FAITH AND VACCINE

By Pastor Philip Funubana, a Private View

Note: I intended this discussion for those Christians who believe in pre-tribulation rapture of the
church. If this does not concern you, please ignore.

It is obvious that one of the strong anti-vaccine voices is religion, and the other of course from
skeptical medical people and scientists.
I write to encourage my fellow Solomon Island Christians to take the vaccine without fear that the
covid vaccine is related to the anti-Christ, 666 or the mark of the beast…it is not! I can assure you
from scripture that the covid vaccine will not affect your salvation, nor the time for 666 or the
mark of the beast to manifest. The time for the anti-Christ, 666, or the mark of the beast to manifest
is yet to come and that is clearly stated in scripture too. But before I could discuss the assurance
of salvation and the timing of the anti-Christ, let me give you a brief background to the three
different views concerning eschatology (study of last things / end time prophecies).
The three main views within Christendom concerning eschatology or prophecies or end time
events are; Amillennialism, Premillennialism and Postmillennialism. The Amillennialism and the
Postmillennialism do not believe in the rapture of the church. Only the Premillennialism believe
in the rapture, even then there are three views of the rapture; the pre-tribulation, the mid-tribulation
and the post-tribulation.
The pre-tribulation rapture position is both most consistent with the character of God and most
true to all of the texts of Scripture addressing the issue. It provides the best explanation for all of
the texts.
Pre-tribulation means that the church or body of believers (those who are born again) all over the
world will be raptured before the tribulation of the anti-Christ begins. With this background, let
me now return to my discussion of the assurance of salvation against the covid vaccine and the
timing of the anti-Christ.

The assurance of salvation against the covid vaccine.
Key Scriptures: 1Peter 1:5, John 10:28-29, Romans 8:35, 38 – 39.
1 Peter 1:5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the
last time.
John 10:28-29
28 and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of
My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to
snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
Romans 8:35, 38 – 39 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Notice (1 Peter 1:5) Peter’s use of past tense; “protected” by the power of God. If you are a born
again Christian, know this that your salvation in Christ Jesus is the guarantee of God’s protection
over your soul. YOUR SALVATION IS PROTECTED BY THE POWER OF GOD AND NO
VACCINE, NO ANTI-CHRIST, NO 666, NO BEAST, NOT EVEN SATAN HIMSELF WILL
SNATCH IT OUT FROM THE MIGHTY HANDS OF GOD. So if your fear for not taking the
vaccine is about your SALVATION, be rest assured of the scripture that the vaccine will not affect
your salvation. Now it’s important to note that this protection is for your salvation, not from the
covid. A believer can still catch the virus depending on the circumstances that he finds himself or
herself in, a believer can still die of the covid if it is their God appointed time to die. So note that
the vaccines will not affect your salvation.

The timing of the anti-Christ
Key Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 4:13 – 18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17
2 Thessalonians 2:1-9
Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our
gathering together to Him 2 that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be
disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the
Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes
first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts
himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of
God, displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I
was telling you these things? 6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may
be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will
do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord
will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9
that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false
wonders, If the anti-Christ, 666 or the beast is your fear for not taking the vaccine, let me assure you from
scripture that the actual manifestation of the anti-Christ is yet to come, not now. Although the
systems of the world is gearing towards that direction as stated in verse (7a) “For the mystery of
lawlessness is already at work.” Lawlessness or lawless one refers to the anti-Christ, this confirms
the fact that the systems of the world is already building towards that platform whereby the antiChrist will eventually manifest and carry out his evil plan on earth. Look at the policies of “no jab,
no job” for front liners and public servants where Fiji and our nation is embracing now…and many
nations of the world will soon to follow suit because it is a necessary thing to do in the fight against
covid. This will be the same system the anti-Christ will use in the future for those who will receive
the mark of the beast for buying and selling. But until then, never think that what our government
is doing now in its effort to fight against the covid by vaccination is the work of the anitChrist…It’s not!
So when is the time for the anti-Christ to manifest? Let’s look at the above scripture again. Look
at verse 6. The apostle Paul is making an important indication here for the timing or the
manifestation of the anti-Christ. “And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may
be revealed.” Something is restraining or holding back the manifestation of the ani-Christ. What
is it? Or Who is it? Look at verse (7 b) again. “only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken
out of the way.” So who is the restrainer or the one who is holding back the anti-Christ? The
restrainer is the Holy Spirit who indwells every born again believers or the body of Christ or the
church of Christ (consisting of all Christians of all denominations who accepted Jesus Christ as
their Lord and personal Savior) who will be “taken out of the way” This is referring to the rapture
of the church, though the word “rapture” is not mention in scripture but the idea is scriptural just
as the word “trinity” is not in scripture but the idea is scriptural. So the anti-Christ will not manifest
just yet…although the ground work for his manifestation has already begun…the platform for his
operation has been set…but his actual manifestation or physical revelation will only happen after
the church is raptured. Look at verse 8. “And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord
will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;”
I respect the views of those who do not believe in the rapture of the church (Amillennialists and
Postmillennialists) but if you are a Christian who believes in the rapture of the church before the
tribulation…I urge you to go and take your vaccination now because it has nothing to do with the
anti-Christ, 666 or mark of the beast…those are events after the rapture. Why associate the vaccine
to the anti-Christ, 666 or the beast when it is not his time for his manifestation? Why should you
fear the vaccine if you are a born again believer who believes in the pre-tribulation rapture? You
should be gone in the rapture before the anti-Christ, 666 or the beast is manifested. What should
worry you now is your salvation not the vaccine. For the vaccine can never affect your salvation.
Why should you worry about the beast or the 666 or the anti-Christ who will only manifest after
you are gone?

The radical faith
To those with radical faith, who choose not to take the vaccine believing that their faith in God is
stronger than the virus, let me say this…you can only do that when you are not breaching other
scriptures. You cannot claim Psalms 91 as a bases for your protection but then disregard Romans
13:1-2 which forbid us from disobeying authorities. If you cannot obey authorities who are visible,
how can you obey God who is invisible?
Romans 13:1-2
Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except
from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore he who resists authority has
opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon
themselves.
You see God has given us Doctors and nurses to help us overcome this virus by taking the vaccine.
Even God’s chosen race and people Israel do take the vaccine. Who are you o Gentile?
By taking the vaccine does not mean that one is faithless, in fact to put one’s faith in the vaccine
other than God is unbiblical. My argument here is about obedience to all of scriptures, not to keep
some and disregard others. You cannot say that you have faith in God by not taking the vaccine
and yet you disobey authorities which the word of God forbids. We take the vaccines just as we
would take a Panadol or other medications knowing that it is God who gives wisdom to doctors,
nurses and those who produce the vaccines and drugs for our health. It is the power of God working
through these vaccines that we should respond to, not the vaccine, for the vaccine itself is not
100% effective, they are only 92% effective…even then that’s a huge protection.
Again it is our Christian duty to obey authorities. All government is set up by God whether they
are good or evil. We read in the Bible Daniel faithfully served the evil Babylonian kingdom under
different governments, the only time he took his stand was when his faith was challenged. The
only time Christians can disobey any government is when their faith or salvation is infringed which
may lead to apostasy or the denial of their faith and the loss of salvation, but as discussed above
that can never happen in this campaign against the pandemic.
The test of the genuineness of your radical faith is to see that whilst you firmly believe and hold
on to certain scriptures for your protection, you do not breach other scriptures. For whole of
scripture they agree.
The rest
Even if it is not mandatory for you to get the vaccine, for the love of our nation, communities and
families please take the vaccine. It is just a matter of time because of the open boarders which are
necessary for trade to continue…what will happen to those living in Honiara if there is no rice
coming from abroad? Only God knows how long this virus will remain with us, but one thing is
certain…business will have to operate, the economy will have to stay afloat to pay for the public
service deliveries that we cannot function without as a nation, and these services are critical in this
time of pandemic.
The least that all good citizens of Solomon Islands can give back to the country is to aid the
government in its effort in the fight against covid 19. I believe if our nation is invaded by physical
enemy, many would volunteer their lives to defend it. Now our enemy is invisible, but the threat
is just the same. Let us all united together against this enemy. “Iume together against covid 19”
Let’s all get the vaccine, let’s do our part and leave the rest to God. God will help those who help
themselves.
May God help our front liners and our government in this fight against covid 19.
Philip Funubana
(fully vaccinated)

Editor’s Note: Philip is an SSEC Pastor who is currently in Fiji