THAT the composite beast-symbol of Rev. 13: 1-10, 18, refers to that system known as the Papacy in its dominance over the nations of Western Rome, has been held by Protestants from the Reformation, with the exception of a growing number in these latter days who have become blinded by the glamor of the great apostate church, and seduced by her fornications. To the candid believer of God's word and the student of prophecy, the application is so evident as not to admit of doubt. The numerous specifications in this and the parallel prophecy of the little horn in Daniel 7, are fully met in the chronology, time of continuance, character, and work of the Papacy, and these specifications are met in no other power. We give a few testimonies from standard commentaries:—
The beast here represents the Roman power, as now broken up into the ten dominations which sprung up from the one original Roman power, and that became henceforward the supporters of the Papacy, and, therefore, properly represented here as having ten diadems.—Barnes, on Rev. 13: 1, and so throughout the chapter.
Many Protestant commentators see in this whole chapter Rome Papal under two aspects, the beast of verses 1-3 signifying the political . . . character of the Papacy.—Bible Commentary on Rev. 13: 1.
All interpreters agree that the Roman Empire, in one form or other, was here intended. . . . It is therefore absolutely certain that the Roman power, as professing Christianity, and not that of Pagan Rome, is meant.—Scott, on Rev. 13: 1.
The dragon may here mean either the devil, or the devil's vicegerent, the idolatrous Roman Empire; so that when another idolatrous persecuting power had succeeded to that of the heathen emperors, then "the dragon" had transferred his dominion to "the beast," or the devil had appointed another vicegerent, and all the world knows that this accords to the history of the Roman Empire, pagan and papal. The project of establishing the old idolatry having failed, new species were invented: saints and angels succeeded to gods and demi-gods; and persecution was the means employed for supporting it.—Id., verses 2-4.
The beast here described is the Latin Empire, which supported the Romish, or Latin Church; for it "has upon his horns ten crowns," that is, an empire composed of ten distinct monarchies in the interest of the Latin (or self-styled Roman Catholic) Church.—Adam Clarke, on Rev. 13: 1.
I. Prediction.
Thus much for the first symbol of Revelation 13. Suffice to say it meets its fulfillment in Papal Rome. In the latter part of the chapter is brought to view another beast symbol; the text reads as follows:
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. 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. 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; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by the 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. Verses 11-17.
II. Interpretation.
In the Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald of May 19, 1851, published at Paris, Me., is an article of ten columns, somewhere about eight thousand six hundred words, entitled "Thoughts on Revelation XIII and XIV." Of course it will not be expected that we shall quote largely from this, but we wish to quote enough to show the interpretation of the prophecy and the application made of the symbol at that time by Elder Andrews. After a consideration of the first two angels of Rev. 14: 6-8, he quotes the third angel's warning against the reception of the mark of the beast and the worship of the beast or his image.
The beast is then considered, and the conclusion arrived at, as by the commentators above quoted, that it refers to Papal Rome, of which its spiritual domination over the nations was destroyed in 1798.
He then considers the two-horned beast, showing (1) that this is a symbol of another power, occupying different territory, existing contemporaneously with the first beast; (2) that its rise was not by conquest of other great powers; (3) that it would be rising to power when the other beast went into captivity, 1798; (4) that it was to be a democratic or republican power, affirming the equality of man and liberty of conscience indicated by the crownless horns; and (5) that all these specifica50tions, and others we have not space to mention, were met in the government of the United States of America and in no other.
The evil characteristics of the beast, such as the great wonders, is interpreted to be fulfilled in the wonderful advancement in the arts and sciences, and in the manifestation of the power of Satan through psychology and what is now known as Modern Spiritualism. He shows just how a backslidden church, turning from important truth revealed in God's word, would be very likely to be deceived, even as was the Papal Church. He also shows from Rev. 19:20 and 20:10 that the false prophet and the two-horned beast are identical. He then presents the following:—
The work of deception is followed by the dragon voice of this beast. He says 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." We have noticed in a previous verse that he was to enforce the worship of the beast which had lost its civil power. And now we have something further. An image to the beast that received the deadly wound must be made. The beast was in truth a church clothed with civil power and authority, by which it put to death the saints of God. Rev. 12: 5-8; Dan. 7: 23-26. An image to the beast, then, must be another church clothed with civil power and authority to put the saints of God to death. This can be nothing else but the corrupt and fallen Protestant Church. . . . Should it be objected that the world is too much enlightened to submit to such deception, or to unite in such a work of persecution, we answer that the word of God gives us this prophecy in clear language; and it is with reference to this scene of danger that the third angel [Rev. 14: 9-12] utters his solemn warning. Look at the Jewish Church and mark how soon after it had rejected the Messiah at his first coming, they put him to a cruel death, and slew also many of his apostles and saints. They said, indeed (Matt. 23:30), that had they lived in the days of their fathers, they would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. But when their hour and the power of darkness come upon them, how completely did it show them under the power of Satan! Luke 22:53; John 7:30. The rejection of the truth of God leaves men the captives of Satan and the subjects of his deception. 2 Thess. 2:9-12. The greater the light which men reject, the greater the power of deception and of darkness which will come upon them. . . . The third angel gives us warning of the danger which is now before us. The warning precedes the danger, that we by seasonable admonition may make our escape.
The warning of danger is a warning which refers directly to the scene of trouble described in Rev. 13: 11-18. This warning shows that that trouble is yet to come. . . . On one side stands the decree of the beast who is to exercise all the power of the first beast before him, that all who will not worship the image and receive his mark shall be put to death; on the other hand stands the solemn warning of the third angel. Here, then, is the strait before us. We can worship the beast and his image, and as the penalty drink the wine of the wrath of God, or we can refuse, and peril our lives, that we may obey God.
This message will draw a line between the worshippers of God and the worshippers of the beast and his image; for on either hand it reveals a dreadful penalty, and leaves no chance for half-way work. Those who disregard this warning will be found with the worshippers of the beast and his image, and will drink of the wine of the wrath of God. Those who heed this warning will obey God at the risk of their lives. The one class is designated by the mark of the beast; the other class is seen in the patience of the saints keeping the commandments of God. . . . That the commandments of God are the great subject of controversy between the dragon and the remnant of the seed of the woman, is plain from Rev. 12:17.
What is this mark of the beast? It is the mark of that beast to whom the image was made—the first beast. Rev. 19:20; 16:2. But it is enforced by the two-horned beast. Hence, we understand it is an institution of Papacy enforced by Protestantism. The beast and his image unite in this thing, denoting the union of the great systems of false Christianity, in opposition to the saints, who are engaged in keeping the commandments of God. [Rev. 14: 12.] Have we such an institution, really the child of Papacy, which the civil power supports [will support], and to which the religious world pays homage?—We have. It is found in a weekly sabbath which the "man of sin" has placed in the stead of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Mark this: The pope, in his arrogance, was to exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, and to "THINK TO CHANGE TIMES AND LAWS." 2 Thess. 2:3, 4; Dan. 7:25. . . . They are not the times and laws of men which he thinks to change, for these he might be able to change, as other powers have done; but it is an act of arrogance, in which he does not succeed. The times and laws of God are doubtless intended. The pope, in the exercise of his blasphemous assumptions, has attempted to change the fourth commandment, which guards the institution left by God as the memorial of himself. The ordinance of baptism commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Col. 2: 12; Rom. 6:3-5), but as this ordinance has been changed to sprinkling, something else must be introduced to commemorate that event; hence the Sabbath was gradually changed to the resurrection day. This act of changing the Sabbath was performed by the power that should exalt itself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped.
The above but briefly expresses the argument and proof that the Sunday is the mark of the beast; but it must be evident to everyone that the change which the Papacy has endeavored to make in the law of God must be the mark of that power. The writer then shows from various authorities, Protestant and Catholic, the origin of Sunday obligation and its substitution for the Sabbath, in which he says:—
Those who understandingly turn away from the commandments of God, and in their stead obey the institution of the beast, not only recognize him as equal with God, as an object of worship, but as being above God; for they acknowledge him as able to change the laws of God. We regard this counterfeit sabbath as THE MARK of that power which should "think to change times and laws." The force of this may be seen when the dragon makes war on "the remnant" who "keep the commandments of God;" or when the two-horned beast shall cause the world [earth] to worship the image of the first beast and to receive his mark. The Protestant church may, if taken as a whole, be considered as a unit. . . . That they are oppressive when possessed of civil power, let the case of the Puritans, themselves fugitives from oppression, bear testimony. Witness their persecution of the Quakers even unto death.
The above is a part of the interpretation of the wondrous prediction of the prophet of Patmos 1,800 years ago. That interpretation was given
MORE THAN FORTY-ONE YEARS AGO.
It declared that Sunday, as the substitute of the Sabbath of the Lord, was the mark of the Papacy; that this country, so mild, generous, and just in its professions, would make an image to the Papacy and enforce its mark, the Sunday sabbath, upon all. Those for whom this paper stands have consistently held to that interpretation ever since. When the above was written, in 1851, there was no movement looking toward such a result. A score of years before (1829-30) Congress had been petitioned to enact a Sunday law regulating post offices, post roads, etc., but both houses had unanimously and summarily refused the prayers of the petitioners, as a matter with which civil government had no right to meddle; and in the adverse report of the committee there were faithful warnings and protests against all such legislation. And there was nothing in the political field in 1851 which warranted any such interpretation of the prophecy as is given above. But God said it would come. Thousands would not deign to notice the interpretation when brought to their potice. Thousands more read and ridiculed as fanciful if not fanatical. A few read, pondered, believed the word of God, and therefore believed its obvious interpretation. Since that, however, in fact, quite recently, we have seen mighty steps towards its
Fulfilment.
The United States Senate said in 1829, in speaking on this very Sunday question:—
Extensive religious combinations to effect a political purpose are, in the opinion of the committee, always dangerous. . . . All religious despotism begins by combination and influence; and when that influence begins to operate upon the political institutions of a country, the civil power soon bends under it; and the catastrophe of other nations furnishes an awful warning of the consequence.
The first step in the fulfillment of the prophecy was taken in 1863, at a meeting of eleven denominations, at Xenia, Ohio. The first convention of the "National Association to Secure the Religious Amendment of the Constitution of the United States" was held in the First United Presbyterian Church, Allegheny, Pa., January 27, 1864. Here a delegation was appointed to wait on President Lincoln, and present the matter to his consideration. National conventions were held in Pittsburg, Pa., 1870; Philadelphia, 1871; Cincinnati, 1872; New York, 1873; Pittsburg, 1874. The Christian Statesman was for years the organ of this association. Documents, tracts, and various publications have been scattered by the thousands. Able lecturers have disseminated their doctrines in every institution of learning in the land where access could be obtained. Many have been made honorary members of the organization, so as to get great names for influence. Their aim is to place what they call all the "Christian laws, institutions, and usages of our government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental laws of the land." Chief among these institutions is the Sunday sabbath. It need scarcely be said that such an object crystallized in law would be what certain men call Christian, and not what is truly so. Such a government would know naught of the Golden Rule. This movement has been laughed at, but friends of its principles have grown apace.
In the years 1885-87 the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, a noble band in the beginning, was wooed and won by the National Reform Association, and introduced a special department into its work for "the promotion of Sabbath observance, coöperating with the National Reform Association."
The Prohibition party, while not going so far in their public conventions and declarations, have adopted such ground as would logically and inevitably force them to the ultimate conclusions of the National Reformers. A Sunday-sabbath plank exists in almost every Prohibition platform, national, State, and district. Many Prohibitionists do not believe in this movement, but they have but little power in the party in respect to the matter.
Another mighty ally in this Church-and-State51movement is the American Sabbath Union, formed November, 1888. The initial step was taken by Rev. W. F. Crafts in preliminary work among Sunday-law associations in various parts of the country, inducing them to petition the Methodist Episcopal Church, in General Conference assembled, to take the initiative in forming a National Sabbath Committee. This was the first step to the formation of the American Sabbath Union at the General Conference of the M. E. Church in New York, November, 1888, the object of which "is to preserve the Christian Sabbath [Sunday] as a day of rest and worship." The general synods, assemblies, etc., of all the other great denominations swung into line and indorsed the movement and became a part of the union. Cardinal Gibbons also indorsed it.
The baleful seeds of Romish fornication have been assiduously sown since that time, till every town and village of the nation, almost, has been entered in one way or another. This great religious combination to effect a political purpose has made its "influence" felt in Congress, and, by its repeated deluge of petitions and its lobbying and threats, our politicians and even our judges of the Supreme Court have bent under it.
The last steps in the fulfillment of this great prophecy are the most striking. February 29 the Supreme Court of the United States went out of its way to declare in the case against Trinity Church, under the contract labor law, that "this is a Christian nation," justified every Sunday law in operation in the various States, and affirmed that the Constitution with its first amendment is in harmony with all these laws. Thus is laid, by the last court of appeal in this government, the foundation of the reproduction of the persecutions of the Dark Ages. It is the image of the beast in embryo, containing within itself all the possibilities of evil for the future.
The Supreme Court declaring this to be a "Christian nation," and the great mass of the churches holding Sunday to be the "Christian sabbath," logically the "Christian nation," should regard the "Christian sabbath." The churches this present year of grace made just such a demand as this of Congress in the matter of closing the World's Fair on Sunday,—a mild measure in results, but evil in principle as any law of the Dark Ages, and but the first step to a logical series of steps inevitably to follow on future demands. Both houses of Congress passed the Sunday measure, and it was signed by the President before the record of its passage was scarcely dry. Grave senators, who knew that the act was unconstitutional, did not dare refuse, according to their own unmanly confession, because of their fear of losing the church votes. And the influence already gained by the religious combines will not be lost. The cowering hounds who desire the bone of church patronage will come under the lash, and sacrifice manhood and conscience, and forfeit their own rights as citizens, fetter the consciences of men, persecute the saints of God, and defy God himself, at the behest of a religious political despotism. Even now, while the tones of the Thanksgiving proclamations are sounding through the land, five good Christian citizens are just out of jail as criminals for daring to work on their own farms at quiet work, to the disturbance of no one, on Sunday, and fourteen more are under indictment for the same crime, one an old gray-haired man, and all excellent Christians. This is the beginning of the end. American patriots, what are you going to do about it? Fellow-Christians, what are you? Here is the prediction, the interpretation, the partial fulfillment. Just before lies the completed page. Where will you stand, reader? For Christ's sake, for your own soul's sake, decide for God and his truth.