Another response to testing my ‘insight’ comes from Neil Mackereth, whose writings I’ve featured on this blog. Notably, he adds this PS to his reply: “I am having difficulty with formatting on this email, which has happened in the past, but only when I “go where angels fear to tread”.

Neil attaches this briefing to a follow-on email of 25th July: 

‘Dear Richard, Very interesting and you certainly got me thinking! Here are my notes – I can see real relevance in the maRk and maSk insight you have had and will continue pondering on the significance!

THE MARK OF ‘IMMUNITY’ – or is it ‘ALLEGIANCE’? 

‘As a result of an insight Richard Barker had from the Lord about the one (adjacent) letter change between maRk and maSk I started thinking about links between marks and masks. There are positive “marks” as well as negative “marks”:

Positive:

‘Ezekiel 9:4 “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”

‘Revelation 7:3-4 ““Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.”

‘Revelation 9:4 “They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.”

Negative:

‘Revelation 13:16-18 “It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.[e] That number is 666.”

MASKS AND BEING AWARE

‘Thinking about being aware of the underlying significance behind receiving a mark, or the meaning being masked (hidden) to the recipient, put me in mind of Freemasonry and the initiation ceremony, where the candidate is masked. The French for mask is ‘masque’, from which we get masquerade. Pretence and deception, as expressed by Paul in 2:13-15 ^“For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.”

‘Revelation 13:14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honour of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

‘I believe the mark mentioned at Revelation 13:16 is a sign of allegiance to the Anti-Christ but, as in Freemasonry, its true meaning may be masked. I also believe that the allegiance (which may be unwittingly given) is expressed by a symbolic mark relating to a disfigurement.

‘Revelation 13:3 “One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed.”

‘Zechariah 11:16-17 “For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.

“Woe to the worthless shepherd,
    who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!
    May his arm be completely withered,
    his right eye totally blinded!”

HOW MIGHT WE BE HOODWINKED?

‘There will be a vaccine and, for seemingly very sensible reasons, people will be encouraged to have an identifying mark (like a tattoo) to show their immunity.

‘In the early stages of “normalisation”, retail outlets (shops, pubs, restaurants etc.) will be able to relax social distancing and mask restrictions, for those who can show that they have been vaccinated (i.e. have the mark of immunity). It will be very difficult to have different rules for the relatively few people (the unreasonable ones) who have declined to have the vaccination, and/or the identifying mark.

‘By a series of ostensibly very reasonable steps, it will become well-nigh impossible for the “unreasonable ones” to shop, travel on any form of public transport (planes, buses, boats and trains), use the NHS, and so on.

‘If being vaccinated is conditional on having some sort of mark, great care will be needed in assessing the appropriateness, in light of God’s guidance on the subject (Revelation 13).

CONCLUSION

‘I am convinced that Richard Barker’s insight aligns with the growing wealth of End-Times information and indicators that the Lord is graciously providing. We must do our utmost to encourage awareness of the significance of the events in relation to Biblical End-Times prophecy.’

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3rd Reviewer

Another respected author responds, “I’m taken with the imagery you have presented of masks as they relate to the forehead in conjunction with the requirement for cashless payment in these times. This is strikingly symbolic of the future harsh reality of the mark of the beast in the Tribulation and is another symbol (like the pestilence of Covid) which is a sign in the ‘beginning of sorrows’ of Matthew 24:7 which point towards a future time in the Tribulation when the anti-type of these signs will be much worse. (eg. a mask and a contactless credit card is nothing like as bad as the future ‘mark of the beast’)”

He can follow the symbolism in the piece and wisely advises me to find a firmer anchor in scripture. In my available time and with the theological principle of 1st mention in scripture in mind I consulted Strongs’ Concordance. First mention of ‘mark’ is at Gen 4:17 where the Lord puts a mark on Cain to protect him from revenge attack. It wasn’t easy to find ‘mask’ in Strong’s as it uses the King James Bible, but ‘covering’ appears in Gen 8:13 where Noah removes the covering over the ark after the rains have ceased.

Then along came Neil’s thoughts, and another reviewer kindly drew my attention to an in-depth analysis by someone familiar with Hebrew, and which is republished here.