Steps to Life

Prophecy Seminar

Session 18: The United States in Prophecy and 666

Revelation 12 talks about the great controversy between Christ and Satan. After Christ was caught up to heaven, the wrath of Satan was poured out upon the church. For 1,260 years the church was in hiding in the wilderness. During the Dark Ages, the gospel was not allowed to be proclaimed openly as in the days of Christ and as it will be again in the last days. Revelation 14 describes God’s final message to the world and God’s final judgment upon the followers of the Beast.

Revelation 13 ties the two events together. It overlaps both Revelation 12 and Revelation 14. It begins with the Dark Ages as already described in Revelation 12, and it continues up to the mark of the Beast, as further described in Revelation 14.

In Revelation 13 we find that the mark of the Beast is going to be strictly enforced before Jesus comes:

Revelation 13:15 "He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."

The word "worship" here, is translated from the word "proskuneo." "Kuneo" means "to kiss." In literature it is used in reference to prostrating oneself before an idol, reverencing one’s master, or to adore another individual. Here is described a time when people would be forced to adore, heed, or reverence the Beast. How would they be forced to reverence the Beast? By receiving his mark of authority. If they would not accept this mark, they would be boycotted so that they could not buy or sell. In fact, eventually even the death penalty would be instituted against those who refuse to receive the mark of the Beast. Notice, he will "cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed."

Here is pictured a tremendous dilemma that is to come upon the people of the earth. On the one hand, they are forced through human laws to receive the mark of the Beast or be boycotted, and eventually even threatened with death. On the other hand, if they comply with these human laws, they will receive the most fearful condemnation from God that has ever been issued.

Revelation 14:9 "Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.’ "

Here is presented a serious dilemma. Obey man and be cursed by God, or obey God and be cursed by man. At that time, the true allegiance of every man and woman will be clearly revealed. When Jesus comes there will be only two classes of people. The lines will be clearly drawn. Today it is easy to profess allegiance to God and yet go along with the crowd, but then, all will be forced to take a decided stand. Yet, how can we ever hope to stand true for God then, in the face of boycott and persecution, if we cannot, by God’s grace, stand up against the pressure of today?

What is it that could possibly cause this kind of religious persecution? What and where will it happen? Let us get the background for this prophecy.

The First Beast of Revelation 13

Revelation 13 pictures two different beast powers. In a previous lesson we noted that the first beast denoted the religious power of Rome that dominated Europe for 1,260 years, from A.D. 538 to A.D. 1798.

Revelation 13:1 "Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. . . . 5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation."

Here is that same power that was described in Daniel which would seek to change God’s times and law, and that would persecute those who remained loyal to God’s law.

Daniel 7:25 "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law."

As we have noted previously, this power is identified by the following:

1. It was to arise in Europe sometime after the rise of the other ten kingdoms that split up the Roman Empire. The last of these divisions took place in A.D. 476.

2. It was to be a religious, persecuting power.

3. It was to follow tradition rather than the Bible.

4. It would seek to change God’s law, specifically the Sabbath law, which is the one involving time.

5. It would arise after the downfall of three other powers. These powers were the Heruli, Vandals, and Ostrogoths. The last of these was first driven out of Rome in A.D. 538.

6. 2 Thessalonians tells us that this power was already present in Paul’s day, but was prevented from acting as a political power because of the power (the pagan Roman power) that was then on the throne.

7. Paul also tells us that this power would last until Jesus’ second coming.

8. Revelation 13:2 says that pagan Rome was to give it "his power, his throne, and great authority."

9. We also noted, by comparing Revelation 13:1 with 17:9 and 18, that this power was located in the city of Rome.

In studying these identifying characteristics, it appears that the Papacy of Rome is the only power that could possibly fit this description. It was indeed a persecuting power. It claims to have changed the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day, and that this is a sign of her authority. It did indeed last as a political power for exactly 1,260 years, from A.D. 538 until A.D. 1798, at which time the French General Berthier took the pope captive and declared all his holdings to be French property. Now the Bible gives one more clue.

Revelation 13:18 "Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666."

Notice, this is the number of a man (not a machine, a computer, or a system, but a man). The Douay Bible notes that "The numeral letters of his name shall make up this number." This must therefore be the numeral letters of a title of a man, such as the "President of the United States."

In ancient Rome, numbers were letters of the alphabet called Roman numerals. As such, every name had a numerical value. This numerical value of a name was sometimes computed as a type of identification. Now it will not do to just add up any man’s name, such as an Arab leader, Jewish leader or an American leader, and find someone whose name happens to add up to 666 and declare him to be the Beast. NO! ALL the identifying clues must fit. As we have already seen, the Papacy is the only power that fits the previous biblical identifying clues. The Bible gives clue after clue. Evidently, God must want us to know. Let us plug in this clue and see if it fits also.

What is the official title of the pope? As the United States president is officially called "The President of the United States," so the pope must have a title. That title is found on the pope’s miter worn on his head. This official title is noted in the following statement from the Roman Catholic magazine, Our Sunday Visitor: "The letters inscribed in the pope’s miter are these: Vicarius Filii Dei, which is Latin for Vicar of the Son of God" (April 18, 1915).

The numerical value of this name is 666. This is one explanation that fits the prophecy and, when compared with all other prophecies, helps to identify the Beast power.

As God’s mark on the forehead is received when His laws are written in our minds (Exodus 13:9; Deuteronomy 6:6,8; Hebrews 8:10), and His mark is received on our hand when we obey Him (Deuteronomy 11:1,8,18), so the Beast’s mark is symbolically written on our hands when we yield obedience to his laws, and it is written on our foreheads when we become lawless like he is.

God’s name represents His character. Notice that God’s people receive God’s name on their foreheads.

Revelation 14:1 "Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads."

Why is God’s name written on their foreheads? Because they keep God’s laws. It is written in their minds, and they obey it with their hands.

Revelation 14:12 "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."

Hebrews 8:10 " ‘For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days,’ says the Lord, ‘I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ "

We become God’s people and receive His name on our foreheads and in our hands, when we receive His laws in our minds and obey them with our hands. Likewise, we become followers of the Beast and receive his name, symbolized by 666, when we receive his laws in our minds and obey them with our hands.

There is another interesting aspect to the number 666. In Revelation, when something is very complete, it is either squared or repeated three times. God’s perfect number is seven and it is immortalized in the Sabbath. Throughout Revelation God employs the number seven. There are seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven thunders, etc. Six comes just short of seven. Satan’s program has always been to cause people to come just short of perfection. He doesn’t care if a person worships every week, as long as he doesn’t worship on God’s day. He doesn’t care if a person keeps most of the commandments, as long as he falls short in one. He doesn’t care if a person is almost a Christian, as long as he doesn’t go all the way. Six sixty-six is six repeated three times, to show completeness. The antichrist power falls short of God’s standard in every way. When this characteristic of the Beast is copied by us, in our religious experience, then we are in danger of receiving his mark.

The beast power was supposed to reign for 1,260 years, after which it would receive a deadly wound.

Revelation 13:3 "I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast."

The seven heads of the beast represent two things. They represent the seven hills of Rome, and seven successive world powers that Satan has worked through.

Revelation 17:9 "Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. . . . 18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth."

The head that represented the then-reigning power of Revelation 13:1–10, which was the papal power of Rome, received a deadly wound at the end of the 1,260 years when the pope was taken captive by Berthier on February 15, 1798. He was made a prisoner and died in captivity at Valence, France, on August 29, 1799. For some time after, there was no pope. The papal church was at its weakest point, and it appeared that it would never again hold political influence in the world. But the wound was to be healed.

Revelation 13:9 "If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints."

A New Nation Arises

Now notice a startling new development in this prophecy. At about the time the pope was going into captivity in 1798, John saw another beast, another power, another nation, arising out of the earth.

Revelation 13:11 "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon."

Toward the close of the 1,260 years of papal supremacy in Europe, as the Papacy was trying desperately to regain its ebbing strength through the Jesuit education of the young and the age-old practice of persecuting those who did not conform to its dogmas, people began to flee their homelands in search of a new haven of freedom.

The flight for freedom started in earnest following the St. Bartholomew Massacre in Paris toward the end of the sixteenth century. On that occasion, after hundreds of years of trying to suppress the Protestant Huguenots, they were finally given freedom by the king who invited the Huguenot leaders to the marriage of his sister, Margaret of Valois, to the Protestant Henry of Navarre. However, under the pressure of the Catholic Church, the king secretly reversed himself and ordered a secret massacre to begin at midnight. The Huguenots, totally defenseless and trusting in the pledge of safety by the king, were dragged out at midnight and slaughtered in cold blood by the thousands.

The Huguenots that escaped fled from France, many of them to England. Yet, religious freedom anywhere in Europe was only temporary, depending on the whims and fancies of the ruling king. Thus, as America began to open up, multitudes, starting with the Puritans and the Pilgrims, began to immigrate to its shores in search of freedom. They desired to establish a state without a king and a church without a pope. The United States was founded upon the two fundamental principles of Protestantism and republicanism. At the very time the Papacy was going down, America was rising. A true appreciation for the principles the American government is based upon, cannot be rightly understood apart from the religious suppression of centuries from which the people of Europe were fleeing.

In that grand old document which our forefathers set forth as their bill of rights, the Declaration of Independence, they declared: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The Constitution guarantees, in the most explicit terms, the inviolability of conscience: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under the United States." "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

This constitution of the new nation was framed in 1776, and ratified by the first state eleven years later in 1787. Two years later America elected its first president. For the first time in history, a nation was established without the power of kingly authority and without a state church. Under the circumstances, would it not be surprising indeed if the United States were not mentioned in prophecy? Would God leave one of the most significant developments in the religious history of the world out of Bible prophecy? What other nation could the Bible have reference to than the United States in describing a new nation emerging in the earth about the time the Papacy was going into exile at the close of the 1700s? No other major country on earth came into prominence at that time.

Let us look at some of the other identifying characteristics. As we have noticed in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, the Lord gives an overabundance of evidence so that we might know beyond a shadow of a doubt the meaning of the prophecies given. God wants these prophecies understood because they reveal the deceptions of Satan. As we have already noted, God gives life and death warnings in these prophecies. Let us look at some of the identifying characteristics of the two-horned beast.

Identifying Characteristics

1. As noted, this beast power was to arise toward the close of the 1700s during the time in which the first beast would receive a deadly wound (1798).

2. It was to arise in an area previously uncivilized and scarcely populated. The verse says, "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth." This beast, contrary to the other beasts we have studied, arose out of the earth. All the others arose "out of the sea" (see Revelation 13:1; Daniel 7:3). What does the sea represent?

Revelation 17:15 "And he said to me, ‘The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues."

All the other beasts arose amidst peoples and civilizations—one nation arose by conquering another nation. Indeed, it could not be any other way, because until the finding of the new continent, there were not any virgin territories for a new nation to arise from. This beast of Revelation 13:11 arose out of the land, in a sparsely, previously uncivilized area. Again, this depicts the United States.

3. It would gain its strength primarily by growth, rather than by military conquest. The text says, "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth." The Greek word for "coming up" is "anabaino," meaning "to grow" or "to spring up as a plant."

A prominent writer, describing the rise of the United States, speaks of "the mystery of her coming forth from vacancy." "Like a silent seed we grew into an empire," he said. G.A. Townsend, The New World Compared With the Old, Hartford (S.M. Betts and Co.) 1870, p. 462.

Unlike almost any other country, America did not gain strength and size through conquest, but through growth. Immigration, industrialization, and land purchases were the primary methods of growth.

4. It would be a country without a king. Notice, that the horns on this beast did not have any crowns on them.

5. It is pictured as a beast with the horns of a lamb, not a ram as one power was described in Daniel 8. A lamb represents youthfulness. This is not an old beast, but is pictured as a baby lamb. The lamb is also a gentle animal that is led, and so the American government is not a power dominating over the people, but a power that is LED BY THE PEOPLE, as a lamb is led. As Abraham Lincoln so aptly said in his Gettysburg address, it is a nation "of the people, by the people, for the people."

Yes, this nation was a nation foreseen of God and ordained to champion the cause of liberty; a nation arising with the characteristics of Christ. Jesus is called "the Lamb of God" (John 1:29), and this nation is said by God to have arisen with "horns like a lamb." Yes, it would have horns, it would have power, but it would be a gentle, freedom-loving power, a power led by the people instead of dictating over them.

We have always been thankful to live in a land of freedom, to live in a land where freedom reigns and the harsh despotisms of the Old World are dead! How wonderful if it would have remained that way always until the end of time, but alas, prophecy foresees a change taking place.

A Change Occurs

The last part of Revelation 13:11 pictures a change in the lamb-like beast, for it says that it "spoke like a dragon." Obviously, sometime in the life of this nation a change takes place that causes it no longer to speak in the gentle tones of a lamb, but with the dictatorial demands of the dragon.

Revelation 13:12 "And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed."

"And he exercises all the authority of the first beast." Prophecy has predicted America trying to exercise control over the conscience as Rome did throughout the Middle Ages. That was the authority it exercised. This is an amazing prediction the Bible makes, and up until a few years ago many scoffed at such a prediction, but people are not scoffing anymore. There are movements right now working to enforce religious legislation.

The founding fathers of this country had the love and fear of God burning in their hearts. However, it was resolved that religion should receive its power from God and not from the State, and they resolved to have a country where religious freedom was supreme. The union of church and state is declared by God to be an adulterous amalgamation. The false church of Revelation 17 is said to be a harlot because she had relationships with the kings of the earth.

Revelation 17:1 "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication."

Wherever there has existed true religion, there has always existed freedom of conscience. Wherever true Protestantism has spread its influence, freedom has followed. But the tenets of Catholicism are opposed to freedom of conscience. Many people suppose that the Catholic Church has changed in these modern, enlightened times, but she is merely tolerant where she is helpless. At times the hierarchy of the church has been very open about its sentiments. In an Encyclical letter dated August 15, 1854, Pope Pius IX stated: "The absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings in defense of liberty of conscience are a most pestilential error a pest, of all others, most to be dreaded in a state." The same pope, in his Encyclical letter of December 8, 1864, anathematized "Those who assert the liberty of conscience and of religious worship." These were not statements from the Dark Ages.

True enough, today the Papacy appears quite harmless—how else would America be led to give homage to the Beast? But let it never be forgotten that Rome asserts that the "Church never erred; nor will it, according to Scripture, ever err." John Lvon Mosheim, Institutes of Ecclesiastical History, book 3, century II, part 2, chapter 2, section 9, note 17. As the Catholic Bishop O’Conner once said, "Religious liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be carried into effect without peril to the Catholic world." Joseph Strong, Our Country, chapter 5, pars. 2-4.

Yes, we may be living in a new age, but the unregenerate heart of man is still the same. There is still the thirst for power, the desire to make others conform to one’s opinions, a selfish intolerance for the rights of the downtrodden. Even today we can witness the domination exercised over the masses of society and the will of politics by the larger trade unions of America.

Listen to the words on the membership card of one of the prominent American unions. In order to work for many companies, this pledge has to be signed, irregardless of personal conviction.

"I ________, in the presence of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, promise and agree to conform to and abide by the Constitution and laws of the IBEW and its local Unions. I will further the purposes for which the IBEW is instituted. I will bear true allegiance to it and will not sacrifice its interest in any manner." _____________________ (To be signed by applicant)

Why should any individual be forced to pledge "true allegiance" to any organization in order to procure work? There are many individuals conscientiously opposed to the principles of unions. One of the bylaws of this union (Article XXVII, Section 1, September, 1974 Constitution) states that "any member may be penalized" for "working in the interest of any organization or cause which is. . . opposed to the IBEW." That, of course, includes several church organizations.

Yes, intolerance is already creeping into the fabric of the American government. As the moral fabric of America continues to deteriorate under the influence of evolution, atheism, licentiousness, pornography, and the love of pleasure, the great dragon, or serpent, of Revelation 12:9, will most assuredly lead mankind into the same paths of anarchy, followed by religious legislation and intolerance, as he did in the days of both pagan and papal Rome. Revelation pulls back the curtain and lets us see the powers at work behind the scene.

The Bible says that the United States will exercise "all the authority of the first beast in his presence." The presence of the Papacy has already been felt in America, and its influence is ever growing. Of the last presidents, one invited the pope, for the first time in American history, to the White House, and more than one has gone to the Vatican to confer with him on matters of national interest. The President invited the papacy to the United States in Denver recently and the pope has also been invited to speak to the United Nations.

Today the United States sends an official ambassador to the "Holy See," which is not a designation for the head of a state government, but for the head of a church. Even today, America is beginning to wonder after the Beast, whose deadly wound has been healed.

Not only is America beginning to wonder after the Beast, but the prophecy also says it "causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship (or follow) the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." Since World War II, America has emerged as the most powerful nation on earth. By its very prosperity it has been a Protestant mainstay and papal deterrent. But today America is beginning to recognize the Papacy, turn to it for leadership, and to cooperate with it on international policy. When Pope John Paul II visited America, he received the greatest media coverage and international attention of any individual personage in all of American history. With even Protestant America paying homage to his "Holiness," his influence in all the nations of the world has soared, until he has probably become the most powerful political figure in the world today. Yet we are seeing but the beginning.

Enforcing the Mark of the Beast

Revelation 13:13 "He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. 15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."

Now we come to the real purpose of the message. God is not just giving good historical information, but rather there is a warning. This power will make "an image to the beast" (an image is a copy of something—it will copy the Beast in controlling the conscience of mankind as already noted in the first part of verse 12). In what way will it try to coerce the conscience of man? By causing all to receive the mark of the Beast.

The mark of the Beast’s authority, as we have already noted in previous lessons, is his supposed power and authority to change God’s law. The Bible continually identifies the Papacy as that "lawless one" and identifies him as trying to "change times and law" (2 Thessalonians 2:3–9; Daniel 7:25). Those who do not receive the mark of the Beast are always identified as those who "keep the commandments of God" (Revelation 12:17; 14:12; 22:14). God says the special sign of allegiance to Him is the keeping of the Sabbath (Ezekiel 20:12,20).

The Papacy itself repeatedly refers to its change of the Sabbath as the mark of its authority. As John A. O’Brien of Notre Dame University says in his book, The Faith of Millions: "Take. . . the matter of Sunday observance. . . Where does the Bible speak of such an obligation? . . . the day mentioned in the Bible is not the Sunday, the first day of the week but the Saturday, the last day of the week. It was the Apostolic Church which, acting by virtue of that authority conferred upon her by Christ, changed the observance to the Sunday" (pp. 136, 137).

Again he states: "Isn’t it curious that non-Catholics who profess to take their religion directly from the Bible and not from the church, observe Sunday instead of Saturday. . . They have continued the custom, even though it rests upon the authority of the Catholic Church and not upon an explicit text in the Bible. That observance remains as a reminder of the Mother Church from which the non-Catholic sects broke away like a boy running away from home but still carrying in his pocket a picture of his mother" (pp. 400, 401).

Yes, the change of the Sabbath is clearly the mark of the Beast’s authority. We need to be very sure on this, for the strongest warnings of the Bible are pronounced upon those who receive the mark of the Beast. The keeping of the Sabbath, when God reveals the truth to us, becomes our sign, or mark of allegiance to Him. The keeping of Sunday, once God provides opportunity for us to learn the truth, becomes a sign of allegiance to the Beast power.

In this prophecy it states that the United States will one day force all men to receive the mark of the Beast. This mark can be received either in the forehead, or mind (believing this deception and developing a character of lawlessness like the Beast—see 2 Thessalonians 2:9–12), or in the hand (being forced to comply with Sunday observance whether one believes it or not). Satan has accomplished his purpose if he can either deceive people, OR if he can coerce them into sin, even if they don’t believe it. Prophecy thus indicates that the United States will one day pass a Sunday law and that it will become very stringent.

How could freedom-loving America ever be brought to the place where it would pass a Sunday law? Here, again, the prophecy explains how this will occur, to keep those who will pay heed from being deceived or coerced by those forces that are going to bring this change about. The prophecy, as we will notice in a moment, reveals that America will be brought to enact Sunday laws through religious pressure following a great religious revival.

Scenario of the Future

Mark this scenario: As America continues to became more and more like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that were destroyed by God; as immorality, licentiousness, dissipation, pornography, selfishness, pride, me-first attitudes, and the love of pleasure continue to escalate, as depicted in 2 Timothy 3:1–5, God’s blessings will be withdrawn from the nation. Economic chaos will follow, along with natural disaster and political upheavals. Satan comes down through his messengers and declares all this trouble to be because America has drifted away from religion—it is therefore time to sanctify Sunday again so that God can bless the nation. In order to give impetus to his message, Satan works miracles and performs signs and wonders through these human messengers of his, declaring this to be the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As the mass of society have rejected the Bible, which reveals Satan’s deceptions, they will be swept away by these wonderful signs and under the tremendous voting pressure of the masses, legislators will be forced to enact Sunday laws, and to enact them fast, even if the constitution must be changed or disregarded. Note the following three points:

1. In the last days, Satan comes down working great miracles:

2 Thessalonians 2:8 "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

2. Satan will work these miracles through Christian ministers:

2 Corinthians 11:13 "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works."

3. These manifestations of the last days, which Satan works through Christian ministers, will especially be witnessed in the United States:

Revelation 13:13 "He (the people of the United States) performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men."

Yes, America still has an important part to play in the future. It will be the center of great, religious revivals, augmented by manifestations of spiritualism, miracles, and what will appear to be the Holy Spirit. This will be a Protestant movement, for it is not the beast power, but it pays homage to the Beast. This will be a Protestant revival, made effective by spiritualistic manifestations, that will unite with the Beast and give life to it, and that will bring about Sunday legislation. Thus there will be manifested the combined influence of (apostate) Protestantism, Spiritualism, and Catholicism all working for one common end.

This will be an ecumenical movement. All the world will be found to wonder after the Beast. Who will oppose them? Those who oppose this great movement will be hated, boycotted, and disparaged. But those who join the movement will receive the condemnation of God, for they will be following and worshipping the Beast, and Satan himself (verse 4), and will be found to be in direct opposition to the will of God. Though all the world will wonder after the Beast, as led out by the influence of the United States, yet there will be a small remnant who refuse to bow to the pressure. These are described in the next chapter.

Revelation 14:12 "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."

Though there will be a great, false religious revival that will be based upon miracles and spiritualistic manifestations, and that will captivate the vast majority, yet there will also be a true revival of primitive godliness such as has not been witnessed since apostolic times (Revelation 14:5). This revival will be based, not upon miracles, but upon Bible truth and a correct understanding of Bible prophecy. This is that movement that will give the last great message to earth that we learned about last night (Revelation 14:6,7). Yet, as in Noah’s day, the true revival will only be accepted by a few in proportion to those who are being deceived.

Matthew 7:13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. 15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves."

Yes, friend, the way is narrow and only a few find it, but it is made plain in the Word of God for all who care to follow. Not many want to follow because it requires obedience to God instead of man. When you keep the Sabbath you are obeying God’s law, His 10 commandments, but when you keep Sunday you are obeying man, the traditions of men that were handed down from pagan idolatry during the dark ages.

That is the question that everybody in the whole world must answer—who am I going to obey? The vast majority will obey the laws of men—they will worship the beast by obeying the beast, they will worship the power behind the beast by disobeying the law of God, but there will be a remnant a group of people who will choose to obey God instead of men. The true Christian is a peace-lover like Jesus is. The true Christian does not seek to defy other men or institutions or churches; but when the true Christian must choose whether to obey God or men, because the requirements of God and the requirements of men contradict, the true Christian always says with Peter and the other apostles, "we will obey God rather than men." Acts 5:29. Is that what you and I will say? Our eternal destiny depends on our decision.

In following Jesus and obeying the law of God there is peace, joy, and everlasting life. By God’s help, I want to choose that life, don’t you?

Latin for Vicar of the Son of God

V = 5¹ I = 1 C = 100 A = 0 R = 0 I = 1 U² = 5 S = 0 Õ 112

F = 0 I = 1 L = 50 I = 1 I = 1 Õ 53

D = 500 E = 0 I = 1 Õ 501

112 + 53 + 501 = 666

1 Roman Numeral Equivalent

2 Originally, U and V were the same letter

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Last Updated: 06/18/03