An exert from Andy Bratton’s Morning Dive on Friday, August 20, 2021
I need to vent. I hope that’s okay. All right. And not everybody’s gonna agree with my vent. But I need to vent and here’s my venting.
Please don’t challenge my faith in Jesus because I got a vaccination or I wear a mask. Don’t do it.
There is nothing spiritual about COVID, vaccines and masks, nothing. I looked, I can’t find anything in the Bible about pandemics. I can’t see anything in there about vaccines. I can’t see anything in there about masks. I don’t see it.
So don’t challenge my Christianity, my faith in Jesus because I yes, have been vaccinated and will on occasion wear a mask and before I was vaccinated was wearing a mask. Don’t call me out on that and say I’m not a Christian.
Some people have said that the vaccination is the mark of the beast. It’s not the mark of the beast. The Mark of the Beast is found in Revelation chapter 13. Revelation chapter 13 says:
“I saw beast rising out of the sea with 10 horns, 7 heads, 10 diadems on its horns blasphemous names on its heads. The beast that I saw was like a leopard its feet or like a bears and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power his throne and great authority. One of it said seem to have a mortal wound but its mortal wound was healed and the whole earth marveled as they follow the beast. They worship the dragon for he had given his authority to the beast. They worship the beast saying, ‘Who is like the beast and who can fight against it?’
And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for 42 months. It opened his mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is those who dwell in heaven. Also, it was allowed to make war on the saints in the conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it. Everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world, in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
If anyone has an ear, let him hear, if anyone has to be taken captive to captivity, he goes. If anyone has to be slain with the sword must he be slain.
Here’s a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. So another beast rising out of the earth, two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast.”
I’m not worshipping anyone, but Jesus. Even though I had a vaccine, and even though I’m wearing a mask, I’m not worshipping anybody, but Jesus. It performs great signs even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people. I have not seen that out of anybody yet. 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. I have not seen that image yet.
It was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also, it causes all both small and rich, both rich and poor, both slave and free, 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.
Now, some people have said, we’re getting to the point where you can’t go in a restaurant unless you have the vaccine. And so that must be the mark of the beast. But you’re missing the whole context of the passage of scripture. You may not like the freedom that is being taken away, because you can’t go in someplace because you’re not vaccinated. But that doesn’t mean that it’s the mark of a beast. Are you being told to worship someone other than Jesus by getting a vaccine? No. So they’re losing their freedoms but again, it has nothing to do with who you choose to worship, and who you choose to surrender to as far as your spiritual allegiance, and who your hope is in. Nothing to do with that.
The other thing that I’ve heard is that we’re putting our faith over fear. I don’t go jumping off of a mountain, trusting that God’s just gonna catch me. Before the pandemic, I got the flu one year, does that mean that God was not faithful, and that he had me get the flu? Does that mean that I was in sin and so God gave me the flu? Well, after that, I started getting flu shots, because the worst feeling in the world as a preacher is on Saturday night, and you’re feeling it coming. And you’re like, ‘what do I do now? Who do I call that can get up there and just preach a sermon for me?’ And so after that, I started getting my flu shot. Does that mean I don’t trust God? If I don’t go jump off a cliff, does that mean I don’t trust God?
And the other thing that people are saying is that, ‘Well, if you get COVID, and you die, it was just your time to go.’ What does that mean? Does that mean that God wants you to die? I get a little confused by this whole thing that people believe that God has this desire for us to die. If you go back in Genesis chapter one, that’s not what I read. What I read in Genesis chapter 1 is that God created this beautiful place for man to dwell. And he put a tree of life and a tree of knowledge of good and evil and said, you can eat, be fruitful, multiply, subdue the earth, fill the earth. And it was man that sinned. And so God put up barriers so they couldn’t get to the tree of life but God’s initial plan, I don’t want anybody to die. But now somehow, we feel like if someone dies, well, it was just their time. I guess God wanted him home. Are we sure that God wants people to die? If he wanted people to die, why would you give us life? So I’m confused by this whole rhetoric that we have about somehow a pandemic, and vaccinations and mass have something to do with my belief in Jesus, and it doesn’t.
Listen to the entire Morning Dive at https://www.facebook.com/andy.bratton.1990/videos/1228810030924446
Andy’s Morning Dive is every weekday morning at https://www.facebook.com/andy.bratton.1990