Introduction

The United States currently finds itself poised at the edge of a defining era, where the familiar cadence of daily life is being reshaped — not merely by economic tides, but by an intensifying drive to enshrine rest and worship into law.

The Constitution and the Coming Crisis

Even though the first amendment of the United States constitution concerning religious matters, states:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

The “Spirit of Truth” makes it clear that the United States will, in the final analysis, eventually speak like a dragon:

Rev. 13:11— “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.”

The lamb-like character of his two horns (its two political ruling powers — Democrats and Republicans) gives the appearance of innocence, harmlessness, and charitability. Nevertheless, his speaking like a dragon repudiates the lamb-likeness — making it clear that it is at length to repudiate its constitution, as stated in:

“When Protestantism shall stretch forth her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with Spiritualism, when under the influence of this three-fold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its constitution as a Protestant and Republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan, and that the end is near.” — “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. 5, p. 451.

Thus the God-given liberty of its subjects will be taken away.

According to the quotation above, and the verses immediately following, he is to imitate the beast “before him” (the papal rule, Rev. 13:3), and ultimately set up —

The Image of the Beast: Union of Church and State

Rev. 13:12— “And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed .”

Rev. 13:14— “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.”

He makes an image, a likeness of the first beast; that is, he revives the governmental principles of the first beast, the principles in force before the first beast received his deadly wound — the union of church and state.

The International Decree

Rev. 13:15— “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.”

“He causeth all, both small and great, … to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads” (Revelation 13:16). Not only are men not to work with their hands on Sunday, but with their minds are they to acknowledge Sunday as the Sabbath. — Special Testimony to Battle Creek Church (Ph 86), 6, 7 (1897).

This drastic decree of the United States shall be adopted by the nations of the world, and the image of the beast, which will demand obedience to an ecclesiastical form of worship, will be internationally set up.

Yes, it takes such a world power as the United States to implement a likeness of a church and state government that is as outdated as are the Middle Ages themselves, and to compel and influence the whole world, save those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, to bow down to it.

The Mark of the Beast: Sunday Observance

The mark of the beast is Sunday observance — the papal sabbath:

“The change of the Sabbath is the sign or mark of the authority of the Romish church. Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment, choose to observe the false sabbath in the place of the true, are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded. The mark of the beast is the papal sabbath, which has been accepted by the world in the place of the day of God’s appointment.” — Evangelism, 234 (1899)

Under one pretext or another, the careless and indifferent will worship the image of the beast, and receive the mark.

13. The Final World Government, Communistic Or Capitalistic — Which? - 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:

Only those who have fortified themselves with faith in God, knowledge of His Word, and obedience to divine precepts through sanctification of the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, will be able to escape the crutches of the devil.

“The time is not far distant, when, like the early disciples, we shall be forced to seek a refuge in desolate and solitary places. As the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman armies was the signal for flight to the Judean Christians, so the assumption of power on the part of our nation, in the decree enforcing the papal Sabbath, will be a warning to us. It will then be time to leave the large cities preparatory to leaving the smaller ones for retired homes in secluded places among the mountains.” — “Testimonies to the Church,” Vol. 5, pp. 464, 465.

The Overwhelming Deception

The following verse discloses the fact that the old dragon shall exercise his power to deceive as many as possible while exercising persecutive powers as well as the working of miracles:

Rev. 13:13, 14 —“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 [the two-horned 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.”

The beast spoken of here is the one with lamb-like horns. But some one else is introduced by the pronoun “he,” who “had power to do miracles in the sight of the beast” (the lamb-like).

The following Scripture makes it clear who it is that performs the miracles:

Rev. 19:20 — “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, [before the two horned beast] with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

Therefore, the miracles are wrought by the false prophet in the sight of the two-horned beast. Their final end is accomplished by being cast alive into a lake of fire:

Rev. 20:10 — “And the devil that deceived them was cast into a lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are.”

Therefore, the false prophet is the one who shall precede the manifestation of Satan himself. Said the apostle,

2 Cor. 11:14 — “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”

The two-horn beast and the false prophet, therefore, are the ones who develop the image of the beast — a likeness of the worship in the period of the 1260 years.

The time of that wholesale deception is at hand. It will take more than great knowledge of theology to escape the most powerful trap his Satanic majesty has ever devised.

The wonderful miracles will be convincing and the apparently genuine spirit of worship will bring deep conviction upon those who are subject to be misled. As the great men of the world declare its worship true, multitudes will accept their decisions without personal investigation.

Add to all of these the following declaration of civil authorities —

“As many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed,”

And we have an overwhelming power which human strength cannot resist for a moment.

Only by a prophetic knowledge of the truth, with confidence in a “thus saith the Lord,” and in the power of His Spirit, can one escape the wily snares of the devil.

As the doctrines held by the false prophet cannot be fully supported by the Scriptures, miracles are performed to secure the confidence of the people. As the great men and religious leaders declare to the public that the so-called true religion is the truth of Christ, and that the false prophet is His servant, multitudes will fall into Satan’s snare.

His false prediction of the coming of the Lord, will be fulfilled by Satan himself as he appears as an angel of light. His dazzling brightness, and the false fulfillment of the prophet’s prediction, in addition to the already overwhelming delusion, will ensnare a multitude greater than the first.

“While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation.” — “The Great Controversy,” p. 589.

As the Word exposes this great deception, one would think that the world would open its eyes and refuse to be charmed by such Satanic wonders. But Satan knows that the people are unmindful of the Word of God, and that their emotions are easily moved by supernatural marvels and the eloquence of men. Therefore, he will perfect the contrivance and many will fall into it regardless of warnings.

The human mind cannot comprehend that mysterious and irresistible power that is soon to spread its dreadful shadow over the inhabitants of the earth. No mortal being can stand against that supernatural, civil and religious system.

Those who are students of the Word, trusting in God without reservation, and thus filled with the Holy Spirit, will escape that dreadful trap.

“Those who would rather die than perform a wrong act are the only ones who will be found faithful.” — “Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 53.

Their only safety will be, “Thus saith the Lord.” They must look to God as their only deliverer, as did the three Hebrews in ancient Babylon and as Daniel in the lion’s den.

Let the consequence be what it may, God’s people can find shelter only in taking the position of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, as when they answered the king:

Dan. 3:16–18 — “O, Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

“But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

God’s people, with Daniel, will be able to say at the time of their deliverance:

Dan. 6:22 — “My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before Him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.”

In such time of trial it shall be clearly seen who will serve God and who will not. That time of trouble shall divide the earth’s inhabitants in two separate and distinct classes, as sheep and goats.

7. The Harvest - No matter how great and how effective a revival and reformation even God Himself may launch in His church, the Scriptures make it plain that both the sinners and the saints will be in the church until the harvest. No one need brag that the members of his church are…

God Will Provide

Psalm 27:5— For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

When God’s people are restrained from buying and selling, their only source of sustenance will be through divine providence. One way or another, for that short time, God will provide and care for His people. But it may be in a similar circumstance as in the wilderness journey.

“The Lord has shown me repeatedly that it is contrary to the Bible to make any provision for our temporal wants in the time of trouble. I saw that if the saints had food laid up by them or in the field in the time of trouble, when sword, famine, and pestilence are in the land, it would be taken from them by violent hands, and strangers would reap their fields.

“Then will be the time for us to trust wholly in God, and He will sustain us. I saw that our bread and water will be sure at that time, and that we shall not lack or suffer hunger, for God is able to spread a table for us in the wilderness. If necessary He would send ravens to feed us, as He did to feed Elijah, or rain manna from heaven, as He did for the Israelites.” — Early Writings, p. 56 (1851).

“In the time of trouble, just before the coming of Christ, the righteous will be preserved through the ministration of heavenly angels.”  — Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 256 (1890)

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