During the Tribulation, if one accepts Christ and decides not to get the mark, is it possible to survive the Tribulation without getting caught?
In answering your question, we will consider two points. First of all, when a person accepts Christ as their personal Savior in the Tribulation period, they will NOT receive the MARK OF THE BEAST. In other words, it’s not that a believer will have the option to “get the mark” or “not to get the mark”; a true believer will absolutely refuse to give his allegiance to the Antichrist by taking the mark of the beast. Let’s look at what the Lord Jesus said in John 5:43, “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive” (NKJV). The Lord Jesus was speaking of the coming Antichrist and in these words He is clearly teaching that one either receives Christ as their Savior, or they will receive the Antichrist as the Messiah/Savior.
Let’s look at Revelation 13:11-17 to see what the “mark of the beast” is: “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth…he exercises all the authority of the FIRST BEAST…and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to WORSHIP THE FIRST BEAST…he performs great signs…and deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs…telling those who dwell on the earth to make an IMAGE TO THE BEAST…he was granted power to…cause as man as would not worship the IMAGE OF THE BEAST to be killed…he causes all…to RECEIVE A MARK on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell EXCEPT ONE WHO HAS THE MARK.” In this chapter there are TWO BEASTS, the first beast will be the “head of the Revived Romans Empire” (see verses 1-10); the second beast is the Antichrist who will be accepted by the Jews as their Messiah and by the whole world as their savior. The Antichrist will, as we have read, demand worship for the first beast and cause all men to take the “mark of the beast” as a sign that they are giving him their allegiance. Those who have not accepted Christ will indeed take his mark and worship him. Their doom will be sealed by doing so, as we see in Revelation 14:9-11, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God…he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone…and the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
Will believers, who refuse to take the mark, survive the Tribulation? To be sure there will be many who are killed for not worshiping the beast. Revelation 20:4 says, “Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” But there will also be many believers who survive the Tribulation. Revelation 7:9, 13-14 reads, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes…Then one of the elders answered, ‘Who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from?’…So he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
In closing, let me caution all who read these words who are not saved. If you are thinking, “I’ll wait until the Tribulation Period begins and then I’ll accept Christ as my Savior.” The truth is, if you reject Christ NOW, you will reject Christ THEN, for you will be deceived by the Antichrist and you will take the mark of the beast. “The coming of the lawless one (the Antichrist) is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, BECAUSE THEY DID NOT RECEIVE THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH, THAT THEY MIGHT BE SAVED. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that THEY SHOULD BELIEVE THE LIE, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2nd Thessalonians 2:9-12). When the Antichrist is revealed, it will be TOO LATE to accept Christ for those who “did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved.” The gospel of Jesus Christ is to be accepted here and NOW. “For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation” (2nd Corinthians 6:2). (284.9) (DO)