Revelation
{13:15} 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. {13:16}
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: {13:17} 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. {13:18} Here is wisdom. Let him that
hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is
the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred
threescore [and] six
*We are talking about the mark of the beast. A mark that in the very end time will be received by All but the very elect. A mark that will enable a person to buy and sell and by buying and selling we live don't we- as a rule. We buy things to survive. We buy property and pay yearly taxes (buying). We buy electricity. We buy oil or pay for gas. We buy telephone usage, communication. We buy food. Even a lot of people who want to get back to nature and such to live off the land are paying taxes on that land they are living off of. They most likely are making trips to the store for things they can't manufacture on their own- little essentials. Back in the pioneer days they'd make yearly, or bi-yearly trips to stores to stock up on staples. There was a time when people lived off the land so to speak and solely off the land- but it is very, very rare any longer. The mark of the beast will be something that keeps us from buying or selling. It will be a defining mark. It will be a mark of alligence of sorts because without it you can't take part in the normal, every day activity of buying and selling.
Let's go back to the book - Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith and just see what he has to say about it all. Not that it is all revelant in every aspect but God will guide us to all the understanding we need to live in Him. By His Grace.
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Who Receives the Mark of the Beast?--It will be said again, Then all Sundaykeepers have the mark of the beast; then all the good of past ages who kept this day had the mark of the beast; then Luther, Whitefield, the Wesleys, and all who have done a good and noble work of reformation, had the mark of the beast; then all the blessings that have been poured upon the reformed churches have been poured upon those who had the mark of the beast; and all Christians of the present day who are keeping Sunday as the Sabbath, have the mark of the beast. We answer, Not so! We are sorry to say that some professedly religious teachers, though many times corrected, persist in misrepresenting us on this point. We have never so held; we have never so taught. Our premises lead no such conclusions.
Please give close attention. The mark and the worship of the beast are enforced by the two-horned beast. The receiving of the mark of the beast is a specific act which the two-horned beast is to cause to be done. The third angel's message of Revelation 14 is a warning mercifully sent out in advance to prepare the people for the coming danger. There can therefore be no worship of the beast, nor receiving of his mark such as prophecy contemplates, until it is enforced by the two-horned beast, and knowingly accepted by the individual. We have seen that intention was essential to the change which the papacy has made in the law of God, to constitute it the mark of that power; so intention is necessary in the adoption of that change by the individual, to constitute it the receiving of that mark. In other words, a person must adopt the change knowing it to be the work of the beast, and receive it on the authority of that power in opposition to the requirement of God, before it can be said that he has received the mark of the beast.
But how is it with those mentioned above, who have kept Sunday in the past, and the majority of those who are keeping it today? Do they keep it as an institution of the papacy?--No. Have they decided between this and the Sabbath of our Lord, understanding the claims of each?--No. On what ground have they kept it, and on what do they still keep it?--They suppose they are keeping a commandment of God. Have such the mark of the beast?--By no means. Their course is attributable to an error unwittingly received from the Church of Rome, not to an act of worship intentionally rendered to it.
But how is it to be in the future? The church which is to be prepared for the second coming of Christ must be entirely free from papal errors and corruptions. A reform must hence be made on the Sabbath question. The third angel of Revelation 14 proclaims the commandments of God, leading men to the true Sabbath in the place of the counterfeit. The dragon is stirred, and so controls the wicked governments of the earth that all the authority of human power shall be exerted to enforce the claims of the man of sin. Then the issue is fairly before the people. They are required by the law of God to keep the true Sabbath; they are required by the law of God to keep the true Sabbath; they are required by the law of the Catholic Church, or the pseudo-Protestant church, and of the land to keep the counterfeit sabbath. For refusing to keep the true, the message threatens the unmingled wrath of God; for refusing the false, earthly governments threaten them with persecution and death. With this issue before the people, what does he do who yields to the human requirement? He virtually says to God, I know your claims, but I will not heed them. I know that the power I am required to worship is unchristian, but I yield to it to save my life. I renounce your allegiance, and bow to the usurper. The beast is henceforth the object of my adoration; under his banner, in opposition to your authority, I henceforth array myself; to him, in defiance of your claims, I henceforth yield the obedience of my heart and life.
Such is the spirit which will actuate the hearts of the beast worshipers--a spirit which insults the God of the universe to His face, and is prevented only by lack of power from overthrowing His government and annihilating His throne. Is it any wonder that Jehovah pronounces against so Heaven-daring a course the most terrible threatening that His word contains?
The Closing Work.--
We have now seen what would properly constitute an image to the beast, such as the two-horned beast is to make, and also the prospect that such an image will sometime be set up in the United States of America. We have also learned what constitutes the mark of the beast, which is to be enforced upon all the people. An ecclesiastical organization composed of different sects in the land, in coalition with Roman Catholicism, by the promulgation and enforcement of a civil Sunday-sabbath law, would fulfill what the prophecy sets forth in reference to the image and the mark of the beast. These movements, or their exact equivalent, are called for by the prophecy. The line of evidence leading to these conclusions is so direct and well defined that there is no avoiding them. They are a clear and logical sequence from the premises given us.
When the application of Revelation 13: 11-17 to America was first made, as early as the year 1850, these positions were taken respecting a union of the churches and a Sunday-law movement. At that time no sign appeared that such an issue would ever arise. But there was prophecy. The United States had given abundant evidence by its location, the time of its rise, the manner of its rise, and its apparent character, that it was the power symbolized by the two-horned beast. There could be no mistake in the conclusion that it was the very nation intended by that symbol. But here were predictions indicating a union of church and state, and the enforcement of the papal sabbath as a mark of the beast. It was no small act of faith to take the position at that time that the United States would pursue such a policy without any apparent probability it would do so.
The founders of the American Republic, in drafting its organic laws, never intended that any trouble should arise over a question of conscience. The Federal Constitution and most of the State constitutions have provisions guaranteeing the fullest religious liberty. But the development of the Sunday-law movement since 1850 amply demonstrates that the prophecy can be fulfilled in spite of the safeguards against intolerance erected by the founding fathers.
Just how the tyranny over the souls and bodies of men is to be developed is not specified in the prophecy. It may come by one man or a set of men--political, religious, or otherwise. But it controls all--small and great. It governs finances, for rich and poor feel its grip. It rules economics, for no one can buy or sell without its permission and mark. It dictates religion, for it forces all, under penalty of death, to worship according to its laws.
It is naturally repugnant to the American mind to think that religious persecution might mar the fair record of the nation founded on liberty at all. But during the entire history of the country, from its very founding, farseeing statesmen have recognized that the tendency to enforce religious dogmas by civil law is all too common with mankind, and is liable to break out in active persecution in unexpected places.
To the honor of the nation, it should be said that throughout its history noble statesmen have largely held in check the tendency which the founders foresaw working in the body politic. But no American can shut his eyes to the fact that paralleling these noble efforts, zealous but misguided religious leaders have attempted the civil enforcement of religious usages.
The prophecy predicts that a period of persecution will come. The two-horned beast causes all to receive a mark, and all who will not worship the image to be killed; that is, he wills, purposes, and endeavors to do this. He makes such an enactment, passes such a law. But it does not follow that all, and we do not think even many, will be put to death. God will interpose in behalf of His people. Those who have kept the word of Christ's patience will be kept from falling in this hour of temptation. (Revelation 3: 10.) Those who have made God their refuge will be kept from all evil. (Psalm 91: 9, 10.) All who are found written in the book will be delivered. (Daniel 12: 1.) As victors over the beast and his image, they will be redeemed from among men, and raise a song of triumph before the throne of God. (Revelation 14: 2-4.)
Verse 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.
The Number of His Name.--The number of the beast, says the prophecy, "is the number of a man." If it is to be derived from a name or title, the natural conclusion would be that it must be the name or title of some particular or representative man. The most plausible expression we have seen suggested as containing the number of the beast, is one of the titles applied to the pope of Rome. That title is this: Vicarius Filii Dei, "Vicegerent of the Son of God." It is worthy of note that the Douay Version of the Bible has the following comment on Revelation 13: 18: "The numeral letters of his name shall make up this number." Taking the letters out of this title which are used as Roman numerals, we have V, 5; I, 1; C, 100; I, 1; U (formerly the same as V), 5; I, 1; L, 50; I, 1; I, 1; D, 500; I, 1. Adding these numbers together we have 666.
It has been argued that the title of the popes should be reckoned according to the Greek gematria, since John wrote in Greek, but since the title appears in Latin, and Latin is the official language of the Church of Rome and the language of its adopted Bible, the Vulgate, such a procedure would destroy the numerical value of that title in its own language. It would seem reasonable that a Latin title should exhibit its Latin numerical values rather than Greek values.
As to the practice of representing names by numbers we read: "It was a method practiced among the ancients, to denote names by numbers." [43]
"Representing numbers by letters of the alphabet gave rise to a practice among the ancients of representing names also by numbers. Examples of this kind abound in the writings of heathens, Jews, and Christians." [44]
"It was a method practiced among the ancients, to denote names by numbers: as the name of Thouth or the Egyptian Mercury was signified by the number 1218. . . . It hath been the usual method in all God's dispensations, for the Holy Spirit to accommodate His expressions to the customs, fashions, and manners of the several ages. since then this art and mystery of numbers was so much used among the ancients, it is less wonderful that the beast also should have his number, and his number is 666." [45]
This title, Vicarius Filii Dei, or some equivalent form of it, has appeared so frequently in Roman Catholic literature and rituals for centuries, that it scarcely seems necessary to add other proof of its validity and importance. Some of the variations of the title are: Vicar of Christ, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Vicar of God. A quotation from the noted Cardinal Manning illustrates these various forms of the same title:
"So in like manner they say now, "See this Catholic Church, this Church of God, feeble and weak, rejected even by the very nations called Catholics. There is Catholic France, and Catholic Germany, and Catholic Italy, giving up this exploded figment of the temporal power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ,' And so, because the Church seems weak, and the Vicar of the Son of God is renewing the Passion of his Master upon earth, therefore we are scandalized, therefore we turn our faces from him." [46] (Italic ours.)
Several other variations of this title are used elsewhere in the same book.
On the importance of the pope's position as indicated by the title under consideration, or its equivalents, we quote from J. A. Wylie, in his comment on the Apology of Ennodius written in defense of Pope Symmachus:
"We find the council [of Rome, A.D. 502 or 503] convoked by Theodoric demurring to investigate the charges alleged against Pope Symmachus, on the grounds set forth by his apologist Ennodius, which were, 'that the Pope, as God's Vicar, was the judge of all, and could himself be judged by no one.' 'In this apology,' remarks Mosheim, 'the reader will perceive that the foundations of that enormous power which the popes of Rome afterwards acquired were now laid.' " [47]
In recent years, the validity of this title has been questioned, but historical evidence remains that this arrogated title has served to support the authority of the popes in building up their vast temporal supremacy during the heyday of Romanism in medieval times, and in maintaining their spiritual authority to this day.
The particular title Vicarius Filii Dei appeared as early as 752-774 in a document historically known as the "Donation of Constantine." Though this document was later proved to have been written by someone else and signed with the name of Constantine the Great to give it the weight of his authority--a practice not uncommon in medieval times--yet this so-called Donation of Constantine was used as valid by at least nine of the popes over a period of seven centuries or more in establishing the spiritual and temporal supremacy of the bishops of Rome.
The title itself was obviously an invention to designate the office of Peter as the first pope in harmony with the widely known claim of the Roman Catholic Church that the words of Jesus in Matthew 16: 18, 19, conferred upon Peter the first bishopric of the church--a view which Protestants have never allowed-- and that this bishopric descended to his successors in the papal seat, as stated in the Donation of Constantine and maintained by the church to this day. [48]
The document employing the title was confirmed by a church council, says Binius, a high Roman Catholic dignitary of Cologne, quoted by Labbe and Cossart. [49] It was incorporated in Roman Catholic canon law by Gratian, and when this last-named work was revised and published, with endorsement by Pope Gregory XIII, the title was retained. [50] When Lucius Ferraris wrote his elaborate theological work about 1755, he gave under the article "Papa" the title Vicarius Filii Dei, and cited the revised canon law as his authority. Again when Ferraris's work was revised and enlarged, and published in Rome in 1890, the document and title were still retained. [51]
Of Ferraris's theological work just cited, the Catholic Encylopedia says that it "will ever remain a precious mine of information." [52]
We quote herewith from the Latin of the Donation of Constantine, confirmed by a church council, incorporated in Roman Catholic canon law, and cited by Ferraris:
"Ut sicut Beatus Petrus in terris Vicarius Filii Dei fuit constitutus, ita et Pontifices eius successores in terris principatus postestatem amplius, quam terrenae imperialis nostrae serenitatis mansuetudo habere videtur." [53]
Christopher Coleman translates this paragraph from the Canon law of Gratian as follows:
"As the blessed Peter is seen to have been constituted Vicar of the Son of God on the earth, so the pontiffs who are the representatives of that same chief of the apostles, should obtain from us and our empire the power of a
A freer translation by Edwin Lee Johnson, professor of Latin and Greek, Vanderbilt University, reads: "Just as the Blessed Peter was appointed on earth vicar of the Son of God, so also it seems that the Pontiffs, his successors, hold on earth the power of the chief rule rather than (that) His Excellency, His Imperial Serene Highness on earth, (should hold it)."
Thus closes Revelation 13, leaving the people of God with the powers of earth in deadly array against them and the decrees of death and banishment from society upon them for their adherence to the commandments of God. Spiritism will be, at the time specified, performing its most imposing wonders, deceiving all the world except the elect. (Matthew 24: 24; 2 Thessalonians 2: 8-12.) This will be the "hour of temptation," or trial, which is to come, as the closing test, upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth, as mentioned in Revelation 3: 10. What is the issue of this conflict? This important inquiry is not left unanswered. The first five verses of the following chapter complete the chain of this prophecy, and reveal the glorious triumph of the champions of the truth.
[1] See Archibald Bower, History of the Popes, Vol. III, pp. 409-420; George Croly, The Apocalypse of St. John, p. 251.
[2] Alphonsus de Liguori, Dignity and Duties of the Priest, pp. 34-36.
[3] Ibid., pp. 26, 27.
[4] Ibid., pp. 32, 33.
[5] Quoted by Hon. Charles Sumner, "Prophetic Voices About America," Atlantic Monthly, September, 1867, p. 290
[6] George Alfred Townsend, The New World Compared With the Old, p. 635.
[7] John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament, p. 735, comment on Revelation 13: 11.
[8] George Alfred Townsend, The New World Compared With the Old, p. 635.
[9] Edward Everett, "Oration Delivered at Plymouth, December 22, 1824," Orations and Speeches, p. 42.
[10] W. Carlos Martyn, The Pilgrim Fathers, p. 89.
[11] "The People and Progress of the United States," The United States Magazine, Vol. II, August, 1855, p. 71.
[12] Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The New Revelation," Metropolitan, January, 1918, p. 69.
[13] Ibid., p. 75.
[14] William Stainton Moses, Spirit Teachings, p. 74.
[15] Ibid., p. 189.
[16] James A. Findlay, in The Rock of Truth, p. 288.
[17] William Stainton Moses, Spirit Teachings, pp. 150, 151.
[18] State Bar Association of Connecticut, Annual Report 1916, p. 73.
[19] Annals of Congress, Vol. I, p. 28.
[20] Ibid., p. 32.
[21] The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. I, p. 45.
[22] U. S. House Reports, 43d Congress, 1st Session, No. 143.
[23] "Notes on Virginia," Query 17, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. VIII, p. 402.
[24] The Works of the Honourable James Wilson, Vol. III, p. 307.
[25] David McAllister, The National Reform Movement, Its History and Principles, p. 16, Constitution of the National Reform Association, Art. II.
[26] The Church and the Government, p. 7.
[27] Christian Statesman, December 11, 1884, p. 2.
[28] History of the International Reform Bureau, p. 2.
[29] U. S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings, Reorganization of the Federal Judiciary, Part 3, p. 681.
[30] Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, Report of the First Meeting of the Federal Council, Philadelphia, 1908, pp. 5, 6.
[31] Ibid., p. 103.
[32] "Sunday Mail," U. S. House Reports, Vol. II, No. 271, pp. 1-4.
[33] Thomas Newton, Dissertations on the Prophecies, Vol. II, p. 296.
[34] Humphrey Prideaux, The Old and New Testament Connected in the History of the Jews, Vol. II, pp. 78, 79.
[35] James Butler's Catechism, p. 34.
[36] James Bellord, A New Catechism of Christian Doctrine and Practice, pp. 86, 87.
[37] A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, No. 2, Prepared and Enjoined by Order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, p. 65.
[38] Richard Challoner, The Catholic Christian Instructed, p. 202.
[39] Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism, p. 174.
[40] Henry Tuberville, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, p. 58.
[41] H. Canon Cafferata, The Catechism Simply Explained, p. 89.
[42] Alexander Campbell, Christian Baptism, p. 15.
[43] Matthew Henry, Commentary, Vol. III, p. 1065, note on Revelation 13: 18.
[44] Adam Clarke, Commentary on the New Testament, Vol. II, p. 1025, note on Revelation 13: 18.
[45] Thomas Newton, Dissertations on the Prophecies, Vol. II, p. 298, 299.
[46] Cardinal Manning, The Temporal Power of the Year of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, pp. 140, 141.
[47] J. A. Wylie, The Papacy, pp. 35, 36.
[48] See Christopher Coleman, Constantine the Great and Christianity, p. 178.
[49] P. Labbe and G. Cossart, Sacrosancta Concilia, Vol. 1, col. 1539-1541.
[50] Corpus Juris Canonici, 1622.
[51] Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca (Rome 1890), Vol. VI, p. 43, col. 2.
[52] Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Vol. VI, p. 49, art., "Ferraris."
[53] Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca (Edition of 1890), art., "Papa," II, Vol. VI, p. 43.
[54] Christopher B. Coleman, The Treatise of Lorenzo Valla on the Donation of Constantine, p. 13.
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