The Sign of Loyalty Lesson 23

1. John saw another beast coming up out of what?
Revelation 13:11

In previous lessons we have learned that “beasts” in prophecy represent nations, and that the “sea” and the “earth” represent, respectively, the eastern and western hemispheres. The nation, therefore, represented by this beast which was “coming up” at the very time that the first beast of Revelation 13 was taken “into captivity” (Revelation 13:11, 10), in a continent uncrowded by “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Compare Genesis 1:10 with Revelation 17:15), is none other than the United States of America.

2. How is this beast described?
Revelation 13:11

From the start, the United States was characterized by its unique separation of church and state, allowing freedom of religion to all people. But its lamblike bearing is to reverse into a power that speaks as a dragon.

3. How much power will this beast exercise?
Revelation 13:12

4. He will cause the world to do what?
Revelation 13:12

5. What great wonders will he do? Revelation 13:13

6. What does he do by means of those miracles?
Revelation 13:14

7. What will he propose that the people shall do?
Revelation 13:14

“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast.” Revelation 13:15.

During the supremacy of the first beast, the religious decrees of the church were enforced by the strong arm of the state, effecting a union of religious and civil power. When the United States adopts the same course, it will have created an image of the beast.

8. No longer hesitant to enforce religious duties, what will the government attempt to make everyone do?
Revelation 13:16

9. What means will be employed to compel all to receive this mark?
Revelation 13:17

10. What ultimate penalty will be set for violating the law?
Revelation 13:15

11. With a loud voice, a warning is given against those who do what?
Revelation 14:9

12. Who will have no rest day nor night?
Revelation 14:11

13. A noisome and grievous sore fell upon whom?
Revelation 16:2

14. The mark is received in their right hand, or where else?
Revelation 13:16

15. John saw an angel ascending from the east having what?
Revelation 7:2

16. The people of God are to be sealed where?
Revelation 7:3

17. What is to be sealed among God’s people?
Isaiah 8:16

18. How will God seal His law among His disciples?
Hebrews 10:16

19. When God’s law is written in our minds, what will be our testimony?
Psalm 40:8

20. What are they called who are sealed in their foreheads?
Revelation 7:3

“Servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” Ephesians 6:6.

21. Christ’s people are described as having what written in their foreheads?
Revelation 14:1

22. When God proclaimed His name to Moses, what characteristics did He mention?
Exodus 34:5, 6

23. What engraved words were to be displayed upon Aaron’s forehead?
Exodus 28:36-38

24. What does God require of us, that we may possess His character?
Leviticus 20:7

1 Peter 1:16

We learned in a previous lesson that “sanctify” means to reserve for sacred use, to consecrate, or to make holy.

25. What has the Lord done which reveals His authority as the true God?
1 Chronicles 16:26

26. At creation, what did God sanctify as the sign of His authority?
Genesis 2:3

27. What has He given us as a sign that He is the Lord that sanctifies us?
Ezekiel 20:12

28. What has He asked us to do as the sign of our allegiance to Him?
Ezekiel 20:20

29. In contrast, what has the Beast declared to be the mark of its authority?

“But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that in . . . observing the Sunday . . . they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the pope.”—Our Sunday Visitor, Catholic weekly, Feb. 5, 1950.

“Sunday is our mark of authority! . . . The Church is above the Bible, and this transference of sabbath observance is proof of that fact.”—The Catholic Record, London, Ontario, Sept. 1, 1923.

“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act . . . . And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.”—Office of Cardinal Gibbons, through Chancellor C. F. Thomas, Nov. 11, 1895.

“The observance of Sunday by protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the church.”—Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, 1868 ed. p. 213.

30. All their worship is in vain who are doing what?
Matthew 15:9

31. When man-made laws go contrary to the law of God, whom ought we to obey?
Acts 5:29

32. Who will stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God?
Revelation 15:2

33. How were they able to overcome?
Revelation 12:11

For further study on this subject see TLD Information Booklet “H” entitled, The United States in Prophecy.

In the Light of God’s Word....(Please respond YES or NO)

I understand that Sabbath observance signifies an acknowledgment of the Creator’s authority.

I desire to obey God with my whole heart, having His image inscribed in my forehead.

Addition Comments:

Name:
Next Lesson: A Day to Remember

The United States in Prophecy

These Last Days Information Booklet H

Supplement to Lesson 23

America in Prophecy

This booklet provides additional information on the second beast of Revelation 13 as described in lesson 23. Please complete lesson 23 before reading this material.

Revelation 13:11 introduces a beast which has been identified as the United States of America. Notice five identifying details:

1. It is a “beast.” Daniel 7:17 tells us that a beast in symbolic Bible prophecy represents a king or political nation.

2. It is “another” beast. It is not identical to the first beast of Revelation 13.

3. “Coming up” indicates that it was at that time rising to power as John watched in vision. The context of verse 10 is talking about the period of time when the first beast was taken into captivity--1798. So this nation would be gaining its power right at that time.

4. “Out of the earth.” This is in contrast with the beasts of Daniel 7 and the first beast of Revelation 13 which all came up out of the sea. Sea is the gathering together of the waters, and waters in Bible prophecy represent “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” Revelation 17:15. So this nation would arise in an area which was not crowded with many peoples and nations. In Revelation 10:2 the terms “sea” and “earth” refer to the eastern and western hemispheres, respectively.

John Wesley, in his note on Revelation 13:11, written in 1754, says of this beast, “He is not yet come: tho’ he cannot be far off. For he is to appear at the end of the forty-two months of the first beast.” Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament, 1791 ed., vol. 3, p. 299. In 1798, when the papal power received its deadly wound, the United States, located in the western hemisphere, was the only great world power then coming into prominence in territory not previously occupied by peoples, multitudes, and nations. Only nine years preceding this, in 1789, the U.S. adopted its national Constitution.

“Is it reasonable to suppose that God would leave out from the prophecies of his Book this whole Western Hemisphere? No, No!” (De Witt Talmage, Selected Sermons, vol. 2, p. 9, 1900.)

5. “Like a lamb.” The nations depicted in Daniel 7 (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome) were pictured as ferocious beasts of prey. They were characterized by intolerance, persecution, and oppression. The United States, by contrast, is pictured as a docile, domestic lamb, founded on principles of liberty, equality, and tolerance.

The Voice of a Dragon

It is clear from the text that the United States would not always remain as innocent as it began.

1. “Spake as a dragon.” A nation “speaks” through its decrees and legislative enactments. This verse indicates that the U.S. government would act on the principles of the dragon which, according to Revelation 12:9, is Satan.

2. “Exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him.” This tells us that the United States will enforce the power of the papacy. It will cause “the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” The nation will repudiate its principles of religious liberty.

3. “Great wonders.” Verses 13 and 14 tell us that there will be supernatural signs which will deceive the world.

4. “Saying 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.” An image of something is a likeness to it, a duplicate of it. So the characteristics of the papacy will be duplicated in the United States. The papacy has been distinguished historically as a combination of religious and civil power. When the United States begins to employ its civil power to enforce the decrees of religious leaders who are clamoring even now for such enforcement, the United States will have formed an image of the Roman Catholic religio-political structure.

5. Verse 15 describes legal decrees to enforce religous duty, with the death penalty for dissenters. Forced religion, practiced by the papacy during its supremacy, is totally contrary to the principles of God.

6. Verse 16 tells us that it will be the United States which instigates the enforcement of the beast’s mark. Lesson 23 documents the fact that the beast takes Sunday observance as the mark of its authority. This is in contrast with the seventh-day Sabbath, which the Creator has established as the sign of His authority.

7. Verse 17 makes it clear that those who obey God and refuse to give their allegience to the beast and his image, will be prohibited by law from carrying on any business dealings. Their dependence will be totally upon God. Although every earthly support will be cut off, they will trust God for their sustenance. And the promise is given, “His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.” Isaiah 33:16.

Notice what is to be enforced: the mark of the beast—Sunday observance. This will be the deciding issue regarding one’s loyalty. Satan hates the Sabbath because it is the sign of Christ’s authority as Creator and King. And in all ages Satan has tried to work through the governments of nations in his attacks against Christ and His people.

Just as in Bible times, so today, the major movements of nations and kings are the battleground of an even greater war—the war which began in heaven between Christ and Satan. In this war we are all involved. These final events of earth’s history will be the final climax of the great controversy which has been raging for 6,000 years.

The outcome of that battle is described in Revelation chapter 19. Verses 7 and 8 describe the purification of God’s people which will take place during this trying time. Although outwardly it may appear difficult, “yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16. Texts such as James 1:3, 4 and 1 Peter 4:1 describe the blessings which come with standing for the right.

Revelation 19 describes the glorification of Christ’s church, the victorious return of our Lord, and the destruction of the earthly powers which attempted to enforce disobedience to God’s Law.

Then the promise is given that those “which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands;...lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4.

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS

It’s time to do a study such as never done before;
The end of time’s upon us, even at the very door.
A test will come to everyone who dwells upon the land;
And only by the word of God will anybody stand.

It’s what the Bible says that really matters now;
It’s what the Bible says that counts.
It’s what the Bible says that really matters now;
So teach me what THE BIBLE says.

It may be different from what I’ve always thought;
It may not go along with what my parents always taught.
But if the Bible says it, who am I to disagree?
The word of God is the standard and the test for every creed.

It’s what the Bible says that really matters now;
It’s what the Bible says that counts.
It’s what the Bible says that really matters now;
So teach me what THE BIBLE says.