The Seal of God and Mark of the Beast: Part 2
Lesson 12, 2nd Quarter June 10-16, 2023.
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Sabbath Afternoon - June 10
Memory Text:
“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.” KJV — Revelation 13:10
Rev. 13:16, 17 – “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.”
This power, you see, is to control the world’s markets, too.
This symbolic forecast of the world government to be set up, plainly points out that the coming world government is to be neither the U.N., nor Communism, but an ecclesiastical power. We know that it is not Communism, because Communism is against religion, and the beast is for it.
When this comes to pass, which is no longer beyond the horizon, then those whose names are written in the “Book of Life” shall be delivered, but all others will have received the mark of the beast. There will be no middle ground, or middle class.
We should now decide what to do, so that we will not be caught off guard. For this very cause the light of Truth has come to us now.
The world government which is to develop from the “League of Nations” and the “United Nations,” is not actually to be absolutely universal, and there are still to be “two worlds,” but rather than there being Capitalism and Communism, they are to be those who worship the beast and his image, and those who worship God and have their names written in the Book. The latter are the only people who will not bow down to the future world government.
Sunday - June 11
The Deadly Wound
Read Revelation 13:5; Revelation 12:6, 14; and Daniel 7:25. How long would this power dominate the religious landscape in the previous centuries?
John says: “I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death.” As the wounded head has reference to the stroke delivered to the papacy by Luther, the exile of the pope in 1798 was a sign of the completeness of the wound and that the prophetic period had ended. Thus fulfilling the words: “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. (Rev. 13:10.) Had not the papacy received the deadly wound by Luther, the pope could not have been put into prison by the French general for before the pontifical authority received Luther’s sword, the pope reigned supreme. But the blow weakened his power, and the result was that Protestantism came upon the stage of action. The continual infliction began to irritate the “head,” until finally the pope landed behind prison bars. The annoyance continued until 1870, when ultimately the temporal power of the pope was taken away. That being the last vexation of the “head,” it showed that it was left to heal its “deadly wound.”
Quoting the words of Luther explaining how the papacy was wounded: “I put forward God’s word; I preached and wrote – this was all I did. And yet while I was asleep,… the word that I had preached overthrew popery, so that neither prince nor emperor has done it so much harm. And yet I did nothing; the Word alone did it all.” – “The Great Controversy,” page 190. “I began this work in God’s name,” said Luther, “it will be ended without me, and by His might.” – Id. p. 142. Let none misunderstand the following statement for the same author has recorded them both. Therefore it would be unjust to misconstrue the one statement, for by so doing we would throw out of harmony the other. Speaking of the 1260 years we read: “This period, as stated in preceding chapters, began with the supremacy of the papacy, A.D. 538, and terminated in 1798. At that time, the pope was made captive by the French army, and the Papal power received its deadly wound, and the prediction was fulfilled. ‘He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity!’ – Id., p. 439. Note that the aim of the author in this statement is not to tell how the wound was received, but to show that the prophetic period ended with the imprisonment of the pope, which fulfilled not the words, “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded unto death” (verse 3), but rather the Scripture quoted “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity.” (Verse 10.) Shall we ignore God and His Spirit, and give to Berthier the credit...?
“His deadly wound was healed,” John says, “And all the world wondered after the beast.” Note that the world wondered after the beast and not after the head. Therefore, it cannot mean that the world would necessarily have to enroll in the membership of the system represented by the head. The significance is that all the world has partaken of the spirit of the beast – worldliness. The world in general has never been otherwise. It could not be said that “all the world wondered after the beast” if the people whom God has entrusted with the gospel are free from the spirit of the beast. But it must be that they have betrayed their trust, and partaken of its spirit. Where is the distinction between the church and the world!
Monday - June 12
The Falling Away
Read 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, 9–12. What does Paul predict about the last days? What identifying marks does he give for the beast, the antichrist power?
The leopard-like beast blasphemed God and His tabernacle just as long as did Daniel’s fourth beast in his second phase, Ecclesiastical Rome; that is, “a time and times and the dividing of time” (3 years and 6 months), forty and two months. Plain it is, then, that the leopard-like beast reigned contemporaneously with the non-descript beast in his second phase, the phase of the little horn-head. The deadly wound on the leopard-like therefore represents the deadly blow which it received from the Protestant Reformation. Hence its wounded head represents the horn-head power (an amalgamation of civil and religious powers) of Daniel’s beast divested of his civil power – dehorned.
Now, since the horns of John’s beast symbolize the nations, and his wounded head symbolizes a religious organization divorced from a civil power, and since his seven heads are all alike, save for the wound on one of them, it becomes obvious that the heads, seven in number, portray religious bodies, Christendom in its entirety. The horns, though, ten in number, portray the civil governments in their entirety. Both horns and heads therefore represent the world of today just as each of Daniel’s four beasts respectively, represented the world in their day.
The blasphemy being over the heads, not over the horns, denotes that the religious bodies portrayed therein do not worship God according to Truth, that they are not wholly what they profess to be. The exact interpretation that Inspiration places on the word “blasphemy” is this: “I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not.” Rev. 2:9.
“The apostle…emphasize the fact that the papal power, so clearly described by the prophet Daniel, was yet to rise and wage war against God's people. Until this power should have performed its deadly and blasphemous work, it would be in vain for the church to look for the coming of their Lord. ‘Remember ye not,” Paul inquired, “that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?’” AA 265.2
“Little by little, at first in stealth and silence, and then more openly as it increased in strength and gained control of the minds of men, “the mystery of iniquity” carried forward its deceptive and blasphemous work. Almost imperceptibly the customs of heathenism found their way into the Christian church. The spirit of compromise and conformity was restrained for a time by the fierce persecutions which the church endured under paganism. But as persecution ceased, and Christianity entered the courts and palaces of kings, she laid aside the humble simplicity of Christ and His apostles for the pomp and pride of pagan priests and rulers; and in place of the requirements of God, she substituted human theories and traditions. The nominal conversion of Constantine, in the early part of the fourth century, caused great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ. GC 49.2
“This compromise between paganism and Christianity resulted in the development of “the man of sin” foretold in prophecy as opposing and exalting himself above God. That gigantic system of false religion is a masterpiece of Satan's power—a monument of his efforts to seat himself upon the throne to rule the earth according to his will.” GC 50.1
Tuesday - June 13
Satan’s Final Strategy
Read Revelation 17:12–14. How does John describe these final scenes of earth’s history? What powerful contrast is seen here?
You notice that the horns of Daniel’s fourth beast were crownless, and the horns of John’s leopard-like beast crowned, and again that the horns of the scarlet-colored beast are crownless. Inspiration by means of these symbolical beasts portrays three periods of time, one following the other: (1) the period before the European kings received their crowns; (2) the period in which they were crowned; (3) a period of crownless kings in which Babylon the Great reigns supreme.
The fact that nearly all crowned kings of the world have already been dethroned is proof in itself that Period No. 2, the period of the leopard-like beast (crowned horns) is about to pass away, and that Period No. 3, the period of the scarlet-colored beast (crownless horns) is about to be ushered in. In order to make the transition, the present distress of the nations is therefore inevitable.
Again, the fact that the ten horns (kings) have one mind (unlike the toe-kings of Daniel 2:42, 43), but have no kingdom of their own, besides the fact that the woman rules the beast, and also the fact that the Communist leaders (crownless kings) of the nations and have one mind (work together for one common cause), – all these facts show that though Communism appears to be the next power to rule the world, this symbolical prophecy points out that the world will next be ruled by an international religious system, by Babylon the Great, a rival of the religion of Christ, and a counterfeit of the woman in Revelation chapter 12. The scarlet-colored beast, therefore, is the symbol of the world government into which the United Nations will finally evolve.
These kings are to be anti-religious and therefore anti-Christian. They shall eventually make war with the Lord and with His called, chosen, and faithful ones, but “the Lamb shall overcome” the kings.
The woman, as shown before, is the symbol of a confederated religious system with which the horns are not only in disagreement but are also her enemies. Consequently, after the symbolical hour is passed, they unseat her from the beast, make her desolate, and burn her with fire. Then it is that they receive their kingdom “for a season and time.” Dan. 7:12.
Wednesday - June 14
The Mark of the Beast
Read Revelation 14:9 and compare it to Revelation 14:12. Where is the mark of the beast placed? (See Deut. 6:8, Deut. 11:18.) What two characteristics distinguish God’s people from those who receive the mark of the beast?
When the beast’s decree is passed that no one can buy or sell, and should be killed for non-conformity, then God only can protect His people, the people whose names are written in “The Book.” Such is His faithful promise: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the Book.” Dan. 12:1.
This power, you see, is to control the world’s markets, too.
This symbolic forecast of the world government to be set up, plainly points out that the coming world government is to be neither the U.N., nor Communism, but an ecclesiastical power. We know that it is not Communism, because Communism is against religion, and the beast is for it.
When this comes to pass, which is no longer beyond the horizon, then those whose names are written in the “Book of Life” shall be delivered, but all others will have received the mark of the beast. There will be no middle ground, or middle class.
“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 strictly they acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin.” [“Abridgment of Christian Doctrine.”] What then is the change of the Sabbath, but the sign or mark of the authority of the Romish Church—'the mark of the beast’?” GC88 448.2
Thursday - June 15
The Sabbath Test
Read Exodus 20:8–11. What elements of a biblical seal do you find in the Sabbath commandment? How is the Sabbath command different from all the other commandments?
“The Lord commands by the same prophet: “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples.” Isaiah 8:16. The seal of God's law is found in the fourth commandment. This only, of all the ten, brings to view both the name and the title of the Lawgiver. It declares Him to be the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and thus shows His claim to reverence and worship above all others. Aside from this precept, there is nothing in the Decalogue to show by whose authority the law is given. When the Sabbath was changed by the papal power, the seal was taken from the law. The disciples of Jesus are called upon to restore it by exalting the Sabbath of the fourth commandment to its rightful position as the Creator's memorial and the sign of His authority. GC 452.1
“‘To the law and to the testimony.’ While conflicting doctrines and theories abound, the law of God is the one unerring rule by which all opinions, doctrines, and theories are to be tested. Says the prophet: ‘If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.’” Verse 20. GC 452.2
The command is given: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression.” Those whom the Lord designates as “my people” are to be reproved for their transgressions, a class who think themselves righteous in the service of God. But the solemn rebuke of the Searcher of hearts proves them to be trampling upon the divine precepts. Isaiah 58:1, 2. HF 280.4
The prophet thus points out the ordinance which has been forsaken: “Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” Isaiah 58:12-14. HF 281.1
The “breach” was made in the law of God when the Sabbath was changed by the Roman power. But the time has come for the breach to be repaired. HF 281.2
Friday - June 16
Further Thought
Type of “The Image of the Beast.” The type was struck when –
“Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up….
“Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.” Dan. 3:1-6.
In the outworking of this drastic and unrighteous decree, there are three outstanding aspects: The first warningly reveals the manner in which the beast will compel all the nations and peoples within his dominion to worship him and the image which he shall make; the second sustainingly promises that just as in Nebuchadnezzar’s day, Michael delivered and promoted those who refused to worship the golden image (Dan. 3:12-30), so today will He deliver and promote all who refuse to worship the beast and his image; and the third glorifyingly reveals that just as all who then stood faithful, led a multitude of both high and low to acknowledge Him as the Most High God, so today will all who heed the warning not to worship the beast or his image, “shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” Dan. 12:1-3.