WHILE the two-horned beast is not the Papacy, it is so intimately connected with it that it must be studied in the consideration of the future of the Papacy. It has much to do in the reviving of that power and the healing of the deadly wound.
“And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like unto a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the authority of the first beast in his sight. And he maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose death-stroke was healed. And he doeth great signs, that he should even make fire to come down out of heaven upon the earth in the sight of men. And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which it was given him 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 who hath the stroke of the sword and lived. And it was given unto him to give breath to it, even to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as should not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead; and that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name.”
Briefly to review our last two studies.
1. “Beast,” symbol of an earthly power, under its fifth head, the Papacy. “Another beast,” a different beast, occupying different territory, symbolizing a different government. Emphatically so was the United States.
2. The time of its rise was when the papal beast was going into captivity—1798. Then America was just rising to power and recognition among the nations of earth.
3. The place of his rise, “the earth,” in contradistinction to “the sea” of the first beast; the latter representing peoples, multitudes, nations, tongues, of the Old World; the former—the earth—representing the territory outside of the then known world, where, as one writer remarks, “Amid the silences of the earth we [America] grew into empire.”
4. The two horns like a lamb, Christlike symbols, representing civil and religious liberty, equality of man and freedom of choice.
5. The dragon voice, from a heart inspired by the dragon, the deceiver of the world, the persecutor of the church. Rev. 12:9, 13.
6. The “great signs,” the wonderful marvels of this country, manifest in invention, in discovery, in marvelous strides, in great undertakings, in occultism, with its thousand descriptive signs and allurements, manifest in many religious and psychic organizations.
7. He causes the earth and those who dwell therein to make an image to the beast.
The Image.
No kingdom, empire, or dynasty is mentioned in symbolic prophecy unless it is a world-moulding power and comes in connection with the people of God. Every power symbolized by a beast has been at some time in its career antagonistic to the work of God. It is opposed to God’s work because it is a church-and-state government; religion is upheld, promoted, supported, protected, or enforced by the civil power. These two elements constitute a beast-government of prophecy. Such a power, if it be faithful to its professions, must be a persecutor of those who dissent from its law-supported standard. If either element is lacking, it will not be a persecutor, for (1) a church without civil power to enforce its decrees can not persecute; (2) a civil power unconnected with religion will have no desire to persecute. The liberty which a beast-power grants to dissenters, it calls toleration; the liberties which a purely civil power grants to its citizens are rights belonging to each and all, irrespective of religious belief. When one of the heads of the beast of Revelation 13 received its death-stroke was when men rose up in wrath and deprived the dominant religious element of civil power.
Court-Made Law.
To make an image to the beast is to unite religion with the state, or to place dogmas and institutions of the religious element under the protection and the support of civil law. Ordinarily in this government that would mean the long process of change of constitution; but in these marvelous days men have learned a shorter way—through court decision, or “judge-made law.” To this purpose is the Trinity Church decision in February, 1892, in which the Supreme Court declared, contrary to the very genius of the government and the express statements of its constitution, that “this is a Christian nation.” Both houses of Congress and the Executive committed the government to the same evil principle a few months later by closing the Chicago World’s Fair on Sunday, and thus acting as a tribunal on religious questions.
Not thus did Congress in 1829 and 1831, when the same controversy in another form was brought to that body. It plainly said in so many words that Congress had nothing to do with religious questions in any way, shape, or manner.
8. The Worship of the Image and Beast.
The highest worship which men can render is obedience, service. “Ye are My friends,” said Jesus, “if ye do whatsoever I command you;” “If ye love Me, ye will keep My commandments.” The word which corresponds to Lord, is servant. Jesus says of those who profess to serve Him, “Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Satan, the tempter, said to Jesus, “All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me,” but Jesus responded, “It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord, thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Enforcing the worship of beast and image is enforcing the religious demands of beast and image.
9. Giving life to the image and causing it to speak is simply placing in statute law what the union of religion with the state in the image of the beast and the sentiment of the people demand.
10. The Death Penalty.
It has ever been true that the highest penalty is attached to the laws considered the most important, the laws upon which the stability of the government depends, or the highest interests of its subjects. If religion be considered a proper matter of legislation, it goes without saying that, inasmuch as religion pertains not alone to the life which now is, but to that which is to come, it becomes of vastly greater importance to the stability of the government and the good of its subjects than any matters purely civil. An infraction of the religious law is counted a crime against High Heaven, of which the government is representative. When, then, a government goes so far as to reverse the very charters of its existence and establish by law a union of religion with the state, it may be safely reckoned that persistent opposition to that union will be counted treason against the government, of which the penalty is death. The last step, the execution of the penalty, is in the first step the defining or enforcement of religion by law.
The Mark of the Beast.
11. Out of religious strife, as out of political, grow party shibboleths and watchwords, badges, and ensigns. The religious controversy of the last days will all eventually center around the law of God and loyalty to Him.
The stamp of authority in that law is the fourth commandment. It reveals the God who gave the law, the great Jehovah; the extent of His jurisdiction, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. It is the one commandment over which the crucial test of all the ages has come. When it has been observed, there has been faithfulness in all the others. When it has been departed from, sun-worship and abominable idolatry have resulted. It has ever been one of the chief points of attack by the devil; and it will be in the latter days.
Opposed to this is the counterfeit which Satan has sought to thrust in its place, “the wild8solar holiday of all pagan times,” the great high day of the heathen, the day dedicated to sun-worship among the nations, and hence called Sunday.
Tho good men have observed it, just as good men have innocently passed counterfeit bills, it is not of God. It has no support in His Word, as acknowledged by many of those who observe it. It is classed among the six working days. It came into the church of Christ with the apostasy. Born of heathenism, adopted by the Papacy, sad to say, it has been fostered and nourished by Protestantism, in a most un-protestant way, namely, by civil law.
The Papacy squarely sets it forth as the mark of her authority. Contrast the teaching of God’s law with that of the Papacy. This is God’s law of the Sabbath:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant; nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20:8-11.
And now read this from “Butler’s Catechism:”
Ques.—Say the third [our fourth] commandment.
Ans.—Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
Q.—What is commanded by the third [fourth] commandment?
A.—To spend the Sunday in prayer and other religious duties.
But this is not what is commanded by the Sabbath commandment. Listen further from another papal work, “Abridgement of Christian Doctrine:”
Ques.—How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
Ans.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
Q.—How do you prove that?
A.—Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin; and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.
A hundred other authorities might be cited, both Protestant and Catholic, to prove the above, but let this suffice. One of the marks which Daniel gave of this power is, “He shall think to change the times and the law.” Dan. 7:25, A. R. V. The Roman Church declares, We have done that very thing.
To what other conclusion can we come, then, than this: The Sunday in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord is the mark of the beast-power, the stamp of its authority. But mark, dear reader, the writer is not saying that all who have kept or are keeping Sunday have the mark of the beast. This subject we will consider in our next.