The US presidential election approaches. The time of the mark of the beast creeps closer. The return of Jesus Christ edges nearer. “The time is at hand!” Revelation 22:10.
Thoughtful prophecy students are watching the “beast” with “two horns like a lamb” predicted to “speak as a dragon” (Revelation 13:11). Religious liberty issues loom large.
As we ponder controversial issues, “the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10) offers profound insights to help guide us on the narrow way. I encourage all readers of this article to carefully ponder the following statements:
Revelation 11 Pinpoints the Evils of Atheism and Sexual Immorality During the French Revolution
“When the message was brought him by Moses, in the name of the Lord, Pharaoh proudly answered, “Who is Jehovah, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, neither will I let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2). This is atheism; and the nation represented by Egypt would give voice to a similar denial of the claims of the living God, and would manifest a like spirit of unbelief and defiance. The “great city” is also compared, “spiritually,” to Sodom. The corruption of Sodom in breaking the law of God was especially manifested in licentiousness. And this sin was also to be a pre-eminent characteristic of the nation that should fulfill the specifications of this scripture” (The Great Controversy, 269).
Comment: Atheism, manifested in “Egypt,” was one characteristic of “the beast” from “the bottomless pit.” Revelation 11:7,8. “Sodom,” with its gross sexual immorality “breaking the law of God,” characterized the same beast.
“The Same Teachings that Led to the French Revolution” are a Global Threat Today
“Anarchy is seeking to sweep away all law, not only divine, but human. The centralizing of wealth and power; the vast combinations for the enriching of the few at the expense of the many; the combinations of the poorer classes for the defense of their interests and claims; the spirit of unrest, of riot and bloodshed; the world-wide dissemination of the same teachings that led to the French Revolution—all are tending to involve the whole world in a struggle similar to that which convulsed France” (Education, 228).
The Peril of Atheism and Infidelity
“The world is deluged with books which sow the seeds of skepticism, infidelity, and atheism, and to a larger or less degree you have been learning your lessons from these books, and they are magical books. They put God out of the mind, and separate the soul from the true Shepherd. The volumes you have read have been devised by the agents of Satan to bewitch the mind with theories formed in the synagogue of Satan, to show you how you may serve the evil one with satanic dignity. How numerous are the books of infidel tendencies, which are calculated to unsettle the mind through specious doubts! Satan has breathed his poisonous breath upon them, and a deadly, spiritual malaria affects the soul that reads them. What a mass of fictitious reading is there in the world, to fill the mind with fancies and follies, thus creating a disrelish for the words of truth and righteousness! The mind is thus unfitted for solemn thought, for patient, persevering investigation of the Scriptures, which is the guide book by which you are to be directed to the paradise of God” (The Youth’s Instructor, Nov. 16, 1893).
Comment: Infidel, atheistic teachings are deadly to spirituality. So is sexual immorality. 23,000 Israelites fell in one day because of sexual sin on the edge of the Promised Land (see Numbers 25). This was written for our admonition, “upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:8,11).
America has “Two Horns like a Lamb,” which apply to its Two “Fundamental Principles”: “Republicanism and Protestantism.”
“And he had two horns like a lamb.” The lamb-like horns indicate youth, innocence, and gentleness, fitly representing the character of the United States when presented to the prophet as “coming up” in 1798. The Christian exiles who first fled to America, sought an asylum from royal oppression and priestly intolerance, and they determined to establish a government upon the broad foundation of civil and religious liberty. The Declaration of Independence sets forth the great truth that all men are created equal,” and endowed with the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” And the Constitution guarantees to the people the right of self-government, providing that representatives elected by the popular vote shall enact and administer the laws. Freedom of religious faith was also granted, every man being permitted to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience.
“Republicanism and Protestantism became the fundamental principles of the nation. These principles are the secret of its power and prosperity” (The Great Controversy, 441).
Comment: Don’t miss it: “Republicanism and Protestantism became the fundamental principles of the nation. These principles are the secret of its power and prosperity.” True “Protestantism” is based on the Bible, not atheism, which formerly prevailed in France. Based on Scripture, true Protestantism also opposes sexual sins. Its godly principles result in “prosperity,” for “righteousness exalts a nation,” while “sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). True Protestantism, as expressed in the protest of the noble German princes against papal tyranny at the Diet of Spires in 1529 also defends religious freedom and the supremacy of conscience above the will of states and kings in matters of religion. This protestant principle is reflected in America’s first constitutional amendment that declares, “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
“Statesmen Who Fear the Lord” in our US Government Can “Hold in Check a Powerful Currents of Evil”
“While many of our rulers are active agents of Satan, God also has his agents among the leading men of the nation. The enemy moves upon his servants to propose measures that would greatly impede the work of God; but statesmen who fear the Lord are influenced by holy angels to oppose such propositions with unanswerable arguments. Thus a few men will hold in check a powerful current of evil” (The Great Controversy, 610).
Comment: In America, “God also has his agents among the leading men of the nation.” “Statesmen who fear the Lord” are much needed. By their wise counsel, they can “hold in check a powerful current of evil.”
Protestants in America will join Papal Rome and Spiritualism
“The (apostate) Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of Spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience” (The Great Controversy, 588).
Protestant American Churches will form an Image of the Beast
“When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the State to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then [apostate] Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result” (The Great Controversy, 445).
American Rulers and Legislators will Yield to the “Popular Demand” for a Sunday Law.
“The dignitaries of church and State will unite to bribe, persuade, or compel all classes to honor the Sunday. The lack of divine authority will be supplied by oppressive enactments. Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance” (The Great Controversy, 445).
Comment: The spark for the Sunday Law doesn’t come primarily from a certain American president or Congress, but from the “public.” Rulers and legislators will “yield to the popular demand” for Sunday legislation.
Led by Law-of-God-Violating Apostate Protestants, America will Enforce Sunday and “Disconnect Herself Fully from Righteousness”
“By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near” (5T, 451).
Comment: The biggest issue is “the Law of God.” God wants “our nation” with its “Protestant and republican government” to do “righteousness.” But we’ve been drifting for a long time. By enforcing Sunday, [apostate] Protestant America will “disconnect herself fully from righteousness.” This is the last straw. God’s judgments will follow (see Revelation 14:9-11; 16; 18).
“A Large Class” of Adventists will join Commandment-Breaking, Sunday-Enforcing Protestants
“As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position, and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side” (The Great Controversy, 608).
Comment: Adventists now “uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit” will eventually “view matters in nearly the same light” as “the world” does. “When the test” of the Sunday law blows throughout the world like a hurricane, many will buckle and “choose the easy, popular side.” Truth is never popular. Yet God’s true people will stand firm for His holy law when champions are few. Then it will be “time” for God to work, “for they [the majority of humanity, led by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet] have made void Your law” (Psalm 119:126).
The Mark of the Beast Enforced
“Fearful is the issue to which the world is to be brought. The powers of earth, uniting to war against the commandments of God, will decree that all, “both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,” (Revelation 13:16.) shall conform to the customs of the church by the observance of the false sabbath. All who refuse compliance will be visited with civil penalties, and it will finally be declared that they are deserving of death. On the other hand, the law of God enjoining the Creator's rest-day demands obedience, and threatens wrath against all who transgress its precepts. With the issue thus clearly brought before him, whoever shall trample upon God's law to obey a human enactment, receives the mark of the beast; he accepts the sign of allegiance to the power which he chooses to obey instead of God. The warning from Heaven is, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.” (Revelation 14:9, 10; The Great Controversy, 604).
“The text doesn’t say, “Here are they that keep the Sabbath, and the faith of Jesus” because, although the Sabbath is “the test,” the larger issue is obedience to all the Ten Commandments, not just the fourth.”
Comment: The final apocalyptic issue concerns whether humans will join in the global “war against the commandments of God” or not. The Bible says, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12). The text doesn’t say, “Here are they that keep the Sabbath, and the faith of Jesus” because, although the Sabbath is “the test,” the larger issue is obedience to all the Ten Commandments, not just the fourth. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10. God’s law is a unit. It commands us to put God first, avoid idolatry, respect His name, keep the Sabbath holy, honor our parents, respect life, practice sexual purity, avoiding stealing, lying, or coveting. It requires supreme love to God, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19)—so much so that He paid the awful price for our sins on a cruel Roman cross.
What threatens us most today? Ultimately, the answer is Satan, his agents, apostate governments, our own hearts, and sin, “which is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4).
In these times of controversy, let’s make Jesus Christ our Great Center. With the “eye salve” of His Holy Spirit (Revelation 3:18), we will then “see” more clearly where to take our stand.
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Steve Wohlberg is the Speaker/Director of White Horse Media. He is the author of 40+ books, including God’s Last Message: Christ our Righteousness. Pastor Steve also teaches two online courses, Sprouting with Steve (about health) and Grow Your Money With God (Christian stewardship). White Horse Media’s YouTube channel contains many more “present truth” biblical messages. Its online Bible school is also great for sharing with the public.