Question & Answer – What formed the beast and its image?

Apostasy. “When the early church became corrupted by departing from the simplicity of the gospel and accepting heathen rites and customs, she lost the Spirit and power of God; and in order to control the consciences of the people, she sought the support of the secular power. The result was the papacy, a church that controlled the power of the state and employed it to further her own ends, especially for the punishment of ‘heresy.’ In order for the United States to form an image of the beast, the religious power must so control the civil government that the authority of the state will also be employed by the church to accomplish her own ends. …

“It was apostasy that led the early church to seek the aid of the civil government, and this prepared the way for the development of the papacy—the beast. Said Paul: ‘There’ shall ‘come a falling away, … and that man of sin be revealed’ (2 Thessalonians 2:3). So apostasy in the church will prepare the way for the image to the beast.

“The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord there will exist a state of religious declension similar to that in the first centuries.” The Great Controversy, 443, 444.

“After the warning against the worship of the beast and his image the prophecy declares: ‘Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus’ (Revelation 14:12). Since those who keep God’s commandments are thus placed in contrast with those that worship the beast and his image and receive his mark, it follows that the keeping of God’s law, on the one hand, and its violation, on the other, will make the distinction between the worshipers of God and the worshipers of the beast.

“The special characteristic of the beast, and therefore of his image, is the breaking of God’s commandments. Says Daniel, of the little horn, the papacy: ‘He shall think to change times and the law’ (Daniel 7:25 R.V.). And Paul styled the same power the ‘man of sin’ (2 Thessalonians 2:3), who was to exalt himself above God. One prophecy is a complement of the other. Only by changing God’s law could the papacy exalt itself above God; whoever should understandingly keep the law as thus changed would be giving supreme honor to that power by which the change was made.” Ibid.

Image to the Beast

We are Seventh-day Adventists and I am proud of that name. It is a name that God has given to us as a people.

I remember my first experience in attending a Seventh-day Adventist Church. A young minister was giving a study on Daniel 7. As I listened, the pastor read the various descriptions of the little horn power from Daniel 7 and Revelation 13. There are over a dozen identifying marks of the Roman Church given in these two chapters—marks that when collectively considered could not possibly apply to any other power. Just imagine being a Roman Catholic for thirty-two years, and hearing for the first time that the leader of your church was the Antichrist.

“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8. The Roman Papacy is Satan’s crowning achievement, and through this power he hopes to bring the whole world under his control.

I make no apologies and I am deeply stirred within my soul. God has a message of stern rebuke to this church. We know that the Protestant nations will clasp hands with the Roman Church and that the papacy will use Protestant America as a puppet to bring all the world under its control.

“In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light form the Word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import—the proclamation of the first, second and third angel’s messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention. The most solemn truths ever entrusted to mortals have been given us to proclaim to the world. The proclamation of these truths is to be our work. The world is to be warned, and God’s people are to be true to the trust committed to them. They are not to engage in speculation, neither are they to enter into business enterprises with unbelievers; for this would hinder them in their God-given work.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 19,20

We have been entrusted with a work like no other people on the face of this earth. This is the time when the Seventh-day Adventist Church should be on the front line, but the leaders are retreating, waving white flags. Peace and safety messages are being preached while those who are acting as faithful watchmen, seeking to expose the man of sin with billboards, are being disfellowshipped.

“Our message is a life-and-death message, and we must let this message appear as it is—the great power of God. Then the Lord will make it effectual. We are to present it in all its telling force. The first and second angel’s messages are bound up with the third angel’s message. The power of the proclamation of the fist and second angel’s messages is to be concentrated in the third.” The Voice in Speech and Song, 329

“When men stand out in defiance against the counsel of God, they are warring against God. Is it right for those connected with such ones to treat them as if they were in perfect harmony with them, making no difference between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not? Though they be ministers or medical missionaries, they have dishonored Christ before the forces of the loyal and the disloyal. Open rebuke is necessary, to prevent others from being ensnared.” Testimonies for the Church Containing Letters to Physicians and Ministers Instruction to Seventh-day Adventists, 9

Today, God is calling eleventh hour workers to fill the ranks, to take the last message of mercy to a perishing world. “There are many souls to come out of the ranks of the world, out of the churches—even the Catholic Church—whose zeal will far exceed that of those who have stood in rank and file to proclaim the truth heretofore. For this reason the eleventh hour laborers will receive their penny. These will see the battle coming and will give the trumpet a certain sound. When the crisis is upon us, when the season of calamity shall come, they will come to the front, gird themselves with the whole armor of God, and exalt the law, adhere to the faith of Jesus, and maintain the cause of religious liberty which reformers defended with toil and for which they sacrificed their lives.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 387,388 They will receive eternal life because they went to the front, saw the enemy coming and rose up to battle—they were numbered with the cowardly and fearful.

When the Lord’s Day Alliance recently came out with a book, they praised the executive director what he had accomplished during his years of service. They said that he had made history for the Alliance when he spoke at Andrews University Theological Seminary in Berrien Springs, Michigan. In spite of the differences of opinion with reference to the Sabbath question, their leader explained, “We clapsed hands across these differences.” See The Great Controversy, 588.

From the Gleaner, May 17, 1993, part one of a five part series states: “We may have less to say in some lines in regards to the Roman power and the Papacy.” Quoting Ellen G. White, it continues, using quotations that emphasize the fact that we need to speak the truth in love. But I submit to you that to warn the world, giving the three angel’s messages in its entirety and exposing the man of sin, is love.

As I read: “Billboard derides Catholics, forgets to speak the truth in love,” I am concerned for my church. Then, when I read in the fourth part of the five part series in the Gleaner, July 12, 1993, “The Great Controversy: Taming the Strong Language: Such a practical approach to inspiration is not popular with some.” I find that this article concludes that Seventh-day Adventists might need to change the language of The Great Controversy. I asked myself, “Is Adventism making an image to the beast?”

The Adventist Review is now speaking up against the billboard campaign, but the thing that troubled me the most was a picture of a Roman Catholic nun, called the “cookie nun.” “Sister Jean Thuerauf, who, in an effort to get youngsters off the streets and away from gangs, started a bakery in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has earned the affectionate title of ‘Cookie Nun.’ Profits from Sister Jean’s Cookie Cart are used for scholarships so the youngsters can attend Catholic schools.” Why are we putting this in our magazine?

I received a letter in regard to the billboards from the Catholic Campus Ministry of the Ecumenical Affairs office. To support their position, they quoted from a book by George Vandeman, What I Like About….They are using our material to support the Catholic position. I am shocked at what I see.

I take no pleasure in speaking strongly, but I see our church beginning to blend with the rest of the ecumenical world. The Sacramento Bee came out with an article entitled: “Intolerance in America still a pattern of life for many.” “Intolerance in America, a billboard says, ‘And all the world wondered after the beast.’ When religion’s love is lost. Driven by fear, ignorance, fanatics sow seeds of violence.” Do you see the handwriting on the wall when it is considered intolerant in America to speak against Rome and the Papacy? The following is a part of that article.

“On a billboard along 16th Street about a month ago, high above the traffic, a faintly smiling caricature of John Paul II waved benignly to passing motorists.

“At first glance, the cartoon image of the pope might have appeared to be an advertisement for Catholicism, but a telephone call to the 800 number on the board provides a different picture. What callers received in the mail—after leaving their address—was a booklet that calls the pope the Antichrist or ‘the beast.’

“The pope is the satanic dictator who will send the world into misery and war before Jesus Christ’s second coming to save the faithful.

“To some, the billboard is an example of religious intolerance. To the billboard proponents, it is the truth.

“‘I am exercising religious liberty,’ said Danny Vierra, the Lodi man and former Catholic leading the billboard effort locally. ‘Protestant reformation was in harmony with what I am saying. The Papacy is the Antichrist.’

“He draws that conclusion, in part, because of what is inscribed on the pope’s miter, his tall ornamented cap, which carries the title Vicarius Filii Dei, Latin for Vicar of Christ.

“The booklet by author A. Jan Marcussen assigns roman numerals to the various letters in Vicarius Filii Dei….and gets 666.

“And in chapter 13, verse 18 of Revelations, the number is linked to the beast.

“Al Menendez an Episcopalian and research director for Americans for Religious Liberty in Silver Springs, Md., said the billboards—which have sprung up all over the West—are examples of religious intolerance.

“Intolerance need not be murderous. The Union of American Hebrew Congregations, representing 1.3 million reform Jews, denounce singer Sinead O’Conner for publicly defacing a photograph of the pope during a ‘Saturday Night Live’ television show.

“Roger Keller, a professor of world religion at Brigham Young University, said that there is continuous antipathy toward those who are different.

“Vierra, the ex-alter boy with the anti-papal billboards, said the doctors and business owners behind the billboards are not part of a hate group. He professed love for the Catholic people.

“‘Our goal is to get people to study the Word of God,’ he said. ‘We have had 500 phone calls. People have thanked us. They have ordered other books that expose the Papacy in detail.’

“Although the pope billboard was taken down, others have taken its place in other locations. The billboards have the ‘the phone ringing off the hook. The few calls we get against us say the pope is our holy father. The Bible says call no man father.’”

It is a sad day when Brigham Young University, the Episcopalian Church and the American Hebrew Congregations all speak out against the billboard, but shocking when officials of the Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Portland have said the ads do not represent the views of the church.

“With rapid steps we are approaching this period. When the Protestant churches shall unite with the secular power to sustain a false religion, for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution: when the state shall use its power to enforce the decrees and sustain the insututions of the church, –then will Protestant America have formed an image to the to the Papacy, and there will be national apostasy which will end only in national ruin.” Signs of the Times, March 22, 1910

“In the very time in which we live, the Lord has called His people and has given them a message to bear. He has called them to expose the wickedness of the man of sin who has made the Sunday law a distinctive power, who has thought to change times and laws, and to oppress the people of God who stand firmly to honor Him by keeping the only true Sabbath, the Sabbath of creation, as holy unto the Lord.” Evangelism, 705

“The Lord has a controversy with His professed people in these last days. In this controversy men in responsible positions will take a course directly opposite to that pursued by Nehemiah. [They will not be trying to repair the breach, will they?] They will not only ignore and despise the Sabbath themselves, but they will try to keep it from others by burying it beneath the rubbish of custom and tradition. In churches and in large gatherings in the open air, ministers will urge upon the people the necessity of keeping the first day of the week. There are calamities on sea and land: and other calamities will increase, one disaster following close upon another; and the little band of conscientious Sabbath-keepers will be pointed out as the ones who are bringing the wrath of God upon the world by their disregard of Sunday.” Review and Herald, March 18, 1884

As I see our church today speaking out, denying the message of those billboards—that the man of sin shall be revealed is the view of Seventh-day Adventism—and as I see Kenneth Cox professing that, “We really don’t believe that the pope is the Antichrist,” I am confused.
“I saw the nominal church and nominal Adventists, like Judas, would betray us to the Catholics to obtain their influence to come against the truth. The saints then will be an obscure people, little known to the Catholics; but the churches and nominal Adventists who know of our faith and customs (for they hated us on account of the Sabbath for they could not refute it) will betray the saints and report them to the Catholics as those who disregard the institutions of the people; that is, that they keep the Sabbath and disregard Sunday.” Spalding-Magan Collection, 1

Once a person starts working against God’s message as given by the three angels, anything is possible, because when there is not a love of the truth, the mind will very quickly move on to accept advanced delusions.

When I read in our church paper about the cookie nun, and when I see my brethren’s names being turned in to the archdiocese, I no longer am confused. “As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position, and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light.” The Great Controversy, 608

The Episcopalians, Brigham Young University, the Baptist Church, the Ecumenical Movement, Roman Catholicism and Seventh-day Adventists are all agreed in their assertion that the billboards are not speaking the truth in love.

“Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbath-keepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.” Ibid.

“When Christ saw in the Jewish people a nation divorced from God, he saw also a professed Christian church united to the world and the Papacy. And as He stood upon Mount Olivet, weeping over Jerusalem till the sun sank behind the western hill, so He is watching over and pleading with sinners in these last moments of time. Soon He will say to the angels who are holding the four winds, ‘Let the plagues loose; let darkness, destruction, and death come upon the transgressors of My law.’ Will He be obliged to say to those who have had great light and great knowledge, as He said to the Jews, ‘O that thou hadst known, even thou in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace. But now they are hid from thine eyes.’?” Kress Collection, 153. Who do you think is the people spoken of in this prophecy?

“All unite in heaping their bitterest condemnation upon the ministers. Unfaithful pastors have prophesied smooth messages;…Now, in their despair, these teachers confess before the world their work of deception. The multitudes are filled with fury. ‘We are lost!’ they cry, ‘and you are the cause of our ruin;’ and they turn upon the false shepherds….Now the angel of death goes forth, represented in Ezekiel’s vision by the men with the slaughtering weapons, to whom the command is given: ‘Slay utterly old and young, both maid, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.’ Says the prophet, ‘They began at the ancient men which were before the house.’ Ezekiel 9:1-6. The work of destruction begins among those who have professed to be the spiritual guardians of the people. The false watchmen are the first to fall. There are none to pity or to spare. Men, women, maidens, and little children perish together.” The Great Controversy, 655, 656

The End

Identification Mark

Many years ago I read a book that was authored by a man that was supposedly one of the most successful sales trainers conducting seminars in large cities of the United States. During one of his seminars, he recognized a salesman who attended every year. Inquiring about the company he worked for and if any other of his colleagues were in attendance he discovered that this man was the top producer in his company. The younger salesmen that were invited felt that the course dealt with elements that were too fundamental and they did not have time to waste on things they had already studied. It was only the successful salesman that saw the necessity in reviewing the basics at least once a year.

Successful Bible workers must also review from time to time what they really understand and believe about the Bible. Jesus talked about this in Matthew 13:52. He said, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” There are some people who only want to study about new things, failing to realize the importance of understanding those things that are basic and fundamental so that they will have them indelibly imprinted in their mind.

In this article we will consider five Bible facts.

  1. It is in this life before you die that whether you are saved or lost is determined. When a person dies, their position never changes. This fact is clear in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19–31.
  2. All who are alive in the final generation will worship either Christ or anti-christ. Revelation 13:8 reveals how many will worship anti-christ: “… all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” All who are not saved will worship the anti-christ. Revelation 14:12 says, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
  3. There are three chapters in the Bible that identify the anti-christ power. The word anti-christ comes from two Greek words, “anti” and “christos.” The primitive meaning of the word anti is somebody or something that stands in the place of somebody else. Later on in history it came to mean against. Although most people today believe this later meaning, anti-christ is someone that stands in the place of Christ. Also, the Latin word that means the same as the word anti is the word vicar. So a vicar of Christ is anti-christ. The three chapters in the Bible that explain in detail who the anti-christ power is are Daniel 7, 2 Thessalonians 2, and Revelation 13.
  4. In the last generation every person will be marked. However, not all receive the same mark. Some will be marked for destruction and others will be marked for everlasting life. Revelation 7:1–4 talks about God’s children receiving a mark of deliverance which is called the seal of God. However, many people will not receive this mark but a different seal or mark. The other mark is described in Revelation 13:16 and 17. It says, “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, 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 or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” In Revelation 14:9–12 the Lord says that if you receive this mark you will receive His wrath and suffer eternal separation from Him which is His judgment of condemnation.
  5. God raised up the second advent movement to prepare a people who would not receive the mark of the beast and who would live in a way that would prepare them to receive the seal of God.

To understand those last brief Bible points we first need to know who the beast is so we can avoid his mark. Then we need to understand what the seal of God is and how to receive it.

Who is this beast in Revelation 13 and 14? Revelation 13:1–10 gives a lengthy description of this beast. In fact, in just these 10 verses there are approximately 15 different descriptions or identifying marks of this beast or anti-christ. We know that it is an anti-christ because of what it says, “… then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven” (Revelation 13:6). This is an anti-christ power.

At the close of Revelation 13:2 it says, “… the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.” In the Greek language it says, “his throne.” In some English translations it says, “his seat,” which means his seat of government or his throne.

Revelation 12 tells us the dragon is the devil, but although the devil is the chief anti-christ, he works through appointed or selected human agencies just as God works in this world through appointed or selected agencies. You will see that it was the devil in Revelation 12:1–6 who used Herod, the Roman governor, in an attempt to destroy Jesus Christ when He was born. Herod sent forth his soldiers to go to the homes in Bethlehem and kill the children two years old and under. It is a most horrible story. This was not a work that God authorized. This was the work of the dragon using the pagan Roman Empire to do his dastardly work. So the pagan Roman Empire in a secondary sense is the dragon.

During the first 300 years of Christianity the pagan Roman Empire attempted to obliterate all Christians and it was a miracle that they did not succeed. The capital of the Roman Empire had moved to Constantinople and in A.D. 532, 533, Justinian, the Roman governor, appointed the bishop of Rome to be the head of all the churches and gave three months for all to submit to his authority or get out of the Empire and be stripped of all of their possessions.

There were Christians who refused to submit to the bishop of Rome and his religion. They fled, leaving all of their possessions behind so that they could practice their religion in the way they saw fit. Many Christians lost their lives attempting to flee. Their enemies called them Aryans.

First fact: One of the key identifying marks of the beast is to receive its power from the dragon. We have already identified that Justinian did the work of the dragon. The Bishop of Rome then received his throne, his seat of government, and great authority. Justinian put him over all Christendom, declaring that everybody had to do what he said.

Second fact: We know in Revelation 13 that this power was a religious power because to submit to it involved worship.

Third fact: It says, “… all the world worshiped this power” (verses 3, 4). In other words, it is a world-wide religion. There is not a country in the whole world where the Roman Catholic church is not present today including Moslem, Hindu, and atheist countries.

Fourth fact: This power would receive a deadly wound. This happened in 1798 when Napoleon captured the pope.

Fifth fact: Its deadly wound would be healed. That happened in the earlier part of the 20th century.

Sixth fact: This power would speak great things. Remember the word anti-christ means someone who stands in the place of Christ. This power has stated in public, official documents: “In this world we stand in the place of God Almighty.” “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” Pope Leo XIII Encyclical Letter, June 20, 1894.

Seventh fact: This power would continue for 42 months. It would make war with the saints and overcome them.

We will never know until the day of final judgment just how many people have been killed for religious reasons, not because they did anything wrong or transgressed any civil law, but simply because they refused to worship the way this power commanded them to worship God. The Society of Friends says that the number killed could be around 70 million, but it could have easily been many more. We do know of a few times when almost a million were killed, such as the massacre of Saint Bartholomew under Pope Innocent III. In one year the church was able to kill almost a million Waldenses.

Several years ago, it was my privilege to visit the headquarters of the Huguenots in southeastern France. The Huguenots were Protestants in the early days of the Protestant Reformation. There in the museum is recorded the history of the Huguenots and how they suffered at the hands of the church. In a 100-year period almost a million people were killed. That was just in France and did not include what happened in Italy, or England, and any other country. One Protestant historian made the statement: “The fact that the Church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed among mankind, will be questioned by no Protestant who has a competent knowledge of history.” History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, Volume II, p. 32. Unfortunately, most people today do not have that knowledge of history.

The description of anti-christ continues in Revelation 13, stating that this power would receive authority over every tribe, tongue, and nation (verse 7), that all who dwell on the earth would worship him (verse 8), and that he who leads into captivity will go into captivity (verse 10). This latter event occurred in 1798 when the pope was led into captivity by the French. He died in Valence, France, in 1799.

There are a few other identifying marks in Revelation 13 not covered here, as a thorough reading of the chapter will reveal. However, it is not enough to know who the beast and anti-christ are; we must also know what constitutes the mark of the beast, mentioned in Revelation 13 and 14.

The basic principle of the Protestant was, “In religious matters we stick to the Bible and the Bible only.” One writer said, “The Bible and the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants.” William Chillingworth, 1602–1644.

This saying hit the papacy like a bomb. It was in a desperate situation because millions of people were leaving the Roman Catholic church. There were even some of their theologians who said, “We (the Catholic church) need to get back to the Bible and the Bible only.”

This caused a debate amongst the theologians, some of whom wanted to get back to the Bible and others who insisted that they hold on to their tradition. A council was convened to decide what to do about the Protestants, resulting in what is recorded in history as the Council of Trent. It was the lengthiest council ever held by the church. It did not meet continuously but lasted for 18 years, from 1545 to 1563. Protestantism at that time was a serious threat to the church.

A decision was finally made when, on the 18th of January, 1563, the Council of Trent ruled that tradition takes precedence over Scripture. A powerful speech was made by one of the arch-bishops in which he maintained that the fact that the church had changed the fourth commandment clearly proved that tradition was greater than Scripture. That was the argument: tradition was more important than God’s word.

During that time there were a number of famous debates or disputes between the Protestants and the Catholics. Martin Luther was a powerful debater however, there was one debate with Dr. Ek that he lost. Dr. Ek said, “If … the church has had power to change the Sabbath of the Bible into Sunday and to command Sunday-keeping, why should it not also have this power concerning other days, many of which are based on the Scriptures—such as Christmas, circumcision of the heart, three kings, etc. If you omit the latter, and turn from the church to the Scriptures alone, then you must keep the Sabbath with the Jews, which has been kept from the beginning of the world.” Dr. Eck’s Enchiridion, 1533, pp. 78, 79.

Martin Luther lost the debate. He could not answer that question because he was not a Sabbath keeper. The church claims that it was by her own authority that Rome changed the Sabbath. Her argument is that Protestants who say they adhere to the Bible and the Bible only are in error when they observe Sunday. The Catholic Church alone is responsible for Sunday observance.

The Augsburg confession, a Lutheran document written about 1530, acknowledges the following: “They [Roman Catholics] refer to the Sabbath Day, as having been changed into the Lord’s Day, contrary to the Decalogue, as it seems. Neither is there any example whereof they make more than concerning the changing of Sabbath Day. Great, say they, is the power of the Church, since it has dispensed with one of the Ten Commandments.” Augsburg Confession of Faith art. 28; written by Melanchthon, approved by Martin Luther, 1530; as published in The Book of Concord of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Many people do not understand the significance of the change of day but it is so important to the papacy that in the great hour of her crisis, the change of the Sabbath to Sunday was the deciding factor that determined which way the Catholic church would go. The Augsburg confession makes it clear that no example is held up so high by Catholics, so forcefully pointed to by them, as the change of the Sabbath. This fact has appeared in Roman Catholic publications over and over ever since that time. For example, in 1856, a Roman Catholic publication said, “The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the Ten Commandments. You believe that the other nine are still binding. Who gave you (the Protestants) the authority to tamper with the fourth?” Library of Christian Doctrine: Why Don’t You Keep Holy the Sabbath-Day? (London: Burns and Oates, Ltd.), pp. 3, 4. Good question!

A Roman Catholic document in 1868 said, “It was the Catholic church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday. … Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church.” Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, by Mgr. Louis Segur, 1868, p. 213.

A Roman Catholic spokesperson wrote the following in 1903: “It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic church and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic church.” Priest Brady, in an address, reported in the Elizabeth, NJ ‘News’ on March 18, 1903.

The Catholic catechism, which is used for education, said the following in 1876:

Question – “Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?”

Answer – “Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all other religionists agree with her. She could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.” Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism 3rd ed., p. 174.

Around the turn of the 19th century, Cardinal Gibbons, who was head of the Catholic church in the United States, had a chancellor who was responsible for answering letters on his behalf. In a letter sent in 1895, he was asked whether the act of changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday was recognized by Rome as a mark of power. On October 28, 1895, this was his reply:

“Of course the Catholic church claims that the change (from Sabbath to Sunday) was her act and is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.”

The Bible agrees that this is the mark of her authority. Daniel 7:25 states that this would be the mark of authority of anti-christ. Under the symbol of the little horn it says, “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and laws. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.”

Notice it says, “he shall intend.” He tries to change a law that actually cannot be changed. We are not talking about human laws. The papacy has changed human laws so many times that they probably could never be counted, but he intends to change a law that actually cannot be changed. In Revelation 13:15–17 you will see a great crisis is coming upon our world, where there will be an attempt to force everyone alive to accept this mark of authority. To accept it would be a mark of submission to the power that changed the day of worship—the papacy. To force everybody to accept that mark, a law must be made to worship on Sunday.

Revelation 13:16, last part, describes two places where this mark can be received—in the forehead or in the hand. In fulfillment of this prophecy, every nation in the world will pass a Sunday law. The only people who do not receive the mark will be those who receive the seal of God. Revelation 13:8 says that all whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are going to worship this power. Romans 6:16 tells us how people will be submitting to this power: It says, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” When put into place, the Sunday law is going to divide the whole world into two classes—those who obey God and those who do not. Whom do you obey?

After the law is passed, pressure will be put on the people to obey it. Revelation 13:16, 17 says that unless you submit, you will not be able to buy or sell. During the Second World War when rationing was in force, God’s people thought they understood a little of how the government could prevent a person from buying and selling, but that was nothing compared with what is possible today. Today, many things cannot be purchased without showing a card, whether it is a driver’s license, or a credit card for identification. Cards can be scanned instantly into a central computer and if your name is flagged you will not be able to buy a thing. Many people will fold from their commitment under such a test. They may not believe it at all but will compromise in order to be able to continue buying and selling.

But the Lord states in His word that by accepting this mark, you are living in violation of His Law. And if you do accept this mark, you are also going to accept something from Him. That is written in Revelation 14:9–12 where it says, if you receive this mark, you are going to receive of God’s wrath. People are not yet receiving the mark today because the law has not yet been passed. But the time is coming when religious laws will be made in America. Other countries will follow suit. When there is an attempt made to force people to accept this mark and they understand the truth about the third angel’s message, then all must decide whom they will serve.

Those who accept the third angel’s message are described in Revelation 14:12: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” The one that you worship is the one to whom you submit and obey. By submitting to the beast power and receiving this mark, you cast a special dishonor upon your Creator.

The whole theme from Revelation 13 to the end of the book of Revelation is the seal of God versus the mark of the beast. What you receive determines your destiny. Will you receive the mark of the beast or the seal of God? This is important enough that it forms the major theme of the last half of the book of Revelation, which describes the end-time scenes of our world’s history. Those that accept the mark of the beast will be in the great majority.

Revelation 12:17 says, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the remnant (offspring) of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (literal translation). It continues in Revelation 13:1 where John saw the dragon, a symbol for the mass of the world’s population rising out of the sea. Those that keep the commandments of God are described as a remnant, or the rest of her offspring. Revelation 15:2, 3 describes the people who receive the seal of God. It says: “… I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. …” These are the people that are saved. They are protected and secure, acknowledged by all heaven that they do not belong to this world but the heavenly kingdom, part of the kingdom of Christ. When Jesus comes back they will be taken out of this world and be with Him.

In speaking of Abraham in Romans 4:11, it says: “… he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also.” Notice, he received a sign, which is also called a seal. The words are interchangeable.

God also has a seal. The Sabbath is God’s sign or seal. This was told to God’s people clear back when the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt. “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord Who sanctifies you.’ ” Exodus 31:13. This seal sets you apart and makes you holy.

Verse 17 says, “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” The Sabbath is called God’s sign. It identifies His people. Ezekiel 20:12 says, “Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord Who sanctifies them.” Verse 20 says, “Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and You, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.”

There is a misunderstanding that God’s seal is the Holy Spirit. The New Testament teaches that you are sealed by the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit is not the seal. God’s seal or sign is the Sabbath. God’s people are those that keep His commandments and have the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12). Revelation 12:17 says the same thing. God’s people in the last days are the people that keep His commandments. They could not be thus described if they break one.

James says in James 2:10 that if you keep the whole law and offend in one you are guilty of all. The ten commandments are not ten laws but just one law with ten parts. If you break any one of them you are a commandment breaker. This is spelled out in James 2:10–12. People with a shallow understanding have interpreted James as saying if you keep the Sabbath you will receive the seal of God. Exodus 20:8 starts out by saying, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy …” Can you keep the Sabbath holy while living a wicked life contrary to the other commandments? No. You cannot keep the Sabbath holy unless you are holy.

The ten commandments are God’s definition of holiness and a holy person is one who is in harmony with the commandments.

Many people say it is just a day but it is a day that determines whose side of the great controversy you are on. All must come to a decision. Are you on God’s side?

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 17

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 17 – The Mark of the Beast and the United States’ Role in Bible Prophecy

Revelation 13 begins with a description of a beast rising out of the sea. The first thing we notice about this beast is that it is a composite beast: it “was like unto a leopard , and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion : and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” It is referred to as the leopard- bodied beast, which we have already seen to be the Roman Papacy. The four beasts used to make up the composite beast are the same four beasts, —which symbolized Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome —that Daniel saw in vision in Daniel 7 . As a matter of record, papal Rome inherited from each of these pagan empires some of their basic identifying characteristics that we still see being practiced in this contemporary false system of religion— the Roman Catholic Church. From Babylon, the papacy inherited a pagan priesthood; from Medo-Persia, sun worship; from Greece, human philosophies; and from the dragon, Pagan Rome, its power, seat and great authority [Pagan Rome even gave the high priest’s title—“ Pontifex Maximus,” usurped by the Caesars— to the papacy, as well as Latin, formerly the language of pagan Rome and even till this day the official language of the papal seat of power]. It is, then, accurately and appropriately, depicted as “a beast rising out of the sea [or populated areas (See Rev. 17: 15)]” that has borrowed parts, or characteristics, of other beasts or kingdoms. (See Daniel 7: 23). Since it is the first of two beasts to appear in this chapter, the Roman papacy is referred to as the first beast of Revelation, chapter 13.

But, “says the prophet: ‘I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb. ’ Verse 11. Both the appearance of this beast and the manner of its rise indicate that the nation which it represents is unlike those presented under the preceding symbols. The great kingdoms that have ruled the world were presented to the prophet Daniel as beasts of prey, rising when ‘the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. ’ Daniel 7: 2. In Revelation 17 an angel explained that waters represent ‘peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. ’ Revelation 17: 15. Winds are a symbol of strife. The four winds of heaven striving upon the great sea represent the terrible scenes of conquest and revolution by which kingdoms have attained to power.

“But the beast with lamblike horns was seen ‘coming up out of the earth. ’ Instead of overthrowing other powers to establish itself, the nation thus represented must arise in territory previously unoccupied and grow up gradually and peacefully. It could not, then, arise among the crowded and struggling nationalities of the Old World— that turbulent sea of ‘peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. ’ It must be sought in the Western Continent.

“What nation of the New World was in 1798 [the end of the 1260- year prophecy] rising into power, giving promise of strength and greatness, and attracting the attention of the world? The application of the symbol admits of no question. One nation, and only one, meets the specifications of this prophecy; it points unmistakably to the United States of America . Again and again the thought, almost the exact words, of the sacred writer has been unconsciously employed by the orator and the historian in describing the rise and growth of this nation. The beast was seen ‘coming up out of the earth; ’ and, according to the translators, the word here rendered ‘coming up’ literally signifies ‘to grow or spring up as a plant. ’ And, as we have seen, the nation must arise in territory previously unoccupied. A prominent writer, describing the rise of the United States, speaks of ‘the mystery of her coming forth from vacancy, ’ and says: ‘Like a silent seed we grew into empire. ’— G. A. Townsend, The New World Compared With the Old, page 462. A European journal in 1850 spoke of the United States as a wonderful empire, which was ‘emerging, ’ and ‘amid the silence of the earth daily adding to its power and pride. ’— The Dublin Nation….

“‘And he had two horns like a lamb. ’ The lamblike horns indicate youth, innocence, and gentleness, fitly representing the character of the United States when presented to the prophets as ‘coming up’ in 1798. Among the Christian exiles who first fled to America and sought an asylum from royal oppression and priestly intolerance were many who determined to establish a government upon the broad foundation of civil and religious liberty. Their views found place in the Declaration of Independence, which sets forth the great truth that ‘all men are created equal’ and endowed with the inalienable right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ’ And the Constitution guarantees to the people the right of self- government, providing that representatives elected by the popular vote shall enact and administer the laws. Freedom of religious faith was also granted, every man being permitted to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. Republicanism and Protestantism [the two horns of the lamb] became the fundamental principles of the nation . These principles are the secret of its power and prosperity. The oppressed and downtrodden throughout Christendom have turned to this land with interest and hope. Millions have sought its shores, and the United States has risen to a place among the most powerful nations of the earth.

“But the beast with lamblike horns ‘spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed;… saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. ’ Revelation 13: 11- 14.

“The lamblike horns and dragon voice of the symbol point to a striking contradiction between the professions and the practice of the nation thus represented. The ‘speaking’ of the nation is the action of its legislative and judicial authorities. By such action it will give the lie to those liberal and peaceful principles which it has put forth as the foundation of its policy. The prediction that it will speak ‘as a dragon’ and exercise ‘all the power of the first beast’ plainly foretells a development of the spirit of intolerance and persecution that was manifested by the nations represented by the dragon and the leopardlike beast. And the statement that the beast with two horns ‘causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast’ indicates that the authority of this nation is to be exercised in enforcing some observance which shall be an act of homage to the papacy.

“Such action would be directly contrary to the principles of this government, to the genius of its free institutions, to the direct and solemn avowals of the Declaration of Independence, and to the Constitution. The founders of the nation wisely sought to guard against the employment of secular power on the part of the church, with its inevitable result— intolerance and persecution. The Constitution provides that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, ’ and that ‘no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under the United States. ’ Only in flagrant violation of these safeguards to the nation’s liberty, can any religious observance be enforced by civil authority. But the inconsistency of such action is no greater than is represented in the symbol. It is the beast with lamblike horns— in profession pure, gentle, and harmless— that speaks as a dragon.

“‘Saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast. ’ Here is clearly presented a form of government in which the legislative power rests with the people, a most striking evidence that the United States is the nation denoted in the prophecy.

“But what is the ‘image to the beast’? and how is it to be formed? The image is made by the two- horned beast, and is an image to the beast. It is also called an image of the beast. Then to learn what the image is like and how it is to be formed we must study the characteristics of the beast itself— the papacy.

“When the early church became corrupted by departing from the simplicity of the gospel and accepting heathen rites and customs, she lost the Spirit and power of God; and in order to control the consciences of the people, she sought the support of the secular power. The result was the papacy , a church that controlled the power of the state and employed it to further her own ends, especially for the punishment of ‘heresy. ’ In order for the United States to form an image of the beast, the religious power must so control the civil government that the authority of the state will also be employed by the church to accomplish her own ends.

“Whenever the church has obtained secular power, she has employed it to punish dissent from her doctrines. Protestant churches that have followed in the steps of Rome by forming alliance with worldly powers have manifested a similar desire to restrict liberty of conscience. An example of this is given in the long- continued persecution of dissenters by the Church of England. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, thousands of nonconformist ministers were forced to flee from their churches, and many, both of pastors and people, were subjected to fine, imprisonment, torture, and martyrdom.

“It was apostasy that led the early church to seek the aid of the civil government, and this prepared the way for the development of the papacy— the beast. Said Paul: ‘There’ shall ‘come a falling away,… and that man of sin be revealed. ’ 2 Thessalonians 2: 3. So apostasy in the church will prepare the way for the image to the beast.

“The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord there will exist a state of religious declension similar to that in the first centuries. ‘In the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high- minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness , but denying the power thereof. ’ 2 Timothy 3: 1- 5. ‘Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils .’ 1 Timothy 4: 1. Satan will work ‘with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. ’ And all that ‘received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, ’ will be left to accept ‘strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. ’ 2 Thessalonians 2: 9- 11. When this state of ungodliness shall be reached, the same results will follow as in the first centuries.

“The wide diversity of belief in the Protestant churches is regarded by many as decisive proof that no effort to secure a forced uniformity can ever be made. But there has been for years, in churches of the Protestant faith, a strong and growing sentiment in favor of a union based upon common points of doctrine . To secure such a union, the discussion of subjects upon which all were not agreed— however important they might be from a Bible standpoint— must necessarily be waived .

“Charles Beecher, in a sermon in the year 1846, declared that the min- istry of ‘the evangelical Protestant denominations’ is ‘not only formed all the way up under a tremendous pressure of merely human fear, but they live, and move, and breathe in a state of things radically corrupt, and ap- pealing every hour to every baser element of their nature to hush up the truth, and bow the knee to the power of apostasy. Was not this the way things went with Rome? Are we not living her life over again? And what do we see just ahead? Another general council! A world’s convention [New World Order]! Evangelical alliance, and universal creed [One World Religion]! ’— Sermon on ‘The Bible a Sufficient Creed, ’ delivered at Fort Wayne, Indiana, Feb. 22, 1846. When this shall be gained, then, in the effort to secure complete uniformity, it will be only a step to the resort to force.

“When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common [remember Life maga- zine stated that Mary could be the one to unify the churches of America, and her crowning appearance may pull it off], shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.

“The beast with two horns ‘causeth [commands] all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. ’ Revelation 13: 16, 17. The third angel’s warning is: ‘If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. ’ ‘The beast’ mentioned in this message, whose worship is enforced by the twohorned beast, is the first, or leopardlike beast of Revelation 13— the papacy. The ‘image to the beast’ represents that form of apostate Protestantism which will be developed when the Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil power for the enforcement of their dogmas. The ‘mark of the beast’ still remains to be defined.

“After the warning against the worship of the beast and his image the prophecy declares: ‘Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. ’ Since those who keep God’s commandments are thus placed in contrast with those that worship the beast and his image and receive his mark, it follows that the keeping of God’s law, on the one hand, and its violation, on the other, will make the distinction between the worshipers of God and the worshipers of the beast.

“The special characteristic of the beast, and therefore of his image, is the breaking of God’s commandments. Says Daniel, of the little horn, the papacy: ‘He shall think to change times and the law. ’ Daniel 7: 25, R. V. And Paul styled the same power the ‘man of sin, ’ who was to exalt himself above God. One prophecy is a complement of the other. Only by changing God’s law could the papacy exalt itself above God; whoever should understandingly keep the law as thus changed would be giving supreme honor to that power by which the change was made. Such an act of obedience to papal laws would be a mark of allegiance to the pope in the place of God.

“The papacy has attempted to change the law of God. The second commandment, forbidding image worship , has been dropped from the law, and the fourth commandment has been so changed as to authorize the observance of the first instead of the seventh day as the Sabbath. But papists urge, as a reason for omitting the second commandment, that it is unnecessary, being included in the first, and that they are giving the law exactly as God designed it to be understood. This cannot be the change foretold by the prophet. An intentional, deliberate change is presented: ‘He shall think to change the times and the law. ’ The change in the fourth commandment exactly fulfills the prophecy. For this the only authority claimed is that of the church. Here the papal power openly sets itself above God. [Remember, according to ‘Papa II, ’ ‘The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man but of God. ’ Pure Blasphemy!]

“While the worshipers of God will be especially distinguished by their regard for the fourth commandment,— since this is the sign of His creative power and the witness to His claim upon man’s reverence and homage,— the worshipers of the beast will be distinguished by their efforts to tear down the Creator’s memorial, to exalt the institution of Rome . It was in behalf of the Sunday that popery first asserted its arrogant claims; and its first resort to the power of the state was to compel the observance of Sunday as ‘the Lord’s day. ’ But the Bible points to the seventh day, and not to the first, as the Lord’s day. Said Christ: ‘The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. ’ The fourth commandment declares: ‘The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord .’ And by the prophet Isaiah the Lord designates it: ‘My holy day. ’ Mark 2: 28; Isaiah 58.13.

“The claim so often put forth that Christ changed the Sabbath is disproved by His own words. In His Sermon on the Mount He said: ‘Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ’ Matthew 5: 17- 19.

“…. Roman Catholics acknowledge that the change of the Sabbath was made by their church, and declare that Protestants by observing the Sunday are recognizing her power. In the Catholic Catechism of Christian Religion, in answer to a question as to the day to be observed in obedience to the fourth commandment, this statement is made: ‘During the old law, Saturday was the day sanctified; but the church, instructed by Jesus Christ, and directed by the Spirit of God, has substituted Sunday for Saturday; so now we sanctify the first, not the seventh day. Sunday means, and now is, the day of the Lord. ’

“As the sign of the authority of the Catholic Church, papist writers cite ‘the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of;… because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin. ’— Henry Tuberville, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, page 58. What then is the change of the Sabbath, but the sign, or mark, of the authority of the Roman Church—‘ the mark of the beast’ ? [One Catholic authority put it this way: ‘Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act…. And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious things. ’ (Letter, written on November 11, 1895, by chancellor to Cardinal Gibbons in reply to the inquiry on whether or not the Catholic Church claims to have changed the Sabbath)].

“The Roman Church has not relinquished her claim to supremacy; and when the world and the Protestant churches accept a sabbath of her creating, while they reject the Bible Sabbath, they virtually admit this assumption. They may claim the authority of tradition and of the Fathers for the change; but in so doing they ignore the very principle which separates them from Rome— that ‘the Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants. ’ The papist can see that they are deceiving themselves, willingly closing their eyes to the facts in the case. As the movement for Sunday enforcement [a National Sunday Law to be set up first in the U. S. A.] gains favor, he rejoices, feeling assured that it will eventually bring the whole Protestant world under the banner of Rome.

“Romanists declare that ‘the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] Church. ’— Mgr. Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, page 213. The enforcement of Sundaykeeping on the part of Protestant churches is an enforcement of the worship of the papacy— of the beast. Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment, choose to observe the false instead of the true Sabbath are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded. But in the very act of enforcing a religious duty by secular power, the churches would themselves form an image to the beast; hence the enforcement of Sundaykeeping in the United States would be an enforcement of the worship of the beast and his image.

“But Christians of past generations observed the Sunday, supposing that in so doing they were keeping the Bible Sabbath; and there are now true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion, who honestly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath of divine appointment. God accepts their sincerity of purpose and their integrity before Him. But when Sunday observance shall be enforced by law , and the world shall be enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoever shall transgress the command of God, to obey a precept which has no higher authority than that of Rome, will thereby honor popery above God. He is paying homage to Rome and to the power which enforces the institution ordained by Rome. He is worshiping the beast and his image . As men then reject the institution which God has declared to be the sign of His authority, and honor in its stead that which Rome has chosen as the token of her supremacy, they will thereby accept the sign of allegiance to Rome—‘ the mark of the beast.’ And it is not until the issue is thus plainly set before the people, and they are brought to choose between the commandments of God and the commandments of men, that those who continue in transgression will receive ‘the mark of the beast. ’

“The most fearful threatening ever addressed to mortals is contained in the third angel’s message. That must be a terrible sin which calls down the wrath of God unmingled with mercy. Men are not to be left in darkness concerning this important matter; the warning against this sin is to be given to the world before the visitation of God’s judgments, that all may know why they are to be inflicted, and have opportunity to escape them. Prophecy declares that the first angel would make his announcement to ‘every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. ’ The warning of the third angel, which forms a part of the same threefold message, is to be no less widespread. It is represented in the prophecy as being proclaimed with a loud voice, by an angel flying in the midst of heaven; and it will command the attention of the world.

“In the issue of the contest all Christendom will be divided into two great classes— those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark. Although church and state will unite their power to compel ‘all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond’ (Revelation 13: 16), to receive ‘the mark of the beast, ’ yet the people of God will not receive it. The prophet of Patmos beholds ‘them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God’ and singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Revelation 15: 2, 3.” (The Great Controversy, pp. 439- 450).

Beware, dear friends, the prophecies you have just read will shortly come to pass, for the beast is making her move. On July 7, 1998, the Vatican released Pope John Paul II’s 104- page Apostolic Letter entitled Dies Domini— On Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy. The letter is a blatant attack on the Fourth Commandment, the Seventh- day Sabbath, and the Creator Himself! Point 67 of Dies Domini actually states: “Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy… Sunday must be sanctified.” On the same day, The Denver Post quoted Rome as saying: “A violator should be punished as a heretic.” Indeed, the end times are upon us!

Go to Chapter 18 ⇒

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries

The Two Marks

by Cody Francis

The Two MarksThe mark of the beast—it strikes terror into the hearts of all who hear it, and rightly so. The most fearful warning in all of the Bible is given against receiving the mark of the beast, but did you know that the mark of the beast is not the only mark recorded in Revelation? There are actually two marks, and your destiny hinges upon which mark you receive. There is so much said about the mark of the beast, but the more important of the two marks is God’s mark—the seal of the Living God. Do you know the difference between these two marks? Do you know which one you will have? Do you know how you can be certain to have God’s mark and not the beast’s mark? The only way that you will be able to know the answers to these most important questions is through the Word of God. What does the Bible say about this life and death question, the two marks?

There have always been two marks in the Word of God—a mark upon the righteous and a mark upon the disobedient. The concept of two marks goes all the way back to Cain and Abel. When Cain became angry and slew Abel, the Lord put a mark upon him. This mark was not a desirable mark, but it was still a mark that was put upon rebellious Cain. “And the Lord said to him, ‘Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.’ And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.” Genesis 4:15. Just a few years outside of the Garden of Eden, a mark is placed upon disobedient Cain. This was not God’s mark, marking one of His faithful and true children, but this was the mark of a murderer. It was a mark of transgression against God’s law. The idea of a mark is not something new to the book of Revelation; it starts in Genesis and continues throughout the entire Bible.

A mark upon both the righteous and the wicked and the fate of each is clearly portrayed in the story of the exodus from Egypt. This account of the children of Israel being delivered from Egypt is the very story that the latter scenes of Revelation are based upon. There are the two groups of people—those who were following and obeying God and those who were following the customs and traditions of men. The children of Israel had a sign or mark of deliverance upon their houses, so that the angel of death would pass by. “For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.” Exodus 12:23. Thus it was for the people of God. For those who followed and obeyed the directions of the Lord, they were preserved from the destroying angel. But it was only those who had God’s mark of deliverance that were saved. If there were any of the children of Israel who did not have God’s mark, they were not protected, but rather their firstborn perished with the disobedient. The Egyptians also had a mark, but this mark did not save them, it marked their destruction. “And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock.” Exodus 12:29. It was a mark of death. Why did they have this mark of death? It was because they did not receive God’s mark of deliverance. All who refuse or neglect God’s mark of protection will receive the mark of death as the Egyptians did. It was not that the Egyptians did not know. They knew. Moses and Aaron had faithfully warned Pharaoh and the news had trickled down the to the ear of the lowliest servant. There were even those who had joined the Israelites and had been preserved, and these individuals became a part of the “mixed multitude.” Exodus 12:38. There were two marks then, and there are two marks now.

As marks are a symbol that is used throughout the Scriptures, it becomes the climax and the focal point of the book of Revelation. Just as in the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt there were two marks, so in the final deliverance of God’s people from this wicked world there will be two distinct marks. There will be the mark of disobedience that the Egyptians had, and there will be the mark of deliverance that God’s true people will have. “Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘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, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.’” Revelation 14:9, 10. The same mark of disobedience that both Cain and the Egyptians received, in the last days is called “the mark of the beast,” and the results will be the same as in Egypt. In Egypt, it was death to the firstborn, in the last scenes of this earth’s history it will be death to all who receive this dreadful mark. The mark of the beast is not the only mark; there is the seal of the living God. “Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.’” Revelation 7:2, 3. Those who receive the mark of the beast receive the most awful judgments ever threatened upon mankind, but those who have the seal of the living God are miraculously preserved from the terrible judgments that devastate this world. “They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” Revelation 9:4. If you did not understand the difference between God’s seal of protection and the devil’s mark of destruction during the plagues of Egypt, you would have received the mark of destruction and been lost. So today, if we do not understand this most important topic of the two marks, we will inevitably be lost. The world is going to be brought to a choice just as the country of Egypt was brought to a choice. Who will you serve? Then only the country of Egypt was affected, but today it will be the whole world. (See Revelation 13:3.) Everyone will be brought to a choice—which mark will you receive? There are only two; it will be one or the other.

God’s Mark

It is important to note that marks are usually symbolic. “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.” Psalm 37:37. The Lord had given direction to mark the perfect man. This mark was not a literal brand that he received, but a mark of character. Marks are usually symbolic, and this is certainly true with God’s mark. It is a mark of character, a mark of the heart. The Lord looks deeper than man does. Man is always looking to externals, but God does not look at the external appearances, God’s eyes pierce into the very depths and intents of the heart and soul. “And the Lord said to him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.’” Ezekiel 9:4. The Lord commands one of the angels to put a mark upon the men who are sighing and crying for the abominations. This mark is put on by an angel, not by a man. This mark is read by angels, not by men. This mark is marking “the perfect man.” It is a mark of character; not a literal brand burned into the forehead. God’s mark of deliverance is a symbolic mark.

“Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always…. Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess… And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul… Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” Deuteronomy 11:1, 8, 13, 18. The Lord says exactly what His sign or mark is. It is obedience to God’s Ten Commandments. Clearly not a literal mark, but a mark of character. Just like David said, “mark the perfect man” (See Psalm 37:37) so he also says, “The law of the Lord is perfect,” Psalm 19:7. James also agrees calling the Ten Commandments, “the perfect law of liberty.” James 1:25; 2:11. In order to be marked as a perfect man, you must be keeping that perfect law of liberty, or the Ten Commandments. It is obedience to this holy law that is a sign on our hands and upon our foreheads that we are God’s people. God looks deeper than mere external ornaments; He looks into the heart to see if a person is living in obedience to the holy Ten-Commandment law. If an individual is obeying the law of liberty, God knows that He can trust him, and so He puts his mark or seal upon him. “It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.” Exodus 13:9. Even in the children of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, they knew that the mark of deliverance was obedience to God’s Ten-Commandment law.

God’s mark of deliverance is obedience to His Law. It is a sign upon the hand and on the forehead. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day took this completely literal. They tied portions of the law around their head and on their hands so that they would have that actual sign, but Jesus rebuked them for relying upon the external requirements and not allowing the real meaning to occur. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:27, 28. Jesus sternly rebuked those who fulfilled the letter of the law, but not the spirit. They hung God’s mark on the outside, but inside they were not keeping it. Jesus said that even though they hung these portions of the law upon them, they were lawless. Simply hanging the sign on the outside is not God’s true mark. God’s true mark is having His law in our forehead and in our hand. The forehead is where our thought process occurs. God wants His law, not on the outside, but inside our forehead. He wants His law in our thoughts and in our minds. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly… but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:1, 2. Those who have God’s mark in their foreheads are the ones who think upon God’s law. By having God’s mark on the hand is represented actually doing God’s Law. With our hands we work and do all of our actions. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,” Ecclesiastes 9:10. So those who not just think about the Law, but who do it, are the ones who receive God’s true mark of deliverance. “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14. Those who think and meditate upon God’s Law with their minds and who do His commandments with their hands have God’s mark of deliverance.

Obedience to God’s holy Law is what has continually distinguished between the children of God and the children of this world. With Cain and Abel this difference is seen, and prophecy teaches that it will be the distinguishing mark in the future, as well. Abel obeyed the Lord by following His directions, while Cain did what he wanted and not what God had said. As a result of Cain’s disobedience, the Lord said, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.” Genesis 4:7. Cain disobeyed and his children followed his lawless example. Thus, there were the descendants of Cain and the descendants of Seth, those who disobeyed and those who obeyed. The distinguishing mark continues through Abraham’s time. “Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:5. Abraham obeyed God’s commandments and was honored for His obedience. Through all time, obedience to God’s Law has been the mark that divides God’s true people from His disloyal subjects. Especially in our time, at the close of this earth’s history, God’s Law becomes a distinguishing mark. “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. The very last remnant of God’s people is described again as obedient to the commandments. Clear to the close of time this mark of obedience is in affect. Obedience to God’s commandments is a line of demarcation distinguishing between those who are truly following Jesus and those who are not.

God’s Sign or Seal

Obedience to God’s Holy Law is what has marked God’s people from the very beginning, but there is a special part of God’s Law that is designated as His special sign or seal of obedience. It is this seal that God’s last day people receive. “After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.’ And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:” Revelation 7:1-4. The children of Israel represent God’s faithful people in the last days just as they have represented God’s faithful people from the beginning of time. (Romans 2:28, 29; Galatians 3:7, 9, 14, 26-29; Ephesians 2:12-16; James 1:1) Simply stated, the one hundred and forty-four thousand are God’s faithful people at the end of time. (For more information see Steps to Life’s booklet, The Rapture and Israel’s Future.) They receive the seal of the living God in their foreheads. While obedience to the commandments is the mark that distinguishes God’s faithful people, what is the special seal? The Bible does say that there is a seal within the Ten Commandments. “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.” Isaiah 8:16.

A seal was something that was very common to all of the Biblical writers, for it was something that was repeatedly used in ancient times. In order for a king to make a law, he would have the law written and then put his seal upon the Law so that all would know that he had indeed signed it into law. It was like putting his signature or fingerprint upon it. When his subjects saw the seal, all knew that they had to obey it and that it was an authentic seal. Frequently this seal was a signet ring or a cylinder. “‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off;’” Jeremiah 22:24, margin. In order to be an authentic seal, it needed to have three essential elements—name, title and dominion. An example of a seal is found in Daniel 4:1, “Nebuchadnezzar, the king, to all peoples, nations and languages that dwell in all the earth:” Nebuchadnezzar is writing an official decree to his subjects and he begins it with his seal. It has his name—“Nebuchadnezzar.” It contains his title—“the king.” It has his dominion—“all peoples, nations, and languages.” Nebuchadnezzar was the king of the entire world. Thus when people read the official document they would see Nebuchadnezzar’s seal containing his name, title and dominion. They would know that this was something that they needed to heed. Another example of a seal is given in Ezra 7:12, 13, 21, “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of heaven: Perfect peace, and so forth. I issue a decree that all those of the people of Israel and the priests and Levites in my realm, who volunteer to go up to Jerusalem may go with you…. And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, do issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the region beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, let it be done diligently.” Once again the three essential elements to a seal are seen—Artaxerxes, king of kings, and people of Israel and those beyond the River. This was a specialized law that only applied to the children of Israel and to those beyond the river, but it shows again the three essential parts to any seal—the name, title, and dominion.

God as the true king and ruler of this world also has a seal. This seal can be seen several places in the Bible, so that we can know that God has put His official seal upon His Holy Word. The first place that this seal appears is the very first verse in the Bible. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1. Notice that there are the three essential elements in this verse. The Lord’s name—“God.” His title—“created.” He is the creator and that is why He has the right to give us a Book of Directions, the Bible. His dominion—“heavens and the earth.” In the very first verse in the Bible, God stamps His seal upon it, by giving His name, title and dominion. The very first verse of the Bible contains the seal of God, showing that the entire Bible is His Word to us. God’s seal is also in the last book of the Bible. “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’” Revelation 14:6, 7. God records the last worldwide messages that are to go to the entire world, and in the midst of it He stamps His seal. His name—God. His title—Creator, for he made heaven and earth. His dominion—heaven and earth and sea. This last message that is to go to all the world bears God’s stamp and seal showing that it is His message.

“Seal the law among my disciples.” Isaiah 8:16. There are several places where God’s seal is seen, but the focal point must be in the law, for His Law must be sealed. While the entire Bible is God’s Book, the Law is the most official document ever given and to be valid must contain His seal. If the seal was broken or missing on an earthly king’s law, it was known that the law did not need to be honored, for it was a counterfeit. So if the seal is taken out of God’s Law then the entire Law becomes void. What is the seal in the Law? “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11. There is only one commandment in the entire Law that contains the essential elements to a seal. It is the Sabbath commandment. In verse 10, is found the Lord’s name—the Lord your God. In verse 11, is seen the Lord’s title—the Creator, for he made the heaven and the earth. In the same verse is also seen the Lord’s dominion—the heavens and the earth and the sea. The fourth commandment is the only commandment that contains God’s seal. It is the fourth commandment that binds up the testimony and seals the Law. (See Isaiah 8:16.) The seventh day Sabbath is the seal of the Living God.

“Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.” Ezekiel 20:20. The Lord has said that the Sabbath is the sign between God and His people. It is the sign that clearly distinguishes them from the world, but more than this is meant by this verse. Sign and seal are synonymous terms is the Scriptures. The very fact that the seal was frequently applied with a signet (signing) ring testifies to this fact. There is a verse showing this without a doubt, “and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised,” Romans 4:11. The sign of circumcision was the seal of righteousness by faith. Sign and seal are used interchangeably. Thus, when the Lord says that the Sabbath is a sign, He is saying that the Sabbath is His seal! “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is sign [seal] between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you…. It is a sign [seal] between Me and the children of Israel [God’s people throughout all time, Hebrews 4:9] forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” “Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign [seal] between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” Exodus 31:13, 17; Ezekiel 20:12. The seventh day Sabbath is the seal of the Living God!

While obedience to the entire Law is a distinguishing mark between the people of God and children of the devil, the Sabbath commandment is the specially designated sign, or seal, that marks them as His people. While the entire world is willfully violating the fourth commandment of keeping holy the seventh day as the Sabbath, God will have a people who receive His seal in their foreheads. (Revelation 7:3.) He will have a people who will keep the Sabbath no matter what the rest of the world is doing. Prophecy has predicted that almost the entire world would bow down and worship the beast in the last days. “I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.” Revelation 13:3. But God’s people will stand up against the prevailing tide of lawlessness just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego did twenty-five hundred years ago. They will “call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words.” Isaiah 58:13. Although the entire world is breaking the Sabbath by worshipping on the first day of the week (Sunday) instead of the seventh day of the week (Saturday), they will hold fast to “the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. Because they keep holy God’s seventh day Sabbath and refuse to break God’s Holy Law, they are sealed by the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 4:30.) They have the seal of God (the keeping of the seventh day Sabbath) and are preserved from the threatened judgments. The Devil’s Mark

The devil attempts to counterfeit everything that God has done. There are numerous examples of this and many pages could be written on this topic; but it is sufficient to say that he is “a liar and the father of it.” John 8:44. He is the biggest copycat the world has ever known, and he has counterfeited God’s true mark, as well. He has set up a mark that is as close to the true as possible, but is just far enough off to deceive millions into being lost. “Then a third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, ‘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, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 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.’ Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:9-12. The devil’s mark is referred to throughout the book of Revelation as the “mark of the beast.” As we have previously noted, God’s mark is a mark of character and not a literal brand. It only makes sense that the mark of the beast would be the same. “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” I Samuel 16:7. Man always looks to the outside. The nicest house, the nicest car, the nicest clothes, but forgets the inward adornment of the heart. It is the same way with the mark of the beast. Man thinks of a brand, a computer chip, a credit card, but these are outward appearances. God does not look at the outward appearance. God’s mark is not an outward sign or seal; it is a decision of the heart and mind. Since the devil has counterfeited God’s mark, he has not counterfeited it as an outward sign, but as a decision of the heart. (The devil may use some of these outward signs, but it is not the Biblical mark of the beast.)

There is another way that we know for sure that the mark of the beast cannot be some outward sign. We know that whoever receives the mark of the beast will be lost—bar none. There are no exceptions to the Loud Cry of the Third Angel. This has led many mothers to ask me a question, “What if my child is too young to understand and they are forced to receive the mark of the beast?” This would indeed be a problem if the mark of the beast were an outward sign. A person could be physically forced to receive a sign that they did not want, and then would be arbitrarily lost. Does that sound like a God of love and mercy to you? Absolutely not! But the mark of the beast is not an external sign that someone can be forced to receive. It is a decision of the heart, just like the mark of God is a decision of the heart. No one can force another person to make a decision. They may coerce, but they cannot force you, or anyone else, to make a choice. God gives all a choice. The mark of the beast, like every other sin, is a choice. (I John 3:4; James 4:17.) It is a decision that each person must make; it is not a brand, computer chip, or a card.

The Beast’s Mark

Some individuals have mistakenly gotten the idea that the mark of the beast is 666. It is true that 666 is the number of the beast (see Revelation 13:18), but the number and the mark are not synonymous. “And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over the mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” Revelation 15:2. There are four distinct things that the people of God are going to be victorious over, the beast, his image, his mark, and his number. Obviously, from this verse we can see that the mark and the number are two different things. What we are concerned with is his mark. What is it and how can it be avoided?

There are three basic descriptions of the beast power. They are found in Revelation 13, II Thessalonians 2, and Daniel 7. A different aspect of this power is given in each of these passages, but they are similar enough to know that it is the same power that is being described. There is one mark that is continuous through all three. It is the most blasphemous and presumptuous mark of all. This continuous thread is that the beast power is lawless. “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.” Daniel 7:25. Under the symbol of the little horn, the beast power is described. There are over ten points in this chapter alone that conclusively identify who this power is, but the most blasphemous of all is that he intends to change times and law. This power exalts himself so much above God that he intentionally claims to change God’s holy Law. Of course, he could not really change God’s Law for the Bible says, “I am the Lord, I do not change;” Malachi 3:6. God’s Law cannot really be changed for it is a transcript of God’s very own character, and He does not change. Jesus said, “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.” Luke 16:17. It would be more likely that both heaven and earth would melt away than for the smallest part of God’s Law to be done away with, but this is exactly what this bold and blasphemous Little Horn does. He is indeed a lawless power. Notice that in Revelation this power is guilty of breaking the first commandment, “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’” Revelation 13:4. The beast is worshiped as God; thus, breaking not only the first, but the second commandment as well. He puts himself in the place of God and sets himself up as an idol to be worshiped. His ruthless violation of God’s law does not stop here, though. “Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue and nation.” Revelation 13:6, 7. He breaks the third commandment by blaspheming God’s name and is guilty of breaking the sixth commandment by making war with God’s true people. Truly this is a lawless power. The mark of the beast is most clearly described by Paul, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition… 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. And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,” II Thessalonians. 2:3, 7-9. Three times in this passage the beast power is referred to as the lawless one. The beast not only breaks the law himself, but he intentionally changes God’s law and leads others to break God’s holy law. He is called the “man of sin.” “Sin is the transgression of the law.” I John 3:4, KJV. He is the man of lawlessness. Wherever the beast is described his specific mark is breaking God’s law. Throughout scripture the mark of the beast is disobedience to God’s holy law.

God’s mark is obedience to His law and the beast’s mark is disobedience to God’s law. They are not literal brands or computer chips that people receive, but rather a decision of who you are going to obey that is the identifying mark as to which side you are on. Those who follow the beast are described as lawless and those who refuse the mark of the beast are described as commandment keepers. “Then a Third Angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God…’ Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:9, 10, 12. Here two groups of people are described, as is frequently done in Revelation. One group receives the mark of the beast. The other group keeps the commandments of God. Those who do not receive the mark of the beast are the ones who have been obedient to all of God’s commandments. Those who receive the mark of the beast are those who have broken the commandments. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.’ Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:21-23. Jesus here describes those who are deceived into following the beast power. They think that they are saved. They have done all of these miraculous signs, but they are still lost. Why? Because they followed the lawless beast power. They have broken God’s law, thinking that it was unimportant and done away with, and now when they come face to face with their Maker; they realize too late that they have received the mark of the beast and are lost. The mark of the beast is much more deceptive than what many people think. It is simply breaking God’s Law.

The Bible zeros in even further and pinpoints the commandment that those who receive the mark of the beast are breaking. “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law.” Daniel 7:25. Prophecy states that this power will intentionally change times and law. There is only one commandment in the Ten Commandments that deals with time. That one commandment is the fourth commandment, the Sabbath commandment. It specifically states which day is the Sabbath, the seventh day. You can search every word in all other nine commandments and not find another word mentioning time. The only commandment that could possibly fit the description of times and law is the Sabbath commandment. Has some despotic power presumptuously changed the Sabbath commandment? Prophecy is fulfilled! Have you ever wondered why the entire world is worshipping on Sunday, the first day of the week, when the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, is the day mentioned in the Bible? It seems strange doesn’t it? Why would the entire world be going directly contrary to God’s Ten Commandment Law? The answer is because some power has attempted to tamper with God’s Holy Law There is a power that claims that it was the one responsible for this most blasphemous act of attempting to change God’s Law. “Question: Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept? Answer: Had she not had such power she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority.” An Abridgement of Christian Doctrine, 58. Ages ago, the early church leaders thought that it would be advantageous to the growth of the church to mix some pagan ideas with Christianity. The supposed change of the Sabbath is one of the reminders of that great apostasy. “The sun was a foremost god with heathendom… hence the church… would seem to have said, ‘Keep that old pagan name. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified,’ and thus, the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus.” The Catholic World (March 1984), 809. Sunday came straight from paganism and is a blatant violation of God’s Law. Nowhere in the Bible does it call the first day of the week a day of worship, assembly or any such thing. It is totally based upon the authority of the beast power that this change was instituted. Not only did this power do just what prophecy predicted, but it also claims this change in God’s law as the mark of its authority, just as prophecy predicted as well. “Sunday is our mark of authority… The church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of this fact.” Catholic Record, September 1, 1923. The Bible clearly teaches that lawlessness is the identifying mark of the beast, and then it goes even further to state that it is violation of the fourth commandment that is its specific mark. Then the power that presumptuously attempted to change God’s Law claims this change as the mark of its authority as well. Surely the Bible and history both testify that exalting Sunday above the Sabbath is the mark of the beast! “I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.” Revelation 13:3. Nineteen hundred years ago, the Lord told us through prophecy that the entire world would worship the beast, and sure enough, that is exactly what is happening. “The Bible says, ‘Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.’ The Catholic Church says, “No! By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day, and command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And, lo! The entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church.” Priest Thomas Enright, CSSR, President of Redemptorist College, Kansas City, MO, in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 22, 1884.

Twenty-five hundred years ago prophecy foretold that a power that would arise and attempt to change the part of God’s law dealing with time, and it has happened exactly as God’s Word predicted. Not only does the Word of God teach that this power was going to change the Sabbath commandment, but it also pinpoints this as the mark of the beast. Then this power comes along, changes the Sabbath commandment from the seventh day to the first day, and claims that this is the specific mark of their authority! This power itself testifies that honoring the first day of the week above the seventh day of the week is the mark of the beast! God’s Word and history are too plain to be misunderstood. The mark of the beast is breaking the Sabbath and keeping Sunday when it is enforced by law to do so. “And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,” Revelation 13:16. When this decree is given, all of the world will be brought to the decision of whom they will serve. When a person, knowing that there is absolutely no scriptural authority for keeping the first day, goes along with this decree to keep holy the first day of the week and break the Sabbath, he has chosen to follow and obey the beast above the God of heaven. He has rejected the seal of God (Sabbathkeeping) and has made the choice to receive the mark of the beast. These scenes are just around the corner.

It may seem like such a minute point. Someone may think, “It is only a day.” Yes, it is only a day, but it’s the decision behind the day. Eve convinced herself that it was only a tree and it wouldn’t really matter if she ate of the forbidden fruit. “After all,” she may have thought, “it is just like any other tree. There are thousands of trees, surely this one is no different from any of the others. God is not that particular. God loves me.” The tree of knowledge of good and evil was just like all the other trees and it was only a tree, but it was the choice behind the tree. Eve chose to disbelieve God and believe the serpent. Eve obeyed the serpent instead of God, and paradise was lost. It is the same way with the Sabbath day. Oh, it may seem like such a mute point. It may not seem that important, but it is the difference between serving God or the beast. God says to keep holy the seventh day; the beast says to keep the first day. Who are you going to serve? Who are you going to love? Who are you going to obey? “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?” Romans 6:16. If we obey the beast’s laws we become his slaves, but if we obey the laws of our loving God we become his servants. Whose servant will you be?

The Consequences

There are only two marks, it is only two days, it is only a choice, but the consequences are eternal. Those who choose to receive the seal of God will be safely hidden under God’s wing of protection, but for those who go along with the rest of the world and receive the mark of the beast; it will be the most dreadful scourge ever to fall upon mankind.

Those who receive the seal of God are protected from the terrible disasters that fall upon the earth. “They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” Revelation 9:4. The judgments fall not upon those who have the seal of God, but upon those who have rejected it and received the mark of the beast. “Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your habitation, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;” Psalm 91:9, 10. Those who have followed the Lord, no matter what the cost, are now protected from the horrendous disasters falling all around them. They can see it with their eyes, but it cannot come any closer than that because the Lord’s protecting hedge is about them. “Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past.” Isaiah 26:20. Those who have received the seal of the Living God are safely hidden in God’s chambers. His sheltering wings are over them, and no evil shall befall them. It requires a sacrifice to keep holy God’s Sabbath day because the entire world is doing something different, but it is worth it in the end. There is a cross to lift (Matthew 16:24), but the eternal consequences well repay the burden that must be borne. Those who honor the Lord by loving and obeying Him, will be honored by the Lord by being preserved from the terrible judgments so soon to fall. (I Samuel 2:30.)

As there are two marks, there are likewise two consequences. The vast majority of the world will receive the mark of the beast (See Revelation 13:8), but those who receive this mark of apostasy will also receive of the dreadful consequences. Those who receive the mark of the beast do not have a heavy cross to lift. They go along with the rest of the world. They do not have to be different from the rest of the world. They are not boycotted by the ban “that no one may buy or sell” (See Revelation 13:17) for they have the mark of the beast. They can buy and sell all that they desire. They do not have to worry about losing their life because they have the mark of the beast and have no fear of death by man. Although it appears like the easy way, it is the hardest way imaginable. (See Proverbs 13:15.) They may have all the things that this world has to offer, but they have lost the most valuable possession in the whole world—God’s presence. (See Exodus 33:14, 15.) They have forfeited God’s loving protection and he can do no more. The words that Jesus wept over Jerusalem so many years ago apply with even greater force to the entire world who have chosen the Beast’s mark instead of God’s. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Matthew 23:37. The world has rejected the last pleas of God’s Spirit and there is nothing more that our loving Lord can do. He has pled and called year after year, “Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?” Ezekiel 33:11. The Lord has waited year after year, until there is no more hope. He has borne as long as He possibly can, but the vast majority has chosen to go along with the world instead of their Creator. Now the only thing that God can do is pour out His dreadful judgments upon the despisers of His grace.

God is a God of love. All that He does is because He loves His children, but He is also a God of justice. “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;” Psalm 89:14. God bears long, but there is a limit to His forbearance. Justice must also be done. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7. If a person persists in following his own course and receiving the mark of the beast, he must reap the judgments of a just God. “Then a Third Angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘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, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation.” Revelation 14:9, 10. All who obey the Beast instead of God; will receive of the wrath of God; but what is the wrath of God? “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.” Revelation 15:1. The terrible judgments that are poured on those who receive the mark of the beast are none other than the seven last plagues. God’s wrath is complete in these dreadful seven last plagues. The consequences for receiving the seal of God is protection from the final judgments, but the consequences of accepting the mark of the beast is to experience the outpouring of the seven last plagues.

“Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God upon the earth.’ So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image.” Revelation 16:1, 2. When the plagues begin to be poured on those who have received the mark of the beast, the consequences of obeying man instead of God begin to be felt. Those who have the mark of the beast receive a terrible sore, but those who have the seal of God do not have one sore on their bodies. Which side would you rather be on then? Probably it will be as when Job was smitten with painful boils. The pain was so great that he said, “Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?” Job 3:11. But the terrible sores are just the beginning; it gets much worse. Under the second and third plagues the oceans and fresh waters become as the blood of a dead man. “For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” Revelation 16:6. Imagine having only blood to drink! The wicked have slain some of God’s true followers and now the Lord gives them their reward of blood to drink. Indeed “the way of transgressors is hard.” Proverbs 13:15, KJV. But for those who have chosen to follow and obey the Lord no matter what, the promise is “Bread will be given him, his water will be sure.” Isaiah 33:16. Then, while men are still dying from thirst, the Lord turns the sun on double high and scorches those who have followed the traditions of man. “Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire.” Revelation 16:8. By exalting Sunday above the true Sabbath of God, the world has been worshipping the sun, and now the Lord smites them with the god of their choosing. God’s faithful people can, in calm faith, claim the promises in the Word of God. “For over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.” Isaiah 4:5, 6. Under the fifth plague, the Lord turns off the scorching sun and sends painful darkness on the seat of the beast, but still there is no repentance for “the day of salvation” has passed. (II Corinthians 6:2.) In the sixth plague, the Euphrates is dried up and Armageddon is prepared for, but then the seventh and final plague brings an end to the terrible judgments of God and he finally delivers His people. “Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’ And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, every hailstone about the weight of a talent. And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceeding great.” Revelation 16:17-21. The destruction wrought by this final plague is indescribable. The sky unleashes its fury, the greatest earthquake ever to occur shakes this planet to pieces, and hail weighing from sixty to seventy pounds pelts the surface of the earth. It is the last plague, for at the end of this plague there is nothing left. It is as if the earth is turned upside down (See Isaiah 24:1, KJV) and every wall falls to the ground (Ezekiel 38:20.) The destruction wrought upon the wicked and all their habitations under the seventh plague leaves the earth without form and void. (Jeremiah 4:23.) Although the terrible destruction is terrifying to those who have received the mark of the beast, the worst is when they see their Creator coming with great power and glory. “Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” Revelation 6:14-17.

Two Marks, Two Choices

In the final generation there are only two marks, only two choices, and only two consequences. We must decide whom we are going to obey. Will we obey the God of heaven or the traditions and customs of the men? Our destiny depends upon the choice that we make. The most terrible judgments known to man will be poured upon those who chose to obey man instead of God. It will be worse than the holocaust. It will be worse than World War I and World War II combined. It will make all the terrible atrocities of this world pale in insignificance. It is the “just due” of those who have despised the Word and mercy of God. Which side will you be on? Which choice will you make? The mournful words are forced from the lips of the lost during the seventh plague, “Who is able to stand?” There is only one group who is able to stand in that day. It is those who have received the seal of the Living God. Those who love the Lord enough to keep His commandments instead of the traditions of man. Those who will stand for the Word of God though the heavens fall. Those who will not follow a crowd to do evil. (See Exodus 23:2.) Those who keep holy the seventh day Sabbath of the Lord our God instead of the pagan Sunday of the beast. It doesn’t seem like such a big thing now, but think of the day when that mournful cry is forced from the lips of the lost. How they will wish that they had yielded to the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit, but now it is too late. They have made their decision. They have made their choice. They have received their mark. They are lost. There are just two marks, just two days, just two choices, and just two destinies. Which mark will you chose?

All emphasis the authors unless otherwise stated.
All texts from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Sources:

  • An Abridgement of Christian Doctrine, page 58.
  • The Beast’s Mark, Michael Wells, Steps to Life, 1999.
  • The Catholic Record, London, Ontario, Canada, September 1, 1923.
  • The Catholic World (March 1984), page 809.
  • Priest Thomas Enright, CSSR, President of Redemptorist College, Kansas City, MO, in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 22, 1884, and The American Sentinel, a New York Roman Catholic Journal in June 1893, page 173.
  • Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary, “Seal,” pg. 997, 998, Review & Herald Publishing Association, 1979.

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The Beast’s Mark

by Michael C. Wells

The Beast's MarkHave you ever wondered why so many people today are fearful of the future? Many are afraid because of a prophecy in Revelation that warns the world about a dreaded mark that every person will receive if they follow the “beast.” The penalty for receiving this mark is death! Is it no wonder people are scared to receive it and want to avoid it at all cost? Yet today, society is so complacent about the book of Revelation that many preachers are teaching that it doesn’t apply to Christians at all, but only to those who will be left here to face the wrath of God. Is this what the Bible says? Why would Jesus spend His time giving a personal prophecy about these end times if it didn’t apply to you and me?

Unfortunately, people are easily deceived into believing doctrines that make them feel safe and secure. Paul tells us to watch out for such doctrines, “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety! ’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape [destruction].” I Thessalonians 5:3. If I came running into you’re house screaming “Fire! Fire!” would you be alarmed and take action, or would you just let yourself die in the fire? But so many times when we hear a warning from the Bible, we dismiss it as not important or not being applicable to us.

John the Revelator writes concerning this mark, “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, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 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.” Revelation 14: 9- 11. What a warning! I don’t think there is anyone who wants to receive the mark of the beast.

What is this mark and how do we avoid receiving it?

What is this mark and how do we avoid receiving it? That is the question at hand. In order to answer that question, we must look at what this mark entails. Notice that this beast is involved in worship. “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him. ’ All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13: 4,8. Therefore, this must be a religious power. Only religious organizations are involved in invoking the worship of someone.

He is also involved in civil authority and government. He will be involved in the persecution and killing of those who oppose him. He will use his agents to do his work for him while he sits behind the scenes and reaps the results. “It was granted to him [the first beast] to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. And he [the second beast] exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, 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 or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Revelation 13: 7, 12, 15- 17.

This power will subjugate the people of the earth to do his will. He will cause them to worship him, which is against God’s law. Therefore, he will teach the people of the earth to break God’s law! This is not just speaking about those who do not believe in God, but also those who profess to be His people. Could you receive the mark of the beast and still think you are following God? Jesus said many would have this experience. We read in Matthew 7: 21- 23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ (notice that they are acknowledging Jesus as Lord. These are professed Christians), shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, ’ have we not prophesied in Your name, cast our demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

These people really thought they were Christians. They thought they were “filled with the Holy Spirit,” but they had not searched hard enough for God’s will and were not willing to submit fully to His law. Jesus says to them “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do the things which I say?” Luke 6: 46. They are lawbreakers. They are those who claim that God’s law is not binding on Christians today. Someone might say, “Doesn’t the Bible say we live under grace and not the law? That we live by the Spirit of the law, not by the letter?” The answer is yes! But what does it mean to live under grace? If you were a murderer in prison on death row waiting to be executed, and the warden gave you a pardon and freed you, you would have just moved from condemnation to grace. Now that you are under grace do you have the right to go out and kill someone again? Does grace give you the authority to break the law or are you still required to keep it?

You see how simple it is. This is the spirit of the law, that you keep it out of gratitude for your life and because it is right in the sight of God. It shows where our loyalties lie, and how our character is formed. It is an outward sign of an inward change. The letter of the law brings condemnation, because we are keeping it solely out of the fear of the punishment for breaking it. The letter of the law kills not because the commandments are wrong or bad, but because a book with words in it can not make a change in us if we do not apply it to our lives. Children who obey their parents exclusively out of fear of punishment may well break the laws of the land, because they were not instilled with a love for truth and righteousness. We must keep God’s law, because we love Jesus and we want to obey Him, otherwise, we are doing it out of “works” and not “faith.” Jesus came to set us free from condemnation by His great sacrifice of His life on the cross, one of the worse forms of torture ever devised by man.

He gave us His pardon (grace) from the sentence of death that hung over our heads, yet He did not say “go and sin as much as you want,” but “Go, sin no more.” John 8: 11. He wants to help us overcome sin by writing His laws on our hearts and establishing them in our minds (Hebrews 10: 16), not by doing away with them. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” and He said, “I do not change.” Hebrews 13: 8; Malachi 3: 6.

What is Sin?

What is sin anyway? “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness (or transgression of the law), and sin is lawlessness.” I John 3: 4. So sin is breaking God’s Ten Commandment law. James 2: 10 speaks to this when he quotes from the Ten Commandments and declares “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one, he is guilty of all.” Every person has committed sin in his or her life. Paul exclaims, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” and “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 3: 23; 6: 23. That is why we need Jesus. Someone had to pay the penalty for our sin, and if not ourselves, someone else had to die for the wickedness that we have committed. Jesus made that sacrifice for you and me so that we might have life. It is a free gift, but we have a part to play in receiving it.

We know that the beast power in Revelation 13: 1- 10 is the antichrist power because it says, “he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,” Revelation 13: 6. In two other places in the Bible the antichrist power is also described, first in Daniel 7 where the antichrist power is described as the “little horn.” We know that this is the antichrist power, because it says, “he shall speak great words against the Most High,” Daniel 7: 25. Then in II Thessalonians 2: 3 where the antichrist power is described as the “man of sin.” We know that here, Paul is talking about the antichrist power because he says concerning this “man of sin” that he “opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, [among God’s professed people, the professed church of God] showing himself that he is God.” II Thessalonians 2: 4, Concerning the antichrist power, Paul shows us that he teaches people to break God’s law: “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” II Thessalonians 2: 8.

In fact, not only will this beast power break God’s law, but he will also think to change God’s law. Can you imagine someone thinking that they could get away with changing God’s law? No way, you might say! But look at Bible prophecy and again notice that this is the same power. It has all the same identifying marks as those we find in Revelation 13 and II Thessalonians, “he shall speak pompous (great, blasphemous) words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law . Then the saints shall be given into his hand (to be persecuted) for a time and times and half a time.” Daniel 7:25.

Paul says that this “man of sin” or beast power was already working in his day, he said, “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.” II Thessalonians 2:7. Paul also makes it clear that this power will continue until Jesus returns to this world again and that it will then be destroyed: “And then shall the lawless one be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” II Thessalonians 2: 8. Peter tells us from where this power will come. He points specifically to where the “man of sin” power will emerge. “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way the truth will be blasphemed.” II Peter 2:1,2. Where does Peter say he will arise? Right among the believers of Christ! This man of sin will come out of the early church and will use his false doctrines to contaminate the pure doctrine of Jesus. He will introduce false teachings and deceptive lies to turn people from the true worship of God, to a false worship of man, and most of the people will put up with it! (See II Corinthians 11:3,4).

Obviously, if this beast power (better known as the antichrist) was alive in Paul’s day, and he is still work today, this cannot be speaking of an individual man, but a system of religion. Notice how long this system was to persecute the saints. “And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty- two months. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.” “Then the saints shall be given into his hands for a time, times, and half a time.” Revelation 13:5,7; Daniel 7:25. We have two prophecies that deal with time here. Because this is the same power that is being described in both Daniel and Revelation, the time prophecies both deal with this same “beast/ little horn” power.

The Bible gives two examples of prophecies dealing with time. One is in Ezekiel 4: 4- 6, and the other is in Numbers 14: 34, which says, “According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear you guilt one year, namely forty year, and you shall know My rejection.” So the Lord uses a day to equal a year in Bible prophecies. In Revelation and in Daniel we see two time prophecies, one for forty- two months, and the other for a “time, times, and half a time.” A “time” represents one year, so “times” would speak of two years, and, of course, half a time would be a half a year. The total years mentioned here would be three and a half years. Since a day equals a year in Bible prophecy, we must convert these years and months into days.

First let’s calculate the months of Revelation. Forty- two multiplied by 30 days for each month (the Bible specifies 30 days for one month see Genesis 7: 11; 8: 3, 4) will give us a total of 1260 days, which would convert to 1260 years. Now the 3½ years multiplied by 360 would again give us 1260 days/ years. Again we see that still another characteristic of this beast/ little horn power is the same. If this power will be around for at least 1260 years, these prophecies cannot be speaking of a person, but a religious power that will endure for a long time.

Now notice what will happen to this power. “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.” This beast was to be “mortally wounded.” If you are mortally wounded it means that you are close to death. The King James Bible translates this term as “wounded to death.” This beast, or religious power, was to be wounded so bad (lost so much power and prestige) that all the world will believe that it was to become extinct, yet its “deadly wound was healed.”

This antichrist power was to arise out of the fourth beast in Daniel 7. A beast represents a kingdom or empire. “The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces.” Daniel 7: 23. Out of this fourth kingdom will arise ten horns. A horn also represents a kingdom. “The ten horns are ten kings (kingdoms) who shall arise from this kingdom” (verse 24). So ten other kings, or kingdoms will come up out of this fourth beast.

Notice that another “horn” or kingdom will also arise. “And another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings,” Daniel 7: 24. This kingdom will arise after the other ten kingdoms have been established and will be different than the rest. Yet this power will be a persecuting power. It subdues three of the kingdoms, or in other words, he destroys them. “I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots . And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man (there will be a man at the head of this power), and a mouth speaking pompous words,” Daniel 7: 8. “And the ten horns were on its head (the head of the fourth beast), and the other horn which came up, before which three fell , namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows. I watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom” (Daniel 17: 20- 22).

Identifying marks of the “little horn” from Daniel 7

Here are some identifying marks of this “little horn” that are found here in Daniel 7.

  1. It arose out of the fourth beast. Verses 7,8
  2. It arose after the ten horns. Verse 24
  3. It arose among or in the same geographical area of the ten horns. Verse 8
  4. It was “different” from the other horns. Verse 24
  5. It destroyed three of the other horns Verses 8,20,24
  6. Its appearance was greater than the other horns (meaning it became more prominent). Verse 20
  7. It speaks pompous (blasphemous) against the Most High. Verse 25
  8. Thought to change times and God’s law. Verse 25
  9. Would have temporal power (civil govern mental authority) for 1260 years. Verse 25
  10. Would persecute God’s people (true Christians). Verse 25
  11. A man would be at the head of this power. Verse 24, 25.

In our booklet, The End of War and Injustice, we examined the four beasts of Daniel 7: 3- 7, showing that they represent four world empires. These consisted of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and the fourth was Rome. Notice that this little horn power comes out of the fourth kingdom (Rome). Also notice that it comes up after the ten kingdoms that split off and divided the Roman Empire. So we can say that this little horn power, which is diverse from the rest of the kingdoms, takes its power from Rome. This is made clear when we take the prophecies of Revelation and combine them with Daniel. This beast in Revelation 13 takes its power from the dragon and is a composite of all the beasts of Daniel 7. “Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.” Revelation 13:2.

Clearly, we can see this is like no other beast on the face of the earth. If this beast really existed, some carnival or circus would be making big money showing it off. No, this beast represents the characteristics of each of the following beasts before it. This was a swift power like a leopard. A leopard is so fast that it can chase down its prey quickly. It also has great agility to get out of scrapes. This beast power has these same abilities to be able to survive through varying situations. It also has feet like a bear. A bear’s feet are big, strong and very sure- footed. He really can put some weight behind him when he “puts his foot down.” So it is with this beast power. He has authority and power to actuate his policies and doctrines. He has the weight of political and religious power behind him. Remember that we notice earlier that he would be involved in worship (or religion). The beast speaks as the lion of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar. He speaks pompous words as the king of Babylon did. Check out the words of King Nebuchadnezzar in defiance to God, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” Daniel 4: 30.

As King Nebuchadnezzar exalted himself and did not give God the glory for what he had, so does the beast or Revelation 13. It is common among rulers, kings, and religious leaders to forget where their sovereignty came from. Daniel reminds the king of Babylon in Daniel 2: 20,21, “Daniel answered and said: ‘Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.”

Finally, let’s investigate the power base of this beast. He receives his power, authority, and throne from the dragon. Who does this dragon represent? “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12: 9. Ultimately, it is Satan who gives this beast his authority. But does this dragon also represent an earthly power, too? In Revelation 12, we find the prophecy of Jesus’ birth and the oppression that the “dragon” gave Him at His birth, What tyrannical power tried to destroy the Christ child at birth? It was Rome, of course. The Roman soldiers, under the direction of Herod the Great, killed all the children of Bethlehem up to the age of two years old. It was also the Roman Empire, through its despotic and cruel leaders, who pursued and tried to destroy the early church through murder and torture.

We can see that the dragon not only symbolizes Satan but also denotes Pagan Rome. So from Rome, this beast receives power and authority (muscle to enforce its will) to rule over all the people of the world. It also receives its “throne” from the Roman Empire. It is always so interesting how God presents His truth so clearly, leaving nothing to speculation. In 532 A. D., the Roman Emperor Justinian made a decree to force everyone to submit to the papacy. The historian says, “By an edict which he issued to unite all men in one faith, whether Jews, Gentiles or Christians, such as did not, in the term of three months, embrace and profess the Catholic faith, were declared infamous, and as, such, excluded from all employments both civil and military, rendered incapable of leaving anything by will, and their estates confiscated, whether real or personal. These were convincing arguments of the truth of the Catholic faith; but many, however, withstood them; and against such as did, the imperial edict was executed with the utmost rigor. Great numbers were driven from their habitations with their wives and children, stripped and naked.” Bower, The History of the Popes, vol. 1 p. In 533 A. D Justinian exalted the papacy as “the head of all the holy churches.” Croly The Apocalypse of St. John pages 167, 168. But this could not be put into effect as long as the Arian nations did not acknowledge it. The kingdom of Odoacer which had ruled Italy had already been destroyed in 493 A. D. and his people universally massacred (Italy and Her Invaders, book IV chap VI) In 533 A. D Justinian sent his armies to conquer the Vandals in Northern Africa. When this was accomplished by his general Belisarius in 534, “Impatient to abolish the temporal and spiritual tyranny of the Vandals, he proceeded, without delay, to the full establishment of the Catholic Church. . . .Arian worship was suppressed, the Donatist meetings were proscribed;” Gibbon Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire chapter 12) As soon as this was done, Justinian turned his arms against the East Goths (Ostrogoths) in Italy itself who also were Arian Christians and not Catholic. In March of A. D 538, for the first time Rome was delivered completely from the rule of the Ostrogothic kingdom, “They (the Ostrogoths) had lost their king (an inconsiderable loss), their capital, their treasures, the provinces from Sicily to the Alps, and the military force of two hundred thousand barbarians, magnificently equipped with horses and arms.” (Gibbon Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire chapters 41, 43) The historian Milman in History of Latin Christianity book 3 chapter 4 states it like this, “The conquest of Italy by the Greeks was, to a great extent at least, the work of the Catholic clergy… The overthrow of the Gothic kingdom was to Italy an unmitigated evil… In their overthrow began the fatal policy of the Roman see… which never would permit a powerful native kingdom to unite Italy, or a very large part of it, under one dominion. Whatever it may have been to Christendom, the papacy has been the eternal, implacable foe of Italian independence and Italian unity; and to the welfare of Italy.” Emphasis supplied. So A. D. 538 is the year that marks not only the destruction of the kingdom of the east Goths but, the true date which marks the establishment of the independent temporal authority of the papacy and the exercise of such authority as a world power.

Characteristics of the “Beast” of Revelation 13

Let’s list some of the characteristics of the “beast” of Revelation 13 and see if there are not a lot of similarities to the little horn in Daniel.

  1. He receives his power, seat, and authority from the pagan Roman empire. Verse 2. Arises among the ten horns on the fourth beast Daniel 7: 8
  2. Speaks blasphemy (pompous words) against God and His tabernacle (His church). Verses 5,6 Speaks great things or pompous words against the Most High Daniel 7:25
  3. Is a superpower- has authority over all nations Revelation 13: 7
  4. His appearance is greater than his fellows Daniel 7: 20
  5. Is not only a superpower (see #4 above) but is a religious power because it is worshiped. Revelation 13: 4, 8, 12; the little horn is different from the other horns Daniel 7:24
  6. Receives a deadly wound that was later healed. Verse 3 6. Persecutes the saints of the Most High (people of God). Verse 7 also Daniel 7:25
  7. It is a worldwide religious and political power that the whole world will follow and worship in one form or another. Verse 3,4,8
  8. Will continue for forty- two months (1260 years). Verse 5; also Daniel 7: 25
  9. Will be led into captivity at the end of the 1260- year period. Verse 10
  10. Has a man at its head that has a number of 666. Verse 18

After examining all of the identifying attributes of this power, it is not hard to figure out whom it designates. God makes sure that we can identify who the beast is, for He does not want us to be deceived. If we know just a little bit of history it certainly appears that the little horn/beast power cannot apply to any other power than the papacy. But let us go through the identifying marks in Revelation 13 again and see if every single one is an exact fit- if even one identifying mark did not fit then we would know that we have made a mistake because it is impossible for God to lie.

  1. Did the papacy receive its power, seat (throne) and authority from the Pagan Roman Empire? We will give the answer from a Catholic source. “Long ages ago, when Rome, through the neglect of the Western emperors, was left to the mercy of the barbarous hordes, the Romans turned to one figure for aid and protection, and asked him to rule them; . . . and thus. . .commenced the temporal sovereignty of the popes. And meekly stepping to the throne of Caesar, the vicar of Christ took up the scepter to which the emperors and kings of Europe were to bow in reverence through so many ages.” –James P. Conroy, American Catholic Quarterly Review, April 1911.
  2. Does the papacy have a “blasphemous name?” The Jewish definition of blasphemy in the days of Christ was when a man claimed to be able to forgive sins (Matthew 9) and when a man claimed to be God (John 10). The name will be discussed under item 10 below.
  3. Has the papacy spoken great words (pompous words Daniel 7: 20, 25) against the Most High (against God). Again, let us look at the official Catholic teachings. The Council of Trent defines papal power thus: “We define that the Holy Apostolic See and Roman Pontiff holds the primacy over the whole world.” –Labbe and Cossart (A. C.), The Most Holy Councils, Vol. XIII, col. 1167.
    When the triple crown is placed on the head of a new pope at his “coronation” ceremony, the ritual prescribes the following declaration by the officiating cardinal: “Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns, and know that thou art the Father of Princes and Kings, Ruler of the World, the Vicar of Our Savior Jesus Christ.” National Catholic Almanac
    The New Catechism, under the section of the pope, states: “The pope takes the place of Jesus Christ on earth… He is the infallible ruler, the founder of dogmas, the author of and the judge of councils; the universal ruler of truth, the arbiter, the judge of all, being judged by no one, God himself on earth.”
    Does the Papacy fit the prophecy that it would “speak pompous words”? Again, let the record speak for itself.
    In an encyclical letter by Pope Leo XIII, on June 20, 1894 (notice, this is NOT that long ago, this was not during the Dark Ages, but was an official statement by a pope that ended his pontifical reign in this very century- 1903), he stated: “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” This is in the official records and can be checked out by any caring student. Could more pompous words be spoken? What else could possibly be said to more accurately fit the description? Moreover, the pope is declared to be infallible when speaking ex-cathedra according to Vatican Council I in 1870, again, not that long ago.
  4. Is the papacy a superpower with influence over all the nations of the earth? Anybody that listens to the news or reads the news knows the answer to this question.
  5. Nobody of any belief would argue against the papacy being a religious power that is worshiped.
  6. Did the papacy at one time receive a deadly wound that today has been healed? In 1798, Napoleon’s general, Berthier, captured the pope and removed him to prison, where he died and for a short time there was no papacy. At that time much of the world believed the papacy was finished and would never hold temporal power over the earth again. Yet in 1929, Pope Pius XI signed the Treaty of the Lateran with Mussolini, whereby Vatican City was established and the papacy now had back its temporal governing power. The deadly wound was healed and Bible prophecy claimed that after this all the world would marvel and follow and worship this power (Revelation 13: 3, 4, 8)
  7. Has the papacy persecuted the saints of the Most High? In the massacre of St. Bartholemew alone most of 100,000 Protestants were slain. That the Catholic Church hunted down, tortured, and burned people at the stake throughout the Middle Ages hardly even needs to be said. That is common history. In one sweep in the year 1208, a crusade organized by Pope Innocent III crushed out the lives of approximately one million Waldenses and Albigenses in upper Italy and lower France. Was it their crime? They were teaching and disseminating copies of the Scriptures to people throughout Europe in their own language.
    Estimates range from the most conservative figure of around 50,000,000 upwards to much larger numbers of martyrs who lost their lives during the Dark Ages at the hands of the Catholic Church during the years of its supremacy.
    Does the prophecy fit? Again, history speaks for itself. As even the Roman Catholic paper, the Western Watchman, declared, “The church has persecuted, only a tyro (one uninformed in church history) will deny that.”- December 24, 1909.
  8. Is the papacy a worldwide religious and political power that people from every country all over the world are worshipping today? Anyone who has traveled the world knows that this is the case.
  9. Did the papacy continue as a religious and political (civil) power that is as a union of church and state through the dark ages for 1260 years? It did. Beginning with its acquirement of independent civil authority for the first time in 538 1260 years last until 1798, the very year that the pope was taken prisoner and the papacy ceased to exist for a short time.
  10. Does the papacy have a man at its head who has the number 666? We noticed that the little horn (papacy) would “intend to change times and law.” This has been one of the primary doctrines of the Roman Pontiff and the Catholic Church. And by changing God’s law, it gives credence to their suggestion that the pope has all power and authority. “The Pope can modify [change] the Divine Law.” Lucius Ferraris, Ecclesiastical Dictionary. They claim that the ability to change God’s law is their mark of authority. For instance, if you look in the Catechism, you will find the second commandment has been removed, relating to graven images and bowing down to them, and the tenth commandment split into two commandments. Mary is referred to as a Mediatrix (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1994 p 252), but, the Bible says, “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man, Christ Jesus.” I Timothy 2: 5.

The one commandment that God said to remember, the Catholic Church has disregarded, and they have convinced the rest of the world to follow suit. Through reasoning and human philosophy, men have rejected the one commandment that was to give men rest. They have profaned and polluted that commandment which was meant to give life and happiness. It was to be a sign between God and us to identify us as His people. “Moreover I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I an the Lord your God.” Ezekiel 20: 12,20.

The papacy claims the authority to change God’s law, especially this very commandment about worship. “Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Solemn rest, a holy convocation [worship day]. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.” Leviticus 23: 3. If God set a day aside for worship, does any man have the right to decide that any other day is just as acceptable? Who is God and who is the created being? Yet the papacy has claimed the authority to switch days for God’s day of rest and worship.

They even claim that by doing this, and the world following its lead, that it is the Mark of their authority. “Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change [of the Sabbath to Sunday] was her act . . . and the act is a mark of the ecclesiastical power.” – From the office of Cardinal Gibbons, through Chancellor H. F. Thomas, November 11, 1895. The Roman Church derides Protestants for claiming to believe in the Bible while keeping Sunday as their “Sabbath.” “If Protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on the Sabbath Day [Saturday]. In keeping the Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church.” Albert Smith, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the Cardinal in a letter dated February 10, 1920.

Yet in another bold statement, a priest says, “Prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. ’ The Catholic Church says, no. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the Holy Catholic Church.”- Priest Thomas Enright, CSSR, President of Redemptorist College, Kansas City, Mo., in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 22, 1884, and the American Sentinel, a New York Roman Catholic journal in June 1893, page 173.

Who will you worship?

It is evident from these statements that the issue of worship will be over who is God. The Lord of the heavens has given His “mark” or “sign,” which is the Sabbath Day. Only God can make a day holy, and only God can sanctify it. Only God has the ability to work miracles in the lives of people, and only God can sanctify a people for Himself. God’s sign is His commandments and specifically His Sabbath. The Beast’s Mark is the counterfeit worship day- Sunday. “Sunday is our mark of authority… The Church is above the Bible, and the transference of the Sabbath observance is proof of that fact.” The Catholic record, London, Ontario, Canada, September 1, 1923. In the last generation, all, who continue to worship the beast by honoring his “mark” of authority (Sunday worship) after they have seen the truth, will receive of the plagues, the unmixed wrath of God. “Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice (this is so important that the Lord is having His messenger shout out this last day warning), ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead (has allowed himself to be deceived into believing the lie) or on his hand (performs this form of worship for fear of his life and livelihood), he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb.” Revelation 14: 9,10.

This is a life and death message to the world. Wake Up! Search the scriptures and find the truth, God says to His people. Maybe for years you have believed false doctrines and have lived up to all the light (truth) you knew. Now that God has opened your eyes to more Biblical wisdom, will you turn away and shut your mind and heart away from His righteousness? “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” Matthew 6: 33 Jesus commands. Those in past times were destroyed because they did not have a love for the truth. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” Hosea 4: 6. And all who reject His knowledge today will also be rejected by Him. “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.” II Thessalonians 2: 11,12.

God is not a God of force. He will not force you to love Him, to follow Him, or to receive the gifts that He wants so badly to give to you. Yet He cannot allow this world to continue forever in sin and degradation. He is working to create for Himself a people who will be loyal to Him in all that He says. All, who will not follow Him and allow Him to remove sin (the breaking of His Ten Commandments I John 3: 4; James 2: 10- 12) from their hearts, will be die in their sins. All who are not willing to listen to His counsel and truth will be given over to the adversary and will be allowed to believe the lies of the devil. God will eventually fully withdraw His Holy Spirit from working on the hearts of those who continue in rebellion. They will fall into strong delusions, that they may be condemned because of their love for sinful pleasure and disobedience to His law.

The mark of the beast is not an outward mark that all can see, but an inward mark of a deceptive thought process and a corrupted heart. Just as God’s sign will be written on our hearts and minds, the Beast’s mark will be written on the hearts and minds of all who follow his doctrines and theology. These will have their place in the lake of fire along with the devil, the beast, and the false prophet. See Revelation 20: 10,15.

This is an urgent message to the world! God is exerting untold energy in the attempt to turn mankind from their sinful path and bring them to a condition of salvation. God is calling you and me today. He is long suffering, but cannot wait forever for us. He is giving us that chance today. What will be your decision? Do you love Jesus more than the customs of this world? Paul said, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” “ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he shall reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Colossians 2: 8; Galatians 6: 7,8.

Do not deceive yourselves today thinking that God’s Sabbath is not important. We will be keeping His Sabbath in the new heavens and earth (Isaiah 66: 22,23). His Sabbath is an everlasting covenant which can never be changed (Exodus 31: 12- 18), because God Himself wrote it with His own finger. There is an over abundance of evidence that all the apostles kept the Sabbath, and neither Jesus or any of His apostles ever commanded or kept Sunday as a holy day. This would have gone directly against the prophecy of Revelation 13. Who are God’s last day people? “Here is the patience (steadfastness) of the saints (God’s people); here are those who keep the commandments of God (including the Sabbath commandment) and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14: 12. Who are called blessed and will enter into New Jerusalem? “Blessed are those who do his commandment, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14.

Here is the bottom line for each of us. If God says one thing, and we believe another, who should change his mind, God or us? The question is over who will be God! Who are we truly worshipping when we break His Sabbath and worship on the day that has only human authority as a day of worship? Who has the right to change God’s law? God said “My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my mouth,” Psalms 89: 34 and “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4: 4. God sends this last day warning to all his people because He loves them and does not want to see them destroyed. When Sunday worship is set up as a law under penalty of death, the mark of the beast will be enforced. Which side will you be found on in these last days of Bible prophecy. When the roll is called up in heaven, will you truly be found there? Will you today devote your life to God and obey His voice? Will you let Him give you His special sign? Will you worship the Lord your God on His Sabbath day as He has asked and avoid receiving the mark that brings death and destruction? The decision is in your hands.

Sources:

  • Beyond Pitcairn, Harvestime Books.
  • Wilkinson, B. G., Truth Triumphant.
  • J. T. C., Smokescreens.
  • White, E. G., Great Controversy.
  • Grosboll, John J., God Predicts Your Future.
  • The Bulwark, Oct. 1922, pg. 104.
  • The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII, pg. 304.
  • Philippe Labbe and Gabriel Cossart, The Most Holy Councils, vol. 13, col. 1167, on “The Council of Trent.
  • Lucius Ferraris, Ecclesiastical Dictionary.
  • From the office of Cardinal Gibbons, through Chancellor H. F. Thomas, November 11, 1895.
  • Albert Smith, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the Cardinal in a letter dated February 10, 1920.
  • Priest Thomas Enright, CSSR, President of Redemptorist College, Kansas City, Mo., in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 22, 1884, and the American Sentinel, a New York Roman Catholic Journal in June 1893, page 173.
  • The Catholic Record, London, Ontario, Canada, September 1, 1923.

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