Kevin DeYoung (PhD, University of Leicester) is senior pastor of Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina, Council member of The Gospel Coalition, and associate professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte). AFP. ; Given 40, the Mertens function returns 0. Adam MacInnis is a journalist based in Nova Scotia, Canada. In each case, the pictures and numbers mean something, but they refer to general truths, not to specific people or referents. Effective February 1, 2023, the Coronavirus Tracker has switched from LIVE to Daily Updates. Over 2 billion people are fully vaccinated world-wide. The company received its full stamp of approval from theFood and Drug Administration late last month. We are not told to solve the question of 666. Heres my humble opinion (he said humbly! He entices us to make money the desire of our hearts. Senior Church leaders receive COVID-19 vaccine, encourage members to By releasing data weekly, Oklahomans will get a better picture of what is happening throughout the state. 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. - Sort By Book Order. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. Many people wonder why God has allowed it to happen, and is it an omen Scripture engagement seems to have peaked right after COVID-19 startedthe highest its been in yearsbut then it dropped significantly toward the end of June. The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is beginning its transition toward the endemic phase of this pandemic. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): . The spike in curiosity was corroborated by ABS, which found more Americans exploring the Bible for the first time in June than January. serious side-effects are very rare.4 The very real danger from a COVID-19 This beast is broadly representative of the political sphere. social media. As of September 10, 2021 63% of the US population over 12 has been fully Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. safeguard themselves, others through immunization, US CDC: Frequently Asked Questions about COVID-19 Vaccination compared current events to Bible prophecies and predicted the end was near. The Weekly Epidemiological Update provides an overview of the global, regional and country-level COVID-19 cases and deaths, highlighting key data and trends; as well as other pertinent epidemiological information concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. Heres a list of referents Ive seen for 666: Caligula, Domitian, Caesar God, Lateinos (the Roman Empire), beast, Antemus, Phoebus, Gensericus, Balaam, Mohammed, Martin Luther, Oliver Cromwell, Kaiser (Wilhelm), Hitler, the Nicolaitans, Euanthas, Teitan (Titans), the initials of the Roman emperors from Julius Caesar to Vespasian (minus Otho and Vitellius), the triangular number of 36 which is the triangular number of 8 which is significant because 8 is associated with Gnosticism or because the Antichrist in Revelation 17 is called the eighth king, the Latin Kingdom, the Italian Church, various Popes, all the Popes, the phrase Vicar of the Son of God and phrases like it, Ronald Reagan, and William Jefferson Clinton. God can also use a pandemic to fulfill His purpose of redemption, teach us obedience and gratitude, and even stir up a revival. As the delta variant of the coronavirus spreads, many Americans resist COVID-19 vaccines, some citing the uncertainty of long-termside effects, otherslacking trust in the medical field. Williams has worked in hospitals inTexas, New York, California and Hawaii in her three years as a nurse. Many people on Twitter have been saying that they believe the virus is a sign that the apocalypse is coming, claiming . Adults aged 74 and up are the least likely age group to read their Bibles multiple times each week, with only 10 percent doing so. We all want to touch transcendence. Evans said he suspects that the"mark of the beast" popularity stems from an adherence to a social or political identity. We all feel the need to experience something bigger than ourselves. The poem is a set of 14 opposed pairs of seasons: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to love and a time to hate, and so forth. The pandemicand now this surveyhave shown that when relational church engagement goes up, so does Scripture engagement, but when it goes down, Scripture engagement drops with it.. How false worship today resembles false worship in the Old Testament. Cases over time can be viewed using two date options, Symptom Onset Date or Date of Report, and they can also be viewed by county. People with COVID-19 might not have any symptoms. anyone who predicts the end is near. vaccinated as soon as possible. Does COVID-19 Fulfill Biblical Plague Prophecies? Elijah, you recall, called down fire from heaven to burn up the sacrifices in full view of the prophets of Baal. [ This article is also available in Some of the names in the list are absurd. Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: Copyright 2023, Christianity.com. Pope Francis urges people to get vaccinated against Covid-19, COVID-19 vaccination named missional priority, Evangelicals Vaccine Skepticism Isnt Coming from the Pulpit, Senior Church leaders receive COVID-19 vaccine, encourage members to Statistics on COVID-19. this article on our website: What Does the Bible 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. 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. Neron Kaiser transliterated in Latin gives you 616, which is the number of the beast in some alternative manuscripts (also the area code for Grand Rapids, Michigan). What could be more loving than wearing a mask and The coronavirus pandemic has caused great suffering and even death for many "Sometimes these statements arepackaged to look like Bible Prophecy," he said, "but they arefalse andmisapplied because many people do not understand what the Bible actually says about these things.". adults without any controversy "In Revelation 14,we learn thatthose who take the mark are doomed," he said. 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. People who attend church and read their Bibles tend to be happier, are less likely to die by suicide, and have a greater sense of purpose in their lives. In our day, the beast may not directly instruct us to worship the state or the president, but he still functions as the mouthpiece for the Devil. LDS: And most of all, let us trust in Gods mercy and sovereignty to make all things work out for our good; He has conquered the world, even COVID-19! Some 27 percent of African Americans are Bible engaged, compared with 24 percent of Hispanics, 18 percent of Asians, and 17 percent of Anglos. tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough maimed and killed many people. Even Jesus explained to His disciples inMatthew 24:4-8, that difficult times will mark the coming of the last days of earth: Jesus answered: Watch out that no one deceives you. Yes, these things must take place first, but the end wont follow immediately.. getting vaccinated to prevent accidentally infecting other people with a disease This is probably the most debated verse in Revelation. But that changed when the pandemic hit. But non-Bible-readers are about 5 points less hopeful than those who read Scripture on a monthly basis. Its actual name is SARS-CoV-2, although that is seldom used by the press. Three times, Revelation makes reference to the beast and the false prophet (16:13; 19:20; 20:10). It is being given by local health The first age group to provide a substantial contribution to the death toll is 45-54 years, who contribute nearly 5% of all coronavirus deaths. God made us for God. This chart is meant to aid understanding of whether the outbreak is growing, leveling off, or declining and can help to guide the COVID-19 response. She said vaccines are not a magical shot that cures all, but they're one of many tools to fight the virus. Fourth, verse 18 does not call us to solve a riddle. Harvest Christian Fellowship Pastor Greg Laurie said COVID-19vaccines are not "the mark of the beast,"but many Christians may believe they are, thinking the world isin what the Bible calls"the last days. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 54.7% of Americans are vaccinated and 63.9% have received at least one dose. (1 Peter 5:7) 7. In July, about 1 in 4 employed people teleworked or worked from home for pay because of the coronavirus pandemic. They gathered information from more than 1,000 people and started to process that information, as they had in previous years. Do people actually cite this as a reason to avoid the shot? Evans said that lack of trust in the government and medical field is a driving force behind the "mark of the beast" belief. Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. Or, you can text the keyword LACOVID to 898-211 for . Bible verses related to Coronavirus from the King James Version (KJV) by Relevance. But it is close to perfection, and has most of the hallmarks of truth, and so can easily deceive. Copyright 2023 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved. For international customers: The center is staffed and provides answers on Sundays through Thursdays between 7AM and 14PM Israel time Toll Free number 1-800-448-9291 Telephone +972-3-761-9056 Fax . Madeline is in recovery from burnout, chronic depression, and anxiety. Praying the passage and coming up with an illustration are two ways of mediating suggested by Whitney. Some fringe conspiracy theorists are connecting COVID-19 vaccines to the mark of the beast. The BOP has received 387,087 doses and . Jan 13, 2021 issue. 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 (vv. ", "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. The point of these verses is much simpler: if you dont compromise with the worldly system, you will suffer. Im sure there are more. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed but he marches on forever (Habakkuk 3:5-6). To Accomplish His Purposes God used plagues to deliver the enslaved Jews from their Egyptian overlords. 3 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-28, "I'm exhausted and tired of seeing so many people die, but I will do my damnedest to try and keep my patients alive.". 5 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast. In other words, the second beast persuades the world that the image of the first beast is truly God. According to Evans' studies, the majority of "mark of the beast" believers appear to be politically conservative and from Protestant Christianbackgrounds. If, however, doctors or politicians or members of the media or anyone else, for that matter, elevates himself to a position of Godlike authority and knowledge, then that is what Revelation warns Christians against. The researchers soon realized that since they used the human flourishing measures in the January study, they had inadvertently set a comparison point to measure how people were doing during COVID-19. One of the most significant examples of this is shown to us inExodus 7-12 with the 10 plagues that Moses called over Egypt at Gods command.