13:7Revelation 13:7

It was given to the leopard-like beast to make war with the saints and to overcome them and to rule over all peoples and nations, and that beast is the papacy as the dominant form of the persecuting power in that period.GC88 439.1+2 Its power to persecute and rule was permitted by God, while behind it the dragon, Satan, gave it its power, seat and authority to carry on opposition to God under profession of allegiance to Him.Ms 7a, 1896, par. 10–12+2 This was fulfilled in 1,260 years of papal oppression from 538 to 1798, when the papacy was firmly established with its seat in the imperial city and its bishop declared head over the entire church, until the pope was taken captive by the French army and the power received its deadly wound.DA 837.3–4+2 The same war and worldwide dominion belong also to a coming conflict over worship, in which church and state unite to compel all to receive the mark by enforcing the false first-day sabbath against those who keep God's commandments and the seventh-day Sabbath.Ms 88, 1897, par. 15–17+4 That conflict stands in a connected chain reaching through Revelation 14:1-5 to the complete redemption of the 144,000 who gain the victory over the beast, his image, his mark and the number of his name, before the destruction of the beast, the false prophet and Satan and the final triumph of Christ.WLF 10.4+3

The leopard-like beast that makes war with the saints and overcomes them and has power over all kindreds and tongues and nations is the papacy, the dominant form of the persecuting power in the period described.GC88 439.1+4 The beast represents this persecuting power through the ages appearing under different forms, and in this period its dominant head is the papacy, an identification held as the general Protestant opinion.DA 837.3–4+2 Its war against the saints and dominion over peoples and nations describe papal oppression of God's people, corresponding to the actions of the little horn in Daniel 7.GC88 439.1+2 That persecution arose from the union of church and state whose effects were seen in the Dark Ages, and it describes the persecution the remnant must endure and the power against which they are to give a warning.DA 837.3–4+1

It inherited the power and seat and authority of pagan Rome and succeeds the Roman Empire, with its power upheld by many nations.GC88 439.1+3 In turn it inherited what had been held successively by Babylon and Persia and Greece and Rome, combining in itself the characteristics of the four beasts of Daniel 7.4SP 502.4–6+1 The sea from which this power rises means peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues, explaining its rule over all kindreds and tongues and nations.4SP 502.4–6+1 Its oppression of the saints lasted the same 42 months as the time and times and dividing of time in Daniel 7, three and a half years understood as 1,260 prophetic days.GC88 439.1+1 That 1,260 years of papal oppression is reckoned from 538, when the papacy became firmly established, to 1798, when the pope was taken captive by the French army and the papal power received its deadly wound, fulfilling that he who led into captivity must go into captivity.GC 438.1–439.2+1

Its power to make war and to overcome and to rule was given to it, for God permits the persecuting power to act against His faithful people.Ms 7a, 1896, par. 10–12+2 Behind it the dragon, who is Satan, gives it its power and seat and authority, marking the change from open pagan opposition to opposition carried out under profession of allegiance to God.GC88 679.3–680.3+1 Pagan Rome was his instrument before, the papacy is his instrument in this later form, and the later two-horned beast with lamb-like appearance but dragon-like speech becomes a persecuting power the same way, enforcing the beast's worship and revealing its true character.GC88 679.3–680.3+1 Thus earthly persecutors are instruments through which Satan acts, and the leopard-like beast is an earthly government especially engaged in trampling upon God's law and persecuting His people.Ms 7a, 1896, par. 10–12+2

The verse belongs to the description of a beast rising out of the sea with seven heads and ten horns and blasphemous names upon them.Lt 18, 1900, par. 8–10+1 He opens his mouth in blasphemy against God and His tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven.Lt 18, 1900, par. 8–10+1 He is worshiped by all that dwell upon the earth whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.Lt 18, 1900, par. 8–10+1 The command to hear attached to this revelation concerns all and is for the interest of all to hear.Lt 18, 1900, par. 8–10+1

The war against the saints and dominion over peoples and nations was fulfilled in 1,260 years of papal oppression beginning in the sixth century when the papacy became firmly established with its seat fixed in the imperial city and the bishop of Rome declared head over the entire church.DA 837.3–4+3 That period is reckoned from 538 to 1798, the same 42 months as the time, times, and dividing of time in Daniel 7, three and a half years understood as 1,260 prophetic days.GC 438.1–439.2+1 It ended when the pope was taken captive by the French army and the papal power received its deadly wound, and the captivity fulfilled that he who led into captivity must go into captivity.GC 438.1–439.2+1

The persecution arose from the union of church and state seen in the Dark Ages, with the papal beast using civil power to punish dissent from its doctrines.DA 837.3–4+1 Christians were forced to choose between yielding integrity to accept papal ceremonies and worship or wearing away lives in dungeon cells and suffering death by rack, fagot, and headsman's ax.4SP 57.2+2 Ministers and believers who refused were subjected to fines, imprisonment, torture, and martyrdom.GC 54.2+2 Persecution opened upon the faithful with greater fury than ever before and the world became a vast battlefield, while for hundreds of years the church found refuge only in seclusion and obscurity.4SP 57.2 Millions of the true church who refused its ceremonies and image worship were slain without mercy, fulfilling the words about being betrayed by parents, brethren, kinsfolks and friends, put to death, and hated for His name's sake.4SP 57.2+1

The same pattern will recur when apostasy leads religious bodies to control civil government and use it to enforce their aims, bringing civil penalties on dissenters.GC 443.2–5

The war against the saints and dominion over every people, language and nation belong also to a coming worldwide conflict in which the Sabbath question is the issue.Ms 88, 1897, par. 15–17+1 All the world will act a part in that great final conflict, with opposition brought against God's people on a universal scale.Ms 88, 1897, par. 15–17+1 What the chapter reveals about that conflict will surely take place.19MR 182.4–6

Its final fulfillment comes in the last days when Satan appears with great power and heavenly glory as an angel of light claiming to be Lord of the whole earth.Ms 153, 1902, par. 8–10+1 He will declare that the Sabbath has been changed from the seventh to the first day of the week, and as lord of the first day will present this spurious sabbath as a test of loyalty to him.Ms 153, 1902, par. 8–10+1 That time is one of universal enforced worship of the dragon and the beast, with temporary victory over God's faithful people and worldwide dominion for the beast.Ms 153, 1902, par. 8–10 This enforcement of Sunday observance is the setting for the beast's universal power and war against the saints, and the prophecy belongs with the whole of Revelation 14, where warning against worshiping the beast and his image and receiving his mark in forehead or hand is given to the world by those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.19MR 282.1–2

In that time the persecuting power compels worship of the beast by enforcing a human-instituted false sabbath against those who keep God's commandments and the seventh-day Sabbath.Ms 7a, 1896, par. 10–12+1 The conflict requires everyone to choose between the seventh-day Sabbath, God's creation memorial, and the false sabbath, and the power will oppress those who keep God's commandments even through imprisonment and death.Ms 7a, 1896, par. 10–12+1 Churches and the world united trample upon God's commandments and make war with all who obey His precepts by threatening them with death.Ms 7a, 1896, par. 10–12+2 This power works through human agents to change the Sabbath, weaken the force of God's commandments, and hinder God's work, with Satan using this opposition for his purpose.Ms 139, 1903, par. 22–25 It has deceived the inhabitants of the earth and caused them to believe fatal lies presented as truth, giving the definite explanation of the apostate power against the law of God whose appointed judgment in the great day will be executed upon it.Ms 163, 1897, par. 2–5+1 Its persecution includes restricting liberty of conscience, bringing the faithful before authorities, imprisoning them, forcing them into labor, and condemning them to death, standing among the warned dangers facing God's people in the last days.Ms 7a, 1896, par. 10–12+2

The papacy will appear again in its power standing upon the borders of the greatest event in the world's history, and its appearing brings the near time of trouble.21MR 437.4+2 Satan seeks power over the people of God to cause them to sleep on through it, so they must awake to a realization of it and not be left under that power.21MR 437.4+2 The churches must have their attention aroused and all must search the Scriptures and give God's appointed message swelling into a loud cry.21MR 437.4+2 God will make known to His faithful ones what shall be in the last time, and His word will come to His people in power.21MR 437.4+1

The coming conflict is worldwide in scale, with Satan seeking to bring the world under his banner.Ms 64, 1910, par. 9 Against that stands a small group who keep the Sabbath, facing sudden affliction, sorrow and distress.Ms 64, 1910, par. 9 The world's apparent overwhelming strength threatens to overwhelm them, so they must work with God to enlighten others while they can.Ms 64, 1910, par. 9

The war is over worship, requiring every person to choose between the seventh-day Sabbath as God's memorial of creation and a false sabbath of human institution, and the papal change that substitutes the first day for the seventh is the foretold alteration of God's law.14MR 90.3–91.4+1 Those who keep God's commandments refuse the beast's counterfeit mark, a counterfeit Sabbath enforced by wicked powers that oppress the faithful even through imprisonment and death.4SP 505.2–3+1 Keeping the commandments distinguishes God's worshipers from those who worship the beast, whose later worship and mark are enforced by the two-horned power of apostate Protestantism seeking civil power to enforce religious teachings, with the mark signifying allegiance to papal authority in place of God.GC 445.2–446.2

The papal man of sin makes war by tearing down God's memorial of creation, hallowed and sanctified at creation, sustained by the miracle of the manna, and proclaimed at Sinai in the bosom of the Decalogue, and by exalting Sunday in its place as a spurious sabbath, an idol, and a child of the papacy.Ms 19, 1894, par. 10–12 His power over all kindreds and nations is seen as he blinds the professed Christian world so that the false takes the place of the true and brings the world into united disloyalty to the only true God, a work nourished and cherished by the Protestant world and continuing Satan's deceptive work begun with Eve.Ms 19, 1894, par. 10–12 The war is carried on by false religious teaching and by union with companions who are Satan's instruments, causing many to refuse light and the plain Word of God and to choose Satan's lies, and making obedience very hard for those who see the truth, who face loss and starvation for keeping the Sabbath.Ms 19, 1894, par. 10–12

The Sabbath is God's sign and seal, while the beast's mark stands in direct opposition to it as a counterfeit sabbath on the day of the sun.4SP 505.2–3+1 God's servants receive His seal in the mind through conviction, not compulsion, while the hand represents power, unlike compulsory worship, for their service to God is not forced.4SP 505.2–3+1 God's people keep the commandments including the Sabbath and will suffer persecution from powers enforcing the beast's mark, and that persecution reveals the importance of the Sabbath, which the persecutors will recognize when God's judgment comes upon them.4SP 505.2–3+1

In the issue of the great conflict only two classes remain in the world, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus and those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark.RH Jul 28, 1904 Church and state will unite their power to compel all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive the mark of the beast, yet the people of God will not receive it.RH Jul 28, 1904 The war against the saints is carried forward to the close of time, so that God's people, symbolized by a holy woman and her children as an earthly government tramples God's law, are greatly in the minority and in the last days only a remnant exists who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.RH Jul 28, 1904+1 The antichrist rule is marked by despotic human authority replacing God's law and by religious powers joining to oppose God's purposes, applied to Sunday laws imposed under religious claims, while God's people show loyalty to Him by keeping His holy day of rest.Ms 166, 1902, par. 1–2

Revelation 13:7 belongs to a connected chain of past, present, and future events that continues through Revelation 14:1-5 and ends with the complete redemption of the 144,000.WLF 10.4 The beast and its image are the powers over which the 144,000 gain victory, getting the victory over the beast and over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name.WLF 10.4+1 In the issue of the great conflict this leaves only two classes in the world, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus and those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark.RH Jul 28, 1904 Church and state will unite their power to compel all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive the mark of the beast, yet the people of God will not receive it.RH Jul 28, 1904

The authority to make war and rule is linked to the later enforcement of its worship and mark by the two-horned beast, which represents apostate Protestantism seeking civil power to enforce religious teachings.GC 445.2–446.2 The mark signifies allegiance to papal authority in place of God, while keeping God's commandments distinguishes God's worshipers from those who worship the beast.19MR 282.1–2+1 Worship is enforced by a decree formed by the beast and his image, and Revelation 14:9-11 is the warning to the world not to worship the beast and his image nor receive his mark in forehead or hand.19MR 282.1–2+1 That warning is given by those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, in connection with the third angel's message and the closing scenes when the final conflict is between those who keep God's commandments and those who make void His law.19MR 282.1–2+1

The verse belongs to the prophecies of Revelation 12 to 18 that are being fulfilled in the time when all are to hear the last message of warning.Ms 75, 1906, par. 16+1 Its place stands in the present period when the very last call to the churches recorded in Revelation 18 is now to be given.Ms 75, 1906, par. 16 This comes before the taking of the beast and the false prophet and their casting into the lake of fire pictured in Revelation 19, the binding of the dragon who instigated rebellion against heaven in the bottomless pit for a thousand years, the resurrection of the wicked, the final destruction of Satan and all the wicked, and the final triumph and reign of Christ on this earth.Ms 75, 1906, par. 16

It identifies the papacy as permitted to wage war against the saints and overcome them, with authority over peoples and nations, and it describes the persecution the remnant people of God must endure and the power against which they are to give a warning.ST Jun 18, 1894 It is among the warnings of the dangers and perils before God's people, showing John beholding what will be in the last days and seeing a people working counter to God and deceiving people.Ms 32, 1896, par. 34–37+1 The papal power leads a united opposition against God's witnesses and wars against the truth, uniting its agents against God's people while attempting to divide and scatter those who defend the truth.7T 182.2

It gives the definite explanation of the apostate power against the law of God, given to make war with the saints and to overcome them, with power given it over all kindreds and tongues and nations.Ms 163, 1897, par. 2–5 It has deceived the inhabitants of the earth and caused them to believe fatal lies presented as truth.Ms 163, 1897, par. 2–5 The judgment appointed in the great day will be executed upon it.Ms 163, 1897, par. 2–5