Revelation 13. The image of the beast.

Introduction.

We have looked at chapter 13 of Revelation earlier in connection with Daniel chapter 7. Now we will look at another side of this chapter. The image of the beast.

Revelation 13 tells us about two beasts that will rise from respectively the sea and the earth. The beast that rises from the sea does so in a densely populated area, and then it is always in connection with war or political unrest. When a beast rises from the earth, it means that this beast grows in a sparsely populated area and in a peaceful way. The beast from the sea, verses 1 – 10, we have looked at as mentioned, while we just have mentioned the beast from the earth earlier.

Despite the fact that they appear in different ways, there are certain similarities between these two beasts. The beast from the sea is described as follows: … a beast rise up … while the beast from the earth is described as follows: … another beast that coming up … The description of the beast from the earth differs significantly from the first beast, which rose from the sea, but it is something that will change over time.

We find a clear parallel to these two beasts, the one from the sea and the one from the earth, in Revelation 17,10, one is … and the other is not … The expressions one and a beast are covariations, and the expressions the other and another beast are covariations, and consequently express the same meaning and describe the same entity.

Verses 14 – 16 show what the other beast is capable of doing. We are talking about a world power that not only has the ability to issue laws and injunctions and impose penalties for violations but can also enforce this on a worldwide basis. Of course in collaboration with the first beast. The second beast, the one from the earth, will, when the time is right, put up an image of the first beast, the one from the sea. An image is something that reflects a thing, and what is reflected appears in the text in chapter 13.

The main features are that the second beast exercises its power in the presence of the first beast. This means that there will be extensive cooperation between these beasts. The second beast even causes the people of the earth to worship the first beast.

Then we are back to the start again, so to speak. It is all about worshiping others than God the Creator. The other beast maketh fire come down from heaven, and this is part of the seduction the other beast causes. This is perhaps the most cryptic in this sequence. Fire from heaven what is it? Many choose to believe that these are the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, others choose more imaginative explanations for this. However, what is mentioned here, fire from heaven, is very similar to what happened on the day of Pentecost. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, (Acts 2,3). We see something similar manifesting in the charismatic denominations of the world today. As mentioned earlier, there are pastors who blow the Holy Spirit on the congregation with the result that they fall over as if shot by a cannon, others barely touch the foreheads of people with the same result, still others lie on the floor and writhe in spasms and/or laughs hysterically. When we see what consequences these actions have, and what scenes unfold in such congregations, it should be clear that it is not the Holy Spirit who is behind this. There are completely different spiritual forces behind this.

The other beast will set up an image. What type of image is it? What is it that reflects the first beast in a way that characterizes it? The first beast, which is the little horn, think to change law and times, and there is only one place where law and times are linked together and that is in the Ten Commandments.

God’s fourth commandment in Exodus 20,8-11 says: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates: For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

The law is the law of God and the fourth commandment, times is the seventh day of the week. The first beast has changed this by introducing Sunday as a day of rest instead of the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, which God has blessed and sanctified.

How can a picture of the first beast speak? How can the Sunday speak? Verse 14 says that the beast from the earth will make those that dwell on the earth set up this image. God has commanded us to keep the seventh day of the week – Saturday – as a holy day. The first beast changed this to the first day of the week – Sunday. The other beast will be behind a worldwide Sunday law or a set of Sunday laws. That this image speaks means that there are sanctions behind the law (s), and that the beast from the earth has the power to enforce this. Everyone must follow this law / these laws, otherwise a punishment awaits. According to Revelation 13,17, those who do not submit to this will not be allowed to buy or sell. In other words, this is in the long run – a death penalty.

Do we find anything similar in the Bible? Of course we do. In Daniel chapter 3 we read about Nebuchadnezzar setting up an image (= a statue) of himself – in gold – that everyone had to fall down to and worship when the music began (verses 5 and 6). It also tells us that music will play an important role in end-time worship, especially in the fallen church. Here, too, there was an appropriate punishment: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace, Daniel 3:,6.

As we see, nothing has changed. Satan is the same. Everyone will be forced to worship him, and those who will not, will be killed. But how should this be enforced? It is mentioned that those who are allowed to buy, and sell must have the mark of the beast on their hand or forehead, or the number of his name.

The mark of the beast.

The Bible says about the mark of the beast: 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: Revelation 13,16

What is the mark of the beast? The Bible says nothing about it, so therefore there are innumerable opinions about what is the mark of the beast. This is constantly changing as technology advances, and the bank card, microchips and barcode are some of the options that have been launched over the last 50-60 years. Many people are afraid of being vaccinated as they believe that in this way they will have a microchip injected into the body and believe that they have then taken the mark of the beast. An older alternative is that anyone who takes the mark of the beast will have the number 666 stamped or tattooed on their hand or forehead. Common to all these alternatives is that they are not based on the Bible.

It does not say what the mark of the beast is in the Bible, and this is what creates fertile ground for all the imaginative variants of the mark of the beast, but we read in the Bible that God has a mark. When God has a sign or a mark, then Satan cannot be any worse. He imitates the mark of God, and it is this imitation of a mark he has left to his agents to launch into the world.

When we obey God and keep His law and commandments, this is a form of worshiping God, as God wants us to worship him. We show that we put God above everything in this world. If one obeys a law that comes from human nature that goes against what God’s law says we should do, such as worshiping the image of the first beast that the second beast sets up, then one obeys another power, and consequently one worships then the first beast instead of worshiping God. It is all about who people worship. Those who worship the image of the beast are therefore in opposition to God, and in that way they take a mark either on the hand or forehead.

The first time we read about a mark in the Bible is in Genesis 4,1-15. Cain killed his brother, and afterwards God gives Cain a mark so that no one would kill him to avenge what he had done to Abel. … … And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. (verse 15). As we see, God gave Cain a mark so that no one would do anything to him, but it does not appear what this mark was.

In Ezekiel 9,4-6 we find another mark: And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old [and] young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom [is] the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which [were] before the house.

As we see, this mark will be given to those who … sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done … Those who receive this mark will therefore be saved when the judgment of those who do these abominations comes. We must remember that Ezekiel was in Babylon and Jerusalem lay in ruins when he received this prophecy. It can therefore not be the physical Jerusalem that is meant in these verses. Jerusalem in these verses represents the whole church and consists of all denominations, while my sanctuary represents the faithful remnant of God. Here again it is not clear what the mark was, but like the mark Cain received and which protected him, this mark was to protect those who received it against the coming judgment. Then the question is whether we can find out with the help of the Bible what God’s mark is.

In Ezekiel 20,12 we find this text: Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I [am] the LORD that sanctify them … and in Ezekiel 20,20 we find the following text: And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I [am] the LORD your God.

Here Ezekiel is very clear on what Gods sign / mark is. God’s sign or mark is God’s Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, our Saturday. But, many will say, a sign is probably not a mark! Well, that is exactly what a sign is, a sign is a mark. Sign and mark are synonymous terms. It is implicit in the text that God’s mark is not a visible mark, but it should be a sign between God and the people who keep God’s Sabbath. The observance of the Sabbath is thus the sign itself. This means that the mark of the animal is not a visible mark either, but the mark is understood from the actions of humans.

Since God has one of the days of the week as his sign / mark, Satan cannot be any worse and therefore he also has chosen a day of the week as his mark. Satan imitates God in every possible way and places his deceptions as close to the truth as he can, while the deceptions are as far away from the truth as possible. In the Garden of Eden, God told the people not to eat from the one tree that gave knowledge of good and evil. When the serpent, Satan, tempted Eve, he asked her if they were not allowed to eat any tree in the garden. It is both a subtle change and a big change at once, as close to the truth as he could come and at the same time as far away as it was possible to get. This is how he has been since the fall, and this is how it will be in the end.

In our case, then, Satan chooses to take a mark that is confusingly similar to God’s mark. First, it must be as close to God’s mark as possible, and since God’s mark is one of the days of the week, Satan therefore also chooses one of the days of the week. Then Satan’s mark must be as far away from God’s mark as possible. God chose the last day of the week, our Saturday, as His Holy Day. It was this day that he blessed and sanctified, or set aside for holy use, during creation. The day that is furthest away from the last day of the week is the first day of the week, our Sunday, and it is this day that Satan chose.

Now surely someone will raise their voice and say that it is Sunday which is the last day of the week. Yes, according to our almanacs it is – in Norway – but it did not happen until January 1, 1973 that Sunday was placed as the last day of the week. From Wikipedia: According to the international standard ISO 8601, Monday is the first day of the work week. In some countries, including the United States, Monday is considered the second day of the week. Also according to the Hebrew and Muslim calendar, Sunday is the first day of the week. The name for Monday in Arabic, Greek, Hebrew and Portuguese is Second Day. Previously, Sunday was the first day of the week also in Norway, but that was changed from 1 January 1973. Then the day of rest on Sunday was moved from the beginning to the end of the week in Norway. Prior to the change, there was a parliamentary debate in which some strongly opposed keeping Sunday as the first day due to the Christian tradition, but the majority voted to change the calendar system to follow the working week. https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandag

This theme, which day of rest we shall keep holy, will be the last great test of loyalty to God’s people as the great conflict draws to a close. Everyone will be put to an election once in the near future, and everyone must choose side. No one can say that it does not matter which marc of loyalty we choose, the mark of God or the mark of the beast. And it is far from irrelevant which day we choose as our day of rest because the choice we make will follow us into eternity. Do we choose to worship God or the image of the beast? If we choose to worship God, we follow Him. If we choose to worship the mark of the beast, we will follow Satan. It is either or, no middle ground.

It is quite clear that the Sabbath question will be crucial in the absolute end time, and God has spent a lot of time telling us this through the Bible. The Sabbath, the seventh day, the day of rest, and the holy day of the Lord are used about 200 times to teach us to keep this day holy, what we should do on this day, what we should refrain from doing on this day, and to show us the importance of this day.

Daniel 7,25 states that he, the little horn, will think to change times and laws. Since the turn of the millennium, much has been done to draft a Sunday law that can have universal validity, and the current Pope Franz travels around and promotes Family Day, which of course is Sunday, with the reason that everyone needs a full day off from their work to spend more time, a whole day, with the family, and the papacy unabashedly takes the credit for giving this day off to humanity. Already during creation, God gave people a day off, the seventh day of the week – the Sabbath – our Saturday, so what the pope is doing is overriding God’s provision by changing the day of rest.

Pope Franz has had personal conversations with former US President Obama, he has spoken to the UN General Assembly, and the theme has been Family Day. For the time being, the United States cannot introduce religious laws as this is prohibited by the United States Constitution. The United States cannot mix state power and religion. This gives us three possibilities. Either the President of the United States and / or the Supreme Court changes the Constitution and abolishes this amendment that prohibits the state from enacting religious laws, or the amendment can simply be ignored, or a religious law can have a secular wrapping such as The Family Day. Family day will be acceptable and edible to the whole world regardless of faith – with one small exception; God’s faithful remnant in the end times.

The current US President in 2020, Donald Trump, has made statements that he wants to suspend the Congress as he believes prevents him from performing his duty as president. He is frustrated at not having the appointments of judges to the Supreme Court and other officials approved during the corona crisis and therefore he threatens to temporarily dissolve both the House of Representatives and the Senate until he gets the officials he wants in place. We should not read too much into such a statement, but it is worth including in a line of thought.

The work of changing the day of rest has been going on since early in the church’s history. The following quotes from the history of the church are in this context thought-provoking.

• The Sunday law of Emperor Constantine came on March 7, 321 AD. and it says: On the venerable day of the sun (venerabili die Solis) the officials and the people of the cities should rest, and the workshops should be closed. But in the countryside, the people who farm are allowed to continue working. (Codex Jusunianus i Schaff, History of the Christian Church)

• In 364 AD came the first ecclesiastical Sunday law, issued by the council of Laodicea, where the custom of no working on Saturday was condemned.

• In 538 AD The Council of Orleans issued a stricter and stricter Sunday law, as among other things also stopped the work in agriculture.

• The historian Socrates (380 – 439 AD) said according to Ecclesiastical History. Almost all the churches in the world celebrate the sacraments on the Sabbath every week, but the Christians in Alexandria and Rome have for some tradition stopped doing this.

In Norway, we have a Sunday law that prohibits all activity that can disturb the holiday peace. This law is called the Law on Holidays and Public Peace (of 24 February 1995 – and replaces the law of 4 June 1965, and the previous regulation of 12 March 1735). The most important points are in brief:

§1 which states that the law exists to protect the worship life and the general peace on holidays and to give the holiday peace and dignity. §2 which tells which days it covers, and as paragraph a is, not surprisingly, mentioned Sunday. §3 which states that on public holidays from kl. 00 to kl. 24 as well as Easter, Pentecost and Christmas Eve after 16.00 there shall be a holiday peace which no one anywhere shall disturb with undue noise. §6 states that anyone who intentionally or negligently violates §§ 3 to 5 of this Act, or provisions given pursuant to these sections, shall be punished by fines.

Although the Norwegian Sunday Law can impose fines (and imprisonment) for violations, this law is still almost harmless in relation to the Sunday Law we know will come. We see that it is starting to heat up, but the little horn has plenty of time, so it is not in a hurry to complete this. The Sunday law is in the mold, to put it this way, it will come and that with much stricter penalties than what we see the Norwegian law can impose on people. The law is coming, and it is coming soon, the Bible tells us so … 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.. Revelation 13,17

The image of the first beast, which the second beast sets up, is the Sunday law (s). Worshiping the image of the first beast, which is the law of Sunday, must be understood in a figurative sense. The hand stands for work and the forehead for knowledge. Those who receive the mark on their right hand perform work on the Sabbath, while those who receive the mark on the forehead deliberately disobey God’s commandment in knowing that they will not perform work on the Sabbath, but still do.

But why is the mark taken on the hand or forehead?

How can this day become a mark on the hand or on the forehead? Well, as I said, it has to do with how we understand the words. On the hand must be understood with work, and on the forehead must be understood with knowledge. Just before Israel was to take possession of Canaan after the Exodus of Egypt, God’s ten commandments was repeated for the nation in Deuteronomy chapter 5. In chapter 6 we find a passage that tells them to bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes to be able to remember God’s ten commandments and His laws.

Now these [are] the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do [them] in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do [it]; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. Deuteronomy 6,1-9

This is the origin of the expression on the hand or forehead, and gradually having a mark on the hand or on the forehead has been understood with work (on the hand) and knowledge (on the forehead). As we see here, Israel was asked to remember the Exodus from Egypt, and that this should be a sign for them to carry on their hands and foreheads. The reason why they should have these signs or marks was twofold. They should have these signs to 1) remember God’s ten commandments, where the fourth commandment points back to creation and God as the Creator of the whole universe, and 2) to remember the Exodus from Egypt, because the Exodus from Egypt is a picture of salvation in Christ, which is very important to keep in mind, especially considering that the mark of God in the end times – God’s seal – will save us from a raging world.

We also know for sure that a change has been made with regard to the Sabbath day. The Roman Catholic Church openly admits that it is this church that has changed the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday. They also admit that if we are to follow the Bible, then we should keep the seventh day, Saturday, as God’s Sabbath, not Sunday.

The following are taken from The Convert`s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine page 50, 1977 edition and Doctrinal Catechism page 176. Both books belong to the Catholic Church’s faith textbooks.

Question: What day is the Sabbath? Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath. Question: Why do we keep Sunday instead of Saturday? Answer: We keep Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church at the Synod of Laodicea (336 AD) transferred the sanctity of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Question: Can you in any other way prove that the church has the power to institute feast days by law? Answer: If it did not have such power, it could not have done what all the religious confessors of today agree with the church; It could not have introduced the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, instead of the observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week, a change for which there is no authority in Scripture.

Sometime in the near future, Sunday laws will be introduced globally, with sanction options for those who do not obey these Sunday laws. Then the other beast, the one from the earth, according to Revelation 13,17 will do so 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. We will thus be put to a hard test, and the question is whether we choose and not least dare to trust all of God’s promises, promises that He will provide for us and deliver us from all trials that come, and let God seal us with its mark. God has the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath, as his mark, and the beast has the Sunday as his mark, but no one will be marked with either the mark of God or the mark of the beast until we have come all the way down to the end of the end time when the battle between the Sabbath of God or the Sabbath of the Pope reaches its climax with the forced observance of Sunday. Then everyone who has knowledge of which day is God’s day of rest, the seventh day of the week – Saturday, but who still chooses to work that day, when the time is right, will take / be marked with the mark of the beast on their hands and / or foreheads. Those who choose to keep God’s day of rest will be sealed forever and ever with God’s seal / sign / mark, and only those who have this seal will be with Jesus when he returns to redeem His faithful remnant.

The number of the beasts name, 666.

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. Revelation 13,18

The number of the beast is the number of a man, it says. This has nothing to do with Kabbalism but is additional information that can help us find out who the beast from the sea is, because it is this beast´s image that has been set up.

There are many who rave about this number and say that this number 666 fits almost the whole world. That is right. But we cannot use only one characteristic to pick out the power behind the beast from the sea. It is not until we can use all the characteristics the Bible gives us in one and the same power that we can be sure.

Through Dan 2, 7, 8 and 11 we have looked at most of the characteristics, and we see that the prophecy attributes all these qualities to the fourth beast in Daniel chapter 7. But what about titles and other things associated with this church? That the pope calls himself Vicarius Filii Dei is old news, and although it is denied by many, there is in fact the title of several official Catholic documents.

That Vicarius Filii Dei with Roman numerals becomes 666 is also well known to most people but let us look at other and more unknown names. It is simply fascinating to see what the numerical values ​​of titles and expressions that describe the papacy, and / or which are connected to the papacy in one way or another, become by inserting the numerical values ​​for the individual letters, both in Hebrew, Greek and Latin.

We have Romiith which means Roman Empire, Romiti which means the Roman (the Roman man). With Hebrew numerical values ​​where O = 6, I = 10, M = 40, R = 200, T or TH = 400 this becomes: Romiith = 200 + 6 + 40 + 10 + 10 + 400 = 666 Romiti = 200 + 6 + 40 + 10 + 400 + 10 = 666

Ancient Greek words and expressions associated with the catholic church are: He Latine Basileia, which means the Latin Empire; Italika Ekklesia, which means the Italian Church; Apostates, which means apostasy! Paradosis; which means tradition! With Greek numerical values, it will be like this. He Latine Basileia 0 + 8 + 30 + 1 + 300 + 10 + 50 + 8 + 2 + 1 + 200 + 10 + 30 + 5 + 10 + 1 = 666 Italika Ekklesia 10 + 300 + 1 + 30 + 10 + 20 + 1 + 5 + 20 + 20 + 30 + 8 + 200 + 10 + 1 = 666 Apostates 1 + 80 + 70 + 6 + 1 + 300 + 8 + 200 = 666 Paradosis 80 + 1 + 100 + 1 + 4 + 70 + 200 + 10 + 200 = 666

In addition to this we find Lateinos, which means the Latin speaking man. And what language is the official language of the Vatican? Yes, of course it is Latin! The Greek numerical values ​​here are: L = 30, A = 1, T = 300, E = 5, I = 10, N = 50, O = 70 and S = 200. And the sum? Truly there will be 666 here too.

Soon the image of the beast will be established.

I have already mentioned a lot about this topic when we looked at the two beasts in Revelation 13 and the similarities between them. We also saw that the second beast, when the time is right, will put up an image of the first beast. We will now look at another side of this topic. The image of the beast.

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. Revelation 13,15

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height [was] threescore cubits, [and] the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Daniel 3,1

[That] at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Daniel 3,5-6

Revelation 13,15 tells us that in the end times, the beast from the earth, as we have previously explained as the United States, will put up an image of the beast from the sea, a picture that everyone must fall down to, and worship. This gives clear associations to Daniel chapter 3, where Nebuchadnezzar put up an image of himself – in gold – that everyone had to fall down to, and worship when the music began to play, (verses 5 and 6). It also tells us that music will play an important role in end-time worship, especially in the fallen church.

We have also explained the first beast which is the same power as the little horn, and we claim that this is the papacy. However, we are not alone in thinking so. As early as the seventh and eighth centuries, the papacy was given these qualities by those who were persecuted by the Roman Church. Martin Luther and several other reformers who lived towards the end of the Dark Ages said the same thing. So we are far from the only ones, nor the first who say this about the papacy.

The book of Daniel is the key to understanding Revelation, and if the book of Daniel is not understood, the revelation will be more difficult to understand, not impossible, but much more difficult. Daniel sees world history unfold from his own time to the return of Jesus, and he sees the four kingdoms that in Daniel’s prophecies pose a threat to God’s people, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and the Roman Empire. There is no room for any other realms or powers within the framework drawn up in the book of Daniel, as long as God himself does not make anything else known (Amos 3,7).

By within that framework, I mean: 1) The area where God’s people live at all times, and it is mainly the Middle East and Europe until the 17th century. After this time, God’s people are scattered throughout the world. 2) The geographical area that the individual kingdom in Daniel’s prophecies at all times possesses, 3) These kingdoms must have a direct and destructive influence on God’s people over a long period of time, a handful of years is not enough.

For the record, Daniel’s book basically deals only with the Middle East and Europe. As for John and the Revelation, he not only sees history evolve from his time and to the second coming of Christ, he also looks back in time, which appears in the expression five are fallen (Revelation 17,10), which means that it has been five kingdoms before the kingdom John sees reigning the world in his time. In addition, John receives information about two other kingdoms that will have different influences on God’s people. France in Revelation 11,7-9 and USA in Revelation 13,11-18.

France also receives modest coverage in the prophecies, and then had no particularly devastating effect on God’s people over time. It was only a short time around the French Revolution that France persecuted the Christians. The four beasts of Daniel 7, all of which persecuted God’s people over time, allowed pagan religions. In contrast, France forbade all religion for a short period. France did not mix political power with religious power either. On the contrary. It is a prerequisite that this is done in order to be considered one of the beasts in the chronology of Daniel and Revelation. The United States, on the other hand, will play a prominent role in the end times based on what the prophecies tell about the beast from the earth.

The United States receives far greater attention in the prophecy than France, and it is worth noting what it says about the beast from the earth. It had two horns and spoke like a dragon. This is explained so that in the first years of this nation, it is humble as a lamb, and has a clear distinction between religious power and state power, hence two horns. When the first fled from religious oppression in Europe came to the new land in the west, there was one thing they set higher than anything else, and that was religious freedom. When the US Constitution was made, a separate point was made that forbade the state to interfere in people’s religious lives. The state was not to regulate Christian life, and everyone was allowed to believe what they wanted to believe.

But one thing is what is said, another thing is what is done. As early as the rise of Seventh-day Adventists and the establishment of the SDA as a church in 1863, some states began enacting Sunday laws, presumably to counteract the SDA’s influence on religious life in relation to which day is God’s day of rest, (George R. Knight, A search for Identity). Now it is said that these are not federal laws, but local laws that the individual states can introduce without conflicting with the constitution. However, the US Constitution prohibits the requirement of religious affiliation in order to hold public office, but in recent decades there has been a significant shift so that a religious language is actively used in public contexts.

Eventually, this beast will begin to speak like a dragon, something we have seen the United States do to an increasing degree after World War II, and especially after 2001.

When Pope Francis visited the UN in 2015, it was decided to establish a multinational military group that would be able to move out in a short time to solve current problems. Not unexpectedly, it was President Obama who was behind the proposal. What one puts into current problems is not clear from the document, but we can certainly expect that the current problems will be defined based on the wishes of the current pope, Secretary General (UN) and President (USA) (in any order ).

Ever since the United States proclaimed independence, this nation has clearly distinguished between religion and state power, and it is only when the United States mixes religion with the state power that it takes an official position against God and God’s faithful people. This means that the image of the first beast has not yet been set up.

However, we know that one (or more) international Sunday law (s) will come, and they are actively working on various teams to bring such laws forward. For the time being, the United States cannot enact religious laws at the federal level, but this can be changed with a stroke of a pen, or quite easily overruled by the US Supreme Court by order of the President, or by the President himself.

The Sunday law can also have a secular wrapping, and that means it can have a form that is edible for the US Constitution, such as a law that goes on to determine a special day for the family. One such day is Family Day. It has already been launched and promoted by Pope Francis and has resonated in most countries of the world. In short, the law states that all families have the right to a day together during the week where shops and everything that is not absolutely necessary are closed, and that the papacy says this must be Sunday. The latter may not be surprising, but it is in fact what God’s fourth commandment imposes on us, it is just that the pope has messed it all up and mixed it with the wrong day.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates: For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Exodus 20,8-11

As we see, no one should perform his work on the Sabbath, which is the day of the Lord and the day of rest, unless it is of social interest, as the duties of health personnel, firefighters and police are. Satan copies this through his agents but uses the day furthest from the Sabbath. Those who do not want to worship this image of the first beast will, once it is set up in the near future, neither be allowed to buy nor sell.

Typology: Type and antitype.

Soon is a stretchy concept in the same way as eternal. I have many times waited an eternity for the bus, but in reality I have only waited 5 minutes. That it feels like an eternity may have to do with time pressure, or that it is a northerly wind and snowstorm. Then even short periods of time seem like eternities. The same is with the word soon. When we go waiting for something, time fades away, and then it will soon feel like an eternity. Still, I would argue that the image of the first beast will soon be set up by the second beast. This image will impose on people a special day as a day of rest, and although it seems good, it is in opposition to God’s day of rest.

In Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar had a statue built for all to worship. This is a type of a future event – antitype. In addition to the statue, which is an image of Nebuchadnezzar, the king made a law that required all people to kneel before the statue (the image) and worship it. Those who did not follow the king’s law were killed. This is a historical event that is reproduced in the Bible. But the Bible also gives us a warning: This is going to happen again, and as we see in Revelation 13, exactly the same thing will happen in the near future as what happened in the distant past.

In our day, it is not the King of Babylon who puts up an image that must be worshiped, it is instead the King of the United States who is given the dubious honour of doing so. This king will not put up an image of himself, but of the power that has persecuted God’s faithful people since early in the first millennium. Apart from these differences, the rest will be identical. Fall on your knees and worship this image that has been set up otherwise a death penalty awaits you. Fortunately, God will intervene in history, as He has done time and time again, to save His faithful people from being wiped out.

Type, Daniel chapter 3 verses 4.5.6.12.20

4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, 5 [That] at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: 6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 20 And he commanded the most mighty men that [were] in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, [and] to cast [them] into the burning fiery furnace.

Antitype, Revelation chapter 13 verses 12.14.15.16.17

12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; 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. 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. 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: 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.