The Mark.

We've talked about the mark of the beast before and if you aren't familiar with it then PLEASE go back and do a search through these studies until you learn more, unless you just want to dive in to this study- you're very welcome. God will lead, may His will be done!

Taken from Adventist Laymen's Foundation- NOT an association affiliated with the corporate Seventh Day Adventists. Please say a prayer right now, asking God to grant you understanding, to have spiritual enlightenment to only His truth, all by the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

'NATIONAL SUNDAY LAW   Present Truth or Distraction?

(Revised 3/20/11)

Comments followed by:

Parts One and Two of Wm. H. Grotheer's A National Sunday Law - PAST? PRESENT? FUTURE?  Elder Grotheer's analysis is that of a highly skilled expositor, and is exhaustive.  It will be convincing to the unbiased mind.  There are timely warnings that should not be ignored.

THE USE OF THE TESTIMONIES -  In the words of Ellen G. White herself, "Regarding the testimonies, nothing is ignored; nothing is cast aside; but time and place must be considered. Nothing must be done untimely. . . "  This counsel is evidently ignored by those who are agitating a National Sunday Law as the sign that the Second coming of Jesus Christ is near.

It is interesting to note that the term "National Sunday law" can nowhere be found in the Writings of Ellen White. It is a gloss on what she wrote during a period of intense pressure on the U.S. Congress to pass a Sunday law in the late 1800s.  It was not until 1946 that The Ellen G. White Publications published a compilation of statements by Ellen White in a pamphlet titled Country Living, in which a national Sunday law was presented as the signal to move out of the cities.  Section V of the pamphlet was titled "Preparing for the Sunday Law Crisis."  In these present times this pamphlet continues to be regarded as the blueprint for action by a multitude of earnest believers within the corporate body of Seventh-day Adventists as well as among Independents.  The most sensationalist publications do not mention Country Living, and represent that "Revelation 13 is revealing to us the astonishing fact that Protestant America will cause all to worship the Papacy and receive its “mark” by passing a national Sunday law."  However, it is probably safe to say that among the vast majority of Seventh-day Adventists the belief that a national Sunday law will be passed in the United States is based on Country Living.  Thus we have those who entertain the dangerous deception that receiving the Mark of the Beast is a simple matter of submitting to a national Sunday law.  Some think that there is plenty of time to move out of the cities and become settled in the country - because the National Sunday Law is yet future.  This is a sad and tragic misinterpretation of the Testimonies.

THE HISTORY OF THE LATE 1800s -  Ellen White's references to the oppressive enforcement of the false sabbath are so numerous that it is not easy to pinpoint time and place.  Nevertheless, the law which she mentioned as the signal to move out of the cities can be placed with certainty in the year 1885.  She wrote:

It is no time now for God's people to be fixing their affections or laying up their treasure in the world. The time is not far distant, when, like the early disciples, we shall be forced to seek a refuge in desolate and solitary places. As the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman armies was the signal for flight to the Judean Christians, so the assumption of power on the part of our nation, in the decree enforcing the papal sabbath, will be a warning to us. It will then be time to leave the large cities, preparatory to leaving the smaller ones for retired homes in secluded places among the mountains. And now, instead of seeking expensive dwellings here, we should be preparing to move to a better country, even a heavenly. Instead of spending our means in self-gratification, we should be studying to economize.-- Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 464, 465. (Emphasis added.)

Interestingly, there were at least two earlier statements (1876 & 1882) in which she recommended country living to "avoid many evils and close the door against a flood of temptations which threaten to overpower the minds of your children" (1876.)  In 1882 she specifically mentioned the habits of vice and dissipation acquired in the cities.  Credit must be given to "Back to Enoch Ministries" (hereinafter BEM) for revising Country Living to arrange its quotations from the Writings in chronological order.  From this chronological arrangement it becomes apparent that she did not mention the decree enforcing the papal sabbath as the signal to move out of the cities after that one statement in 1885.

It becomes apparent from the revised Country Living that Ellen White must have perceived the passing of a decree enforcing the papal Sabbath before the end of the 19th century.  This is contrary to the conclusion drawn by BEM under the heading "Purpose of this Edition" that focuses attention on the "Blair Amendment" which was not enacted.  Oddly, BEM states "Ellen White recognized that this signal had come" (to move out of the cities;) but sees this as analogous to the first encirclement of Jerusalem by the Romans under Cestius Gallus in AD 66.  BEM further states, "The national Sunday law issue subsided, and God's people have had more than a century to act on the His (sic) counsel. Now we hear rumblings of a return of the Roman armies. It is time to act!"  This overlooks the fact that the Roman army surrounding Jerusalem was the only sign to flee.  There would be no repetition.  Contextually, by Ellen White's recognition that the signal had come to move out of the cities, the linkage between a Sunday law and country living was broken.  She continued to urge believers to move out of the cities, without mentioning a Sunday law.

The statement of Ellen White which implies a recognition that the Sunday decree had been passed is as follows:

The Protestant world have set up an idol sabbath in the place where God's Sabbath should be, and they are treading in the footsteps of the Papacy. For this reason I see the necessity of the people of God moving out of the cities into retired country [places,] where they may cultivate the land and raise their own produce. (Letter 90, 1897)  (Emphasis added)  

Not only is there this clear implication in Ellen White's statement; but A. T. Jones, who was the leading authority on the issue of religious liberty in the Church, and instrumental in the defeat of the "Blair Amendment," also recognized that a sufficiently significant law had been passed by the U.S. Congress:

Well, let us see whether we are right.  Testimony 32, page 207 (Vol. 5, page 45):--

"To secure popularity and patronage, legislators will yield to the demand for Sunday law."

Will they-- They have done it.  Is that fulfilled?  [Congregation:  "Yes."]  That has been fulfilled.  They have done it, and they have done it so certainly that they themselves have publicly said that they did do it for that purpose.  The evidence, more than we have had at any other time, is in this little pamphlet-- "The Captivity of the Republic."  It is a report of the hearing before the Committee on the World's Fair Sunday Closing Bill, an account of which I gave here in my second talk.  This is now being printed and coming from the press.  It is entitled "The Captivity of the Republic."  And the idea is that the Churches have captured the republic and hold it in the captivity in which they have taken it, and the quotations there from congressmen themselves, lately, not simply those of Hiscock and Hawley, and those of last summer, but those of the very latest -- members of that Committee which heard our arguments and refused to hear what they would not hear willingly, but which they had to hear-- statements from these very men saying that they must not go any further in that direction for fear of the damage to the Fair and country at large, that the church element would do.  You have it over and over there in several different ways; so there is further evidence than that which we had last summer; but they keep on saying that they did it then, for that reason, and they still maintain it for the same reason.  So that is fulfilled over and over, if anybody wants evidence on that point. (From a sermon delivered by Elder A. T. Jones, in the Tabernacle at Battle Creek, Mich., Sunday evening, March 5, 1893.)

The significance of the World's Fair Closing Bill is confirmed by contemporary reports :

DATELINE SUNDAY

CHICAGO IS DISCOURAGED; NO SUNDAY OPENINGS . . .

As Ellen White continued to urge church members to get out of the cities without connecting this to the signal of a Sunday law, so she continued to write about a law enforcing the false sabbath with no connection to moving out of the cities.  In statement after statement she made it clear that the enforcement of the papal sabbath will be a worldwide event.  Here is one particularly telling description of the event:

History will be repeated. False religion will be exalted. The first day of the week, a common working day, possessing no sanctity whatever, will be set up as was the image at Babylon. All nations and tongues and peoples will be commanded to worship this spurious sabbath. This is Satan's plan to make of no account the day instituted by God, and given to the world as a memorial of creation.

The decree enforcing the worship of this day is to go forth to all the world. In a limited degree, it has already gone forth. In several places the civil power is speaking with the voice of a dragon, just as the heathen king spoke to the Hebrew captives.

Trial and persecution will come to all who, in obedience to the Word of God, refuse to worship this false sabbath. Force is the last resort of every false religion. At first it tries attraction, as the king of Babylon tried the power of music and outward show. If these attractions, invented by men inspired by Satan, failed to make men worship the image, the hungry flames of the furnace were ready to consume them. So it will be now. The papacy has exercised her power to compel men to obey her, and she will continue to do so. We need the same spirit that was manifested by God's servants in the conflict with paganism (ST May 6, 1897).

Here is another pointer to the time of the decree enforcing the false sabbath:

The Lord has shown me clearly that the image of the beast will be formed before probation closes; for it is to be the great test for the people of God, by which their eternal destiny will be decided. . . . [Revelation 13:11-17 quoted.] . . .

This is the test that the people of God must have before they are sealed. All who proved their loyalty to God by observing His law, and refusing to accept a spurious sabbath, will rank under the banner of the Lord God Jehovah, and will receive the seal of the living God. Those who yield the truth of heavenly origin and accept the Sunday sabbath, will receive the mark of the beast . . . (Letter 11, 1890).

It is clear that the Sunday law will be decreed and enforced so near to the very end of time that very few of the multitude who have resisted Present Truth (if any at all) will be able to escape the strong delusions that already hold the world captive. (Cf.  2 Thess. 2:10-12, which is contextually linked to the papacy.)

A NEW SIGNAL - Ellen White never mentioned the decree enforcing the papal sabbath after 1885.  She did however specify another signal unrelated to Sunday legislation.  This is a signal which she said would mark the beginning of the closing movements of earth's history:

A Message for Frequent Appearance.--In the twenty-first chapter of Luke Christ foretold what was to come upon Jerusalem, and with it He connected the scenes which were to take place in the history of this world just prior to the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Mark the words: "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

 This is a warning to those who claim to be Christians. Those who have had light upon the important, testing truths for this time, and yet are not making ready for the coming of the Son of man, are not taking heed. "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares." There is no period of time when spiritual slothfulness is excusable.

     Only by being clothed with the robe of Christ's righteousness can we escape the judgments that are coming upon the earth. Let all remember that these words were among the last that Christ gave His disciples. If this instruction were often repeated in our papers and publications, and less space were taken for matter which is not one hundredth part so important, it would be more appropriate. In these sacred, solemn warnings the danger signal is lifted. It is this instruction that church members and the people of the world need; for it is present truth. Letter 20, 1901 (CW 23-25)

It is a simple exercise to single out the prophecy of Jesus that Ellen White was identifying.  Only in verse 24 of the 21stchapter of Luke is there a prophecy that appears in none of the other Gospels.  The disciples had unwittingly posed a dual question, and Jesus gave a dual answer.  The first part appears in the earlier verses of Luke 21, and in the other Gospels.  The second part appears in Luke 21:24.  What Jesus stated in verse 32 applies to both parts of the dual question.  In other words, we are warned that within a generation from the end of the times of the Gentiles Jesus will return – no date setting here, but a definite time frame within which the closing events of earth’s history are now happening.  (Cf.  Jesus' Own Prophecy)

ELDER WM. H. GROTHEER'S CONTRIBUTION - Elder Grotheer was a Seventh-day Adventist Bible expositor who applied the view of the Church dating back to James Edson White, that the fulfillment of Luke 21:24 would mark the completion of the preaching of the gospel to the nations of the world.  He demonstrated exegetically, with particular reference to the antitypical Day of Atonement, that this signaled the completion of the judgment of corporate bodies in the Holy Place of the heavenly Sanctuary.  (Cf. TA HAGIA ) The word translated "gentiles" is more appropriately translated "nations."  Nations are corporate bodies, and you will find instances where the Church is called a "nation" in the Bible.  Elder Grotheer's exegesis confronts the Church with the reality that the commission to preach the gospel to the nations ended in 1980.  Neither the Corporate Body of the Church nor Independents are willing to accept that fact, or the prophetic warning that we are very, very close to the end in the stream of time.  The National Sunday Law expectation stretches the prospect of time beyond the limit predicted by the fulfillment of the prophecy.

Elder Grotheer brought together the issue of Luke 21:24 versus the National Sunday Law in a series of three articles in Watchman, What of the Night? dated 6-8(89).  The first two are excerpted below:

A NATIONAL SUNDAY LAW

PAST? PRESENT? FUTURE? 

Parts 1&2 Excerpted from WWN June-July 1989

Part One

In 1873, a Mr. McCoy moved from Louisville, Ky., to Arkansas. He served as constable for seven years, and two terms as Justice of the Peace in Hot Spring County. In 1884, he became a Seventh-day Adventist. At the August, 1885, term of the Circuit Court of that county, he was indicted for Sabbath breaking being charged with plowing his field on Sunday.

In 1884, Mr. J. L. Shockey, a Seventh-day Adventist, moved from Ohio and settled on a piece of railroad land six miles north of Malvern, the seat of Hot Spring County. On September 14, 1885, he was arrested for having been seen plowing his field on Sunday the previous Spring. He gave bond for his appearance before the February term of the Circuit Court in Malvern. (See The Two Republics, pp. 879-880)

This year, on March 9, now over 100 years later in an adjoining county - Garland - the citizens of Hot Springs, Arkansas in a public referendum by an almost 2 to 1 margin voted to legalize horse racing on Sunday with its pari-mutuel betting.

During the recent American national election in November, of last year, both in Maryland and in Arkansas, municipalities overturned "blue laws." Mandatory Sunday closing statutes were repealed in Maryland, and in Arkansas, two communities approved Sunday alcohol sales. In Little Rock, the capitol and one of the communities to so decide, the vote was 65% for and 35% against. All of these expressions at the voting booth reflect the pluralistic and changing attitude of American society.

Not only here in America is this change visible, but the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops also noted this change in Canada. In a release, "The Meaning of Sunday in a Pluralistic Society" (September, 1986), the bishops cited a need to review the place of Sunday in a secular society. While they noted that "most Christians" celebrate Sunday to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus, they observed, "however, that in our multicultural and pluralistic society there are others who do not share this belief. They honor a different day of worship or see no need at all for setting aside a day of praise and thanksgiving to God. Given the change in our society, it is no longer appropriate to protect Sunday closing laws on the basis that most Christians hold it to be the Day of the Lord."

This does not mean that the Bishops are planning to abandon Sunday legislation. Citing Pope John Paul II’s encyclical on human work, that all have a "right to rest," they declare that "this right includes at least one regular weekly day of rest." Their perceptions and solutions are interesting. They write:

 In our pluralistic society, the choice of Sunday as the day of renewal for all is rooted more in tradition than religious conviction. Many groups, especially the labor movement, have emphasized repeatedly that Sundays are our traditional days of pause. In our society, the observance of Sunday as a holiday is more firmly entrenched in people's habits than any other day of the week. Sunday's off are a part of our culture, a culture that Christians have shaped in the past and in which they continue to take their rightful place in full and free cooperation with people of other religions and world views.

Maintaining Sunday as our common day of rest does not exclude special respect and consideration for people who wish to celebrate another day as their day of spiritual and physical renewal. We should be able to devise laws that will not penalize people with different beliefs as long as these laws protect the shared experience of leisure and rest for the majority. It should also be possible to devise shopping regulations that permit the purchase of basic necessities without destroying Sunday's emphasis on people and playfulness.

Finally, it is clear that there will always be some members of the workforce who will have to work on Sunday to provide essential services for the public. They deserve our understanding and appreciation for their contribution to the common good. However, even for these workers, employees or professionals, we should carefully protect and respect their right to enjoy the full benefits of Sundays, at least on an alternating basis.

These pastoral reflections of the Canadian bishops of the Roman Catholic Church should be noted carefully. The goal is to have a "Protected Sunday" for the majority without a "penalty" on the minority. However, this "protected Sunday" would fall short of forbidding all Sunday business and would not interfere with sports ("playfulness").

The impact of a pluralistic society seems to be recognized by all except some Seventh-day Adventists who wish to make capital of the Sunday Law issue for their own ends. There is no question but that the subject of Sunday laws catches Adventist attention. The experience of the past as noted above, not only that which occurred in Arkansas, but also in Tennessee, arouses deep emotions. Besides this, various quotations can be marshaled from the Writings to sustain the emphasis. But it is over the misapplication of the Ellen G. White Writings that has led to this blind spot in our evaluation of the present. This is compounded by the fact that we are not willing to apply the rules which Ellen White gave for the study of her Writings.

The Rules

Ellen G. White wrote that "the testimonies themselves will be the key that will explain the messages given, as scripture is explained by scripture." (SM, bk i, p. 42) A second rule states - "Regarding the testimonies; nothing is cast aside; but time and place must be considered." (Ibid., p. 57; emphasis supplied.)

A failure to follow these simple rules has led to a jangling jungle of voices on the periphery of the Adventist Community. Each voice claims to have discovered some new way to attain perfection by human endeavor. These siren calls come from persons with varied backgrounds of experience, some from the drug culture, and some with no other objective than personal gain. Each call regardless of motive takes some statement or statements from the testimonies, related or unrelated, and builds upon this a theory of salvation through human works. These verily make of non-effect the Writings.

Interestingly, Ellen G. White in setting forth the rules noted above, warned that there would be those "who would search for new and strange doctrines, for something odd and sensational to present to the people. They will bring in all conceivable fallacies, and will present them as coming from Mrs. White, that they may beguile souls." These "will misinterpret the messages that God has given, in accordance with their personal blindness." (Ibid., p. 41)

If we would compare testimony with testimony as we do (or should do) the Scriptures, taking time to note in regard to these testimonies "time and place," we would have a clear line of truth which would be in harmony with Bible truth arrived at in the same way. For example, if in our studying from the Bible the basic doctrine of the state of man after death and eternal rewards, we accepted as literal the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, and set forth as cardinal teaching the conclusions to be thus drawn, what would we believe? This same approach is being made in the study of the Writings with only those segments of the Writings being compiled which support some preconceived theory to appeal to the human desire for something sensational or something which will sustain their ego.'

(((We are going to stop here and continue tomorrow because this is a lot to take in. The mark of the beast is forced worship of the beast as opposed to the sole worshiping of God. A death decree will go forth against those who refuse to worship, for those who refuse the mark- the actions of those solely intent upon following God's truth only. These are BIBLICAL facts. Comprehending that a Sunday law isn't what it's been made out to be in the grand scheme of things, will shock a lot of people who have held fast to that as their personal standing point on the side of God.  We have to realize that our way is NOT God's way. This study is presenting facts through history and prophecy, yes it is also using the writings of E.G. White, but we have to remember, even she told people that GOD'S WORD comes before everything. The Bible first, not her writings. We don't prove the truth of the Bible by her words! The truth is there and speaks for itself, and her words point to the BIBLE TRUTH, not to herself!

These studies are doing the same thing, right? Go to God's WORD first, always! The truth is in His word, the truth is in proven history. The truth! If what I'm presenting here is filled with lies- I welcome enlightenment to that end. I only want truth!

God willing we will continue this study tomorrow. All by Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior forever and now!