WHO IS THE PROPHETIC BEAST? Major world shaking events are foretold in symbolic language about a mysterious world-dominating beast described in Revelation 13 and 17. Is the beast a mysterious superman world dictator yet to appear? Just who or what is the prophetic Beast spoken of in the book of Revelation? You need to know. For it is those of this present generation who will be worshiping this beast or his image, or will have received his mark, that will suffer the unspeakable torture of God's seven last plagues described in Revelation 15 and 16. Ignorance will not excuse you. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge," says God in Hosea 4:6. Listen to the warning given in Revelation 14:9, 10: "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God , which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb." The prophecies we have discussed in this book are real. They are imminent. Every sign tells us these things will happen very soon. The world will soon be plunged into the most frantic, frenzied state of anguish ever known. Those who will suffer the wrath of God in the terrible Day of the Lord, are those who worship the beast, or his image, or have his mark. It is futile to try to imagine what the mark of the beast may be. Too many are trying to speculate in their imaginations. But God says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts" (Isa. 55:8). We can't work this out in our minds. There is only one way to learn the truth. That is to study carefully all the testimony of all the scriptures that bear on this question. Space does not permit us to quote the full text of all the applicable scriptures so be sure and read these texts in your Bible. The prophecies and symbols of Daniel and Revelation covered here have been the subject of whole books. We only have enough space and time to hit the high points. Description of the Beast The beast, the image of the beast and the mark of the beast are all described primarily in the 13th chapter of Revelation. John saw a beast like a leopard, with the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a lion. This beast had seven heads and ten horns. Now if the beast were some superman, or antichrist, soon to appear as a world dictator, he would be a peculair-looking individual. But, these are all symbols. The very word beast is a symbol. These symbols stand for real literal things. But man cannot interpret these biblical symbols for himself. If we want the truth, we must be guided soley by the Bible. The point we want to stress is that the Bible interprets its own symbols. The Bible itself tells us what they represent. Daniel 7 We find these same symbols described in the 7th chapter of Daniel. Here again are the beasts, the seven heads and the ten horns. Daniel sees four beasts: a lion, a bear, a leopard with four heads, and a dreadful and terrible fourth beast with ten horns. Now the interpretation of these things starts with verse 16. "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings which shall arise out of the earth," is the interpretation in verse 17. And the word king is synonymous with kingdom. In verse 23 we read, "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon the earth." Now what do the "horns" represent? Notice verse 24: "And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise." Notice the ten horns are ten succeeding kingdoms growing out of the fourth kingdom, which was to rule the world. The ten succeeding kingdoms come out of a kingdom, not out of a man. This alone makes it plain that the beast is not some mysterious personal superman yet to come. Also the beast is not a church, for no ten kingdoms ever did, or will, come out of a church. Daniel 2 Identification of the Kingdoms These same four world-ruling kingdoms are described in the 2nd chapter of Daniel. King Nebuchadnessar had a dream, the meaning of which God revealed to Daniel. The dream is described in Daniel 2:31-35. The king saw a great image. Its head was of gold, its brat and arms of siver, its belly and thighs of brass, its legs of iron, and its feet and toes were part iron and part clay. Finally a stone, cut out without men's hands, smote the image upon his feet and toes. It was broken in pieces and was blown away like chaff. Then the stone that smashed it became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. "This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king...You are this head of gold. But after you shall rise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron...and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others" (Daniel 2:36-40). The interpretation of the stone smashing the image at its toes is found in verse 44: "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." The stone is Christ and the kingdom is the world-ruling Kingdom of God. And so we see that here are four world ruling gentile kingdoms. The first was Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, the Babylonian Empire (625-539 B.C.). The second kingdom was the Medo-Persian Empire (558-330 B.C.). The third kingdom was the Grecian Empire under Alexander the Great. Alexander lived only a short year after his conquest and his four generals divided his vast empire into four regions (330-31 B.C.). So these were the four heads of the third beast of Daniel 7. And the fourth kingdom absorbed all the others and was the Great Roman Empire (31 B.C. to 476 A.D.). Out of this fourth kingdom grows ten succeeding governments. These carry us to the time of the Second Coming of Christ, and the setting up of the Kingdom of God to fill the whole earth and last forever. The Fourth Beast The fourth kingdom, the Roman Empire, had absorbed all the others, occupied all their territory, and was greater and stronger than all of them. It had all the royal splendor of Babylon, thus having the head of the lion. It had the powerful army of the Persian Empire, symbolized by the legs of the bear. It was the greatest war-making machine the world had ever seen, and it also possed the swiftness, cunning, and cruelty symbolized by the leopard (Greece). And thus, this fourth beast was unlike any wild beast of the earth. It was stronger, greater, and more terrible than any other. And so John, in Revelation 13, sees, not four beasts, but one beast. So this beast is like a leopard with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion. Daniel's fourth beast, the Roman Empire, had absorbed the three beasts before it. Thus it included all seven heads. Therefore in Revelation 13 it is seen as one beast with the characteristics of the three it absorbed. And John's beast also has seven heads. Daniel's fourth beast had ten horns and John's beast also has ten horns. And if we are willing to be guided solely by the Bible description of this beast and let the Bible interpret the symbols used to describe it, we come to the conclusion that the beast of Revelation 13 is the Roman Empire of 31 B.C. to 476 A.D. Of course, many man-imagined or interpreted theories interpret this beat as some mysterious individual superman yet to come. But these theories will not stand the test of applying Bible interpretation to all the symbols that describe this beast. Nebucahadnezzar's image, by the two legs, describes the two divisions of the Roman Empire after A.D. 330. John also pictures this beast as a powerful government having a great army. For they worshiped the beast saying, "Who is able to make war with him?" (Rev. 13:4). Symbolism of the 10 Horns Let us now explain the symbolism of the 10 horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7 and the beast of Revelation 13. The ten horns symbolize the ten stages of government continuing out of the Roman Empire after its fall in 476 A.D. These kingdoms continue from 476 A.D. until the time when the Stone, Christ and His Kingdom, smashes the image on its toes and the kingdom is given to the saints. There have been 9 successive kingdoms ruling the territory of the Roman Empire from 476 to this present day. The Deadly Wound Now let us return to our discussion of the beast in Revelation 13: "And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon [devil] who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast , saying, `Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?' And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty two months " (Rev. 13:3-5). The beast described in Revelation 13 included 7 heads, but the only head existing at the time John saw this beast was that of the fourth best of Daniel, containing the seventh head, and also the ten horns. So the specific "one of its heads" that was wounded to death was the seventh head of the Roman Empire. The deadly wound then, was the one administered to the Roman Empire, when in its last decaying stages, the barbarians overran it, ending its government in 476 A.D. Notice they "worshiped the beast" saying "Who is able to make war with him?" The Roman Empire was the greatest war making power the world had ever known. The beast killed by the sword (v. 10). Some do not know that the people worshiped the Roman Empire and its emperors. History is full of accounts of the worship of the Roman emperors, for paganism was a state religion. They worshiped the emperor because he stood for the majesty and glory of the dominion and all were obliged to join in the official sacrifices to the emperor as a god. ( Medieval and Modern Times p.7). The text says one of his heads was wounded to death (seventh) and that "deadly wound was healed." The ten horns now reign, one by one. The first three horns are the Vandals (429-523), the Heruli (476-493), and the Ostrogoths (493-554 A.D.), respectively. These three kingdoms filled the period know in history as the transition age. That is a transition between the wound and the healing. Now Daniel saw a "little horn" coming up among thes ten, before whome these first three horns were "plucked up by the roots" (Dan. 7:8). That leaves 7 horns to come. And of the little horn, Daniel 7 says "his look was more stout than his fellows" (verse 20). The interpretation of this is that the papacy dominated completely all the horns to follow. The Deadly Wound Healed It was the fourth kingdom, symbolized by the fourth horn, which really healed the deadly wound and restored the empire. In 554 A.D., Justinian, Emperor of the East, from Constantinople, set up his government at Ravenna, Italy, and brought about what is known in history as the "Imperial Restoration" of the Empire. In Revelation 13:5, power was given to this beast, once healed, to "continue forty and two months." In the prophecies pertaining to Israel's punishment, each day represents a year in the actual fulfillment (Ezek. 4:4-6, Num. 14:34). Thus, the healed beast is to continue in power 1260 years. Following the healing, in 554, came the Frankish Kingdom (French), the Holy Roman Empire (German), the Hapsburg Dynasty (Austrian), and finally Napoleon's Kingdom (French). But when Napoleon was crushed in 1814, the healed beast continued no longer. So closed a government that dated from Augustus Caesar. It went into the Abyss. And from 554 to 1814, the duration of the "healed beast," was exactly 1260 years. At this point, eight of the horns of Daniel 7 have appeared and gone. The beast itself went into the non-existent condition symbolized in Revelation 17:8 as the "bottomless pit." But by the year 1870, Garibaldi had united the many little divisions of Italy into one nation, and this kingdom began the ninth horn, which culminated in the Fascist rule of Mussolini. The Heads the Woman Rode The 17th chapter of Revelation describes a woman riding a similar beast with seven heads and ten horns. Please note that the woman mentioned in this chapter never rode on any part of this beast of Revelation 13 except its last seven horns. She is the "little horn" of Daniel 7, whose "look was more stout than his fellows," and who caused the first three to be plucked up by the roots. Note that in the 17th chapter of Revelation the woman rode on all seven of the heads of the beast pictured there. Yet she rode none of the heads but only the last seven of the horns of the 13th chapter beast. It follows that the seven horns of the "healed beast" of the 13th chapter form the seven heads of the beast of the 17th chapter. Notice, at the time John saw the beast, five are fallen, one is, and one is yet to come (Rev. 17:10). The five that are fallen are the five during the 1260 years in which power was given, by religious authority, for the healed beast to continue. The "one that is," is the kingdom that extended from Garibaldi tothe downfall of Mussolini. It was not in any sense the power wielding old Roman Empire, so during the stage of this ninth horn (Rev.13) or 6th head (Rev. 17) John speaks of it as "the beast that was, and is not," and shall arise once more out to the bottomless pit. (Rev. 17:11). The 7th head with its ten horns, in the 17th chapter, will be the revival of the beast, the Roman Empire, "out of the bottomless pit" by a federation of 10 European nations centered within the bounds of the old Roman Empire (Rev. 17:12-18). This is actually beginning today. The entire beast of Revelation 17 is a part of the seven heads of Revelation 13 and Daniel 7 because it comprises the last seven horns. Yet this revived Roman Empire is the "eighth" system, differing from the seven before it (Rev. 17:11). The Beast is Not the Woman In the 17th chapter of Revelation we find a beast, and a great, wealthy, but fallen woman who was riding the beast. The Bible describes the symbol "woman" to mean a church. See II Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7; and Eph. 5:22-27). On the other hand, a beast if a symbol of a kingdom or empire. The beast of Revelation 13 is not the woman who rode the beast. The beast is the government and the woman is a church. The beast of Revelation 13 is the Roman Empire. Ministers of Satan Deceive the World The devil has his own government on earth. He gave it his power, and his seat, and great authority. Satan also has organized religion as his instrument in deceiving the world. In II Corinthians 11:14, we find Satan is transformed into an "angel of light." According to Revelation 12:9 and 20:3, he has deceived the whole world. How has Satan been able to deceive the world and take over organized religion? Paul tells us in II Corinthians 11:13-15. Satan has his ministers who pretend to be the ministers of righteousness, but are actually false apostles, deceitful workers, calling themselves the ministers of Christ. Therefore they claim to be Christian ministers. They are the many, not the few, because all prophecies say it is the many, not the few, who have been deceived. Satan has been deceiving the world for six thousand years. The Two Horned Beast Now turn to verse 11 in the 13th chapter of Revelation. "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon." Who or what is this beast? Remember a beast is the symbol for a kingdom. So this beast with two horns is the prophecy of another kingdom. This two horned beast appeared as a lamb. But actually it spoke as a dragon, its true characteristic. The word "lamb" in the Bible symbolizes Christ (I John 1:29; Rev. 17:4). And the word "dragon" is a symbol of the devil (Rev. 12:9, 20:2). So here is some kingdom or government appearing as that of Christ, or the Kingdom of God. Christ's Kingdom Not Yet Christ did not set up a kingdom at His first appearing on earth. After his resurrection the disciples asked Him if He would at that time restore the kingdom (Acts 1:6), but he did not. The Church is not the Kingdom. Because some thought it was, Jesus spoke the parable of Luke 19:11-27 to show that He first must ascend to His Father's throne in heaven to receive the royal power to become King of kings, to set up the world-ruling Kingdom of God. But Satan is a deceiver, and he has deceived the world into supposing his (Satan's) system of churches is the Kingdom of God. Pretending to be The Kingdom of God Now notice carefully Revelation 13:12: "And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." The first beast is the Roman Empire. Here is another government or kingdom pretending to be the Kingdom of God, taking, exercising, using, employing, all the power of the first beast, the Roman Empire. Notice the second beast exercises all this power of the first beast after the "deadly wound was healed." It was healed when Justinian brought about the restortation of the Empire in 554 A.D. Consequently, this religious government exercised power after 554 A.D. when the Roman Empire was restored. So here we have pictured a government, a religious government, appearing as Christ's government, masquerading as the Kingdom of God, actually ruling the civil Roman Emprire after 554. The teaching in that day of the Roman Empire, was that the Second Coming of Christ is fulfilled in the person of the leaders of the church. In almost any encylopedia under "Millennium" you will read how the "Holy Roman Empire" was called the "Kingdom of God upon earth." They claimed the Millennium had arrived! For the entire 1260 years, the emperors acknowledged the supreme power of religion. The church was organized as a government, as a two-fold government, symbolized by its two horns or kingdoms. It embodied church government, and it also was a state or civil government, always occupying a certain amount of territory over which it alone ruled, in addition to ruling over the vast civil kingdom called the Holy Roman Empire. Now, this second beast was to yield power over all the earth. All Nations Deceived Notice Revelation 13:13-14: "He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those sign which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast." So notice these points: The beast performs great miracles. He perfomed them in the sight of the Holy Roman Empire, the first beast. With them he deceived all those who dwell on the earth. Where else do we find these same facts in Biblical prophecy? First, note Revelation 17. Here is pictured a woman. This woman is a fallen woman, and apostate church, pictured as ruling over many nations (Rev. 17:1, 15). In verse 3, this false church is pictured as sitting on a beast "having seven heads and ten horn." The woman riding the beast guides and controls the beast. It does her bidding. Verse 18 says she is "that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth." Verse 1, 2, and verse 15 make it clear that "peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues," are "drunk with the wine of her fornication." The inhabitants of the earth have been deceived by this counterfeit Christianity. Revelation 18:3 also shows she has deceived all nations. Next, notice II Thessalonians 2:3-4: "Let no one deceive you by any means; for the Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." The second coming of Christ will not come until there be a falling away, and a "man of sin" be revealed. This man will sit in a temple claiming it to be the temple of God. He shows himself to be God, deceiving the people into accepting him as God. God is our Holy Father. This final man, in a religious office, will claim the same title. This wicked man is to be destroyed at Christ's coming (verse 8). "This coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders" (II Thess. 2:9). So here we see an important religious figure prophesied to perform miracles and lying wonders, with which he deceives people everywhere. Satan is behind this man and gives him the power to do these things. This deceiving religious ruler will still be active clear to Armageddon and the second coming of Christ. Counterfeit Christianity Now notice the last battle of "the great day of God Almighty." In Revelation 19:19-20 is pictured the beast "and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image." Compare this beast with the two-horned beast of Revelation 13:11-17. Both perform miracles. Both perform them before or in the sight of the beast. With these miracles, both the false prophet and two-horned beast deceive them that have the mark of the beast or cause them to receive that mark (Rev. 13:16). Then, this two-horned beast, the false prophet, the man of sin, and the woman that rode the beast are all picturing a counterfeit Christianity. This two-horned beast not only caused people to receive the mark of the beast (compare Rev. 19:20), but also perpetrated the forming of an image that caused the martyrdom of saints. The beast caused "as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed" (Rev. 13:15). This false church did not kill them but she caused them to be killed. History shows that the civil govermnent of the Roman Empire martyred millions who wer declared "anathema from Christ" or "heretics." Compare this with the woman who rode the beast in Revelation 17: "I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus (Rev. 17:6). Certainly, these are one and the same. The Image of the Beast Now this ecclesiastical organization, which is a twofold government, deceived the people by saying they should "make an image of the beast" (Rev. 13:14). What is this image by which this church deceived the people? The church made an image, model, or likeness of the Roman civil government. For as we have said the beast was a government or kingdom. The first pope of this church was Leo I (440-460 A.D.). To him to form of the government of the Roman Empire was the most marvelous on earth. He applied its principles to the church and organized the church into a government forming the papacy. This church government is in fact a model, a counterpart, an image of the beast which is the Roman Empire government. This church government is the image of the beast. This image, man-designed and man-ruled church government, compelled people to worship the church! And since the church was organized into a worldly government, this was worship of the image, false worship, idolatry! In contrast, Jesus Christ proclaimed the Kingdom, or government of God, divine government by will of God and by God's law, not paganized human government by will of man and man's laws. His Church includes all Spirit-begotten saints who have are are led by the Holy Spirit. Christ is the only head of this Church. And Christ said His Kingdom is not of this world! Mystery, Babylon the Great Speaking of this great false church, Revelation 17:5 says, "And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." So this church became a mother church and daughter churches called "harlots" came out of her in "protest" calling themselves "Protestant." And all have worldly, political church government. Together they are called "BABYLON." They are pagan, teaching pagan doctrines and customs, cloaked in the name of Christianity. And all nations are deceived. Yes, they do not realize it though. Yes, human organized churchianity is the image of the beast. It is the pagan political counterfeit of God's government. Today, America, Canada, Britain, Israelitish nations descended from the ancient so-called lost ten tribes of Israel, are actually in the ways of this "Babylon." God's last warning is this: "Come out of her, my people, lest your share in her sins, and lest you receive her plagues, for her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities" (Rev. 18:4-5). The Mark of the Beast and "666" What is the mysterious mark and number of the Beast mentioned in Revelation 13:16-18: "He (the second beast) causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast , or the number of his name . Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding, calculate the number of the beast, for is is the number of a man : His number is 666."? The Bible clearly reveals what these things mean. But to find God's answer we must have before us all of the scriptures referring to this subject. The Number 666 The number of the Beast is 666. It is described as the number of a man (v. 18), and we are told to count it. The expression "the name of the beast," or "the number of his name" makes plain that the number 666 is the number of the name of the kingdom or empire. The expression "it is the number of a man" shows we must count this number in the name of a king over the kingdom identified as the beast. Therefore 666 must be the name of the kingdom as well as the king who found it or rules it. The origin of the Roman Empire goes back to the time of king Lateninos who founded the Latin kingdom four centuries before Romulus, the first king of Rome. In Greek the letters of the alphabet have numerical values. In the 2nd century A.D., Irenaeus, disciple of Polycarp, the apostle John's disciple, explained that in Greek the word Lateinos , meaning "latin man" adds up to 666. ( L=30, A=1, T=300, E=5, I=10, N=50, O=70, S=200.) This, he stated, was the intent of the scripture. Thus, the number 666 identifies the Latin kingdom or Roman Empire and its founder king Lateinos. What is this Mark? Now, what is the mark of the Beast? Some claim it is the social security number, others the univeral product code, others a universal credit card, or a computer code. These are mere guesses and are wrong. Instead of turning away from God's own revelation of this mystery, and using human imagination and fancy to conjure up the many ridiculous conclusions being foisted upon a deceived public by persons devoid of understanding, let us see what God says this mark really is. Notice what the Bible says about this mark: The mark of the Beast is received "on their right hand or on their foreheads" of those subject to him (Rev. 13:16). Without it, one will be unable to conduct business, to "buy or sell" (v. 17). Everyone wants to be able to buy or sell. The mark is something that will be very popular. The majority of the people will be in favor of it and will want it. Note that the one refusing the mark would not be able to buy, would not be able to earn a living or a salary. The mark of the beast then has a direct bearing on your ability to engage in business, or to hold a job and earn a living. Whose Mark is It? Note this well! The "mark" is the mark of the BEAST, and the "beast" is the ROMAN EMPIRE. Revelation 17 pictures a great CHURCH guiding and ruling over the Roman Empire. But the mark is the mark of the Roman Empire, not the Roman Catholic Church. This great false church "CAUSES all...to receive a mark on their right hand and on their foreheads" (Rev. 13:16). Now here is a deceived church, both herself deceived by, and therefore used by the devil, and also deceiving the world. It is the church, not the civil government who forces this mark on people. It brands on people the mark of the "beast", that is the mark of the Roman Empire. So the MARK is that of the Roman Empire, which this church did cause or shall cause the western world to receive. One Past Martyrdom, One Future Now back to verse 15 of Revelation 13 where it states that the church would "cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed." Next notice when the saints who did not receive the mark were killed. "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Rev. 6:9- 10). This will tell us when the mark of the beast is enforced. Here we find pictured the martyrs of the Middle ages. History tells us that in the Middle Ages more than fifty million were killed, many for their Bible faith and obedience to God instead of obediaence to this church government of man and the devil. They know that God's judgments against this persecuting, deceiving, false church, as described in Revelation 18, are to be the seven last plagues, poured out in the presence of the Lamb, at the Second Coming of Christ. These dead saints are pictured as crying out to ask how long before the Second Coming of Christ which will avenge their martyrdom. Notice what must again happen before the seven last plagues and the coming of Christ. "Then a white robe [symbolizing purity] was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their breathren, who would be killed as they were , was completed" (Rev. 6:11). Christ will not come to take vengence on this great false church until another great martyrdom has taken place. This coming great martyrdom is the Great Tribulation. This tribulation is not the wrath of God. It is the wrath of Satan (Rev. 12:12), inflicted at the command of Satan's church by the coming revival of the Roman Empire, against the true people of God. Notice Revelation 17:6, "And I saw the woman [false church] drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Now compare with Revelation 20:4, "And I saw thrones, and they that sat on them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and the lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand year." The Mark of Beast is Here Now Now we see why these many millions were, and shall still be martyred! It was because they refused to receive this mark of the beast and refused to join in this worship of church and the Empire. They obeyed God rather than men. And at Christ's coming to rule the world as King of kings, they shall be priests and kings under Him and rule the world! Do you see what this plainly reveals? Those martyrs, over a thousand years ago, were killed because they would not worship the church, conform to its idolatry and pagan beliefs and customs, or worship the so-called "Holy Roman Empire" and because they refused to receive the mark of the beast. This means the mark of the beast is something that was forced on people, on pain of being killed, more than a thousand years ago ! The mark of the beast was in existence and enforcement over a thousand years ago. And the dread mark is once again to be enforced just before the second coming of Christ. Those who have the mark will suffer the seven last plagues of God. And those who refuse it are those to be martyred in the coming Great Tribulation. The mark is still the brand of traditional Christianity today, and is once again to be enforced. Those With Mark To Suffer God's Wrath You must soon chose whom you will obey, this coming revival of the Roman Empire resurrected by a union of 10 nations in Europe, ruled by traditional Christianity, or whether you will obey God. Now we can begin to see that the mark of the beast involves a point of obedience, whether you will obey God, or reject the commandment of God and obey man's rule. Those who have this mark of the Beast in their hands or foreheads will suffer the corrective plagues of God's judgement (Rev. 14:9-10; 15:1, 6; 16:1-2). Notice Revelation 14, verses 9 and 10: "...If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God [seven last plagues]...He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb [Christ]." If you do have the mark of the beast you will receive the seven last plagues and they will be terrible beyond description! God's Sign or Mark These individuals are contrasted with the saints who "keep the commandments of God" (Rev. 14:12). Those who have the mark will suffer divine plagues; those who keep the commandments will not. The mark is symbolic of forced allegience. The mark of the beast involves a rejection of the commandments of God, or of one of them, for if we break one we are guilty of all (James 2:10). The Sabbath commandment is considered a sign of God's people. Notice Exodus 31:13, "Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations..." The keeping of God's sabbaths is the sign identifying God's people. This sign is also received symbolically in one's hand and forehead. (Exod 13:9, Deut. 6:8, 11:18). Satan's Counterfeit Sign The mark of the Beast is a counterfeit of the sign between God and his people, specifically the observance of man-made holidays in place of those Sabbaths that God originally ordained! Those who do not fall in line and join in religious conformity, including in its participation in its false religious days, will not be able to hold a job or earn a living. Those who refuse to receive this mark will suffer martyrdom. We can see in Revelation 12:17 that it is those "which keep the commandments of God" that the devil will persecute and martyr through his false church and his reborn Empire. The mark plainly means the rejecting and breaking of God's commandments. Now Satan is a clever deceiver. Naturally he would select the one commandment of God which he can counterfeit with a substitute, one in which by human reason alone no man could see where it would make any difference! This is the fourth commandment, which says: "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy..." Sunday did not originate with the Church of God, but with the pagan religion of the Roman Empire. It is the day on which the ancient pagans assembled at sunrise, faced the east, as they do Easter Sunday morning today, and worshiped the rising sun. It was Constantine, and emperor of the Roman Empire, not a pope, who made sunday the official "christian day of rest." But it was enforced, people were caused to accept it universally, by the church! And millions were martyred by this church for obeying God's sabbath. In Daniel 7:25 we read the prophecy of this beast and the little horn (the church) rising up, "which shall intend to change times and law". That is change God's law and times. The time for the God's sabbath days. Mark in the Right Hand and in Forehead The Roman church caused people to receive the mark of pagan Rome, the Sunday observed by the pagan Roman Empire, and the penalty for disobedience was death! Fifty million or more were put to death. The Sabbath commandment is the only commandment the world will not accept in its mind (forehead) and obey (by work, or rest, with the hand). It is the only commandment that can distinguish between those who have the mark of the beast or the sign of God. Now the book of Revelation is written mostly in symbols. The right hand symbolizes work or labor and the forehead, the intellect or mind. It has to do with what we believe, in the mind, and whether we obey, with the hand. The Sabbath is God's sign or mark, standing more than any commandment, for obedience. Sunday observence, Christmas, New Years, Easter, etc, is the mark of the beast! Today all nations are deceived by this paganism masquerading under the name "Christianity." If you are branded by this mark of the beast, you shall be tortured by God's plagues without mercy. But if you obey God, keeping his Sabbath and his commandments, if you are watching these events take place and praying, "you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36). God says to those in Babylon, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues (Rev. 18:4). May God help you to heed this message before its too late.