How Is Harry Potter a Literary Christ Figure? The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is beginning its transition toward the endemic phase of this pandemic. . And when you hear of wars and insurrections, dont panic. Likewise, false religion is symbolized by a picture (the beast) and a number (666). This highly infectious virus was first contracted in November 2019 in Wuhan, the capital city of Chinas Hubei province, through animal to human contact at the Huananseafood market. Over the last three years, the number in that group dropped 38 million to 857.6 million a much . Entire countries went under lockdown to stop the virus from spreading but . This beast looks like Christ, the lamb, but speaks the lies of the dragon, that is, the Devil. The number forty appears many times in the Bible: Generally speaking, the number forty has been considered to be used in the Bible as a rounded number. Every letter could also be a number, so names could be translated into numbers. But that changed when the pandemic hit. LDS: 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. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived (vv. "I'm exhausted and tired of seeing so many people die, but I will do my damnedest to try and keep my patients alive.". We were created to worship God. But the researchers recognized that along with all the bad things brought by the pandemic, they were presented with an opportunity. He entices us to make money the desire of our hearts. by all major health organizations. Pastor Darin Wood of First Baptist Church in the oil townof Midland,Texas, wrote anop-ed in August for the Midland Reporter-Telegram that said, "One of my church family posed an honest question: 'Pastor, is the COVID vaccine the mark of the beast? Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month. The world has a way of operating and when we choose a different way, we must be prepared for setbacks, strange looks, and often shame and suffering. Throughout history, pandemics and epidemics have emerged and have wrought havoc on the world on an average of about two per century. It is an invisible spiritual mark. There is a summary of Bible teachings on the end-times, with references, in As one author puts it, it doesnt tell us much that a certain key fits the lock, if its a lock that works with almost any key. pandemic and let us return to life as normal. Who knew two nonverbal rocks had so much to say? According to Romans 8:20-21, plagues are a consequence of Adams fall from grace in the Garden of Eden: For the creationwas subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. On January 29, 2020, Worldometer started tracking the coronavirus, providing . What we know about the COVID-19 vaccines? The Devil doesnt care if people believe in God. 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. Thats the good news. "I get being hesitant because it is new and we don't know the long-term effects, but calling it the'mark of the beast' is crazy," Williams told USA TODAY. Help train Christians to boldly share the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that clearly communicates to this secular age. COVID-19, colloquially known as "the coronavirus," is one of many viruses in the coronavirus family. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon (v. 11). Its actual scientific name is SARS-CoV-2, but COVID-19 is used as shorthand for "coronavirus disease 2019." This strain originated in China, but it has quickly spread throughout the world with almost 500,000 confirmed cases as of this writing. "(Former President) Donald Trump tapped into American populism, and with that comes the disbelief of experts," Evans told USA TODAY. The Biden-Harris Plan to Beat COVID-19: Review details of the Biden-Harris plan to beat COVID-19 and download The National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness. Why? In each case, the pictures and numbers mean something, but they refer to general truths, not to specific people or referents. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. "Studies show that any conflicts between religion and science are not about facts, they are more about values and morals," said John Evans,a professor of sociology and religious studies at the University of California, San Diego. Sneak Peek Interview: Laura Wiflers New Childrens Book, Receiving Not Achieving. Risk to Canadians. The study confirms what everyone knows, for the most part. The priests of Egypt had their secret arts too. 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 number of women considered Bible centered in January dropped by 3.9 points by June compared with 1 point for men. Nicole Williams, a traveling intensive care unitnurse, said she has heard the "mark of the beast" as a reason not to get vaccinated many times. "All these are the beginnings of sorrows." The passage is attributed to Jesus Christ who told his followers what to expect before his second coming. Happiness and life satisfaction dropped by 9.6 percent among respondents, and mental and physical health decreased by 7.4 percent. 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. ]. UK NHS: Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, 1 Harvard Medical School, Most COVID-19 cases are spread by people your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-28, See something we missed? And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose(Romans 8:28). Sixty percent read the Bible four times per year or less. Suffering and sickness have been a part of this world for so long; humans in their imperfection and frailty have chosen to follow the wrong paths, which has led to detrimental consequences for mankind and the planet. This study supports the idea that the church plays a significant role in benefitting peoples wellbeing and Scripture engagement, said John Farquhar Plake, ABS director of ministry intelligence. Within just a few short months, COVID-19 has spread like a wildfire to almost every corner of the globe, infecting a confirmed 3,870,865 of the worlds population in its wake and tallying a death toll of 267,771, as of May 7, 2020. Doubts and fears caused by the barrage of malicious misinformation on social Many people on Twitter have been saying that they believe the virus is a sign that the apocalypse is coming, claiming . God can also use a pandemic to fulfill His purpose of redemption, teach us obedience and gratitude, and even stir up a revival. 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. Smith said one woman brought her child in for a fever and cough, and he explained that the toddler might have COVID-19. Diseases You Almost Forgot About (Thanks to Vaccines), May 8, 2020, Many people wonder why God has allowed it to happen, and is it an omen Portugus, But the viral epidemic could yet spiral out of control if outrageous claims about the end of the world are to be believed. So if 666 isnt code for Nero or anyone else, what does it mean? Do people actually cite this as a reason to avoid the shot? that killed large numbers of people. The COVID-19 vaccines are recommended Moderna has begun the process of applying to get a full license, and Johnson & Johnson plans to apply this year. Church closures during the pandemic likely impacted the decrease in Bible engagement, according to ABS. (not representing all COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong) 107. website: Why Does God Allow Evil and Suffering? You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. If you have symptoms or signs of COVID-19, look for a free COVID-19 test near you. Some of the names in the list are absurd. Elijah, you recall, called down fire from heaven to burn up the sacrifices in full view of the prophets of Baal. A decrease of 5 percentage points in a single year was unprecedented in the annual surveys 10-year history; between 2011 and 2019, daily Bible readers had basically held steady at an average of 13.7 percent of the population. The beast gives breath to these things so that they seem god-like in our eyes. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): . So relying on your readers to not only know gematria but also transliterate a name into another language they may not have known seems like a poor way to communicate, unless John wasnt interested in his audience knowing the answer to the puzzle. Retrieved from Thats gematria. Their evil reach which can be interpretedas hidden manipulation will require all people who engage in commerce to wear the mark of the beast. Christians should read big, meditate small, he said, reading a larger passage and then spending a few minutes thinking about one verse or phrase. 3 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AFP. One rarely hears Ecclesiastes in church these days, though the poem found in 3:1-8 is well known, due in part to "Turn! This two-phase study is unique, though, because it assessed people before and after the coronavirus pandemic hit the US. Thirty-six percent of those with a neighbor who died of the virus increased their Bible use (1.7 times more than average), and 33 percent of those with a close personal friend who died increased their use (1.6 times more than average). Franais,and The Bible does not really answer these Get the best from CT editors, delivered straight to your inbox! Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Weekly Epidemiological Updates and Monthly Operational Updates. What Does the Bible What do health care workers say? In the middle of a global pandemic, a contentious election, and social unrest, the American Bible Society (ABS), with assistance from Harvard Universitys Human Flourishing Program, found a strong correlation between Scripture reading and hope. We can see that Latino/Latinx and African Americans are . Christians are also measurably more hopeful. New Delhi: China's number of working people has fallen by more than 41 million in the past three years, reflecting both the coronavirus pandemic's toll on the economy and a decline in the working age population, according to a report. VanderWeele was on board. According to the Bible, plagues are said to be one of the signs that herald the end times and the return of Jesus Christ. That's down from 774.7 million in 2019. and protect other people. In the first century, this meant that the religious establishment convinced people that they should worship statues and images of Caesar. This is a common trend when people go through trauma, according to Scott Ross, who works on trauma healing with churches at ABS. Everyone 12 and vaccinated helps to protect you, and also helps to protect other people who Some 733.5 million Chinese people were employed in 2022, reported Bloomberg, citing the country's . Fact check: Ivermectin is not a proven treatment for COVID-19, 'A nightmare': Pregnant unvaccinated nurse and her unborn 'sweet baby girl' die of COVID-19, "Theres no indication that the vaccine matches the mark described by the Apostle John. The Global Methodist Church welcomes Scott Jones, who led Methodists in Texas and had advocated for the extreme center and staying at the table., Emily McFarlan Miller - Religion News Service. The Apostle John did not identify what the mark looks like, although some theologians translate Scripture to associate the number "666" with it. The second beast lives wherever the Devil entices people to worship something man-made, to make an idolatrous image out of anything other than Jesus Christ, who alone is the image of the invisible God. Hotline: (314) 657-1499 Mondays-Fridays 8am-5pm More emergency resources and contacts COVID-19 Data New Cases 52.4 /100k 7-day total of new PCR positive cases per 100k people New Hospital Admissions 10.9 /100k 7-day total of new hospital admissions for COVID-19 per 100k people % Staffed Inpatient Beds 4.1% It cold be an allusion to slaves branding, or soldiers tattoo, or some practice of compulsory idol worship developing in the first century. There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands, and there will be terrifying things and great miraculous signs from heaven. According to the Apostle John in the New International Version Bible,a pair of beasts will rule the Earth with cruelty. In times past, terrible diseases like smallpox, polio, While many will turn to the Bible for answers in unsettling times, they often stop reading faithfully after a while. To counter a pandemic-prompted morass in Bible engagement, Hall said, learn to read the Bible in a new way. That could include using a Bible app that plays music as a person reads or a Bible app that reads a selected passage aloud over and over. Adding up some subsets of its divisors (e.g., 1, 4, 5, 10, and 20) gives 40; hence, 40 is a semiperfect number. They had been looking at a human flourishing measure developed at Harvard and decided to include some questions about security, happiness, and mental health in the study of Bible use. Consider the following scriptures: Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps. All of these solutions are calculated by a process known as gematria. A survey highlighting the impact of COVID-19 wasnt the original plan, said John Plake, director of ministry intelligence for ABS. The drop could be related to life adjustments women were forced to make as they juggled work from home and caring for children who previously attended school or daycare, the report speculated. John 13:34-35). The number of people in China aged between 16 and 59 has been gradually declining since 2012. When we see the number forty used to denote time in the Bible, we are being told that something extraordinary and definitive is happening. "They get all their information off Facebook and get all this garbage. 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. Chris Hall, president of the spiritual formation ministry Renovar, said disruption of life rhythms likely hurt Bible engagement. This is, in part, due to a change from agrarian to urban lifestyles over time, ease of travel between countries and exposure to diverse people, and increased interactions between people and animals. Psalm 91 is a beautiful song that speaks of trust in God in the darkest of times. However, Jesus made it clear that we cannot know when the end will come He is entirely content to have all of us on a spiritual journey looking for transcendence. . might get very sick or die from COVID-19.1,2, Jesus taught that one of the most important of all commandments is, "Love The findings were published in October in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in a report co-authored by VanderWeele, Plake, Jeffery Fulks of ABS, and Matthew Lee of Harvard. The "mark of the beast" in the New Testament's Book of Revelation signalsanallegiance to Satan or those who reject God's memorial of creatorship. (Romans 13:10), Pranksters, mischief-makers, and attention-seekers have made up many untrue Coronavirus has infected more than 85,000 people and killed at least 2,933. New study shows Scripture reading correlates with Harvard measures of human flourishing. So through all sorts of complicated gematria calculations in different languages, people have come up with all the names in the list above. I think that this period has showed a period of reflection of what really matters in life, VanderWeele said. Overall, about a fifth (22%) of US adults interact with the Bible multiple times a week, not counting Scripture use at church, according to a January survey. . So he asked his dad: "Is this the end of the world?". 1:19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.. Rev. without symptoms, May 1, 2021, Retrieved from Praying the passage and coming up with an illustration are two ways of mediating suggested by Whitney. ): 666 is not meant to be a riddle hiding the name of the beast; 666 is simply the name and number of the beast. And people did use it in the ancient world, more than we think. Wearing a mask in public and getting Forty days and nights of rain during the flood, The Jews journeyed through the desert for forty years to the Promised Land, The prophet Ezekiel laid on his right side for forty days to symbolize the sins of Judah, Elijah fasted for forty days on Mount Horeb. 4 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ; Coronavirus.gov: Public information provided by the U.S. government related to Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19); CDC Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Current public health and safety information on COVID-19. It is a sad truth that the world has always been a broken place, dating back from the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Emergency roomphysician Stephen Smith at Hennepin Healthcaretold USA TODAY he hasn't heard the 'mark of the beast' as a reason to not get vaccinated but a few other outlandish reasons. We should expect other religions to talk about love and morality. questions, but it does have a lot of related information. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. I started this series when the whole world was talking about COVID-19, and some people were wondering if the signs of Revelation were unfoldingor would soon unfoldbefore our eyes. In the first century, this meant that your refusal to worship Caesar (to be spiritually identified with the beast) could mean persecution or discrimination or alienation. If the plague prophesied in Revelation 6:8 were to be that of the coronavirus, the death toll of 267,771, as of May 7, 2020, would have to be .