(Revelation 14:9-11) What is the Mark of the Beast?
“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 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, which is poured out without mixture 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 ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:9-11)
What a dreadful scene we have here. If we are not careful we could come up with some horrible presumptions regarding God’s character. This is why it’s crucial that we be sealed with the seal of the living God in order to understand the truth of God’s character and His methods of love so we will be able to read these things in their proper framework.
In our previous study we looked at the seal of God and saw that it is the exact opposite of the mark of the beast. Now that we know what the seal of God is, it is not difficult to determine what the mark of the beast is.
Who Enforces the Mark of the Beast?
In Revelation chapter 13 we read of two beasts. The first beast would “rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy” (verse 1), while the second beast was seen “coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon” (verse 11). We have studied the first beast in previous studies and determined it represents the Roman papacy. In our study entitled Who Are the Seven Churches? we learned that this second beast represents the United States of America. This is why it’s important to study these lessons in the order given.
It is the second beast (the United States) who will make an image to the first beast (papacy) and enforce its mark:
“And I beheld another beast (United States) coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast (Papacy) before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; 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. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth 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. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” (Revelation 13:11-18)
In its infancy, the United States was, for the most part, in opposition to the workings of the papacy. Listen to what Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, had to say:
Although the second beast rises as a lamb, it will speak as a dragon and begin to “exercise all the power of the first beast (Papacy).” The power of the first beast was the union of church and state, with the state enforcing the religious views of the papacy. Thus, the freedoms the United States once held will soon disappear and the dragon-like character of force and coercion will take its place. As we will see, the power of church and state will no longer remain separate.
In Revelation 17 John speaks of the harlot woman by saying that “the kings of the earth have committed fornication” with her, and “the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine (intoxicating doctrines) of her fornication” (verse 2). Just look at the news today, all the kings of the earth seek a blessing from the pope of Rome.
John saw that this second beast would cause “the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” If you remember from our study on the little horn (Part Two), we discovered that the papacy would rule through the Dark Ages for 1,260 years from 538 A.D. – 1798 A.D., at which time she would receive her deadly wound when the papal states were abolished, and Rome was declared a republic by the French Revolutionary forces under Napoleon. Then in 1929 her wound began to heal when Mussolini and Rome signed a peace treaty which re-established the Vatican as a state under its own political power.
The word “worship” here indicates the enforcement of religion. By causing people to “worship” the first beast (papacy), the United States will enforce the worship system and religious dogma of the Roman Papacy. That’s right, Protestant America will clasp hands with Roman Catholicism – an event that seemed impossible 70 years ago, but today is rapidly coming to pass.
There is more talk these days about unity of the churches than ever. In fact, on March 30, 1994, the Orlando Sentinel issued an article entitled: “Evangelicals [Protestants], Catholics, find ties that bind.” In the article it is written:
“In what’s being called a historic declaration, evangelicals including Pat Robertson and Charles Colson joined with conservative Roman Catholic leaders Tuesday in upholding the ties of faith that bind the nation’s largest and most politically active religious groups.”
In the May 30, 1995 edition of The Colombian, a reporter writes of a 115 page letter that Pope John Paul II wrote and says that this letter “reaffirms the Pope’s commitment to bridging the gap with Protestants ... and asserts his role as the prime mover behind the ecumenical movement.” The Ecumenical Movement is the movement for all churches to set aside doctrinal differences and just worship together. Notice the pope plans to be the “prime mover” of this movement! In fact, the pope has written several books and letters stating his belief in full unity of all religions.
The pope has already made it plain that he wants to be the “special leader among leaders.” Malachi Martin, a Catholic professor, in his book, The Keys of This Blood, explains why the pope (John Paul II) had traveled from country to country speaking to all the world’s leaders: “ ... he [the pope] would endow his papacy with an international profile and, as Pope, move around among world leaders and nations, vindicating a position for himself as a special leader among leaders, because in that competition he plans to emerge as the victor.” (p. 480).
Malachi Martin also explains that the pope “insists that men have no reliable hope of creating a viable geopolitical system unless it is on the basis of Roman Catholic Christianity” (ibid. p. 492). So, there’s the catch! The pope says that, if there is going to be any union among the world’s religions, it would have to be based on “Roman Catholic Christianity”, but what exactly is that?
“The great men who built up the Western Church were almost all trained Roman lawyers. Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine, Gregory the Great (whose writings form the bridge between the Latin Fathers and the Schoolmen) were all men whose early training had been that of a Roman lawyer, —a training which molded and shaped all their thinking, whether theological or ecclesiastical. They instinctively regarded all questions as a great Roman lawyer would. They had the lawyer’s craving for exact definitions. They had the lawyer’s idea that the primary duty laid upon them was to enforce obedience to authority, whether that authority expressed itself in external institutions or in the precise definitions of the correct ways of thinking about spiritual truths. No branch of western Christendom has been able to free itself from the spell cast upon it by these Roman lawyers of the early centuries of the Christian church.” (Thomas Lindsay, A History of the Reformation, p. 168)
Roman Catholic Christianity is based on enforcing obedience to the authority of the church. Their view of God’s Law is that it is simply a legislative code, which can be modified and enforced by the church. However, God’s Law is not a legal code, built on arbitrary rules and which, if disobeyed, require arbitrary punishments. No, God’s Law is a Law of design, built into the very fabric of creation and, if disobeyed, one will suffer the inherent consequence of their own choices. Just as health problems, including death, will manifest themselves as one persists in their smoking addiction, pain, suffering, and death will result for the individual who willingly steps outside of God’s design. There is no need for God to step in and interfere to kill the sinner, the sin itself will do that as the sinner persistently separates himself from the only Source of life (Romans 5:12; 6:16, 23; James 1:14, 15).
We saw in our previous study that God desires to seal His Law in our minds and hearts. When this takes place, God’s true character of righteousness will be displayed in and through the believer. We have seen that God’s true character is not about force or coercion or retaliation, it is pure selfless love toward others, leaving them free to be persuaded in their own minds. God never works through force or coercion. He only desires obedience based on love. This reasoning guides the believer into God’s rest, knowing (experiencing) they are truly His child, not because of our performance (works), but simply because we are His beloved children. Thus the seventh-day Sabbath was given as a “sign” (seal/mark) that we may rest from our own works, and enter into God’s rest (Ezekiel 20:12; Hebrews 4).
The papacy, however, is about force and coercion, enforcing obedience to authority — a system of government which they inherited from Babylon. The great religions of today will unite themselves with the papacy to enforce obedience to what they think is right. Although this unity of churches will not mean that every single doctrine will have to be united, it will mean that the world’s religions will look to one church head — the papacy – and the state will enforce obedience to the authority of the church.
On January 21, 2014, Pope Francis sent a video message to the famous charismatic minister Kenneth Copeland. It was given to him by Bishop Tony Palmer and played at the Kenneth Copeland Minister’s Conference. The message from pope Francis was that charismatics and Catholics should unite. The message was well received by the ministers and Copeland led out in a special prayer blessing the pope and accepting his message. At one point Tony Palmer said:
“We know that for the first thousand years [from the time of Christ] there was one church called the Catholic church [this is actually a false statement] and the word Catholic means ‘universal’, it doesn’t mean ‘Roman.’ … Raise your hand if you’re born again—you’re a Catholic! Take back, redeem what belongs to you—we are Catholics! … When my wife saw that she could be Catholic, and Charismatic, and Evangelical, and Pentecostal, and it was absolutely accepted in the Catholic Church, she said that she would like to reconnect her roots with the Catholic culture. So she did … Brothers and sisters, Luther’s protest is over. Is yours? … If there is no more protest; how can there be a Protestant Church? Maybe now we’re all Catholics again.” (Words in brackets my own)
Can you see how close we are?
One month after George Bush made the above statement, the Washington Times reported:
“In 1960, John Kennedy went from Washington to Texas to assure Protestant preachers that he would not obey the pope. In 2001, George Bush came from Texas up to Washington to assure a group of Catholic bishops that he would obey the pope.” (Washington Times, April 16, 2001)
The Image of the Beast
In Revelation 13 John continues saying:
“And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; 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. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”
The second beast (Protestant America) will convince the inhabitants of the earth, through means of signs and miracles, to make an image to the beast. It is sad that today’s churches look for emotional ecstasy and miracles instead of a changed character. These signs and miracles will be led by fire coming down from heaven. Obviously we are not talking about literal fire here. We have seen in other studies that fire represents the work of the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist told the people: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He (Jesus) who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11). When the disciples were together on the Day of Pentecost, Christ’s Holy Spirit filled them and appeared to them as “tongues of fire” (Acts 2:1-4), giving them the ability to speak a foreign langue they previously could not speak (verses 5-8).
In Revelation 19 John calls the second beast a “false prophet”:
“Then the beast (the papacy) was captured, and with him the false prophet (protestant America) who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.” (Revelation 19:20, New King James Version)
Just as “Whoever leads into captivity goes into captivity and those who murder with the sword will be killed with the sword” (Revelation 13:10, Aramaic Bible in Plain English), the false prophet who “maketh fire come down from heaven” will be destroyed by fire. Since these two beasts, which represent religious-political systems, are cast alive into the lake of fire, then the lake of fire must not be what we have been taught by mainstream churches. John also warns that those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark will suffer the same fate:
“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, which is poured out without mixture 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.” (Revelation 14:9, 10)
The word for “tormented” here is βασανίζω (basanizó). In our study of the Two Witnesses we learned that basanizó means, “To test (metals) by the touchstone, which is a black siliceous stone used to test the purity of gold or silver by the colour of the streak produced on it by rubbing it with either metal.” (Online Bible Greek Lexicon). This tormenting is not about pain and suffering as one burns in literal fire, but the torment of mental anguish as one is tested to see if their character is fit for heaven.
The grand test of character is how well it stands in the presence of a holy and loving God. Will you be able to dwell in the devouring fire of God’s love (Song of Songs 8:6), or will mental anguish take over as a result of overwhelming self-condemnation which torments your soul unto death? (See, Isaiah 33:14, 15).
The Greek word translated as “brimstone” is θεῖον (theion) which is from the word theos and means “divinity.” It should be translated as “divine incense” or “holy fire” because it is the fire of God’s purifying presence. In Revelation 14:11 it says, “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.” Smoke is what remains after something is burned. This is symbolic of the memory of how sin caused such sorrow and destruction. It will never be forgotten by those who occupy the new earth, thus the reason why “affliction shall not rise up the second time” (Nahum 1:9). God has never, nor will ever, burn and torture anyone alive with literal fire. The literal fire that burns “the elements”, causing them to “melt with fervent heat” (2 Peter 3:10), comes after those who have rejected their salvation are dead; for “they shall be ashes under the souls of [our] feet” (Malachi 4:3). For more info on this topic, see the article entitled: Doesn’t the Bible Say That God Will Burn and Torture People “Forever and forever”?
The fire that comes down in the sight of men by the false prophet will therefore be a false manifestation of God’s presence – His Holy Spirit. In our study of the Two Witnesses, we also discussed this false manifestation of the Spirit as prevalent in the charismatic churches through the false use of the gift of tongues. Many times, during the meetings of Kenneth Copeland, you can see people fainting to the floor trembling and uttering unintelligible words (a practice so-called “slain in the Spirit”) as Copeland yells the word “fire!” This they believe is “fire come down from heaven.” Many people are being deceived by this false holy spirit, believing it is the Spirit of God but whom John calls a “false prophet.” Another point we learned in our study on the Two Witnesses is that the charismatic/tongues movement has been a major player in uniting the churches:
“In the summer of 1967, the tongues movement invaded the Roman Church at Notra Dame University when many priests, nuns, and laypeople supposedly received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. From there it spread throughout Romanism, until today it has become a major force in the Roman Church. It has also jumped denominational lines and invaded Protestantism. It is no longer relegated to the ’holy rollers,’ but has now entered mainstream Protestantism and has achieved acceptability. In fact, it has become the unifying factor in Christendom today. Where attempts to formally unite all the denominations had failed, the charismatic movement has united Christians as nothing else could.” (Russell Burrill, The New World Order, pp. 133,134)
John says the “ten horns” will “receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful” (Revelation 17:12-14). Notice that the divisions of Europe will give their authority to the beast (Papal Rome) for one final battle between truth and error.
In these very days the United Nations is forming what is called the European Common Market, European Community or European Union. Today they have the largest army in the world! This rising empire even has a logo which is the Tower of Babel with the caption: “Many Tongues, One Voice.”
This is a perfect logo for this empire; for Scripture even prophesied it. At the time when the Tower of Babel was being built the inhabitants of Babylon said:
“Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4)
Notice they wanted to build a tower “whose top may reach unto heaven.” Speaking of a new revived spiritual Babylon that would come in the last days, John sees this scene:
“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” (Revelation 18:1-5)
This last-day spiritual Babylon will build a spiritual tower (a false sense of security) that will reach to the heavens. John says that this European Union would “give their power and strength unto the beast” (Revelation 17:13). Will they really give their authority to Papal Rome?
“If European Federalism triumphs, the EC (European Community) will indeed be an empire. It will lack an emperor. But it will have the pope. It is not difficult not to think that Wojtyla [pope John Paul's birth name; Karol Józef Wojtyła] realizes this.” (The Sunday Telegraph, London August 25, 1991, words in brackets my own)
Yes, prophecy will come true and this new empire will “give their power and strength unto the beast.” And isn’t it interesting that the United States, which will be the leading power to enforce this union, has set up a structure (a physical image) in its nation’s capital that resembles the structure in Vatican City?
Wouldn’t you say that the White House and the Washington monument oddly resembles St. Peter’s Basilica and the massive obelisk in front of it? And what were obelisks invented for? Are they not ancient monuments to pagan sun-worship?
“The Obelisk – Origin and History: These tapered monolithic pillars were originally built in pairs and located at the entrances of ancient Egyptian temples. Originally, obelisks were called tekhenu. The first one appeared in the Old Kingdom of Egypt around 2,300 BCE. The Egyptians would embellish all four sides of the obelisk’s shaft with hieroglyphs that included religious dedications, most commonly for the sun god Ra, as well as tributes to the rulers. Obelisks were thought to be the representation of the Egyptian sun god, Ra, because they followed the movement of the sun’s journey. Ra (the sun) would appear in the morning, move across the sky, and disappear again in the darkness with the sunset. Following the journey of Ra across the sky, obelisks would serve as a sundial, and the time of the day was indicated by the movement of the monuments’ shadows. So, obelisks had a practical purpose – they were essentially a way to tell the time by reading the shadow that it made. For Egyptians, the obelisk was a reverential monument, commemorating the dead, representing their kings, and honoring their gods … During the Roman Empire, many obelisks were shipped from Egypt to what is today Italy. At least a dozen went to Rome, including the one in the Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano, originally created by around 1400 BCE by Thutmose III at Karnak. It weighs approximately 455 tons and is the largest ancient obelisk that exists to this day. In the late 19th century, the government of Egypt gifted one obelisk to the United States, and one to Great Britain. One is located in Central Park, New York City, and the other on the Thames embankment in London. Although the latter is called Cleopatra’s Needle, it has nothing to do with the queen. They both bear inscriptions dedicated to Thutmose III and Ramses II. The best example of a modern obelisk is the well-known Washington Monument completed in 1884. It’s 555 feet tall and contains an observatory. It embodies the awe and respect of the nation for its most essential founding father, George Washington.” (The Obelisk Symbol – Origin, Meaning, and Modern Use, symbolsage.com)
On page 108 in his book, The Secret Terrorists, Bill Hughes writes:
“Every major religious organization has been infiltrated and taken over by the Jesuits. They want everyone to stay in the mainstream organizations so that they can more easily be indoctrinated. Anyone outside the main churches will be more difficult to brainwash. According to ex-Jesuit priest, Alberto Rivera, all the mainstream churches were taken over by 1980. Dr. Rivera explained that when he was under the extreme oath of the Jesuits, he was told that a secret sign was to be given to the Jesuits world-wide when the ecumenical movement had successfully wiped out Protestantism, in preparation for the signing of a concordat between the Vatican and the U.S.”
What was this secret sign revealing that all mainstream churches had been taken over by the papacy and her Jesuits?
“The sign was to be when a President of the U.S. took his oath of office facing an obelisk. For the first time in U.S. history, the swearing in ceremonies were moved to the West front of the Capitol, and President Ronald Reagan faced the Washington Monument [an obelisk]. This happened January 20, 1981.” (Jack Chick, The Godfathers, Alberto Part Three, p. 26)
If you remember from our study on the Two Witnesses, we discussed the beast which rose from the "bottomless pit" and learned that it represented the rise of Atheistic Communism. The February 4th, 1992 edition of Time Magazine issued an article detailing a secret "holy alliance" between Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II stating "How Reagan and the Pope conspired to assist Poland’s solidarity movement and hasten the demise of Communism.” Yes, the two great religio-political powers of Revelation chapter 13 working together just as Bible prophecy said they would.
Since the seventh-day Sabbath is the “sign” (seal) which points us to the Creator of “the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them” (Exodus 20:11; Revelation 14:7), it is no wonder that sun-worship will play a part in all of this. We have learned that the day of the sun (Sun-day) was the ancient holy day for the pagans in honor of the sun-god.
In his book, The Protestant Dilemma, Richard Lewis shows us that, even though the Protestant Reformers were escaping the practice of legislating religious doctrines, the legislation of Sunday observance did not fade away:
“With the enlightenment of the Reformation, it might have been expected that there would be a less legalistic approach to Lord’s-day observance [referring to Sunday]. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Sabbathkeeping communities here and there throughout Europe became known in the sixteenth century. An example of the treatment accorded these dissenters can be seen in the case of John Trask and his wife in England. He, for advocating liberty to keep the seventh-day Sabbath, was condemned by the court of Star Chamber to be pilloried, whipped, and imprisoned. Under the persecution his spirit failed and he gave up his belief. But his wife was arrested when it became known that her custom of teaching school only five days each week was so that she could keep the Sabbath, and she spent the rest of her life in prison. In the New World [America], the haven for oppressed minorities who fled religious persecution, surely freedom would be found. But no! The Puritans became as coercive as their oppressors in England. When the new nation was formed, even though the principles of freedom were written into the Constitution of the United States, efforts to coerce men persisted. The National Reform Association, following the vogue of the earlier National Reformers, in 1863 urged an amendment to the Constitution which, if adopted, would have made the laws of the Christian religion a part of the law of the land. In the [eighteen] seventies and eighties there were several cases of persecution, under state laws, of Sabbathkeepers and others who were found working on Sunday, even though the work was in private and detected only by snooping. At least eleven states were involved. In 1888 the notorious Blair Sunday bill was proposed in Congress but defeated. An example of the kind of legislation found in the states is this excerpt from a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision in 1886: ‘There are but few of our states which in principle are of more importance than the act of the 22nd of April, 1794, commonly called the ‘Sunday Act,’ In that it recognizes the first day of the week as a Sabbath of rest for the well-disposed and religious people of our commonwealth.’ An earlier decision of this court stated: ‘Though it may have been a motive of the lawmakers to prohibit the profanation of a day regarded by them as sacred - and certainly there are expressions used in the statute that justify this conclusion - it is not perceived how this fact can vitally affect the question at issue.’ In this language the State of Pennsylvania upheld legislation to enforce the observance of Sunday sacredness upon its citizens, admitting the religious motivation in the law.” (Pages 78, 79)
In fact, one of the first Sunday laws was in the state of Virginia in 1610 A.D. The law read as follows:
“Every man and woman shall repair in the morning to the divine service and sermons preached upon the Sabbath [meaning Sunday], and in the afternoon to divine service, and catechizing, upon pain for the first fault to lose their provision and the allowance for the whole week following; for the second, to lose the said allowance and also be whipped; for the third to suffer death.” (Laws and Orders, divine Politique, and Martal, for the colony of Virginia: May 24, 1610)
Sunday laws are actually still on the books and could be revived at any time. Modern Protestant and Catholic leaders are pushing toward more strict Sunday laws even today. One such leader, the well-known professed Protestant Pat Robertson, made this quote in 1990:
“At long last, a grass roots coalition of Evangelicals, conservative Catholics, and their allies has formed to make government and the media responsive to our concerns. It’s high time we realize the strength that comes from unity ... ‘Observe the Sabbath Day to keep it holy,’ the Lord told Moses. ‘Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord.’ Over the past few decades, the people of our nation - including Christians - have pushed aside the Fourth Commandment. We have said, ‘We are not under the law.’ And that is true, but no one has been freed from the moral, physical or commonsense basis for God’s Ten Commandments. That is why it is so devastating to see city after city opening full blast on Sunday.” (Church and State, April, 1990)
Notice that Robertson wants to “make government” enforce their “moral principles” and one of their moral principles, he says, is the Sabbath commandment. However, he misapplies the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday) as being Sunday! So, in reality, he is calling for a Sunday law to be passed.
In his book, The Protestant Dilemma, Richard Lewis continues:
“By the first decade of the present century, all but three states had Sunday laws, and about half of these were severe, prohibiting all work except acts of charity and necessity. In recent years there has been a relaxation of this type of religious persecution, either by changes in the laws or by the purposeful neglect of enforcement. But the Sunday forces have not been inactive. In the last seventy years [this book was written in 1961] more than one hundred fifty Sunday-observance bills have been introduced into Congress. None has been passed. There appears to be a current trend toward Sunday-closing laws, ostensibly intended to regulate competitive selling. Used-car lots have been closed on Sunday in some places. It may seem harmless thus to limit commerce so that employees will not have to work on a day they should have for rest. Actually, other laws limit the hours of employment. And as for the proprietors, they could be protected by laws requiring closure on one day of the week.” (Pages 79, 80)
Sunday laws have recently been issued in Germany:
“Germany’s plans to make Sunday the official day of rest for the EC’s 320 million citizens, closing down all businesses except continuous activity such as blast furnaces and newspapers, have met unexpected support from other community countries and fierce, but lone opposition from Britain ... Of the 12 community countries, nine shut down most industrial and commercial activity on Sundays. The exceptions are the United Kingdom, Denmark and Portugal, but this minority will not be enough to veto the directive, which will be decided by a ‘qualified majority.’” (The Daily Telegraph, September 9, 1990)
Notice that the United Kingdom, Denmark and Portugal are considered to be a “minority” which will not have enough power to veto the law. This is exactly what will happen in the last days. Those who wish to vote against the coming religious order and their ideas will be such a minority that their views will not matter. The characters described by the third angel of Revelation 14 are beginning to all make sense. The beast is Papal Rome and its image is the foundation of pagan sun-worship— Sunday observance! But what about the mark of the beast?
The Mark of the Beast
First of all, let’s get one thing straight: The mark of the beast is NOT the literal number 666 being tattooed on your forehead. In ancient times numbers had symbolic meaning. God’s sacred number is 7. Ever since God rested on the seventh day of Creation, the number 7 has stood out to mean “perfect” or “complete.” Creation was truly perfect or complete and God rested in that fact upon the very first Sabbath. It was truly a giving creation because it reflected His character of selfless giving – the trees give us oxygen and we give the trees carbon-dioxide – God’s perfect cycle of giving.
The number 7 has been intergraded into the design of life. The human body has 30 trillion cells which perform about 10,000 chemical functions. Every cell has one trillion bits of data (equal to every letter in ten million books). Each one also replaces itself every SEVEN YEARS.
“Bird's eggs ALL hatch in a perfect multiple of seven day periods from laying. Hens hatch in 21 days, common ducks 28 days, Muscovy ducks 35 days, Emperor Penguins 49 days, Emu 56 days, Golden and Imperial eagles 35 days, large owls 28 days, Cassowary 42 days, ALL MULTIPLES OF SEVEN. In humans the menstrual cycle is exactly 28 days (as is the cycle of the moon). Each stage of embryo development is in periods of 28 days. There are 10 periods of 28 day cycles making the normal gestation of the human 280 days (note that this is equal to 40 weeks, the number 40 is the NUMBER OF WEEKS FOR HUMAN GESTATION, and is used over and over in the Bible. Gestation
for mammals are as follows: Mouse 21 days, Cat 56 days, Hare 28 days, Dog 63 days, Lion 98 days, Sheep 147 days. ALL MULTIPLES OF SEVEN. The first bone marrow cells appear on about day 49. This day has been given special significance. Day 49 has been elected to be the final day of the scientifically recorded day to day diary of development. On this day the embryo is SEVEN weeks old and is considered to be essentially COMPLETE. Fevers and intermittent attacks of gout, ague, and similar complaints have a period of operation of 7, 14 or 21 days known as critical days. We're told the pulse beats slower every SEVEN days as if it were in accord with the SEVENTH day of rest proclaimed in the Genesis creation week. The average pulse beat is 70 beats per minute. ‘And God formed man of the dust of the ground’ (Gen. 2:7); science confirms the human body is made of the same 14 elements (2 x 7) found in your average handful of dust. If you pass sunlight through a prism, it produces SEVEN colors; the three primary colors and four secondary ones. The Periodic Table of the known Elements has SEVEN levels of periodicity. So from just these examples we can see that God has ordained a pattern of SEVENS in nature. All things of nature, be they matter, energy, time or space were DESIGNED and ordained by the Lord God. Therefore, rest assured that our Holy Bible is the infallible Master Textbook of true science.” (TheHiddenLighthouse.blogspot.com)
The Hebrew word for “seven” is שֶׁבַע (seva). This word shares its grammatical root with the word שָׂבֵעַ (veya), which means “to be full”, or “satisfied.” It represents us entering into God’s rest and becoming fully dependent and satisfied in Him. It is glorifying His works, His unchanging character of love, as defined by His way of justice. As we enter into God’s rest, through the Sabbath-Seven-Principle, we will “be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height (of God’s methods and principles); And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” (Ephesians 3:18, 19)
In Romans 3:23 Paul states, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Separated from God and His rest, mankind always falls one number short of God’s character. Mankind was created on the 6th day. Although Adam and Eve hadn’t done any work, they entered into God’s perfect rest on the 7th day when He rested from all of His work. On this day Jesus, by whom God created all things (1 Corinthians 8:6; Hebrews 1:1-3), was refreshed in His Father’s bosom as His Father breathed upon Him His life-giving Spirit (Exodus 31:17).
Fallen man, as the number 6, is incomplete and not perfect. He is one number short of 7. He has fallen short of complete rest (shabbat) in the Creator. When words are tripled in Scripture it is used to describe the intensity of something. Here are some examples:
“And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’” (Isaiah 6:3)
“A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until He comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to Him.” (Ezekiel 21:27)
“O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!” (Jeremiah 22:29)
“And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” (Revelation 4:8)
Many refer to the “holy, holy, holy” statement as proof of the Trinity. One “holy” for the Father, one “holy” for the Son, and one “holy” for the Spirit. But this is not what’s being conveyed here. In English (and other languages), there are different words to describe the intensity of something. For example, red, redder, reddest. Or sad, sadder, saddest. Or holy, holier, holiest. But in Hebrew, there aren't different words to describe the intensity, thus they would use a word multiple times to describe the intensity. Thus “holy, holy, holy” would be equivalent to “holiest” in English and would describe something that is the most “holy.” The phrase means there is no person, place or thing any holier than God. The Complete Jewish Bible translates Isaiah 6:3 like this:
“They were crying out to each other, ‘More holy than the holiest holiness is ADONAI-Tzva'ot! The whole earth is filled with his glory!’”
The triple number 666 represents mankind’s attempt to place God in obligation to accept mankind because of their works. This is why the number 666 is in connection to the beast power. The beast power practices and enforces salvation by works. We saw in our study of the little horn (Part Two) that the beast power is a power that exalts man above God. It is a power which is against “the everlasting gospel (Good News)” of God’s true character. Scripture warns us “that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name (character) of the beast, or the number of his name (character).” (Revelation 13:17). Receiving the mark of the beast is the equivalent of receiving His character of force and coercion. Notice how the Remedy Bible paraphrases and expands the meaning:
“Next I saw a different beast arising out of the earth. It had two horns like lamb's horns but spoke like a dragon — which symbolized a new power, arising in a different part of the earth, that initially promotes lamblike principles of freedom but eventually practices dragonlike methods of coercion. As the first beast watched, the second beast exercised all the tactics of the first beast and led the world to practice its methods, thus giving honor to the first beast whose fatal wound was healed. The beast required everyone to choose whom they would worship–symbolized by the miracle of calling fire down from heaven. Because of the astonishing act of restricting religious freedoms and the economic coercion that it was given power to wield, it duped the entire world. It commanded them to form a coalition of religious and political power to enforce its way, which was modeled after the first beast's ways. It had the resources and ability to bring this coalition into a living reality–a fitting model honoring the first beast. It even imposed a death penalty for all who refused to practice its methods.” (Revelation 13:11-15)
The number 666 is not a tattoo, but an identification number built upon the beastly methods of force and coercion. John said, “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” (Revelation 13:18).
John says “it is the number of a man.” Therefore, what happens when we apply this number to the official name or title of the leader of this beastly system – the pope? Most Scripture teachers calculate this number by using Roman numerals where letters have a numerical value. For example: I = 1; L = 50; V = 5; X = 10 etc. Most of us are familiar with these. To apply this to the pope we must use the pope’s official name which is the Latin word VICARIUS FILII DEI which means, “Vicar of the Son of God” or in other words, “in place of the Son of God”, the very position Satan began to covet:
“The letters inscribed in the Pope’s miter are these ‘Vicarious Filii Dei’ which is Latin for ‘Vicar of the Son of God.’ Catholics hold that the church, which is a visible society, must have a visible head …, as head of the church was given the title ‘Vicar of Christ.’” (Our Sunday Visitor, [Catholic Weekly] ‘Bureau of information,’ Huntington, Ind. April 18, 1915)
Let’s look at the numerical values (Roman numerals) for this name, keeping in mind that the letter “U” and “V” have the same numerical value:
V = 5; I = 1; C = 100; A = 0; R = 0; I = 1; U = 5; S = 0;
F = 0; I = 1; L = 50; I = 1; I = 1;
D = 500; E = 0; I =1. (Total: 666).
Many people have tried to state that this title was never used, but the images below show otherwise. Again, notice how the letters “U” and “V” are used interchangeably:
There are other names or titles of the pope which also calculate to 666 in Roman numerals:
Rex Latinus Sacerdos (“King of the Latin Priests”):
R = 0; E = 0; X = 10; L = 50; A = 0; T = 0; I = 1; N = 0; U = 5; S = 0;
S = 0; A = 0; C = 100; E = 0; R = 0; D = 500; O = 0; S = 0. (Total: 666).
Dux Cleri (“Captain of the Clergy”):
D = 500; U = 5; X = 10; C = 100; L = 50; E = 0; R = 0; I = 1. (Total 666).
Ludo Vicus (“Chief Vicar of the Court of Rome”):
L = 50; U = 5; D = 500; O = 0;
V= 5; I = 1; C = 100; U = 5; S = 0. (Total 666).
Here are some additional names that surround the Church of Rome with their numerical code using the Latin alphabet/numerical system:
Italika Ekklesia (“Latin Church”):
I = 10; T= 300; A = 1; L = 30; I = 10; K = 20; A = 1;
E = 5; K = 20; K = 20; L = 30; E = 8; S = 200; I = 10; A = 1. (Total 666).
Latienos (“Latin Man”):
L = 30; A = 1; T = 300; I = 10; E = 5; N = 50; O = 70; S = 200. (Total 666).
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Below are two other titles using the Hebrew alphabet/numerical system:
Romiith (Roman Kingdom):
R = 200; O = 6; M = 40; I = 10; I = 10; TH = 400. (Total 666).
Romiti (Roman Man):
R = 200; O = 6; M = 40; I = 10; T = 400; I = 10. (Total 666).
We have shown earlier that the beast, his image and mark are, without question, against the Law of God due to John’s description of those who do not accept the beast, his image or his mark as “those that keep the Commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12). In fact, the papacy tells us that the act of “changing” God’s Law is their MARK of authority:
Take a deeper look into this “mark” and you’ll see something incredible. The papacy actually defines their “mark of authority” in a little more detail:
“Of course the Catholic church claims that the change [from Saturday to Sunday] was her act. And the act is the MARK of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.” (C.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons, Faith of Our Fathers, p, 14)
It cannot be just a coincidence that God defines His “seal” as His Law, particularly the seventh-day Sabbath, while the papacy defines her “mark” as the act of over-ruling God’s Law, and the proof they give is the act of replacing the seventh-day Sabbath with Sunday observance throughout the Christian world. Thus Sunday observance has become “a mark of Christian unity.” In April of 2015 Reverend Dr. Demetrios Tonias of The Lord’s Day Alliance of USA stated:
“By definition, each and every Sunday is a call to Christian unity since it is on this day that we are called to communion with the Lord, by the Lord ... In order to fully appreciate Sunday as a MARK of Christian unity we must expand our definition of unity.”
Echoeing this thought is Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley:
“As Pope Benedict says, Sunday is not just a suspension of ordinary activities, but a time when ‘Christians discover the Eucharistic form that their lives are meant to have.’ The way we celebrate Sunday will affect the way we live the remainder of the week and is a MARK of Christian identity from generation to generation." (Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, Pastoral Letter, November 20, 2011)
Everyone who willingly rejects the seventh-day Sabbath to observe Sunday in its place, is bowing to the authority of the papacy. Jesus did not change the Sabbath. Man, on the other hand, has attempted to do so. Please see the Questions Concerning Feast Days and Sabbaths section for more details.
“Protestants ... accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change ... But the Protestant mind does not realize that ... on observing the Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope.” (Our Sunday Visitor, February 5, 1950)
“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, Elizabeth, N.J. “News” of March 18, 1903)
Since the act of “changing” the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day in nearly all the minds throughout the world is the “mark” of the Papacy’s authority in religious matters, then Sunday sacredness is the “sign” pointing to one’s allegiance in the beastly methods of coercion to “enforce obedience to authority.” Believing in this beastly method will bring the mark in your “forehead” (the symbol of your reasoning), while practicing this beastly method will bring the mark upon your “hand” (the symbol of your works or allegiance). Anyone who doesn’t believe and practice this method, thus rejecting Sunday sacredness, will be put to death while the world wrongly believes this is God’s justice carried out. Jesus said, “… Yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” (John 16:2).
Christ Our Example
Did you know that one of the main reasons Jesus was crucified was because of the way He kept Sabbath? The unbelieving Jewish leaders accused Jesus of not keeping the Sabbath because He healed upon the Sabbath, which was against their own man-made requirements that they had added to the Sabbath Commandment. The Pharisees would say, “This man is not of God, because He keepeth not the Sabbath day…” (John 9:16). Jesus was treated as a Sabbath-breaker when in fact He was a Sabbath-keeper. And because of this, they counted Him as a heretic and sought recourse to force, to corporal punishment and to torture:
“And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth … He (Jesus) spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam … He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing … And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes … Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because He keepeth not the Sabbath day …” (John 9:1, 6, 7, 14, 16)
“And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day.” (John 5:16)
“Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath (according to their views), but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:18)
Notice again the connection between the Sabbath and Jesus’ literal Sonship to His Father, as we learned in our previous study.
“And He (Jesus) entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they (the Pharisees) watched Him, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse Him … And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.” (Mark 3:1, 2, 5, 6)
In order for the Pharisees to persecute and destroy Jesus, they “took counsel with the Herodians.” The Herodians were the political supporters of Herod, the Roman king. What we see here is the uniting of church (Pharisees) and the state (Herodians) in order to enforce their moral ideas. In this case their own moral ideas concerning the Sabbath.
In one counsel between the chief priests and the Pharisees it was said, “What do we? for this Man (Jesus) doeth many miracles. If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation … consider that it is expedient for us, that one Man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not” (John 11:47, 48, 50). The chief priests and Pharisees feared that, if they did nothing to punish Jesus, the Romans would take away their place and nation. They were concerned about their position and their allegiance to Rome. They reasoned that it was more advantageous, or convenient, (expedient) for them to destroy Jesus than for the whole nation to perish.
So, in their counsels, they reasoned how they could save themselves by destroying Jesus. A concept that is not only impossible, but satanic! Satan’s plan is to save himself without Christ, the Son of God. He wants to exalt himself and replace the Son of God, but to get to that position he would need to destroy Jesus. These satanic counsels were all about salvation by self-works, enforcing obedience to their authority.
The same thing is happening today. On page 15 in his book, Christ and the Pharisees or Christ’s Faithfulness in Sabbath-Keeping, A.T. Jones writes:
“Haven’t we seen this Protestantism taking counsel with Catholicism, to get possession of the civil power, in order to crush out of existence God’s idea of the Sabbath, even the Sabbath of the Lord as He made it and as He named it, and set up man’s, even the Sunday of the papacy, as the Catholic Church has appointed it?”
In Revelation 13:15 we have read: “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” The United States will indeed have the power to give life unto the image of the beast, so that the image will be able to both speak and cause people to worship it. Remember, when a kingdom “speaks” and “causes” in Bible prophecy it means legislative laws. It will cause people to worship it by law.
Recently the Roman church has been fighting to secure Sunday as the official holy day of rest:
“All businesses, including gasoline stations and restaurants should close every Sunday by force of legislative fiat through the duly elected officials of the people.” (Christianity Today, Herald Lindsell, Editor, May 7, 1976)
“In respecting religious liberty and the common good of all, Christians should seek recognition of Sundays and the Church’s holy days as legal holidays.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994)
“ … In this matter, my predecessor Pope Leo XIII in his Encyclical Rerum Novarum spoke of Sunday rest as a worker’s right which the State must guarantee … Therefore, also in the particular circumstances of our own time, Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy.” (Pope John Paul II, Dies Domini, May 31, 1998)
In 1998 Pope John Paul II was quoted as saying, “A person who violates the sanctity of Sunday is to be punished as a heretic” (Detroit News, July 7, 1998, p. 1).
A heretic is “a person who differs in opinion from established religious dogma, one who differs in opinion from an accepted belief or doctrine.” How does the Roman Church plan to punish those heretics?
“The Catholic Church is a respecter of conscience and of liberty … Nevertheless, when confronted with heresy … she has recourse to FORCE, to CORPORAL PUNISHMENT, to TORTURE.” (Catholic Professor Alfred Baudrillart, The Catholic Church, Renaissance, and Protestantism, pp. 182, 183)
“Heretics may not only be excommunicated [from the church], but also justly put to death.” (The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, vol. 14, pp. 766,768)
“Wherever and whenever there is honest Catholicity, there will be a clear distinction drawn between truth and error, and Catholicity and all forms of heresy. When she thinks it good to use physical force, she will use it ... But will the Catholic Church give bond that she will not persecute at all? Will she guarantee absolute freedom and equality of all churches and all faiths? The Catholic Church gives no bonds of her good behavior.” (The Western Watchman [A Catholic Publication], December 24, 1908)
By using September 11 as a crutch to begin weening out our religious liberty laws, religious leaders were beginning to call for an enforced “National Day of Rest.” And as you can probably guess, this National Day of Rest is not the Scriptural Sabbath, but man’s Sunday. In the Roman Catholic book, Faith of Millions, page 404 we read:
“The moral fabric of America is wearing thin. We must go back to B.A.U (Business As Usual). The terrorists attack on America September 11, 2001 sent a wake-up call to many of us … We not only need a day of prayer and unity but many of us here at Christian Coalition believe it is time to legislate a National Day of Rest. As Dr. James Dobson reminds us, families need time for rest and worship ... Christopher Columbus has given an inspiring example of respect for the Sanctity of Sunday under the most trying circumstances. It illustrates the Spirit of unfaltering trust in God … Destroy the Sanctity of Sunday and you throw civilization back into darkness and mire Pagan materialism – the observance of Sunday is essential to the welfare of this nation.”
It is very interesting how they separate Sunday observance from paganism, when Sunday observance is the backbone of paganism:
“[The name] Sunday is the first day of the week, adopted from the Roman calendar because it was dedicated to the worship of the sun.” (Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Article: “Sunday”)
“Sunday was a name given by the heathens to the first day of the week, because it was the day they worshipped the sun.” (Eadie’s Biblical Cyclopedia, 1872, p. 561)
In a paper read before a New York minister’s conference held November 13, 1893, Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, the author of the The Baptist Manual, said:
“Of course I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history as a religious day, as we learn from the Christian Fathers and other sources. But what a pity that it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, when adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!”
It is also interesting that in the April 2002 edition of Inside the Vatican it is reported that the theme of Pope John Paul’s Easter message was “the silence of Holy Saturday.”
History will repeat itself. There will be modern teachers claiming that all the calamities such as earthquakes, floods, and wildfires are a direct result of people not observing Sunday as the holy day of rest. Like Jesus, true Sabbath-keepers will be looked upon as being “not of God, because [they] keepeth not the sabbath day [meaning Sunday].” In fact, Reverend John Macleod of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland blamed pleasure-seekers on “the Lord’s day [Sunday]” caused the tsunami of Sunday, December 26, 2004: He was quoted as saying:
“Some of the places most effected by the tsunami attracted pleasure-seekers from all over the world. It has to be noted that the wave arrived on the Lord’s day [meaning Sunday to him], the day God set apart to be observed the world over as a holy resting from all employments and recreations that are lawful on other days.” (WorldNetDaily.com, February 13, 2005)
For a study on the term “Lord’s Day”, see the article entitled, What About the Lord’s Day and the Observance of Sunday by the Early Christian Church?
Religious leaders today want to legislate Sunday observance because if you “destroy the sanctity of Sunday … you throw civilization back into darkness.” This is the same reasoning as the chief priests and Pharisees. Modern religious leaders will seek to save themselves and the nation by uniting church and state to destroy “sabbath [Sunday]-breakers.” The Climate Change agenda will play a major factor in the coming Sunday laws. In 2015 Pope Francis issued his letter Laudato si’ (On Care for Our Common Home), in which he cunningly connects the failing environment (global warming/climate change) with neglecting to observe Sunday:
“On Sunday, our participation in the Eucharist has special importance. Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath, is meant to be a day which heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others and with the world.” (Laudato Si, paragraphs 236-237)
The message is that no work on Sundays means less burning of fossil fuels and less pollution and less damaging climate change. However, we have seen that this reasoning is actually backwards. The reason why the earth is in the shape it’s in is because mankind has broken God’s Law and changed His ordinances:
“The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the Laws, changed the Ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth …” (Isaiah 24:4-6)
This is why John saw that the United States would “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.” (Revelation 13:12). Not only will those who dwell on the earth worship the first beast (papacy), but “the earth” as well. Listen how author J.H. Waggoner, who lived from 1820-1889, explains this prophecy and how it relates to us today:
“There is one more feature of the prophecy to which I wish to call your attention. The mark of the beast is first presented in its enforcement by the two-horned beast of Rev. xiii. Verse 12 says he ‘causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.’ They that dwell in the earth may follow the Papal power in many respects. But how is it that the earth itself is caused to worship the beast? Evidently in that it must not be tilled or cultivated on the Romish festival of Sunday. In this and this only is the prophecy fulfilled. Let this fact be carefully noted, and duly weighed in this connection.” (J.H. Waggoner, The Mark of the Beast, p. 10, 11)
A Sunday law does not bring us back into harmony with God’s design. God’s design is resting upon the seventh day of the week, not the first. In fact, besides the Sabbath, God has also given us appointed times when the land was to rest. Again, these times are centered upon the Sabbath-Seven-Principle. God had instructed His people that every seventh year the land was to rest, during which no crops were to be sown or harvested (Leviticus 25:2; Exodus 23:10-11). Then, after seven cycles of sabbatical years, a total of 49 years, the fiftieth year was proclaimed a jubilee, when again the land was to rest from cultivation (Leviticus 25:8-12). This is God’s creational design for true climate-control.
A Sunday law would be a change in the Law and Ordinance of God, which is the problem. At the same time, a law enforcing rest on the seventh-day would not solve the problem either. Why? Because God is against forced obedience. He only desires obedience (submission) out of pure selfless love for who He is. But didn’t God command Sabbath-breakers to be stoned to death? For the answer to this, I call your attention to the article entitled, Why Did God Command the Horrific Death Sentence of Stoning?
This concept does not seem to register with the Religious Right, who are adamant about enforcing their Sunday. In November of 2017, lawmakers in Poland approved a gradual ban on Sunday shopping after a push by the Catholic Church and Labor Unions:
“Poland’s lawmakers on Friday approved a law that will phase out Sunday shopping by the year 2020 despite criticism that it may eliminate thousands of jobs. Proposed by Labor Unions that want shop and trade workers to spend more time with their families, the bill got support from the ruling party that adheres to Catholic values.” (Associated Press, Warsaw, Poland, November 24, 2017)
As of October 2019, Sunday is one step closer to becoming a holiday by law in Antigua and Barbuda:
“Sunday is one step closer to being concretised as the 12th public holiday recognised by the laws of Antigua and Barbuda ... this government is very happy to endorse the recommendations of those persons who got together. And we will make Sunday, for the first time in Antigua and Barbuda, a recognised public holiday.” (Latrishka Thomas, The Daily Observer, Oct. 30, 2019)
Although these leaders claim “faith, faith, faith” they will be seeking righteousness by self-works. This is why John saw those who refused to accept the mark of the beast as those who “keep the Commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).
Those who teach the observance of God’s Law are usually labeled, by mainstream “Christianity,” as “legalists” or those who practice righteousness by works. However, it is actually those who teach the observance of man-made laws, in the place of God’s Law, who are the legalists and practice righteousness by works. Enforcement of Sunday observance is righteousness by works.
"The Sabbath of the Lord is the acceptance of God’s own works, and rest in them alone, allowing Him to work both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13) ... The Sunday sabbath signifies the substitution of our work for God’s work, as being not only as good, but even better. It dispenses with the form of the commandment of the Lord. The Sunday Sabbath, therefore, stands as the sign of humanity’s pretended power to make things holy." (E.J. Waggoner, The Three Sabbaths)
Most of the world, including professed Christians, believe that it is God who inflicts punishments and that God’s justice demands the death of the sinner. This is a lie introduced from Satan and taught and practiced by the beastly systems of the world. The papal system would play the part of infiltrating this idea into the “Christian” church; for we have seen that the papacy, represented by “the little horn”, would “intend to change religious festivals and Laws.” (Daniel 7:25, Christian Standard Bible).
The Sabbath is made by design; but warfare, death penalties, animal and human sacrifices are not part of God’s Laws of design. Why? Death is the ultimate enemy of God (1 Corinthians 15:26) because it works against God’s design (Revelation 21:4). Like a magician who can only fool the eye through illusions, thinking they have manipulated or changed the laws of physics, Sunday sacredness is a sign pointing to the illusion that God’s Law can be modified or abolished altogether.
In our study of the little horn power we saw that, in the punitive view of God’s Law and justice, it is believed that God directly sends pestilence, sickness, environmental disasters, and even death as punishments upon the inhabitants of the earth for not keeping His Law. However, this places God as the enemy and the One whom we must be afraid of, and to get Him off our backs, we must do something to appease His wrath. This view in itself attempts to “change” God’s Law in our thinking from a spiritual Law (Romans 7:14), created by a loving Designer, into legal rules that demand imposed legal punishments upon the offender. It places God as a dictator, no different than a pagan god, waiting to punish all those who disobey Him. The Sabbath, however, points to God as the Designer whose Law is a transcript of His character of selfless love. To break this Law (God’s Law) brings the natural result of death (James 1:14-15) and natural disasters (Genesis 3:17, 18; 6:11, 12; Leviticus 18:25-28; Romans 8:22) because we have chosen to step out from within God’s design.
Death is due to the results of the sinner unplugging themselves from God who is the only source of life, just as jumping out of an airplane at 35,000 feet without a parachute will result in death.
Thus the present truth of the “everlasting gospel” is the final call to “Worship Him (the Designer) who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water” (Revelation 14:6-7), which we have seen is a direct link to the Sabbath instruction (Exodus 20:8-11).
“The historic two days of worship within Christianity—Sabbath and Sunday—stand as two banners, signs, flags, marks, pennants that represent two divergent systems of governing … The Sabbath is a day of rest by its creation: it was made by God for this purpose at the end of creation week. The Sabbath is an evidence of design-law—truth, presented in love while leaving others free—and is a sign of God’s method of governing. Sunday, however, became a day of rest by legislative action, by human authorities making rules. Therefore, Sunday is a mark of imperialism—of law and government that functions like sinful humans who impose rules that require infliction of punishment for disobedience. … Understanding all of this, we can see that Sabbath is a sign of something larger than a day to go to church upon—it is an evidence of a system of governing to which we adhere and live in harmony with God and His government all week long, not just one day in seven. Salvation in Christ is about restoring sinners to holiness; it is not about restoring the Sabbath to holiness. And rightly understood, the Sabbath is a ‘sign’ that God makes us holy: ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.’ (Ex 31:13). We can’t be holy only one day in seven, so the Sabbath is a sign of a way of living, a loyalty, an embracing of and transformation back into God’s design, to which we
live all week long. Further, every seven days, the Sabbath affords an opportunity for us to exercise our trust in God and rest in Him, thus choosing to identify with His kingdom of love. The real question is, Who do we understand God to be: [1] Creator/Designer whose laws are the protocols upon which life is built and who created the Sabbath for our spiritual health, or [2] an imperial dictator who makes up rules and then enforces those rules with threats of punishment—just like the church of the Dark Ages did for those who violated her Sunday?” (Dr. Timothy Jennings, comeandreason.org)
Let me make one thing clear before we close out this study. There is absolutely nothing wrong with going to church on a Sunday. We can gather together on any day of the week. I’m not saying the first day of the week is an evil day just because it is used as a pagan holiday (just as clean meat should not be avoided just because it was sacrificed to a pagan god, see the article entitled: Isn’t ‘Every Creature’ Good to Eat Now?). God created the first day of the week, therefore it is a part of His creation design. However, it is a sin (against God’s design for life) to replace God’s Sabbath with another day; for “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the Law: for sin is the transgression of the Law.” (1 John 3:4).
The United States will once again enforce Sunday observance, bringing everyone’s allegiance back to the papacy and ultimately back to pagan sun-worship. The sun-god will be worshipped in place of the Son of God. The “son of perdition” will exalt (incorporate) “the Daily” abomination of desolation, which destroys the soul temple with false ideas of God’s love and justice (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4). Just as the Son of God revealed to us the true character of God our Father, the “son of perdition” reveals to us the true character of “the Father of lies” (John 8:44). Beastly methods of force, coercion and serpent justice will arise to flood out God’s people, as Satan prepares “to make war with the remnant of her seed (Christ’s church), which keep the Commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Revelation 12:17).
Next study: What is the Battle of Armageddon?
