We said the following in a Q&A, titled, “Did the Father really forsake Christ?”:

“When Jesus was dying a terrible death on the cross, He cried out, just before He died, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ (Matthew 27:46)…It is true that for a brief moment the Father forsook Christ on the cross (Matthew 27:46). This happened just before Christ died (see verse 50), because at that time, He was carrying, symbolically, the sins of all of mankind (compare John 1:29), and the Father, being of purer eyes than to behold iniquity (Habakkuk 1:13), turned His eyes from Christ, as unrepented sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2)…

“God—both the divine Father and the divine Son—cannot look on iniquity…

“Notice what we read in Deuteronomy 23:9-14: ‘When the army goes out against your enemies [as true Christians, we are today engaged in a constant spiritual battle with Satan the devil, as well as the world and our own selfish and carnal desires], then keep yourself from every wicked thing… you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. For the LORD your God WALKS IN THE MIDST OF YOUR CAMP [today, both the Father and the Son live IN us through the Holy Spirit, compare John 14:23], to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may SEE NO UNCLEAN THING AMONG YOU, AND TURN AWAY FROM YOU.’

“Interestingly, we understand that it was Jesus Christ, as a divine being in the God Family, who spoke these words, but He spoke them in obedience to the Father’s Will (compare John 14:24). As divine God beings, both the Father and the Son are of purer eyes than to behold iniquity–that is why the world is cut off from God, and why only those who repent of their sins can come to God. Of course, this is not to say that God is not aware of our sins, but His eyes can’t stand them…

“At the time of Jesus’ death, He carried on His shoulders the load of the sins of the world. Think about it! He carried all the terrible crimes, abominations and perversions which the world committed since creation–including the very sins which caused God to bring the flood on this earth and to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as sins which were so terrible that God said He never considered the possibility that man would commit those (compare Jeremiah 19:4-5; 32:35)…

“When Christ had all the sins of mankind placed upon Him, thereby having ‘become’ sin in that sense, He had to experience separation from God, the Father! God, the Father saw all of the sins of man placed on His Son and He could not look at them. His eyes were ‘purer than to behold’ those sins. Remember, those sins included mass murders, rapes, terrible wars, tortures, sorceries, demonic idolatries, holocausts, martyrdom of the saints—all of the wicked, evil, rotten, despicable and deplorable abominations man has done, and continues to do—and all of these were placed on Christ!”

As God can’t tolerate sin and does not really want to look at it, we must have the same attitude. For instance, we read in Psalm 101:3: “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes.” In Job 31:1, Job says: “I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?” The idea is, to commit adultery or commit fornication with her (compare Matthew 5:28).

As God is of purer eyes than to look at iniquity, so David prays to God to turn away his eyes from looking at worthless or evil things (Psalm 119:37).

On the other hand, does God really look attentively at all the individual and collective sins of mankind before He closes His eyes towards them and turns His eyes from them?

First, let us realize that time and chance does not rule over those whom God had preordained to be called in this day and age. For the rest of the world, which is cut off from God, time and chance does rule. God leaves mankind to their own devices, and even though He could focus on and know about every terrible sin of every person being committed in this evil world, is there really a biblical indication that He does?

In a Q&A on “time and chance,” we said this:

“[In the book of Ecclesiastes,] Solomon is making a distinction between the people living in this world, being cut off from God, and those whom God has called to His way of life, including himself. Solomon said that “evil occurrence” or “chance” did not govern his own life, because God was controlling his life and had given him rest. Christ made the same distinction, in Luke 13:1-5: ‘There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but UNLESS YOU repent, YOU will ALL LIKEWISE perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but UNLESS YOU repent, YOU will all LIKEWISE perish.”’

“Christ’s teaching is unmistakable: If we don’t repent, we might very well die as those did, on whom the tower of Siloam fell; that is, through an accident, apart from, or being cut off from God — by time and chance. If we repent, however, according to Christ, we will NOT likewise perish or die in that way. Rather, even if we were to die in an ‘accident,’ God would have specifically DECIDED not to intervene and to LET US die. God is always in control over our lives — nothing happens to us which God is not aware of (compare Job 1:21-22; 2:10).

“True Christians are NOT in the ‘hand’ of time and chance. Rather, Solomon tells US: ‘… the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God’ (Eccl. 9:1). David understood, too, that he was in God’s hands. He wrote, in Psalm 31:15: ‘My times are in Your hand.’ He knew that he, as well as all true Christians, are always, constantly and completely, under God’s observation, His protection and in His loving care… God promises that nothing too difficult for us to bear, will happen to us (compare 1 Corinthians 10:13). This means, then, that God must be watching us every second to guarantee the fulfillment of His promise… Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for good to those who love God. The only way that EVERYTHING can work for our good is that GOD will work it out for our good — and not ‘time and chance.’

“When a Christian dies, it is because GOD has DECIDED that it was time for His son or daughter to die…”

What we want to emphasize here is that this does not apply to non-Christians who are cut off from God. To them, time and chance applies, which means in turn that God is NOT observing constantly and protecting every person living on the face of this earth. This explains too why terrible things may happen to some, and rather than blaming God, we should realize that it is man who is to be blamed, due to his willful ignorance and his intentional decision not to be subject to God and His Way of Life (compare Romans 1:18-22; 2 Peter 3:5; John 5:40).

In this context, it is also important to focus on the special role of certain angels.

We write this in our booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World”:

“We find… accounts in the Bible, describing angels as fiery horses…

“We are specifically told in [Zechariah 1:8–11] that God sent ‘red, sorrel and white horses’ to walk to and fro throughout the earth. These horses are angelic beings. Zechariah 6:1–8 confirms this conclusion… The horses walking to and fro throughout the earth are called ‘spirits of heaven.’ They are spirit beings, or angelic beings, that look like horses. In Revelation 5:6, some of those spirit beings are described as ‘seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits… of God sent out into all the earth.’ Notice that Zechariah, too, identifies these spirit beings as the ‘eyes of God,’ in Zechariah 3:9 and 4:10: ‘Upon the stone are seven eyes… They are the eyes of the LORD, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.’ 2 Chronicles 16:9 adds, ‘For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.’ Proverbs 15:3 goes on to state, ‘The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.’…

“God’s angels watch on the good and the bad, and they report their findings to God…”

Therefore, when we read that “God’s eyes” keep watch especially over the bad, it is a reference to some of His angels whom God created and is using for that very purpose of giving Him reports as to how badly bad people behave, prompting God to have a closer look at the unspeakable evil to determine whether His direct action is needed at that time, before turning His eyes away again from the terrible atrocities of man.

We find support for this statement in several incidents describing God’s actions. The most obvious example can be found in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

We read Christ’s words to Abraham in Genesis 18:20-21:

“Then the LORD said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.’”

We then read that Christ sends two angels to Sodom to test the wicked inhabitants (compare Genesis 19:13).

The “outcry” which reached God would have been the reports that angels had brought Him, about the wickedness of the people living there. Maybe, it also included the prayers of righteous Lot who was living there. Following that outcry, God’s personal attention was directed at finding out how terrible the people behaved. Some commentaries tell us that this wording [of God coming down and seeing how bad it was] is “anthropomorphic” (applying human characteristics, traits or attributes to God) or a figurative way of speaking, allegedly “proving God’s omniscience or all-embracing knowledge.”

Of course, most commentaries do not believe that God has form and shape, and that man was made, in a physical way, after the spiritual likeness of God. Nor do they believe that God travels, going from one place to another.  But the Bible clearly teaches both.

It is of course true that God could have known what was going on in Sodom, but He purposefully determined at first, not to look at all the terrible sins being committed there, until the outcry had reached such an extent that He decided to do something about it… considering that normally, God will not bring judgment on carnal man until the time of Christ’s return who will replace Satan, the ruler over this wicked evil world.

A similar conclusion can be gleaned from the account about the Tower of Babel. We read in Genesis 11:5-8:

“But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The LORD said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’ So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.”

This passage implies that Christ came down, apparently in response to a report by His angels, to see what was really happening at Babel, and after having analyzed the situation, both the Father and Christ determined to go down to confuse the languages.

In both cases, quoted above, it is emphasized that God came down to SEE the evil occurrences. Also, in Genesis 6:5, referring to Noah’s Flood, we read about God’s response after man had engaged in despicable prohibited sexual practices: “THEN the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continuously.” After that observation, God decided to destroy mankind in a great flood, only sparing Noah and his family.

God knows of course about the general depravity which exists in the world today. But He is of purer eyes than to behold all of it in detail; He is not focusing on every horrible and despicable sin of the masses, only to “confirm” in His own mind how bad it all is. Likewise, when we report on the evils of this world, we do not quote news articles describing in most intimate detail the egregious violations of the kinds of sins which only a demonically-inspired mind could come up with. God knows that it will be as it was at the time of Noah and of Sodom… and His angels run to and fro throughout the earth to report their findings to God as to how depraved mankind has become so that, in combination with the success of the preaching of the gospel in all the world as a witness, God the Father will make His decision as to the appropriate timing of Christ’s Return.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

We have written much about the mark of the beast in our Q&As and booklets, and we have given numerous sermons on the issue. As questions have arisen as to whether the mark of the beast applies to the governmental command or “encouragement” to wear masks or to get vaccinated, especially against the coronavirus, we are setting forth below, at first, a synopsis of what we have published about the mark of the beast.

Revelation 13:16–17 explains that people will accept “a mark” of the ancient Roman Empire and its ten European revivals (the “beast” power) “on their right hand” or “on their foreheads.” Without it, they cannot buy or sell (compare Revelation 14:9). This mark is associated with the violation of God’s Sabbath commandment (compare Exodus 31:13; Ezekiel 20:20; Isaiah 56:2; Isaiah 58:13; Amos 8:5; Exodus 16:23, 26; Exodus 31:15). In the Bible, the “right hand” is associated with work (Psalm 90:17; 137:5). The “forehead” is the seat of thoughts (Ezekiel 3:8; 9:4; Revelation 7:3).

The Roman Catholic Church tried to “change times and law” (Daniel 7:25)—that is, God’s law regarding holy time. It has changed the calendar in Europe in 1976, which identifies Sunday as the last day of the week, rather than the 7th-Day Saturday-Sabbath. It has inspired worldly governments to enact laws commanding Christians to rest on Sunday, while working on Saturday. Many of these “blue laws” are “on the books,” even though they might not be enforced everywhere at this time, but this will change soon, when the final European revival of the ancient Roman Empire has manifested itself on the world scene.

As early as 364 A.D., the Catholic Church decreed that Christians must work on the Sabbath, and that they must rest on Sunday. Canon 29 of the Council of Laodicea stated the following: “Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day [Sunday]; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.”

Will Durant said in The Story of Civilization about the Code of Justinian: “This Code… enacted orthodox Christianity into law… It acknowledged the ecclesiastical leadership of the Roman Church, and ordered all Christian groups to submit to her authority…. Relapsed heretics were to be put to death… and other dissenters were to suffer confiscation of their goods, and were declared incompetent to buy or sell, to inherit or bequeath; they were excluded from public office, forbidden to meet, and disqualified from suing orthodox Christians for debt.”

In other words, those who were not orthodox Catholics were forbidden from buying and selling—i.e. conducting business. This will be reinforced again, with unparalleled severity, all over the world within the next few years.

In addition to the rejection of the weekly Sabbath, the mark of the beast includes also the rejection of God’s annual Holy Days [which are also called Sabbaths in the Bible, compare Leviticus 23, including the Feast of Tabernacles]. Governments in certain Catholic countries, such as Germany, are already prohibiting children to celebrate the Feast, while unlawfully insisting that they must attend school during that time.

At the same time, the Catholic Church caused and is causing governments to enact laws enforcing the celebration of man’s pagan holidays, falsely so-called “Christian,” such as Christmas days, Good Friday, Easter days and New Year’s, just to name a few.

God specifically warned ancient Israel not to incorporate pagan elements in their worship of Him (Deuteronomy 12:30-32). The early Roman Church absorbed pagan elements into their worship to make the new faith attractive to Gentiles who were already steeped in pagan customs. This was also done because of anti-Semitism and the desire to appear different from the Jews.

These pagan customs were placed under a “Christian” mantle so that they would have the appearance of being godly. Traditional Christianity has clearly violated God’s command to not learn pagan ways of worship from the Gentiles, to not add pagan elements to holy worship, and to not delete godly elements that are to be observed, such as the weekly and annual Holy Days. Therefore, it has, in effect, accepted for a long time the mark of the beast by embracing human religious traditions that violate God’s laws of proper worship.

The mark of the beast is tantamount to a religious philosophy detrimental to the true worship of God. It includes the mandatory and legally enforced celebration of pagan religious holidays and the practical and/or legal prohibition of the observance of God’s sacred days. It also includes humanly devised and ungodly ideas supporting and embracing a religion which preaches a false God, a false Jesus or a false gospel (Galatians 1:6–9; 2 Corinthians 11:3–4).

As mentioned, the mark of the beast has been in existence for a long time and even though it will reach its climax in the days ahead, it cannot possibly be a reference to microchips or cryptocurrencies or, as we will show, to vaccinations or a vaccine certificate, as these did not even exist in times past.

Rather than referring to a chip or some other tangible “evidence,” the commentary of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown states that, “The mark may be… not a visible mark, but symbolical of allegiance.” This “allegiance” can be seen today in many different ways, if we analyze what laws and regulations governments have already enacted or are in the process of enacting.

In our booklet, “Obeying God Rather Than Men,” we said this:

“True Christians understand that the Sabbath and the Holy Days must be kept, and that they must not instead accept the mark of the beast by worshipping on Sunday and pagan holidays, and by refusing to worship on God’s weekly and annual Sabbaths.

“But how does this play out in practice when the government prohibits Christian churches to meet and assemble on the Sabbath? They might not even place this prohibition under a religious mantle, but they might give some other reasons, such as the outbreak of a pandemic that would require people to stay at home. The weekly Sabbath and the annual Holy Days are commanded biblical holy assemblies or holy convocations (compare Leviticus 23). We should ask ourselves whether refusing to follow God’s command, because the government says so, would be pleasing to God (compare Hebrews 10:25; the Living Bible states: “Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near”).

“… God’s ministers are commanded to feed the flock. Zechariah 11:16 warns us of a worthless shepherd who will not feed or heal Church members. Ezekiel 34:4 applies this to other shepherds as well. God’s true ministers have a duty to anoint those with oil who are sick (James 5:14), which includes the laying on of hands (Luke 4:40; Mark 16:18; Acts 28:8). But in times of the existence of a real or perceived virus that is allegedly being transferred through touch or close proximity (‘social distancing’ is supposed to prevent this from happening), a government might prohibit such a practice of anointing…

“Conflict may arise when a government, perhaps due to fear of a virus which might allegedly be transmitted by touch or close proximity, prohibits the practice of baptizing or ordaining a person, which requires the laying on of hands by the minister on the person (compare Acts 8:12–17; 19:5–6; Acts 6:2–6; 1 Timothy 4:14; 1 Timothy 5:22; 2 Timothy 1:6). In addition, a government might prohibit Church ministers to bless little children (Mark 10:16; compare Matthew 19:13–15) or to conduct marriages, as all these procedures require the laying on of hands to set the persons aside for a holy and righteous purpose. Already in Old Testament times, it was understood as symbolizing the imparting of godly blessings (Genesis 48:13–20), His authority and spiritual power (Numbers 27:18; Deuteronomy 34:9).

“… A government might also prohibit God’s Church from preaching the gospel of the Kingdom… a government might not prohibit the preaching entirely, but it might seriously limit it to only those statements that are deemed politically correct. It might prohibit preaching God’s Truth about sin, including homosexuality, abortion, voting, jury duty or fighting in war… [God’s Church must] preach the ‘full counsel of God’ (Acts 20:27), no matter how ‘offensive’ it might be to other people and to the government…

“What if a government would issue a decree prohibiting the worship of the true God, or enjoining the worship of the ‘god’ of their choosing?… [In the past, people were forced to accept the Trinity and were declared “anathema from Christ” if they rejected this false concept. Also, Catholics must pray to the “Virgin Mary”—another false teaching.]

“In the future, God’s Church is described as fleeing to a place of safety here on earth from governmental authorities. Even though we do not know exactly how this flight will transpire, the point is that it is God who will set in motion such a ‘flight’ to protect His people from governments under Satan’s control, and He will even intervene when the governmental armies are trying to capture and kill God’s people. If someone, falsely understanding the relationship between God’s and men’s prerogatives, would feel that he cannot flee as this would violate the government’s orders, he would most certainly not be taken to the place of safety, but he would be left behind and suffer the terrible consequences of his misguided and faulty perception.”

What should have become clear from the foregoing is that the mark of the beast PREVENTS the true worship of God, including the observance of and proper assembly and worship on His weekly and annual Holy Days, accompanied by prayer and singing out loud without a mask to praise God, and other commanded activities, such as baptism, anointing of the sick, blessing of little children, conducting marriages, etc.

Anything which does not prevent true Christians from worshipping God in the right way, or which even assists them in doing so, could not possibly be described as (part of) the mark of the beast.

This means, then, that a Christian who does not buy or sell goods on Sunday or who is not working on that day, is not, per se, accepting the mark of the beast, as long as he does not keep Sunday holy as the day of worship towards God. The Bible does not command us to buy or sell goods on Sunday or to work (doing our business) on that day. On the other hand, a Christian who refuses to keep God’s Sabbath holy and conducts instead his business on that day does thereby accept the mark of the beast, as he violates God’s command to refrain from his ordinary customary work and to worship God on that day.

The same is true, of course, for God’s annual Holy Days and man’s pagan holidays. To not work or do business on Christmas or Easter is not, per se, accepting the mark of the beast, as long as the Christian does not participate in man’s pagan worship services on these days. On the other hand, to work or do business on God’s annual Holy Days, while neglecting to assemble on these days to worship God, would in fact constitute the acceptance of the mark of the beast.

Applying these principles to the issues of wearing masks or of vaccinations, the answer becomes clear: As long as none of these activities prevent us from worshipping or following God in the way which is pleasing to Him, they do not constitute the acceptance of the mark of the beast. This is even more obvious if those governmental measures constitute the government’s approval, enabling us to worship God in the proper way.

Wearing or not wearing a mask, or getting or not getting vaccinated is not, per se, tantamount to accepting the mark of the beast, as long as they do not prevent us from worshipping God in the right way (However, wearing a mask in church services might very well prevent us from worshipping God in a proper way). Otherwise, these are personal decisions, based on one’s individual situation. If a minister ought to travel overseas to visit the church or baptize or preach the gospel, but could only do so if he is vaccinated first, then vaccination does not prevent him from worshipping God and fulfilling his job as a minister; in fact, it might enable him to do so. If air travel in such a case would require the wearing of a mask, and if there was no other way to travel, then doing so would not constitute accepting the mark of the beast. This does not mean however that he must travel under those circumstances, because additional considerations, personal and otherwise, might have to be taken into account.

These principles, discussed above, do not just apply to ministers. If one has to wear a mask or has to be vaccinated to be able to keep his or her job or to go shopping, then a decision to do so would not constitute the acceptance of the mark of the beast, as it has nothing to do with worshipping or not worshipping God in the right way.

In this Q&A, we are primarily addressing the concept of the mark of the beast, and what it does and does not constitute. We are not speaking, in general, about the advisability or inadvisability of wearing a mask or becoming vaccinated. In particular, we are not addressing here whether or not vaccinations are safe; whether or not they will cause short-term or long-term (genetic) side effects; whether or not it is advisable to become vaccinated because of one’s health or age; or whether or not vaccinations are morally and ethically questionable because they were originally developed from cells of aborted fetuses. (We would like to add in this context, however, that today’s vaccinations are not manufactured from cells of aborted fetuses.)

A decision to get vaccinated or not is an individual decision, but it must be based on one’s individual conscience and conviction, because whatever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23). We must be persuaded or fully convinced in our own mind (Romans 14:5). It is important, however, that our conviction is based on a sound mind and not on speculation, unproven narratives or political propaganda. (For instance, a concept that wearing a mask is our patriotic duty or responsibility is as wrong as the idea that wearing a mask is sinful and constitutes acceptance of the mark of the beast.)

However, God commands us to work, earn money and support our family, and we should consider in this context whether or not a commanded activity, enabling us to do so, is “neutral” in that it does not violate God’s command to worship Him properly. Health concerns should be taken into consideration as well, when it comes, for instance, to wearing masks or getting vaccinated, such as difficulties with breathing, allergies, a compromised immune system, reactions to vaccinations, etc. But health concerns must not become our main priority if this means neglecting other and perhaps even more demanding duties. We read, for example, that Epaphroditus became sick because he worked so hard in the Work of God (Philippians 2:25-30). Paul said: “For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8).

It is true, of course, that we are not to put God to the test. On the other hand, we must also recognize that time and chance do not rule over a Christian, but that he is in God’s hands. It is therefore important that we always pray to God for His lead, guidance, inspiration and protection (Psalm 48:14; Proverbs 16:9; Jeremiah 10:23 and Isaiah 58:11), and that we do not judge or condemn anyone who might decide in a way other than what our preference would be, because our situation might be quite different from the situation of our next-door neighbor, relative or friend.

James asks this question: “Who are you to judge another?” (James 4:12). We are all God’s servants, and so, Paul asks this question: “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls…” (Romans 14:4). In 1 Corinthians 4:5, he says: “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will… reveal the counsels of the hearts…” He also states in 1 Corinthians 10:29: “For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience?”

Whatever our individual decision will be, especially when it comes to getting or not getting vaccinated, God’s Church will back us up, honoring our individual conviction, based on our circumstances. Wearing a mask or getting vaccinated is not tantamount to accepting the mark of the beast, nor do they constitute sinful conduct (unless wearing a mask prevents us from worshipping God in a proper and righteous way.) Neither is it sinful conduct not to get vaccinated.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link