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The Beast,
the Dragon
and the Woman
by Joe Crews
Page 3
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To answer this question we are pointed back again to Daniel 7:25, where the papacy is described as a power who would "think to change times and laws." We have learned already how the second commandment was removed and the tenth commandment divided in the catechisms of the papacy. But what about the "times" mentioned in the text? Where only is time mentioned in the law? It is in the fourth commandment. Did the papacy think to change the Sabbath, the only time designated by the law? Yes, it did, and it happened in a most interesting way.
The pagans had a system of religion based on sun worship. Their sacred day was the first day of the week, which they named Sun-Day in honor of the sun god. Sunday was observed by the pagans in contrast to the Sabbath observance of Christians. But in the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine, a significant thing happened. Constantine professed conversion to Christianity and opened the doors of the church to all his heathen followers.
In order to gain power, prestige and greater numbers to the church, he accepted many of the customs of sun worship from the pagans. Many of these compromises, such as Christmas and Easter, have already been described. Another of those customs was the observance of Sunday. It appeared more convenient to let the pagans keep their own day of worship on Sunday and ask the Christians to join them in it. So Constantine actually made the first law about keeping Sunday instead of the Sabbath. Papal church councils strengthened that law until it became firmly entrenched in Christianity and the world.
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Turning now to the witness of secular historians, you may read the facts for yourself. Every statement is clearly defined in the historical records. From the Encyclopaedia Britannica under the article "Sunday" we read: "It was Constantine who first made a law for the proper observance of Sunday, and who ... appointed that it should be regularly celebrated throughout the Roman Empire." Here are the words of Dr. Gilbert Murray, M.A., D. Litt., L.L.D., F.B.A., professor of Greek at Oxford University: "Now since Mithras was The Sun, the Unconquered,' and the Sun was the Royal Star,' the religion looked for a King whom it could serve as the representative of Mithras upon earth. ... The Roman Emperor seemed to be clearly indicated as the true King. In sharp contrast to Christianity, Mithraism recognized Caesar as the bearer of the divine Grace, and its votaries filled the legions and the civil service. ... It had so much acceptance that it was able to impose on the Christian world its own Sun-Day in place of the Sabbath, its Sun's birthday, twenty-fifth of December, as the birthday of Jesus." History of Christianity in the Light of Modern Knowledge.
Dr. William Frederick states the same historical truth: "The Gentiles were an idolatrous people who worshipped the sun, and Sunday was their most sacred day. Now, in order to reach the people in this new field, it seems but natural, as well as necessary, to make Sunday the rest day of the Church. At this time it was necessary for the Church to either adopt the Gentiles' day or else have the Gentiles change their day. To change the Gentiles' day would have been an offense and stumbling block to them. The Church could naturally reach them better by keeping their day." Sunday and Christian Sabbath, pp. 169, 170.
The North British Review gives the following reasons for the Christians adopting the heathen Sun-day: "That very day was the Sunday of their heathen neighbors and respective countrymen,
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and patriotism gladly united with expediency in making it at once their Lord's day and their Sabbath. ... That primitive church, in fact, was shut up to the adoption of the Sunday, - until it became established and supreme, when it was too late to make another alteration." Volume XVIII, p. 409.
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Since the prophecy of Daniel predicted that the papacy would "think to change times and laws," let us ask her if she had anything to do with this change of the Sabbath. We want to be fair to everyone, and get authentic testimony from all. The next several quotations are taken from well-known Catholic authorities who express clearly the claims of the papacy about the attempted change. From the Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV, p. 153: "The Church ... after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, to the first, made the third commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord's day."
Salvation History and the Commandments, p. 294, 1963 edition, by Rev. Leo. J. Trese and John J. Castlelot, S.S. describes it in these words: "Nothing is said in the Bible about the change of the Lord's day from Saturday to Sunday. We know of the change only from the tradition of the Church - a fact handed down to us from earliest times by the living voice of the Church. That is why we find so illogical the attitude of many non-Catholics, who say that they will believe nothing unless they can find it in the Bible and yet will continue to keep Sunday as the Lord's day on the say-so of the Catholic Church."
Another well-known Catholic writer gave this explanation of the change: "The Catholic Church transferred the observance from the seventh to the first day of the week. ... The Catholic Church deemed it more fitting to appoint this day, rather than Saturday, the festival day of Christians." This Is Catholicism, 1959 edition, John Walsh, S. J., p. 325.
A 1958 catechism by Killgallen and Weber entitled Life in Christ - Instructions in the Catholic Faith explained it thus: "Why did the Church change the Lord's day from the Sabbath to Sunday? The Church, using the power of binding and loosing which Christ gave to the Pope, changed the Lord's day to Sunday." Page 243.
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Rev. Stephen Keenan's A Doctrinal Catechism has this to say: "Question - Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept? Answer - Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority." Please note the word "substituted," a term we have used over and over to describe the activities of this power.
Cardinal Gibbons, in his book The Question Box, p. 179, makes this startling admission: "If the Bible is the only guide for the Christian, then the Seventh-day Adventist is right in observing the Saturday with the Jew.... Is it not strange that those who make the Bible their only teacher, should inconsistently follow in this matter the tradition of the Catholic Church?"
Rev. John A. O'Brien in the book Understanding the Catholic Faith, p. 13, 1955 edition, states: "The Bible does not contain all the teachings of the Catholic religion, nor does it formulate all the duties of its members. Take, for instance, the matter of Sunday observance, attendance at divine service, and abstention from unnecessary servile work on that day. This is a matter upon which our Protestant neighbors have for many years laid great emphasis; yet nowhere in the Bible is the Sunday designated as the Lord's day; the day mentioned is the Sabbath, the last day of the week. The early Church, conscious of her authority to teach in the name of Christ, deliberately changed the day to Sunday."
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One of the greatest challenges ever cast into the face of Protestantism is contained in a statement by Father Enright, President of Redemptorist College in America: "It was the Holy Catholic Church that changed the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday, the first day of the week. And it not only compelled all to keep Sunday, but urged all persons to labor on the seventh day under pain of anathema. Protestants ... profess great reverence for the Bible, and yet by their solemn act of keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the power of the Catholic Church. The Bible says, 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.' But the Catholic Church says, NO: Keep the first day of the week' and lo, the entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church."
You must answer that challenge! Whom are you going to obey? Listen to these words by C. F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons, in answer to a letter regarding the change of the Sabbath: "Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters." Thus the issues become plain - God says that He is the true God: He has given the Sabbath as a seal of His authority as the Creator of all. By keeping the Sabbath we recognize His authority as the true God. But the Catholic Church appears and says in effect, "No, don't keep the Sabbath; keep the first day of the week. We changed it, and that change is a mark of our power to overrule God's law and authority."
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The mark of the beast, then, is the counterfeit Sunday by which the beast power is trying to be recognized as an authority greater than the Creator Himself. The sign, or seal, of God's authority (Sabbath) is displaced by the papal institution of a substitute mark (Sunday) which she claims as her authority. Oh, that the world would see clearly the tremendous issue before us today! To whom will we yield our obedience - to God or to the beast? When we understand the issues we must make a tremendous decision either to keep the true Sabbath and recognize God's authority, or to take the false Sabbath and recognize the Catholic Church's claims. We must finally receive the seal of God or the mark of the beast. There are only two sides - God and the dragon, truth and error, Bible and tradition.
A book published in 1956 entitled The Faith of Millions and currently available from the Catholic Book Store as a textbook on the Catholic religion has this interesting statement on page 473: "But since Saturday, not Sunday, is specified in the Bible, 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? Yes, of course it is inconsistent; but this change was made about fifteen centuries before Protestantism was born, and by that time the custom was universally observed. 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 or a lock of her hair."
Long ago Cardinal Gibbons summarized the issue facing every individual on the Sabbath question: "Reason and sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either
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Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicity and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible." Catholic Mirror, December 23, 1893.
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Perhaps you are wondering what the Protestant bodies think of these things we have been considering. They will speak for themselves. Here are some candid admissions of those churches upon the Sabbath question. All statements are taken from the most authoritative spokesmen. Here is a quotation from Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, the author of the Baptist Manual: "There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week. ... Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament - absolutely not. ... 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!" (From a paper read before a New York ministers' conference held November 13, 1893.) This great Baptist leader condenses into a few sentences all that has been said in the pages of this booklet.
The Presbyterian Christian at Work said this: "Some have tried to build the observance of Sunday upon apostolic command, whereas the apostles gave no command on the matter at all. ... The truth is, as soon as we appeal to the litera scripta (the literal writing) of the Bible, the Sabbatarians have the best of the arguments." Ed. April 19, 1883. The Methodist Theological Compendium states: "It is true that there is no positive command for infant baptism ... nor is there any for keeping holy the first day of the week."
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Dr. W. R. Dale (Congregational) in The Ten Commandments, pp. 106, 107, says: "It is quite clear that however rigidly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath was founded on a specific, divine command. We can plead no such command for the observance of Sunday. ... There is not a single line in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday."
The Lutheran position, as revealed in the Augsburg Confession of Faith, states: "The observance of the Lord's day (Sunday) is founded not on any command of God, but on the authority of the church." Episcopalian spokesman Neander writes in the History of the Christian Religion and Church, p. 186: "The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far from them and from the early apostolic church to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday."
In Ten Rules For Living, by Clovis G. Chappell we read: "We ought to remember that the Sabbath is God's gift to man. We realize, of course, that our Sabbath is not the same as that observed by the Jews. Theirs was the seventh day of week, while ours is the first. The reason we observe the first day instead of the seventh is based on no positive command. One will search the Scriptures in vain for authority for changing from the seventh day to the first. The early Christians began to worship on the first day of the week because Jesus rose from the dead on that day. By and by, this day of worship was made also a day of rest, a legal holiday. This took place in the year 321. Our Christian Sabbath, therefore, is not a matter of positive command." Page 61.
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We could give statements from dozens of other denominational sources, but space does not permit. What is your answer to these things? Clearly we have seen that God predicted the rise of a power who would try to change the Sabbath; history records that the power attempted the change; the power herself admits that she tried to change it; and Protestants confess the change was made. How many will take their stand on the side of Bible truth?
The world is rapidly approaching the time when God's Sabbath becomes a great test of obedience. Its claims will be placed before all earth's inhabitants. At that time, when the issues stand clearly revealed, individuals will accept the seal of God or the mark of the beast. The book of Revelation describes a final edict of this earth's governments which will actually seek to enforce the mark upon all the world. "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." Revelation 13:16.
It is evident that no one has the mark until it is pressed upon all through this legislative act of human government. Then, the true Sabbath and the counterfeit (Sunday) will be so revealed that no one can escape a decision - a decision to keep the true Sabbath with mind and hand, or to submit to the counterfeit Sabbath of the papacy. In the next chapter you will learn the identity of the nation which will influence the world to accept the counterfeit Sabbath, and which will seek to enforce that mark of loyalty to the papacy.
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IV. THE UNITED STATES IN PROPHECY
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Any person should be proud to be an American. Certainly there is no spot on earth where freedom is so fully enjoyed as in our own United States. Have you ever wondered why this is true? There is a reason for the rise of democracy in this hemisphere. It is not just a happenstance that America is the freedom capital of the world. Actually, the beast power of Revelation 13 had a lot to do with the rise of America.
You may be asking, "How could the papal power be responsible for the United States of America?" It was because of the persecutions of the beast power in Europe that the United States came into existence. The Pilgrim Fathers, to escape the religious persecutions of the papacy, fled to the New World of America where they could follow their conscience in worship.
Let's get the picture now from the pages of prophecy in God's Word. The first ten verses of Revelation 13 describe the papacy in its rise to power. We have already studied this prophecy in detail. Verse 10 closes with the description of the Pope's capture in 1798: "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." Then immediately John saw a second beast in vision which he describes in the next verse. "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." Revelation 13:11. Let us be very careful in identifying this second beast. There are several points which will reveal the identity of this power.
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First of all, it is seen "coming up" as the first beast received his deadly wound. Since the first beast (papacy) received its wound in 1798 when General Berthier took the Pope captive, we should look for the second beast to be coming up at that time. This means that around 1798 this power would be rising in the world. Secondly, this second beast would come up "out of the earth." This is in contrast to the first which rose out of the water. We found in Revelation 17:15 that water symbolizes peoples and nations. The second beast, coming out of the earth, would depict a nation rising in some area of the world where there were no previous civilizations and multitudes. The absence of water denotes a dearth of people.
Thirdly, this nation had two horns like a lamb, and they had no crowns on them, as did the first beast. It came up peacefully, like a lamb, and the absence of crowns reveals that there were no kings at the head. It was not a monarchy, or dictatorship. Everything about this beast indicates a peaceful democracy.
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We are now ready to identify this second beast. There can be no doubt as to its identity. There is only one nation in history which meets the description. The United States of America was the only nation "coming up" to power in 1798, as ths first beast received its deadly wound. The Constitution had been voted in 1787, and the Bill of Rights adopted in 1791. Also, it was in 1798 that America was first recognized by a world power. Historians record that there was something wonderful and providential about the rise of this country.
In exact fulfillment of the prophecy this nation arose in the New World, where no former civilizations had existed. It came up peacefully, democratically, and established itself upon the two great principles of Protestantism and republicanism. Church and state were to be kept separate. Our forefathers had seen enough of the evils of a church-state government.
Let us read a statement by John Wesley, a marvelous student of the Bible, and the architect of the Methodist Church. Writing in 1754 in his New Testament with Explanatory Notes after applying the first beast of Revelation 13 to the papacy, he said, "Another ... beast ... But he is not yet come, though he can not be far off; for he is to appear at the end of the forty-two months of the first beast." Page 427. Please note that Wesley was looking for a nation to be rising within a very short time which would meet the description of the prophecy. Only the United States could have fulfilled his expectation.
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It would be good if we could stop right here in our study, but we would not be true to the Scripture if we did not read the rest of the prophecy. Verses 11 and 12 continue: "He had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 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." In other words, the time would come when the United States would change its peaceful, democratic tone. Under some influence it would begin to compel worship, "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. "Revelation 13:14-17.
A nation speaks through its laws. It may seem incredible to us as we read these things today that the United States would ever be persuaded to enact religious laws, and try to force people to worship a certain way, but prophecy has never failed. She will make an image to the papacy, or develop a system which resembles that power. Church and state will be united enough to enforce religious laws and will thus closely resemble the papal system.
According to the prophecy, America will finally enforce the mark of the beast. What does this mean? What is the mark? On the basis of God's Word we have shown it to be the counterfeit Sabbath set up by the beast power. The keeping of Sunday instead of the Bible Sabbath is claimed as a mark of allegiance to the Catholic Church by her own priests and leaders. Will the
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United States, then, seek to enforce the keeping of Sunday? That is exactly what is predicted, and it is also exactly what is shaping up right now in American politics.
No matter how much we might prefer to believe otherwise, our own beloved country will begin to use its influence to compel the keeping of Sunday. Already the groundwork has been laid. Right now, most of the states have such Sunday laws on the books. In some places these religious laws have created economic hardships on Sabbathkeepers. A few large cities have been urged to boycott those who refuse to keep Sunday. The prophecy in Revelation 13:17 indicates that economic sanctions will be applied, "and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark."
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The United States Supreme Court has ruled that Sunday laws are not unconstitutional or discriminitory. This opens the way for all the present confused, contradictory local state laws to be replaced by a national law which will standardize the enforcement of Sunday all over America. With the incredible strides being taken toward federal control of individual freedoms, this step to regulate the day of worship will not seem so drastic when it actually does take place.
Mark this well: These developments are already on the horizon. Those who refuse to accept the false day of worship will face fines, boycott, prison and finally, the threat of death. When the Sabbath question is thus made a national issue, people will be forced to accept one side or the other. Every single person will have to make a decision. The mark of the beast will then be placed upon all who choose to disobey the commandment of God to keep the Sabbath day holy. By accepting the mark of allegiance to the papacy (Sunday), they reject the mark which God claims as His sign of authority - the seventh-day Sabbath.
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One might well raise the question, "What does all this have to do with me?" That is an important question, and the answer is even more important. Your eternal salvation hinges upon your decision now. You cannot shrug off the implications of this revelation concerning obedience to the Sabbath commandment. There is no question of convenience or inconvenience. We are dealing with the Ten-Commandment law which was written by God Himself. To break one of those commandments is to commit sin, and no willful sinner will be saved. The keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath has been made the test of loyalty and love to God. "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17.
Rapidly, the world is confederating under the two banners. Time is running out. The great controversy is entering its final stages. While ecumenism draws one block of denominations into a liberal camp, based largely upon disobedience to the Sabbath of God's holy law, another group is distinguished as those who "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12. As the test becomes more severe, every individual must choose to obey God or man, to follow the commandments of God or tradition, to keep the true Sabbath or the counterfeit, to receive the seal of God, or the mark of the beast. Now is the time to settle the issue. "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city." Revelation 22:14.
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