The Mark of The Beast
In this article we will begin to see why it is so important to know which is the true Sabbath.
Q. Who or what is the beast?
A. We will go directly to Revelation chapter 13 for our first look at the beast:
“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast 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. And the beast which I saw 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. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 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. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints”
Revelation 13:1-10
This same power is mentioned in the book of Daniel also:
“ I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn [were] eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth [were of] iron, and his nails [of] brass; [which] devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; And of the ten horns that [were] in his head, and [of] the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even [of] that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look [was] more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom [are] ten kings [that] shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time”
Daniel 7:8,19-25
An angel explains the images to Daniel. The beasts he saw were kingdoms, beginning at his time and going to the end of the world. The horns were kings that would rule in the time period of that beast power. The little horn was a power that would arise and uproot three other kings in the process. That little horn represents the Papacy.
The last beast with the ten horns was the Roman Empire, which eventually dissolved into ten smaller kingdoms. The Papacy received a throne from the Roman Emperor, and as his throne was established three of the ten kingdoms were removed, as prophesied.
The horn representing the Papacy was to blaspheme God , think to change “times and laws”, and would persecute the saints of God for “time and times and the dividing of time”. This time period, using ancient methods, converting the “time” into a year, with “times”, being two years, and the “dividing of time” being one half year. Changing the years (three and a half) into days, we have 1260 days, and a day in prophecy is equal to a year, therefore the horn would persecute the saints for 1260 years.
As we have already seen, the Papacy persecuted the people of God for 1260 years, before the Pope was taken captive by a French general in 1798. Another part of the prophecy of the little horn is his thinking to change times and laws. This was accomplished when the Pope rewrote the Ten Commandments, removing the second about worshiping idols, and changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday as we have already discussed.
The little horn would blaspheme God. The Biblical description for blaspheme is for a man to claim to forgive sins, and for a man to claim to be God.( Mark 2:7 and John 10:33) These two things the Papacy is guilty of. The Pope claims to be God on earth, and the priests claim to be able to forgive sins.
Now let’s take all this information and look at the beast in Rev.13. We see a beast coming up out of the sea, which represents nations and tongues and people. The beast appears to be a conglomeration of all four beasts in Daniel 7. The dragon gave him his seat, and power and great authority. At the time of Christ the Roman Empire was the power used by the dragon (Satan). This same beast was to blaspheme God and make war with the saints. The time period appears to be different though. Looking at the time we find that forty and two months is equal to 1260 days. A day for a year means that this power was to continue for 1260 years. Beginning at the time the Papacy was established to the time he was taken into captivity was exactly 1260 years.
The prophecy in Revelation says that the beast would receive a deadly wound, but that the deadly wound would be healed. The prophecy also said the beast would go into captivity. In 1798 the Pope was taken into captivity by the French general Berthier. While captive he eventually became ill and died. To all observers it would seem that the Papacy was dead also. But with time the wound was healed, and the Papacy has regained all, if not more, than it once had. The world once again appears to be taken with the colorful, charismatic personality of the Pontiff of Rome.
Q. What about the number 666?
A. Lets read what Revelation says about the number.
“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
In Bible times it was a custom to change a persons name into a number. Lets play around with the Pope’s name and see what we get. The Pope has a crown with the words Vicarius Felii Dei, which is Latin for Vicar of the Son of God. If we convert all the letters that are Roman numerals and add them, lets see what number we get.
V-5 F D-500
I-1 I-1 E
C-100 L-50 I=1
A I-1
R I-1
I-1
U-5
S
Yes, just as you probably guessed, the numbers add up to 666. Interesting isn’t it? There are many other reasons that the number 666 is associated with the beast, some are pagan in origin dating back to ancient Babylon. If you are not a Seventh-day Adventist you may want to contact the local SDA pastor to get more information on the number and other characteristics of the beast.
Q. The evidence seems quite convincing, but what is the “mark”?
A. We need to go back and review some of the characteristics of the beast. The beast is a blasphemous religious system which sets man at a level with God. The beast is also responsible for attempting to change the law of God, changing the Sabbath from the original Saturday, to Sunday, the original “venerable day of the sun”.
In order to see how this all applies let’s go back and look again at a quote used earlier from C. F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons, in a book entitled, Faith of our Fathers:
“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. And the act is the mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.” (emphasis added)
The mark of the organization which scholars from many religions have thought for years to be the beast of Revelation, according to their own words, is the change of the Sabbath. The establishment of a false Sabbath, one set up by man, for man’s convenience and for the glory of the Papacy, in flagrant opposition to the King of the universe, is the root of the mark of the beast.
As I mentioned in the main body of the book, no one receives the mark of the beast until the false Sabbath is forced by law , and everyone will have to decide who they will obey, God or man. Then and only then will someone receive the mark. I believe what the material I have presented is telling us, is that the time for this to take place is not far in the future. We may already be able to see the first movement in that direction.
The Scriptures reveal that the whole world wondered after the beast. Will we soon see a global environmental Sabbath for the earth? If accepted by the world it would constitute the world paying homage to the power that originally made that day a Sabbath. We must be prepared.
– Conken, G.L. (2008). Appendix B of Dawning of the day. New York, TEACH Services, Inc
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