The Mark

The fears concerning the Covid injections being Satan's 'stamp' were misplaced.
 

The MarkREVELATION 13: What to expect?

ON the 18th of October 2019, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in partnership with the World Economic Forum and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation hosted Event 201 in New York: it was a high-level simulation exercise (aka table top exercise) for pandemic preparedness and response. Just 3 months later, the Covid pandemic hit.

At the time of the Covid 19 injections1 roll-out in late 2020 there was enormous concern among many in regard to the unknown contents of the vaccines and their possible adverse health effects - and equally in regard to the massive propaganda machine put in place to induce the public to comply – with the threat, among other things, of losing their livelihoods if they decided to obey their consciences instead.

All of this in turn led to a flurry of animated speculation, comments and questions as to whether these medical interventions were the Mark of the Beast as described in the book of Revelation (Rev. 13:16). Some believers were, and perhaps still are, concerned regarding that possibility. However, for now at least, we can dismiss that thought. But let us not let down our guard.

Catastrophic ContagionOn the 23rd October 2022, and led by the same Event 201 grouping – along with a multinational swathe of health ministers – went through a process of “addressing a fictional pandemic set in the near future”. On this occasion the chosen title was ‘Catastrophic Contagion’.

Meanwhile the UK government’s UK Health Security Agency has opened a new research facility “to help develop and licence new vaccines, and be a global leader in testing against future variants of the virus”. The quote Yogi Berra, the American baseball player – as famous for his quirky remarks as for his sporting skills: "It's like déjà vu all over again."
 

The Mark it was not

In terms of discounting the 2020/21 ‘this is the Mark’ view, we read in the Bible that the Mark is impressed on the ‘right hand or forehead’ and these were not the anatomical areas of the injections: the needles were inserted into the deltoid muscle of the upper arm. While scientists, companies and countries are indeed developing and employing microchip implants, these ‘grain-of-rice-sized’ chips are being inserted in recipients hands. However, there are no known reports of these RFID2 devices being inserted into foreheads.
 

"Could it be that Satan who desires the allegiance of the masses will be especially and specifically targeting all those who hold fast to the Lord?"


It is perhaps interesting however to note that the ‘target areas’ for the dreaded Mark (right hand or forehead) equates to the Jewish practice of wearing tiny portions of scripture strapped to their arms or foreheads in accordance with the word of God3 (Deut. 11:18). So, could it be that Satan who desires the allegiance of the masses (Rev. 14:11b; 16:2b) will be especially and specifically targeting all those who hold fast to the Lord; and so mocking God by having the former’s diabolical stamp placed on the very areas designated by the Creator? The Bible suggests that accepting the mark, would be to worship the Beast (Rev. 14:9; Deut. 11:16).

But in terms of matching the criteria for the Mark of the Beast (Matt. Ch. 24; 2 Thess Ch. 2) there are vital pieces of the end-time jigsaw which yet need to fall into place before the dreaded Mark makes its appearance.4 First of all, the antichrist figure, described as the ‘First Beast’ (Rev. 13:1-8) needs to come onto the world stage (2 Thess. 2:8). Following that, he is joined by the False Prophet – the second Beast (Rev. 13:11). As revealed to the apostle John on Patmos, it is this sacrilegious figure who forces “everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave” to receive the Mark without which no-one can buy or sell (Rev. 13:17).

Ergo, let’s not think that this satanically-driven tyrannical system is fully in place. But neither let us be complacent; and certainly not in terms of the medical consequences of current or future treatments. In the midst, evidence suggests that the stage is being rapidly set for the curtain go up on the penultimate scenes prior to Christ’s return. The control mechanisms which will be used to force compliance (and worship) are emerging daily. The ‘mark’ itself does not need to be a ‘needle in the arm’ nor even an embedded grain-of-rice-sized microchip.

bioluminescent markerWhat has been developed is an ‘injection’ containing, inter alia, a bio-luminescent marker5 using a micro-needle patch6. Leaving aside any other aspects of what the injection might do physiologically, it would be a simple matter to use a form of QR code7 or something similar as a ‘mark’ which would point to all the vital information8 needed to identify and hence control the individual. The combination of a Central Bank Digital Currency and a digital ID will put every person into a virtual prison. And in that place, at some time future, the pressure to ‘take the Mark’ will be almost irresistible.  Indeed, regarding the end of days, the Word of God has some tough things to say. To suggest these things may not be well received. Yet so it has always been.
 

Stern Messages


Historically we have seen the reactions to the prophets of old who bore less than joyous tidings. Isaiah was commanded by the people of his day: “Give us no more visions of what is right!” (Is. 30:10). Jeremiah invoked the same response (Jer. 11:21) and Amos fared no better (Amos 7:13). Jehoshaphat said of Micaiah: “I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil (1 Kings 22:8). In Habakkuk’s day the Lord forewarned of the Babylonian invasion (Hab. 1:6) and yet was told to broadcast the message widely (Hab. 2:2). These were things that would (and yet will) “make the ears of everyone tingle” (1 Sam. 3:11; 2 Kings 21:12; Jer. 19:3).
 

"And in that place, at some time future, the pressure to ‘take the Mark’ will be almost irresistible".


Many years ago, I heard a Christian speaker deliver a talk on how to prepare for persecution. The conference was entitled ‘Steeling the Mind’. He said (as I remember it): “Don’t think at a future moment of extreme crisis that you will automatically rise to your highest: the reverse would more likely apply”. (It is well accepted that fear disables the rational thought process.) His essential message was to face up to future danger before the moment arrives; to develop resolve in advance. Indeed the military puts its top warriors through horrific simulations in order to better equip them for the real thing.

We can see in what Jesus said to his first disciples and the outworking of this philosophy. The Saviour forewarned his first followers that he was sending them out as “sheep amongst wolves” (Matt 10:16). They were told that they would be “hated of all men” (Matt. 10:22), persecuted (Matt. 5:10) beaten and brought before the authorities and rulers (Mk. 5:22).  Remember this was (and is) the ‘Good Shepherd’ speaking; and surely it was not, and still is not ‘good news’. But He was, as already mentioned, conditioning them in advance regarding what to expect. (Indeed, we are familiar with the maxim ‘to be forewarned is to be forearmed’.) Jesus was concerned to see his disciples prepared for extremely tough times. He is saying the same today.


The Cost: The Reward


While throughout the history of the saints, martyrdom has been the ultimate price: it will also be a marked feature of the times ahead (Rev. 20:4a) before the final appearance of Christ. We can rest assured that the certain outworking of the Lord’s prophetic plans and purposes does not depend on our individual willingness to acknowledge and accept them.
Yet enduring what he suffered is his day, Paul was able to say at the end of life: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7).
 

"These things may suggest that we are standing on the threshold of the rise of the counterfeit messiah, the great tribulation and the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ".


However, for those like Paul, his fellow apostles and believers through the centuries, whose faith cost him and them their lives, there is immense reward. Those – in both that day and ours – who have not worshipped the beast or his image and hand, nor received the mark on their foreheads or arms” (Rev. 20:4a), they will be those of the ‘first resurrection’ and will “reign with Christ for a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4b).


The Signs of the Times


In the meantime, regarding the end-time scenario, we are told: “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28)9. Elsewhere in his gospel, Luke mentions not only Israel but the surrounding world: “Look at the fig tree and ‘all’ the trees” (Luke 21:29). As we know, Israel – the fig tree – was re-established in 1948; and we are now facing the most serious global crisis since the flood. So we are now, in our present time, indeed seeing ‘the (fig) tree and all the (other) trees’. These things may suggest that we are standing on the threshold of the rise of the counterfeit messiah, the great tribulation and the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Accordingly, and to paraphrase Winston Churchill at a critical hour during WW2: “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our calling, and so bear ourselves that, as we await the reign of Christ for a thousand years, the Lord will say, 'This was their finest hour.'”
Meanwhile, as we stand in expectancy and look up, we cry: “Marantha, come Lord Jesus’.

Notes:
  1. These medical treatments do not fit the traditional definition of a ‘vaccine’. Novel gene therapies would be a more accurate description.
  2. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) microchips can be implanted in animals and people to allow tracking and positive identification.
  3. Observant Jews of our day strap Tefillin (aka Phylacteries) to one or other arm and their foreheads. These square black-leather boxes contain Bible verses.
  4. Some hold to the view that believers will be removed from the world prior to the appearance of antichrist and the great tribulation.
  5. A bioluminescent marker (e.g. Luciferase) can be activated and read by a smartphone.
  6. Microneedle patches are micron-scaled medical devices used to administer vaccines, drugs and other therapeutics. Microneedle ‘arrays’ are painless, less invasive than traditional injections and are easy to self-administer.
  7. A QR code is a small black and white matrix which can uniquely identify whatever it is attached to; or point to a further source of information.
  8. The information could be used for good (health monitoring) or for ill e.g. a social credit system controlling freedom of travel, access to facilities and services and most importantly, to money as a means of leading a normal life.
  9. At the time of writing three major earthquakes in Morocco, North California and off New Zealand have been reported.

The Editor, 15/09/2023