Evangelist Franklin Graham — son of the late Rev. Billy Graham — said this week he doesn’t believe the “vaccine passport” microchip implant is the biblical “mark of the beast.”
Graham shared his perspective after news of the Swedish-designed microchip made headlines.
“I personally do not think this particular chip is the mark the Bible talks about, but it does make you think how close we may be,” he wrote. “Christians around the world are wondering if COVID-19 is being used as a way to condition the world population to accept a mark like this, whatever form it may take. If a scannable chip under the skin can contain vaccine information, adding other personal information and financial data could be a short step away.”
“This may sound frightening; but people who have put their faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, don’t need to be afraid,” the evangelist continued. “We should not live in fear. God told us what was coming in His Word. Make sure that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life by repenting of your sins and putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ.”
According to CBN News, a great deal of Swedes have opted to have microchips the size of a grain of rice implanted under their skin. The microchips contain identifying information and vaccination data for those who receive the implants.
The Swedish government implemented new rules Dec. 1 requiring people to have a “vaccine passport” verifying their inoculation status for all events with 100 or more people.
Karin Tegmark Wisell of the Swedish Public Health Agency said in November vaccination passes “are a measure that we see as necessary.”
Mary Lee, a fellow for the RAND Corporation, described the microchips as part of “an ecosystem.”
“It’s a bunch of devices that are connected to the internet that contain software and that either collect personal health data about you or can alter the body’s function,” she said. “We think of this ‘internet bodies’ as a collection of all these devices as well as all the data.”
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
Franklin Graham further stated that he is concerned “that political leaders are using the pandemic as an excuse to exert more and more control.”
“Many world leaders are still using COVID as an excuse to lock down their countries and it has a huge economic and social impact,” he explained. “The Bible tells us that in the end times there will be a one-world system. Revelation 13:16-17 says, ‘Also he 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…’ Right now, a Swedish company has developed a “vaccine passport” chip that is implanted under the skin and can be scanned. It could be required to enter restaurants or businesses, fly commercially, etc.”
Graham added that although the vaccine passports are not the “mark of the beast” described in Revelation 13, it should show Christians just how close we are to this prophetic world government coming onto the world scene.
Graham is not the only evangelical leader to point out the nearness of this approaching world system. Jan Markell is vocal about various events we are currently witnessing that show that the world is setting the stage for the “anti-christ” described in Scripture.
“Evil is on its way,” Markell underscored, in her article Anticipating The Antichrist.
For Christians today, however, this should not cause us to fear, Markell explained, because if Tribulation events are at the door, “so is the return of the Lord in what is known as the Rapture of the Church.”
“That’s the good news in the midst of this sad story,” she encouraged. “Nothing can stop it. It is imminent. Any minute. Perhaps even today.”
Luke 21:28 says that “when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
