THE ANTICHRIST AND THE MARK OF THE BEAST

(Please note:  At this stage this document represents a personal opinion and not necessarily the views of INcontext International)

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An internet search today on “who is the Antichrist” will reveal anything from the star of the Baywatch TV series to Barak Obama, Vladimir Putin, the Pope, or lately Bill Gates and his ‘so-called’ quest to vaccinate and then control the world with a quantum dot tattoo microchip  – the ‘mark of the beast’ – as prophesied in Revelation 13.

Sadly, these theories add no value to finding hope in the current COVID-19 pandemic and contain absolutely no principle of redemption, only condemnation.  The theories DISTRACT, DESTROY, DIVIDE, AND DIVERT:

• It distracts from the real need for discernment and insight, and not theories and speculations.
• It destroys the witness of Christians that are called to be salt and light: messengers of hope and not sowers of suspicion.
• It divides the body of Christ at a time where a united voice should share the love of Christ in a broken world.
• At the same time, it diverts the attention away by theorising over individuals rather than scrutinising the seasons we live in.  Focussing on individuals rather than issues becomes diversive.  And since we find ourselves in one of the most opportunist seasons of this generation, concerns about souls should supersede assumptions about the ant-Christ or the mark of the beast.

Speculations and conspiracies serve little purpose in Kingdom matters.  It is therefore wise in a time of uncertainty to avoid conspiracy theories, personal prophecies, and theories relating to groups or individuals perceived as the Antichrist.  This is a time to recalibrate our convictions from a scriptural position and not get sidetracked by unproven speculations.

SO, WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY … ABOUT THE ANTICHRIST

Let’s start with a brief summary and establish Biblically who and what the Antichrist is and then steadily evaluate accusations and conspiracies

Whether the New Testament contains an individual Antichrist or not is disputed. The five uses of the term “antichrist” or “antichrists” in the Epistles of John do not clearly present a single latter-day individual Antichrist. The articles “the deceiver” or “the antichrist” are usually seen as marking out a certain category of persons, rather than an individual.

Even more surprisingly, the word ‘antichrist’ does not appear even once in the whole book of Revelation. The word Antichrist occurs only five times in Scripture and only in the books of 1st and 2nd John.

• 1John 2:18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
• 1John 2:22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist–denying the Father and the Son.
• 1John 4:3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
• 2John 1:7 I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the Antichrist.

In the epistles of John the word “antichrist” is made up of two roots: αντί (anti) + Χριστός (Khristos). John actually referred to many Antichrists as “even being in their midst” (1 John 2:18).  It does therefore not make biblical sense to look for ONE Antichrist in a person.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4  also refers to the anti-Christ as the ‘man of lawlessness” … the man doomed to destruction.  He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”

Although the word “antichrist” (Greek antikhristos) is used only in the Epistles of John, the similar word “pseudochrist” (Greek pseudokhristos, meaning “false messiah”) is used by Jesus in the gospels:

• Matthew 24:24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
• Mark 13:22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Once again the Lord uses the plural and does not refer to an individual

At the same time ‘The Beast from the earth’, according to the Book of Revelation and also referred to as the ‘False Prophet’, has often been equated with an individual Antichrist.  Also in Revelation 16:13–14 ,  Revelation 19:19–20 and Revelation 20:10

AND WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY … ABOUT THE MARK OF THE BEAST

The main passage in the Bible that mentions the “mark of the beast” is in Revelation 13:15-18. Other references can be found in Revelation 14:9, 11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, and 20:4.  This mark acts as a seal for the followers of the Antichrist and the false prophet (the spokesperson for the Antichrist). The false prophet (the second beast) is the one who causes people to take this mark. The mark is literally placed in the hand or forehead and is not simply a card someone carries.

Dr. Paul Benware, Bible Professor, Theologian, Preacher and Author of UNDERSTANDING END-TIMES PROPHECY: A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH, writes as follows:

The recent breakthroughs in medical implant chip and RFID technologies have increased interest in the mark of the beast spoken of in Revelation chapter 13. It is important to realize that a medical implant chip IS NOT the mark of the beast. The mark of the beast will be something given only to those who worship the Antichrist. Having a medical or financial microchip inserted into your right hand or forehead is not the mark of the beast. The mark of the beast will be an end-times identification required by the Antichrist in order to buy or sell, and it will be given only to those who worship the Antichrist.

Many good expositors of Revelation differ widely as to the exact nature of the mark of the beast. Besides the implanted chip view, other speculations include an ID card, a microchip, a barcode that is tattooed into the skin, or simply a mark that identifies someone as being faithful to the Antichrist’s kingdom. This last view requires the least speculation, since it does not add any more information to what the Bible gives us. In other words, any of these things are possible, but at the same time they are all speculations. We should not spend a lot of time speculating on the precise details.

DOES SOMEONE LIKE BILL GATES FIT THE PROFILE OF AN ANTICHRIST?

The immediate answer is unequivocally NO.  But this would not satisfy any conspiracy theorists.  The fact the Bill Gates gives billions of dollars to vulnerable communities and has an enormous footprint in charity work (Bill and Melinda Gates have donated $35 billion since 1994 towards charity) will also not satisfy the skeptics.  So let us once again look for a Biblical understanding

Perhaps the proper way to frame the question is not whether Bill Gates is the antichrist, but whether he is an antichrist. In other words, anyone who declared himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 ) and leads people away from the gospel of Christ (1 John 2:18).

1 John 4:3 clearly gives us a profile that will mark the spirit of the antichrist, “but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”

If the above verses are to be taken as a guideline, Bill Gates is immediately disqualified.  Not only has Bill Gates NEVER proclaimed to be God but he also NEVER made any attempts to lead people away from Christ.  On the contrary, he actually uses his Christian conviction as the moral platform for his charity work.  He revealed in a recent interview (https://www.christianpost.com/cartoon/the-religious-life-of-bill-gates.html) that his family goes to a Catholic church and that religious morality inspires a lot of his charity work. He also shared his personal thoughts on God and that he and Melinda raised their kids in a Christian way; they’ve gone to the Catholic church that Melinda goes to and Bill also participated.  Biblically, the Antichrist would not raise his children in the ways of the Lord and certainly not use Christianity as a moral compass.

Another important conspiracy neutraliser is the fact that Bill Gates has never declared himself to be god, as mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2.  He lives a charitable life, that will put many of his accusers to shame, and continuously declares himself to be a servant of humanity.  He does not proclaim to be powerful politically or mighty in miracles.

IS THE QUANTUM DOT TATTOO MICROCHIP THE MARK OF THE BEAST?

Once again the immediate answer is unequivocally NO.  For the following reasons:

The QDT will exist for the sole purpose of keeping track of children’s vaccination records in under-developed regions.  You will not be able to trace people via the QDT neither will you be able to buy or sell anything as per the Biblical definition of the mark of the beast.

Kevin McHugh, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Rice University, and a team at his previous institution, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reported in a cover story in Science Translational Medicine on their development of quantum-dot tags that fluoresce with information after they’re injected as part of a vaccination (http://news.rice.edu/2019/12/18/quantum-dot-tattoos-hold-vaccination-record/).

A QDT is a pattern of 1.5-millimeter microneedles that contain vaccine and fluorescent quantum dots are applied as a patch. The needles dissolve under the skin, leaving the encapsulated quantum dots. Their pattern can be read to identify the vaccine that was administered (and only this information will be available).  The tags are incorporated in only some of the array of sugar-based microneedles on a patch. When the needles dissolve in about two minutes, they deliver the vaccine and leave the pattern of tags just under the skin, where they become something like a bar-code tattoo.

Instead of ink, this highly specific medical record consists of copper-based quantum dots embedded in biocompatible, micron-scale capsules. Their near-infrared dye is invisible, but the pattern they set can be read and interpreted by a customized smartphone.

The two-year project is aimed at the 1.5 million preventable deaths that result from a lack of vaccinations, primarily in developing nations.

“The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation came to us and said, ‘Hey, we have a real problem — knowing who’s vaccinated,’” said McHugh, who was recruited to join Rice with funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. “They said, ‘We go on vaccination campaigns where people get into Hummers, drive to a rural village, set up a tent and start immunizing people, but they don’t always know who’s been immunized before and what vaccines are still needed.”

Parents often don’t know their children’s vaccination histories, McHugh said. “So our idea was to put the record on the person,” he said. “This way, later on, people can scan over the area to see what vaccines have been administered and give only the ones still needed.

“There are two sides to this,” he said. “First, is that you don’t administer unnecessary vaccines, which has a cost. But even bigger, you don’t leave people under-immunized and at risk of getting an infectious disease.”

McHugh said the team worked with a bioethicist to be sure the patients’ data remains protected. “She said we’re on solid ethical ground as long as people can opt-out, like getting the patch with only the vaccine. Also, the patch with quantum dots only contains information about the vaccine received. It doesn’t tell you anything else about the person.”

This scientific background should illuminate all conspiracies.  Simply having a mark does not point to the mark of the beast.  The QDT can be of immeasurable help in regions where children are dying of preventable diseases

CONCLUSION

As Bible believers we have to conclude that there is not sufficient scriptural evidence to justify theories that Bill Gates or any current leader is the antichrist.  There is also no Biblical evidence that QDT is the mark of the beast.

It also confirms that false-prophets with social media at their disposal are a far greater threat currently than the Antichrist.

We, therefore, have to acknowledge that the contribution of Bill Gates to global health and caring for the poor should be acknowledged and applauded by the church and not placed under suspicion

For a more detailed article on Bill Gates and the Microchip conspiracy:  https://www.incontextinternational.org/2020/04/22/bill-gates-coronavirus-end-times-conspiracy/