark of the beast — unless a person receives that mark, they would be unable to transact business — which has led to much speculation over time about what exactly that mark might be. In recent months some have speculated that perhaps even the covid 19 vaccine (heard in the lesson as 'covet', 'coven', and 'kovid') might be the mark of the beast, or at least a precursor to it. The question posed: does that idea have any biblical merit, and what does the bible actually say about the mark of the beast?
- His plan: look at two things separately, then see what connection they might have. First, the mark of the beast. When you study the book of revelation, you find that an evil ruler called the beast — we often use the term antichrist — will arise: he will attempt to control the whole world; he will institute a world economic system, a world religious system, a world political system; and ultimately he will seek for everyone to worship him. He won't be completely successful: there will be people executed for refusing to obey him, and in the end there will be the great battle of armageddon, where even nations who oppose him come against him — the plan will be there, but he won't have the time or ability to completely implement it over every human being. Everyone who accepts his mark will be judged by god and destroyed; but after that time god will institute the millennial kingdom, the thousand-year reign of jesus christ on earth, and some people who survive the time of tribulation and the reign of the beast will enter the millennium — presumably people who never succumbed to his rule.
- The mark itself, according to the book of revelation, will be a sign on a person's forehead or hand or forearm, signifying that they are actually worshiping the beast — worshiping this evil ruler, the antichrist, instead of jesus christ — and it will be required for commercial activity, at least where the antichrist can control the economy.
Scriptures: Revelation 13:16-18
No such system today — but technology makes it imaginable
- There is no system like that in place today. But with modern technology we are in a position previous generations weren't: previous generations could believe all these prophecies, but they couldn't actually see how it would take place. With the internet, worldwide video, the universal product code, qr codes, social security systems, national identification systems in most nations, computer technology and databases, chips, and cell phones that track people wherever they go, we can actually see how it is realistic for a political figure to try to implement such a system to control the world economy — we can see it could come to pass in a short period of time. It is not here now.
Vaccines in principle: good, and compatible with faith
- Now switch the subject temporarily: vaccines in principle. There's nothing wrong with a vaccine: a vaccine simply builds up the body's own immune system, which god created, to fight against a deadly virus. The classic example is smallpox — one of the most deadly diseases throughout human history: in the 20th century alone an estimated 300 million people died of smallpox, and an estimated 30 percent of everyone who gets smallpox will die. Imagine if covid 19 killed 30 percent of all the people it infected — this whole nation would be in mass chaos. We are fortunate: as bad as it is — an estimated 600 000 americans at this point (heard 'skilled') — it has killed maybe less than one percent of all those infected: much milder than many of the scourges of history. And the wonderful story: smallpox is the first major disease to be completely eliminated from the human race; it happened in 1980, because of a worldwide system of vaccines.
- He speaks personally: he grew up in korea from 1965, where he would have been susceptible — smallpox was very real, especially in poor countries, as korea then was; he encountered people who had contracted it, saw kids his age and adults whose whole face was marked with the characteristic smallpox scars (heard 'popped'), who had survived. He had to have many vaccines as a child — not only the common u.s. ones, but what was required growing up in a poor country with rampant diseases — and over the years he has traveled in 110 nations and territories, where proof of vaccination was often required (even today, the world health organization's yellow card for yellow fever for some countries). It is very likely he would not be alive today had it not been for vaccines — at least, growing up where he grew up and traveling where he has traveled, he would likely have contracted some disease, with at least serious illness if not death. So in principle vaccines are good, not bad, and compatible with faith in god: we're supposed to take all reasonable precautions. I trust the lord; i pray before every major trip; but when i get in my car or my airplane, i buckle my seatbelt (heard 'bulk') — that's something i can do to protect myself — and god expects us to do what we can do, and then trust him for protection and healing in things beyond our control. Particular vaccines can be debated — he won't go into all that; it is a personal decision whether to take a particular vaccine — but as far as the church is concerned, in principle having a vaccine is not a bad thing, not against scripture; individuals can take it or not take it. That is our theological position.
Putting the two together: not the mark — a precursor only in the general sense
- Is it possible the covid 19 vaccine could be the mark of the beast, or a precursor? He doesn't see any way scripturally that the covid 19 vaccine could be the mark of the beast: i've been vaccinated; i was not required to worship some man; i still worship jesus christ the same as always. Nobody has even asked — he has traveled overseas since, thinking it would help, and a number of countries are setting up protocols requiring proof of vaccination; but so far they haven't required it — they made him take a test leaving the country and a test coming back, so the vaccine hasn't done him any good in that sense. No: it doesn't fit the book of revelation — not at all, not in the least.
- Could it be a precursor? In general terms, yes — in this sense: if you developed (which we don't have) a worldwide system, a database of vaccines, or if some country tried to make it mandatory (which hasn't happened), you can see certain elements: if you force everybody to take a vaccine and you have an international database of it, that could be a precursor. But he'll have to say: everybody in the u.s. has a social security number — that is a database. He doesn't think it's the mark of the beast: i have one; my kids and grandkids do. But is it a precursor in a general sense? Probably so. A cell phone: he usually turns the location off, often turns the whole thing off, sometimes doesn't take it with him — but carry your phone with location on and you're being tracked: you could say that is a precursor of the mark of the beast. As we go to a cashless society (heard 'a cache of society'), credit cards and online transactions — in fact, all these things, when first initiated, many christians, even pentecostals, said: don't get a social security number, that's the mark of the beast; don't use credit cards, that's the mark of the beast (heard 'bees'); don't get chips; the universal product code, that's the mark of the beast. No — these weren't the mark of the beast, but they are precursors in a general sense.
The counsel: careful and prayerful — and the rapture next
- What does that mean? We should be cautious of any new thing that's developed; we should study the scriptures; but we should not panic. If we exaggerate — trying to scare people into compliance with the bible — we can have the opposite effect of looking foolish; when our dire predictions are not completely in harmony with scripture, people disregard everything else we say. So: be careful, prayerful, study god's word, but don't jump to conclusions that can't be supported by scripture.
- And ultimately, personally, as far as he understands prophecy, the next great event is the rapture of the church, the catching away of god's people — so he's not even really worried about the antichrist appearing and the mark being implemented: i feel i will be caught up to be with the lord before that happens. If it turns out he's wrong and he has to face it, he thinks he'll know it when it comes — he'll have the holy spirit and god will show him — and certainly it won't take a spiritual genius to know: if you're being required to bow down and worship a human being and take a mark to prove it, if that ever happens, then you'll know to draw the line: don't do it.
Scripture index: Revelation 13:16-18.
Transcript
to answer your question let's look at two things separately and then see what connection they might have first the mark of the beast when you study the book of revelation you find that an evil ruler called the beast we often use the term antichrist will arise he will attempt to control the whole world he will institute a world economic system he will institute a world religious system or world political system and ultimately he will ha seek for everyone to worship him now he won't be completely successful because there will be people who are executed for refusing to obey him and in the end there will be this great battle of armageddon where even nations who oppose him will come against him so so the the plan will be there but he won't have the time or the ability to completely implement it over every human being after all everyone who accepts his mark will be judged by god destroyed but yet after that time god will institute the millennial kingdom the king of the thousand year reign of jesus christ on earth and they're going to be some people who survive the time of tribulation and the reign of the beast and enter into the millennium so presumably these people would have never succumbed to his rule now the mark of the beast according to the book of revelation is going to be a sign on a person's forehead or hand or forearm and it will signify that they are actually worshiping the beast that they're worshiping this evil ruler the antichrist instead of jesus christ and it will be required for commercial activity at least where the antichrist can control the economy now there is no system like that in place today i do believe that with modern technology we're in a position that previous generations weren't previous generations could believe all these prophecies but previous generations couldn't actually see how it would take place but with the internet with worldwide video with a universal product code with qr codes with social security systems and most nations have national identification systems with computer technology and databases with chips with cell phones that track people wherever they go we could actually see how it's realistic for a political figure to try to implement such a system to control the world economy we could see i actually could come to pass in a short period of time it's not here now okay now let's switch the subject temporarily let's talk about vaccines in principle there's nothing wrong with a vaccine a vaccine simply builds up the body's own immune system which god created to fight against a deadly virus the classic example is smallpox smallpox has been one of the most deadly diseases throughout human history in the 20th century alone an estimated 300 million people died because of smallpox smallpox is so deadly that an estimated 30 percent of everyone who gets smallpox will die imagine if coven 19 killed 30 percent of all the people that it infected this whole nation would be in mass chaos so we're fortunate that as bad as it is and i think it's skilled an estimated 600 000 americans at this point but it has only killed maybe less than one percent of all those who've been affected infected so from that perspective it's much milder than the scourges many of the scourges of history but the wonderful story is smallpox is the first major disease to be completely eliminated from the human race it happened in 1980 and it happened because of a worldwide system of vaccines now i personally see this because i was i grew up in korea from 1965 and so i would have been susceptible smallpox was very real in our world and especially in countries that were poor which at that time korea was i i personally encountered people met people who had contracted smallpox i saw kids my age and adults who their whole face was popped with the marks that are characteristic smallpox they survived it's very likely of course i had to have many vaccines as a child not only what was common in the u.s back then but what was required to growing up in a poor country with rampant diseases and over the years of course i've traveled in 110 nations and territories of the world and years ago you had to have proof of vaccination for many countries even today to go to some countries i have to have what's called the yellow card given by the world health organization which is showing that i've been vaccinated for yellow fever and if you don't have that they won't allow you into the country so i'm familiar with that i probably would not be alive today had it not been for vaccines at least growing up where i grew up traveling where i've traveled it's very likely that i would have contracted some disease and have been at least had a serious illness if not death so in principle vaccines are good they're not bad and they're compatible with faith in god we're supposed to take all reasonable precautions i i trust the lord i pray before every major trip but when i get in my car or i get in the airplane i bulk on my seatbelt because that's something i can do to protect myself and i do believe god expects us to do what we can do and then we trust him for protection and healing for things that are beyond our control so having said that we could debate the particular vaccines and i'm not going to go into all that i think it's a personal decision whether you want to take a particular vaccine or not but as far as the church is concerned in principle having a vaccine is not a bad thing or at least not something that's against scripture it's something that individuals can take or not take that that would be our theological position now let's put these two together is it possible that kovid 19 could be the mark of the beast or a precursor i don't see any way scripturally that uh the coven 19 vaccine could be the mark of the beast because i've been vaccinated i was not required to worship uh some man any i still worship jesus christ the same as always i'm not required to have a vaccine nobody nobody's even asked even i've traveled overseas since then and i thought that would help me and i think it will because a number of countries are setting up protocols that if you're going to go in their country you have to prove your you've had a vaccine but so far they haven't even required that they've made me take a test so when i leave the country i have to take a covid test when i come back i have to take a covet test so so far the vaccine hasn't done me any good in that sense um so no i it doesn't fit the book of revelation not at all not in the least now could it be a precursor i think in general terms yes in that if you developed which we don't have but if you did develop a worldwide system of verify a database of vaccines or or if some country try to make it mandatory which hasn't happened well you can see there are certain elements yes if you force everybody to take a vaccine if you have an international database of the vaccine well that could be a precursor but i'll have to say everybody in the u.s has a social security number that is a database i don't think it's the mark of the beast i have a social security number my kids and grandkids do but is it a precursor in a general sense probably so i have a cell phone now i usually turn uh the location off because i just like this feeling of you know and i often just turn the whole thing off and sometimes don't even take it with me but if you carry your cell phone and leave the location on well that's you could say that is a precursor of the mark of the beast because you're being tracked as we go to a cache of society credit cards online transactions and in fact all these things i just mentioned when they were first initiated many christians even pentecostals don't get social security number that's the mark of the beast don't use credit cards that's a mark of the bees don't get chips in any the universal product code that's the mark of the beast no these weren't the mark of the beast but they are precursors in a general sense so what what does that mean well i do think we should be cautious of any new thing that's developed i think we should study the scriptures but i don't think we should panic i don't think we should because then if we exaggerate we're trying to scare people into compliance with the bible well we could have the opposite effect of looking foolish and when our dire predictions are are not completely in harmony with scripture then people disregard everything else we say so i think we should be careful prayerful study god's word but not jump to conclusions that can't be supported by scripture and ultimately personally as far as i understand prophecy the next great event is the rapture of the church the catching away of god's people so i'm not even really worried about the antichrist appearing and the mark of the beast being implemented i feel that i will be caught up to be with the lord before that happens if it turns out i'm wrong and i have to face that i think i'll know it when it comes i think i'll have the holy spirit and god will show me and certainly it won't take a spiritual genius to know if you're being required to bow down and worship a human being and take a mark to prove it if that ever happens then you'll know to draw the line don't do it
Scripture references as spoken: Revelation 13:16-18.