THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST.
By Editor
A BROTHER sends us a long communication on this subject, designed to refute the idea that Free Masonry is the image of the beast spoken of in Rev. 13. The occasion of his writing, he says, is the fact that some of our brethren have taken up this idea from some publication advocating that view, and are laboring with people from house to house, to induce others to receive it. We do not publish the communication, as it does not seem to be necessary. It is simply astonishing that any one who professes to be a believer in the third angel’s message as held by S. D. Adventists, should be deluded into such views concerning the image. We can account for it only on the ground that some people do not seem to be capable of comprehending the relation which some subjects bear to other subjects, or which the different parts of a subject bear to one another. Look a moment at a few points: The image appears among the last acts of the two-horned beast, who himself appears after the leopard beast of Rev. 13:1 has received its deadly wound, or has been led into captivity. Verse 10. The third angel’s message appears as a warning before the image is made and its worship enforced. But when did Masonry become a powerful secret organization? Masons claim that the system dates as far back as the building of Solomon’s temple. It can certainly be traced back into the Dark Ages. Now if this is the image which the two-horned beast makes, the two-horned beast existed before this. Then this beast is not a symbol of the United States; and the leopard beast of Rev. 13:1-10 is not the papacy; and the dragon of chapter 12 is not Rome pagan; and the third angel’s message was given ages ago; and the claim that we are giving this message now is a fallacy and a fraud. Thus should we be left, knowing not what anything means nor having any indications of where we are. The system of present truth is complete in itself, harmonious, inseparable, invulnerable. People can claim that Masonry is the image of the beast if they choose; but let them understand that if they do, they must surrender the third angel’s message and all its associated truths, in toto. For this, to the praise of God’s providence be it spoken, cannot be linked to any other creed, and will not mix nor mingle with any other system.