THE MARK OF THE BEAST
REVELATION 13:1-17
A. THE CONTEXT OF REVELATION 13 SHOWS THAT THE WARNING AGAINST THE MARK OF THE BEAST IS MOST SOLEMN
1. Indicates the intensity of the final struggle between Christ and Satan which began in heaven and was transplanted to this earth:
Rev. 12:7-17; 13; Gen. 3:15
2. It warns the inhabitors of the earth against siding with Satan and his angels: Rev. 13:1-17
3. Such dire warning from God is proof that we may know the beast power, his mark and his number:
B. POSITIVE IDENTITY OF THE BEAST POWER
1. A beast symbolizes:
a. An earthly government - Dan. 7:15-17
b. Four beasts represent four world governments - Babylon,Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
c. It symbolizes a persecuting power - Compare Dan. 7:1-25 with Rev. 12:13
2. Geographic identity of the Leopard beast of Rev. 13:
a. Received seat, power, and great authority from Pagan Rome.
b. The City of Rome was donated to Pope Sylvester in 331 A.D.
c. Inscription of the donation is found in the Vatican.
3. Religious identity:
a. The Eucharistic Congress symbolizes the kingdom of Christ including all the world; and the Pope the visible head of that kingdom.
b. It is a blaspheming power, and blasphemy is a mark of religious excess - John 10:33; Matt. 26:65; Rev. 13:6; 2 Thess. 2:1-6; Dan. 7:25
c. This blasphemy is against the heavenly sanctuary - Rev. 13:6; 2 Thess. 2:1-7
d. Wears out the saints of the Most High through bloodshed - Dan. 7:25; Ps. 119:126; Ps. 94:20
e. He attempted to change God’s time and law - Dan. 7:25; Ps. 94:20; 119:126
f. It counterfeited the heavenly sanctuary and its ministry - Rev. 13:6
C. THE MARK OF THE BEAST
1. The Bible teaches that the seventh day Sabbath is:
a. A sign or mark of the creative power of God - Compare Ex. 20:11 with Ps. 111:1-6; 135:13; Jer. 10:10-12
b. A sign of our sanctification - Ezek. 20:12; Heb. 12:14; 13:12
2. Sunday, the first day of the week is a mark of the apostate power spoken of in Dan. 7:25; Rev. 13:6-9; 14:8, 9; 2 Thess. 2:3-7:
3. The Papacy claims:
a. Infallibility when teaching doctrine.
b. Creative power when celebrating the mass.
c. Sanctifying power when remitting the sins of the faithful.
d. It boastfully admits that it has tempered with the law of the Ten Commandments.
e. It claims that Sunday observance is a mark of its power and authority.
f. Many Protestants freely admit that the Papacy has attempted to change the Ten Commandments, supplanting the seventh day Sabbath by instituting the keeping of the first day of the week.
4. It must be understood, however, that we do not claim that Sunday keepers have the mark of the beast:
a. There are many God-fearing Sunday keepers, who are not aware of the origin of Sunday observance; they keep Sunday, believing that the Lord wants them to keep it.
b. In fact, there are thousands who believe that Sunday is the true Bible Sabbath, and so they apply the fourth commandment to Sunday observance
5. But the fact remains:
a. That the seventh-day Sabbath is a mark of God’s power and authority;
b. That its observance is a part of the moral law;
c. That Sunday observance is a man-made institution; it is a counterfeit system, foretold in Bible prophecy;
d. That when the people know the difference between the Bible Sabbath and Sunday observance, and yet persist in keeping Sunday, they become a party to the beast power in rebellion
against the law of God.
