The Mark of the Beast

 

This post builds on Revelation 12-14: The Dragon, The Beast and the Three Angels which goes into detail on the Beast.  When I wrote that post I had suspicions on the nature of the Mark of the Beast, but did not have much evidence.  This post provides a more in depth study of the Mark. 

This information can also be found in my book on Bible Prophecy, The Whore of Babylon: God's Warning to the Church, available on Amazon. 

The Description of the Mark

The primary description of the Mark of the Beast is found in Revelation 13.

¹ and he stood upon the sand of the sea.  And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of blasphemy….

 ¹⁶ And he causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead; ¹⁷ and that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name. ¹⁸ Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred and sixty and six. Revelation 13:1,16-18 ASV

This tells us that the number is the number of the Beast’s name and the number of a man.  The Beast has the name of blasphemy on its head.  The mark is the name of the Beast or number of the name.  The mark is received in the forehead or right hand.

In Revelation 17 we see another version of the Beast with the Whore of Babylon riding it with a name written on her forehead.  The fact that the Whore is riding the Beast and is marked with a name in her forehead tells us that it is linked to the name of the beast.

³ And he carried me away in the Spirit into Ha wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication, ⁵ and upon her forehead a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth. Revelation 17:3-5 ASV

 

Everyone knows about the Mark of the Beast.  However, there is no agreement as to what it is.  People have theorized everything from barcodes, to microchips, to tattoos, and everything else.

When I was young I was taught that 666 is the numerical equivalent of the Latin phrase “Vicarius Filii Dei” and that this phrase was inscribed on the pope’s tiara.  It is true that the Latin alphabet served as its number system and, if you add up the numerical values of the letters in “Vicarius Filii Dei”, you get 666.  The problem is the Catholic Church denies that “Vicarius Filii Dei” was ever the official title of the pope.  And it is not inscribed on any of the existing tiaras, nor is there any evidence it was ever inscribed on any papal tiara.  The historical title is “Vicarius Christi”, which is similar in meaning, but doesn’t add up to 666.  The oldest source of “Vicarius Filii Dei” that I have been able to locate is the Donation of Constantine, which was a forgery.  My research has yielded a few later Catholic publications that have used this term, but none of them were official papal decrees.  For example, Our Sunday Visitor, April 18, 1915, p.3 stated “What are the letters on the Pope’s crown, and what do they signify, if anything? The letters on the Pope's crown are these: Vicarius Filii Dei, which is a Latin for 'Vicar of the Son of God.'”  This statement was later retracted by the author and a rebuttal was issued in Our Sunday Visitor, 11, No. 14, July 23, 1922, “The Pope claims to be the vicar of the Son of God, while the Latin words for this designation are not inscribed, as anti-Catholics maintain, on the Pope's tiara.”  The evidence forced me to set that interpretation aside and search for one with a more solid historical foundation.  If the Catholic Church ever officially adopts that title, or if irrefutable evidence is ever produced that this was the official title in the early centuries, I will revisit that interpretation. 

Let’s see if we can follow the clues given in Revelation.  First, let’s look at the Seal of God received by the righteous.

² And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a great voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, ³ saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. ⁴ And I heard the number of them that were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel…. Revelation 7:2-4 ASV

We can see from this that the seal of the Living God is in the foreheads.

¹ And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. Revelation 14:1 ASV

Notice that they don’t have the name of the Holy Spirit in their foreheads.  This is a rather Non-Trinitarian description since the Holy Spirit is left out completely.  Why do they have both the name of the Father and the Lamb?  Jesus made this clear in John 17:3 when praying to the Father.

³ And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ. John 17:3 ASV

One of the key components of receiving eternal life is to know the Father, the ONLY TRUE GOD and Jesus Christ whom He sent.  If we don’t believe that the Father alone is truly God, then we don’t really know Him as the only true God.  And we certainly don’t know the Christ whom He sent.

Since the Seal of God is linked to who we worship and serve, it should not be surprising to find the Mark of the Beast linked to worship.  The name written on the whore’s forehead links the Beast’s religion to the mystery religion of Babylon.  Does the Babylonian religion contain a god whose number calculates to 666?

Near Eastern mysticism includes the practice of utilizing kamea, or magic squares, associated with the sun and planets.  They date back to the mystery religion of Babylon and even before.

These signs were followed by magic squares, containing a series of numbers which the Hebrew Kabbalists wrote in Hebrew letters and the Arabic Kabbalists in Arabic letters. The Kabbalists used magical squares as amulets, and they gave them a peculiar character by associating them with the seven astrological stars, and with certain metals. When and where the signs of the entities or spirits of the planets and the magical squares were invented is not known, but it is almost certain that they are of Sumerian or Indian origin. (Budge, E. A. Wallis. Amulets and Superstitions (Egypt): chapter XXIII (Kindle Locations 4375-4378). Dover Publications. Kindle Edition.)

The Babylonians were heavily influenced by the earlier Sumerians, so we can see how the kamea were part of the Babylonian religion and then passed onto us.

Here is the kamea for the Sun.

 

6	32	3	34	35	1
7	11	27	28	8	30
19	14	16	15	23	24
18	20	22	21	17	13
25	29	10	9	26	12
36	5	33	4	2	31

 

As you can see, it consists of 36 numbers arranged so that the horizontal, vertical and diagonal rows add up to 111.  The total number is 666.  So the number of the Sun is 666.  The name of the Sun god in the Babylonian religion is Shamash.  So, the calculated number of the Sun god is 666. 

The concept of a triad, or grouping of three gods, was well known in the Babylonian religion, which contained more than one.  Shamash was part of one of the most important triads.

Less artificial in character and of more practical import is another triad frequently occurring in inscriptions and in variably depicted by symbols on the boundary 'tones, consisting of Sin, the moon-god, Shamash, the sun-god, and Ishtar, the planet Venus, symbolizing the great mother goddess, the source of life and fertility. These three gods represent the chief powers upon which man is dependent, summing up, as it were, the chief protectors of human life and the chief guides of his being. In place of Ishtar, Adad, a general god of storms who never appears to have had any specific local cult, is introduced, and not infrequently we have, instead if a triad, a group of four, — Sin, Shamash, Adad and Ishtar, in which combination the latter rep resents the female element in general, essential as a complement to the male to produce the mini testation of life in the universe.[1]

Sin was the father of Shamash and was often referred to as the father of the gods and the creator of all things.  They often formed a triad with Ishtar and sometimes formed a triad with the god of storms, Adad.  The Hebrew word “ruach”, which is often translated “Spirit”, as in “Holy Spirit”, also means “wind”.  So, in this triad we have God the Father, God the Son, and God of the wind (Spirit).  The modern Trinity takes the idea of a divine triad and blends it with monotheism to create one god in three persons.

The parallels even take into account the Catholic elevation of Mary to “Mother of God”, “Spouse of the Holy Spirit” and “Queen of Heaven”.  As stated above, the three gods of the triad were often joined by Ishtar.  Ishtar was also known as Inanna and “Queen of Heaven”.

The number 666 draws the focus to Shamash, the son of the god Sin, and declares it to be the number of a man, and not God.  The beast has blasphemy written on its heads and, of course, it is blasphemy to worship a man as God.

One of the ways the Church convinced people Jesus is God was by redefining the phrase “son of God”.  God said that He would be a father to Solomon and Solomon would be a son to Him (2 Samuel 7:14; 1 Chronicles 17:13).  And Psalms 2:7 quotes the King of Israel, “Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my son; This day have I begotten thee”.  These passages are obviously referring to an adoptionist relationship between God and the divinely anointed kings, even though it refers to the king as being “begotten” of God.  The term, “begotten”, doesn’t rule out the adoptionist relationship.  The author of Hebrews referenced these passages and applied them to Jesus in explaining his role as “son of God”.

⁵ For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, This day have I begotten thee? and again, I will be to him a Father, And he shall be to me a Son?  Hebrews 1:5 ASV

The author of Hebrews evidently understood the phrase “son of God” to indicate that God adopted Jesus as His son, just as He had done with the divinely anointed kings of Israel before Jesus. 

Luke adds another layer of meaning.

³⁴ And Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? ³⁵ And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God. Luke 2:34-35 ASV

Jesus was also the “son of God” in the sense that he was born through a miracle of God without a human father.  As a side note, the Quran confirms both the close relationship Jesus shared with God and the virgin birth. What the Quran denies is any possibility of him being “very God of very God”, as stated in the Nicene Creed laid out in the Council of Constantinople in 381.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ , the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father…. [2]

Search through the Bible and you will never find the phrase “son of God” explained as it is in the Nicene Creed.  The Church’s reinterpretation of that phrase allows them to use it to elevate Jesus to deity like the Father, just as Shamash is deity like his father Sin.  But the Beast has names of blasphemy written on its foreheads and 666 is the number of a man.

The Three Angels’ Warning of the Mark of the Beast

Revelation 14 has three angels whose messages all tie into the Mark of the Beast.

The First Angel

The first angel’s message is found in verses 6-7

⁶ And I saw another angel flying in mid heaven, having eternal good tidings to proclaim unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people; ⁷ and he saith with a great voice, Fear God, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters.

There are two passages in the Tanakh (Old Testament) this message parallels.  The first is Isaiah 45:5-8, 18 ASV

⁵ I am Jehovah, and there is none else; besides me there is no God. I will gird thee, though thou hast not known me; ⁶ that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me: I am Jehovah, and there is none else. ⁷ I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am Jehovah, that doeth all these things. ⁸ Distil, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, that it may bring forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up together; I, Jehovah, have created it….¹⁸ For thus saith Jehovah that created the heavens, the God that formed the earth and made it, that established it and created it not a waste, that formed it to be inhabited: I am Jehovah; and there is none else.

This is clearly saying that Yehovah alone is God and there are no others besides Him and He is the one who created heaven and earth.

The disciples praised and worshipped the creator of heaven and earth.

²⁴ And they, when they heard it, lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, O Lord, thou that didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is: Acts 4:24 ASV

A few verses later they clearly indicate that they are addressing the Father alone and not Jesus.

²⁷ for of a truth in this city against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together, ²⁸ to do whatsoever thy hand and thy council foreordained to come to pass. Acts 4:27-28 ASV

But, doesn’t the Bible describe Jesus as the Creator?  One might say that Moses parted the Red Sea.  However no one would argue that it was Moses’s power that performed this miracle.  Everyone agrees that it was really God, through Moses, who did it.  Similarly, the Bible tells us that Jesus was a man and it was God who performed miracles through him.

²² Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God unto you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, even as ye yourselves know; Acts 2: 22 ASV

The Bible also tells us that it was God who created the worlds through Jesus, just as it was God who parted the Red Sea through Moses.

God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, ² hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through  whom [Jesus] also he [God] made the worlds; Hebrews 1:1-2 ASV

So, the angel is addressing who we worship.  The Jewish faith practiced by Jesus and the apostles says we should worship one single, indivisible person with none others beside him.  The Beast says we should worship the Trinity.

The other passage the message parallels is the Fourth Commandment.

⁸ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto Jehovah thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: ¹¹ for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.  Exodus 20:8-11 ASV

It should be noted that the first angel’s message was focusing on who to worship, not the type of worship.  However, the facts that its wording strongly mimics the fourth commandment justifies taking a look at it.

One of the earliest controversies within the Church stemmed from the fact that the Apostles and most of the earliest Believers were Jews.  However, Paul’s preaching among the Gentiles brought many people into the flock that were not circumcised and hadn’t grown up following the Mosaic Law.  Many of the Church leaders insisted that they become circumcised and fully embrace Judaism before they would be accepted into the community.  Paul, and his supporters, were opposed to this.  Acts 15 records the council that was convened in Jerusalem to settle the matter.  The decision, given by Jesus’s brother James, is very significant.

¹⁹ Wherefore my judgment is, that we trouble not them that from among the Gentiles turn to God; ²⁰ but that we write unto them, that they abstain from the pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from what is strangled, and from blood. ²¹ For Moses from generations of old hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath. Acts 15:19-21 ASV

James was able to get the Jewish elders to agree to reducing the requirements to these four rules by pointing out that the Gentile believers went to the synagogues every Sabbath and heard the Law preached there.  In other words, all of the earliest believers in Jesus kept the Sabbath, whether they came from a Jewish or Gentile background.

On a side note, Peter warns us that many Christians misunderstand Paul’s writings and use his writings to support false doctrines (2 Peter 3:15-18).  James and the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem began to hear rumors that Paul was teaching Jews to abandon the Torah (Mosaic Law).  When Paul arrived in Jerusalem, James reminded Paul that the ruling in the Jerusalem council only affected Gentile believers.  He said that they needed to do something to prove to the believers that these rumors were false.  They needed to prove that Paul still believed that Jews should follow the Torah and that Paul himself followed the Torah.  James suggested that Paul join some believers in completing a Nazarite vow and sponsoring their offerings (Acts 21:18-26).  The offering they were required to give included a burnt offering and a sin sacrifice (Numbers 6:13-21).  Later, when Paul was dragged before the Sanhedrin on charges of teaching that the Torah was done away with (Acts 21:27-30), he defended himself by telling them that he was a Pharisee (Pharisees were known for their strict adherence to the Law), a son of Pharisees and the Pharisees declared him not guilty (Acts 23:1-9).  This illustrates that the only thing that separated the Apostles and their fellow believers from the rest of the Jews was the fact that they believed Jesus to be the Messiah.  In every other aspect of religious faith, they were completely Jewish.

Colossians 2:14-16 is often interpreted as saying the Mosaic Law and the Sabbath were nailed to the cross.  However, verses 8 and 20-22 tell us that Paul is talking about the doctrines of men, not laws given by God.  The Mosaic Law and the Ten Commandments were both given by God.  They are not doctrines of men.  However, the Pharisees created many additional rules that made it much more difficult to follow the Law (i.e. Matthew 23:4).  So, when Paul says “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day”, he is saying that we shouldn’t let anyone judge us on whether or not we follow the manmade rules concerning these things.

We don’t have detailed records of exactly when and where the believers began abandoning Sabbath keeping for Sunday worship.  The evidence does place it very early.  I believe it may have even begun during the Apostolic age because the Epistle of Barnabus, chapter 15 indicates that the community of believers it was written to held Sunday as sacred in honor of Christ’s resurrection.  This book is generally dated to the end of the First Century, so Sunday worship within Christianity likely began sometime in the First Century.

The Book of Acts begins with Jesus’s Ascension when virtually all of the believers were Jewish.  Acts ends at the end of Paul’s ministry, which brought many Gentiles into the faith.  By the end of the First Century virtually all of the believers were Gentiles, rather than Jewish.  The Jewish War that led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 C.E. only served to add motivation for the Gentile Christians to distance themselves from Judaism.  This can be seen in the Anti-Judaism sentiments expressed alongside the late first and early second century references to Sunday worship.

Finally He saith to them; Your new moons and your Sabbaths I cannot away with. Ye see what is His meaning; it is not your present Sabbaths that are acceptable [unto Me], but the Sabbath which I have made, in the which, when I have set all things at rest, I will make the beginning of the eighth day which is the beginning of another world.  Wherefore also we keep the eighth day for rejoicing, in the which also Jesus rose from the dead, and having been manifested ascended into the heavens.  Moreover I will tell you likewise concerning the temple, how these wretched men being led astray set their hope on the building, and not on their God that made them, as being a house of God.[3]

9:1 If then those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope, no longer observing sabbaths but fashioning their lives after the Lord's day, on which our life also arose through Him and through His death which some men deny – a mystery whereby we attained unto belief, and for this cause we endure patiently, that we may be found disciples of Jesus Christ our only teacher --
9:2 if this be so, how shall we be able to live apart from Him? seeing that even the prophets, being His disciples, were expecting Him as their teacher through the Spirit. And for this cause He whom they rightly awaited, when He came, raised them from the dead. 10:1 Therefore let us not be insensible to His goodness. For if He should imitate us according to our deeds, we are lost. For this cause, seeing that we are become His disciples, let us learn to live as beseemeth Christianity. For whoso is called by another name besides this, is not of God. 10:2 Therefore put away the vile leaven which hath waxed stale and sour, and betake yourselves to the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. Be ye salted in Him, that none among you grow putrid, seeing that by your savour ye shall be proved. 10:3 It is monstrous to talk of Jesus Christ and to practise Judaism. For Christianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism in Christianity, wherein _every tongue_ believed and _was gathered together_ unto God.[4]

It should be noted that the Day of the Sun was a special part of the Sun worship practiced by the Gentiles before converting to Christianity.  The Book of Acts documents the zeal of the Jewish believers for the Torah.  And it indicates that the Gentile believers (at least those closely associated with the Apostles) regularly attended the Synagogue on Sabbath. 

The most logical place to look for the origins of Sunday worship is among those who had the motive, means and opportunity to abandon the Sabbath.  Judaism became politically very unpopular with the Romans after the Jewish Revolt, which led to the destruction of the temple.  So, the Gentile believers had good motive to differentiate their faith from Judaism.  Over time, the number of Gentiles entering the faith began to significantly outnumber the Jewish believers, providing the means.  The Book of Acts indicates that church authority was centered in Jerusalem.  However, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 C.E. provided the opportunity for the church authority to shift to the Gentile believers.

A few centuries later, one of the most important events in the development of Sunday worship was the conversion of Constantine to Christianity.  Like many pagans, he was a Sun worshipper and he continued to embrace his pagan roots after his conversion.  Edward Gibbon describes him this way:

Whatever symptoms of Christian piety might transpire in the discourses or actions of Constantine, he persevered till he was near forty years of age in the practice of the established religion; and the same conduct which in the court of Nicomedia might be imputed to his fear, could be ascribed only to the inclination or policy of the sovereign of Gaul. His liberality restored and enriched the temples of the gods; the medals which issued from his Imperial mint are impressed with the figures and attributes of Jupiter and Apollo, of Mars and Hercules; and his filial piety increased the council of Olympus by the solemn apotheosis of his father Constantius. But the devotion of Constantine was more peculiarly directed to the genius of the Sun, the Apollo of Greek and Roman mythology; and he was pleased to be represented with the symbols of the God of Light and Poetry. The unerring shafts of that deity, the brightness of his eyes, his laurel wreath, immortal beauty, and elegant accomplishments, seem to point him out as the patron of a young hero. The altars of Apollo were crowned with the votive offerings of Constantine; and the credulous multitude were taught to believe, that the emperor was permitted to behold with mortal eyes the visible majesty of their tutelar deity; and that, either walking or in a vision, he was blessed with the auspicious omens of a long and victorious reign. The Sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine; and the Pagans might reasonably expect that the insulted god would pursue with unrelenting vengeance the impiety of his ungrateful favorite.[5]

In 321 Constantine enacted the first Sunday observance law.  It reads:

On the venerable Day of the sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits: because it often happens that another Day is not so suitable for grain sowing or for vine planting: lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.[6]

One historian noted the fact that the law served both the Sun worshippers and the Christians.

Constantine is the founder, in part at least, of the civil observance of Sunday, by which alone the religious observance of it in the church could be made universal and could be properly secured. In the year 321 he issued a law prohibiting manual labor in the cities and all judicial transactions, at a later period also military exercises, on Sunday. He exempted the liberation of slaves, which as an act of Christian humanity and charity, might, with special propriety, take place on that day. But the Sunday law of Constantine must not be overrated. He enjoined the observance, or rather forbade the public desecration of Sunday, not under the name of Sabbatum or Dies Domini, but under its old astrological and heathen title, Dies Solis, familiar to all his subjects, so that the law was as applicable to the worshippers of Hercules, Apollo, and Mithras, as to the Christians.[7]

The Catholic Church, which in Late Antiquity constituted the entire Christian world, says:

" It is worth its while to remember that this observance of the Sabbath,—in which, after all, the only Protestant worship consists,—not only has no foundation in the Bible, but it is inbflagrant contradiction with its letter, whichbcommands rest on the Sabbath, which is Saturday. It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the Church. "[8]

Another Catholic book states:

Q: Which is the Sabbath day?

A: Saturday is the Sabbath day.

Q: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

A:  We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea, transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday[9]

And the Council of Laodicea made clear the connection between Sunday observance and distancing Christianity from the Jewish faith of Jesus.

Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday (Sabbath), but shall work on that Day: but the Lord’s Day, they shall especially honour; and as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ.[10]

The facts that the wording of the first angel’s message echoes the Sabbath commandment, the Church changed the solemnity of the Sabbath to the Day of the Sun (Sunday) and the number for the Sun calculates to 666 indicate that the first angel may, in part, be discussing Sunday worship.

The Second Angel

The Second Angel’s message is in verse 8.

⁸ And another, a second angel, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, that hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Daniel chapter 5 tells the story of the fall of Ancient Babylon.

¹ Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. ² Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink therefrom. ³ Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, drank from them. ⁴ They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. Daniel 5:1-4

In this story Babylon held a feast where a thousand lords were invited to drink wine.  They used the temple vessels and used them to drink wine to false gods.  An angel announced the fall of Babylon.

⁵ In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Daniel 5:5

The prophet Daniel reminded Belshazzar that Nebuchadnezzar had humbled himself and recognized the One True God.  However, Belshazzar had praised false gods.  Then Daniel interpreted the message.  The message was that God had determined the fall of Babylon.

²⁶ This is the interpretation of the thing: mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and brought it to an end. ²⁷ tekel; thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. ²⁸ peres; thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. Daniel 5:26-28

Daniel described Belshazzar’s primary sin as worshipping false gods.  The Second Angel’s message describes spiritual Babylon’s primary sin as fornication.  Physical fornication specifically refers to intimacy with someone who is not your spouse.  In the Bible, God uses marriage as a metaphor for His relationship with Israel and Judah.  When they worshipped false gods, the prophets described it as adultery, whoredom and fornication (i.e. Jeremiah 3; Ezekiel 16; Ezekiel 23).  The point is that adultery/fornication against God is a very specific sin.  It is the worship of false gods.

Of course the Great Whore Babylon worships the same god as the Beast.  We know the Beast represents the Catholic Church.  Who does the Catholic Church worship?

The mystery of the Trinity is the central doctrine of Catholic faith. Upon it are based all other teachings of the Church.[11]

What did Jesus say was the true central doctrine?

²⁸ And one of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together, and knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, What commandment is the first of all? ²⁹ Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: ³⁰ and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. Mark 12:28-30 ASV

The Third Angel

The Third Angel’s message is in verses 9-12.

⁹ And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, If any man worshippeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, ¹⁰ he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: ¹¹ and the smoke of their torment goeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, they that worship the beast and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name. ¹² Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Those who receive the Mark of the Beast will receive the full wrath of God.  If we want to know what the Mark is, it will be helpful to look at how similar things played out before.

The foundational belief of the Roman Church is the denial of the Jewish understanding of God and the assertion that God is instead a trinity.

The mystery of the Trinity is the central doctrine of Catholic faith. Upon it are based all other teachings of the Church.[12]

When Constantine adopted Christianity as the religion of Rome, the doctrine of the trinity was being hotly debated.  The eastern churches tended to emphasize Jesus’s humanity more than the western churches.  Those who saw Christianity as a continuation of Judaism tended to gravitate towards one form of Arianism (the belief that only the Father is eternal and he brought Jesus into existence and gave him his authority) or another.  The anti-Arians sought a cleaner break with the past and pushed the doctrine of the trinity.  Constantine despised Judaism and naturally wanted his “New Rome” to be distanced as much as possible from Judaism.[13]

Soon after Rome adopted Christianity as its official religion they held the Council of Nicea to decide which form of Christianity would be accepted by the Roman Church.  Since Revelation 12 shows us that Satan was the power behind Rome and Revelation 13:2 says Satan gave his authority to the Roman Church, we should be very cautious about accepting its council on doctrine.

The council produced what is known as the Nicene Creed.

Here is the English translation.

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ , the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance (homoousion) with the Father; by whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth]; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; he suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

And in the Holy Ghost .

[But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;' and 'He was not before he was made;' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or 'He is of another substance' or 'essence,' or 'The Son of God is created,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable'—they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.][14]

 

Not everyone was satisfied with the Nicene Creed, especially the fact that it did not clarify the position of the Holy Spirit.  It was revised in Constantinople in 381 under the reign or the Roman Emperor Theodosius I.

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ , the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father ; from thence he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Ghost , the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets. In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. [15]

Naturally, acceptance of the Nicene Creed provided a test to determine whether or not a Christian leader should be considered a part of the Catholic Church.  The emperor Theodosius I stated this in the “edict, called Nullis haereticis: No heretics. “He who professes the Nicene faith is to be thought of as the genuine worshipper in the Catholic religion,” it read.”[16]

Right after the Council of Constantinople, the emperor Theodosius I declared:

We now order that all churches are to be handed over to the bishops who profess Father, Son and Holy Spirit of a single majesty , of the same glory, of one splendor, who establish no difference by sacrilegious separation,  but [who affirm] the order of the Trinity by recognizing the Persons and uniting the Godhead.[17]

Soon after the Council of Constantinople in 381 the advocacy of Arian teachings and the possession of Arian writings was deemed by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I to be punishable by death.[18]  Thus, the Trinity was the primary doctrine that was settled with the help of the Roman Emperor.  It is the primary doctrine the acceptance or denial of which marked someone as Catholic or “heretic”.  Rome caused all people within the empire to accept the Nicene Creed.  Those who held beliefs closer to the Jewish understanding of God and opposed the Trinity doctrine were punished by death.

The second beast (America) will set up a system that resembles (image to) the Roman Church and will punish any who refuse to follow it with death.  I don’t wish to speculate too much about exactly how this will play out.  But, since there are strong parallels with the Arian Controversy in the Forth Century, I think this may provide us with a glimpse of how what will happen in the future.  When the image to the beast is set up there will also be something to identify those who comply with those who don’t.  Noncompliance will be punishable by death.

 

 

---

[1] Larned, J. N., Donald Eugene Smith, Charles Seymour, Augustus Hunt Shearer, and Daniel Chauncey. Knowlton. The New Larned History for Ready Reference, Reading and Research: The Actual Words of the World's Best Historians Biographers and Specialists. Vol. 1. Springfield, MA,: C. A. Nichols, 1922. Print. 789

[2] Schaff, Philip. The Creeds of Christendom: With a History and Critical Notes. Vol. 1. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1877. 28-29. Print.

[3] Epistle of Barnabus 15:8-16:1

[4] Ignatius - To the Magnesians 9-10

[5] Gibbon, Edward. The History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire.  Chapter XX: The Motives, Progress, And Effects Of The Conversion Of Constantine. — Legal Establishment And Constitution Of The Christian Or Catholic Church.

[6] Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church Volume 3 (Edinburgh: 1884): 380, note.

[7] Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church Volume 3 (Edinburgh: 1884): 379-380

[8] Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, by Mgr. Louis Segur, 1868, p.225

[9] Peter Geiermann,  The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, 1957, p. 50

[10] Rev. Charles Joseph Hefele, Henry N. Oxenham (trans.), A History of the Church Councils from 326 to 429 Volume 2 (Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1896): 316.

[11] Redemptorist Pastoral Publication (2010-08-31). Handbook for Today's Catholic (p. 19). Liguori Publications. Kindle Edition.

[12] Redemptorist Pastoral Publication (2010-08-31). Handbook for Today's Catholic (p. 19). Liguori Publications. Kindle Edition.

[13] Rubenstein, Richard E. When Jesus Became God: The Epic Fight over Christ's Divinity in the Last Days of Rome. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1999. 74. Print.

[14] Schaff, Philip. The Creeds of Christendom: With a History and Critical Notes. Vol. 1. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1877. 28-29. Print.

[15] Schaff, Philip. The Creeds of Christendom: With a History and Critical Notes. Vol. 1. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1877. 28-29. Print.

[16] Rubenstein, Richard E. When Jesus Became God: The Epic Fight over Christ's Divinity in the Last Days of Rome. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1999. 221. Print.

[17] Rubenstein, Richard E. When Jesus Became God: The Epic Fight over Christ's Divinity in the Last Days of Rome. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1999. 223. Print.

[18] Rubenstein, Richard E. When Jesus Became God: The Epic Fight over Christ's Divinity in the Last Days of Rome. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1999. 223. Print.