The Third Angel’s Message

The third angel’s message is a warning that if “any one worship the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or in his hand (Revelation 14:9),” then he will be punished with fire and brimstone (Revelation 14:10). The second beast, apostate Protestantism, says to them who dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword but lived (Revelation 13:14).

Apostate Protestantism leads the people to believe that a society in which the church runs the state is the answer to the problems coming upon their society. By claiming that the calamities, natural disasters, school shootings, terrorism, and other violent acts are evidence of God’s displeasure, they convince the people to make an “image” to the first beast, a replica of the church and state power that ruled during the Dark Ages.

This concept of making an image is taken from an account in the third chapter of Daniel where King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold and set it up (Daniel 3:1). The king then called all the people of his kingdom together to bow down before the image and worship it, declaring that anyone who did not “fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace” (Daniel 3:6). But three young Hebrew men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, refused to bow (Daniel 3:12).

The reason they refused to bow is that it was a direct violation of one of the Ten Commandments—in particular, the Second Commandment, which says, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth (Exodus 20:4); you shall not bow down to them nor serve them” (Exodus 20:5). In the same way, modern-day spiritual Babylon will set up a spiritual image by bringing to life a new church-state entity and force the whole world to bow down before it, to obey its commands, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast would be killed (Revelation 13:15).

Just as ancient Babylon set up a law that was in direct opposition to one of the commandments of God, so spiritual Babylon will set up a law that is in direct opposition to one of the commandments of God. This counterfeit law will be enforced upon the whole world: “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark in their right hand or on their forehead (Revelation 13:16), and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:17).

This mark is a counterfeit of the law of God. His law is written in the heart and minds (Hebrews 8:10), which is symbolized by the forehead. It was also to be bound symbolically upon the finger or hand (Proverbs 7:2-3). This mark, or counterfeit law, forced upon the people is a symbol of rebellion, of ultimate separation from God and, not ironically, it is signified by the number “666.” But those who receive it will think of it as a sign of allegiance to God. They will be deceived. Just as in our society where blue or red identifies what political party one belongs to, so this mark identifies those who have been deceived by Satan. The mark received in the forehead represents those who are mentally deceived by him.

The mark received in the hand, a symbol of work (Ecclesiastes 9:10), represents those who know better but go along with the false image because of the death decree and the inability to work. And just as Satan was able to deceive angels in heaven, so this mark will be so cunning that, if it were possible, even the elect would be deceived (Matthew 24:24).

By enforcing a law that leads men to break one of God’s commandments, Satan knows he is actually leading them to break all of God’s commandments (James 2:10–12). This is why the third angel’s message, which warns against the mark of the beast, ends with these words: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12). Those who keep the commandments avoid the mark. Hence, the mark must be something directly opposing God’s law.

The law of God was printed on tables of stone (Exodus 24:12). These stones were made of sapphire, which is blue in color. (See Exodus 24:10.) The law of God is quite literally His “blueprint.” The color blue (Numbers 15:38) was used as a symbol for the children of Israel to look upon and remember all the commandments of God and obey them (Numbers 15:39). Blue symbolizes obedience. Satan’s law will be a counterfeit of God’s blue law, a law that enforces obedience to himself instead of to God.

Bowing down to a counterfeit commandment by Satan means obedience to him. “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slave whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16)

Satan has indeed counterfeited the law of God—by thinking to change times and laws (Daniel 7:25). By intending to change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, Satan seeks to make void the law of God (Psalm 119:126). When Satan leads the religious right in this country to enforce a Sunday law upon pain of economic boycott and death, the mark of the beast will have fully come. This time is not far away. Currently on the books in most states in America are laws called, not by coincidence, Sunday “blue laws.” These laws, though dormant now, will be reenacted. In fact, there are movements now underway to do this very thing. Many Christians believe that America will continue to spiral out of control until we return it back to God by honoring the Sabbath on Sunday.

The Roman Church has already announced that Sunday is its “mark” of authority. “Sunday is our mark of authority. … The church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact” (The Catholic Record, London, Ontario, September 1, 1923). This law will be enforced under the pretense of saving America from calamity and financial and natural disaster.

Note the following sources concerning the move to pass a Sunday blue law from religious, economic, and secular reasoning:

September 4, 2012; Eurozone Demands Six-Day Week for Greece:

The article goes on to say, “Government in Athens under pressure to introduce a six-day working week as part of the terms for a second bailout.” View Source

December 19, 2012; Vatican Works to Stop Sunday Shopping in Italy:

“The Roman Catholic Church, trade unions, and small business associations have joined forces in a bid to save Sundays.” View Source

April 22, 2012; Fox News article, Let’s make Sunday a day of rest, for God’s sake. The entire article supports keeping the Sabbath:

“We dance in rhythm with God when we keep the Sabbath. The reason we are called to take a day of rest is simple. Humans tend to forget that we did not make the world and thus, that the world does not depend upon us.” (Only the title of this article erroneously suggests that Sunday is the seventh day of the week.) View Source

1998; Apostolic Letter Dies Domini of the Holy Father John Paul II:

“Therefore, also in the particular circumstances of our own time, Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy. In any case, they are obliged in conscience to arrange their Sunday rest in a way which allows them to take part in the Eucharist, refraining from work and activities which are incompatible with the sanctification of the Lord’s Day, with its characteristic joy and necessary rest for spirit and body” (Pope John Paul II, Dies Domini, section 67, p. 63. Bold font added for emphasis.). View Source

June 6, 2012; Catholic News Service: The Catholic News reported:

“Sundays must be a day of rest dedicated to God, family, pope says. … The demands of work can’t bully people out of needed time off, Pope Benedict XVI said. Sunday must be a day of rest for everyone, so people can be free to be with their families and with God, the pope said. ‘By defending Sunday, one defends human freedom,’ he said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square June 6.” View Source

February 22, 2007; Pope Benedict XVI in Rome, at Saint Peter’s:

“Sunday is an obligation for all the faithful that brings authentic freedom enabling them to live each day, that it is the Lord’s day, that it is a day to be sanctified, and those who do not keep it suffer the loss of an authentic sense of Christian freedom and the loss of being the children of God, that Sunday is the primordial holy day and is meant to be kept holy, a day of rest from work, which hopefully will also be recognized by civil society by law.” (Sacramentum Caritatis: Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church’s Life and Mission, given by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome, at Saint Peter’s, February 22, 2007, the Feast of the Chair of Peter, emphasis added). View Source

September 9, 2007; Eucharistic Celebration Homily of Pope Benedict XVI:

“Without the Lord’s day, we cannot live, that meeting with the Lord only occurs on the specific day of Sunday, that life does not flourish without Sunday, and that Sunday is a day of rest, of freedom and equality for all the world” (Saint Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna). View Source

February 29, 2008; Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to … the New Ambassador of the USA:

“Encouraged America to exercise its leadership within the international community based on the common moral law [Sunday holiness]” (Address of Pope Benedict XVI to Her Excellency Mrs. Mary Ann Glendon, New Ambassador of the United States of America to the Holy See, February 29, 2008. Emphasis added in brackets.). View Source

April 15–21, 2008; Pope Benedict XVI to Catholics and People of the United States of America on the Occasion of the Upcoming Apostolic Journey:

“The world has greater need of hope for peace, justice and freedom, which can never be delivered without obedience to the law of God [Sunday holiness].” View Source

2000; Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2188:

“In respecting religious liberty and the common good of all, Christians [in the USA and elsewhere] should seek recognition of Sundays and the Church’s holy days as legal holidays.” View Source

September 7, 1947; Pope Pius XII, Evening Star, Washington, D.C.:

“The time for reflection and planning is past in religious and moral fields and the time for action had arrived. The battle in religious and moral fields hinges on five points: religious culture, the sanctifying of Sunday, the saving of the Christian family, social justice, and loyalty and truthfulness in dealings.”

In the April 26, 2013, edition of the New York Times, from a telling article entitled “Pope Francis Has a Few Words in Support of Leisure,” the author writes about the new pope and the book, Pope Francis: His Life in His Own Words:

“One passage in the book, at first glance rather slight, ends up insinuating a radical note into the proceedings. On a close read, it seems that Pope Francis believes that we must—indeed, that God is calling us to—relax.”

“Responding to the question, ‘Do we need to rediscover the meaning of leisure?’ Pope Francis replies: ‘Together with a culture of work, there must be a culture of leisure as gratification. To put it another way: people who work must take the time to relax, to be with their families, to enjoy themselves, read, listen to music, play a sport. But this is being destroyed, in large part, by the elimination of the Sabbath rest day. More and more people work on Sundays as a consequence of the competitiveness imposed by a consumer society.’ In such cases, he concludes, ‘work ends up dehumanizing people.’

“Some pages later, he derides people who think of themselves as Catholic but don’t make time for their children. This is an example, according to Pope Francis, of living ‘with fraud.’

“Catholic social teaching is known for promoting the idea that workers deserve dignity, which includes rest. But Pope Francis seems to be saying something more: that an authentically Christian life includes a proper dose of leisure and family time.”

“From the moment the Puritans arrived, they began enforcing laws to reserve Sunday for churchgoing. Over time, what came to be called ‘blue laws’ covered different activities, and varied by state. … Today, the laws are disappearing, relics of a time when Protestant culture was more dominant. … And in the United States, Sunday has lost its sacred character. Most Christians see little conflict in going to church in the morning, then watching a football game—maybe with the family, or maybe at a sports bar—in the afternoon. …”

“But in Catholicism, as Pope Francis suggests, the Sabbath actually is supposed to matter—the whole day, not just Mass. For as the catechism teaches, in Paragraph 2185, ‘On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body.’

“The Catholic Church has been recovering this teaching at least since 1998, when Pope John Paul II published his apostolic letter ‘Dies Domini.’ There, he writes that ‘even in those countries which give legal sanction to the festive character of Sunday, changes in socioeconomic conditions have often led to profound modifications of social behavior and hence of the character of Sunday.’

“Last October [2012], about 250 bishops met in Rome for a conference on the movement called the New Evangelization, which focuses on reawakening faith in those already baptized. One of their conclusions was, ‘Even though there is a tension between the Christian Sunday and the secular Sunday, Sunday needs to be recovered’—in keeping, they wrote, with John Paul’s ‘Dies Domini.’” View Source

According to Revelation 13:17, those who refuse this mark will not be able to buy or sell. The Sabbath is the only commandment that deals with buying, selling, and working. It prohibits working on the seventh day: “Six days you shall labor and do all your work (Exodus 20:9), but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work” (Exodus 20:10). No buying or selling was to occur on the seventh day; thus, Satan will make it so that those who disregard his counterfeit Sabbath—Sunday—will be unable to buy or sell at all.

Finally, the Sunday “blue law” mark is a counterfeit of the seal of the living God (Revelation 7:2), which is also received on the forehead of those making up spiritual Israel (Revelation 7:3). A “seal” is used to declare something unchangeable. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:30). And the Holy Spirit of God “seals” with the law of God: “bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples” (Isaiah 8:16). Within the law of God is another seal—or sign. “Surely my sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you” (Exodus 31:13). “Moreover I also gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them (Ezekiel 20:12). “Hallow my sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you” (Ezekiel 20:20).

Just as God sealed His creation with the Sabbath, so He will seal His people who have been recreated in His image, made at one with Him again, with the Sabbath, the sign of rest. Sin was brought into this world over a simple test between two trees in the Garden of Eden. The final test will be between two days. Just as the issue then was not really about trees but about obedience, so the final test is not so much about days as it is about obedience to the simple commands of God. Whom will you obey?

But how will the whole world—with all its different religions and sects, believers and atheists, and left and right—join together on this one commandment?

The Bible explains that Satan will transform himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). This will be the greatest delusion ever pulled upon mankind. Satan will counterfeit the appearance of Christ— pretending to be the answer to the world’s problems, performing miracles of healing, and doing great wonders that not even an atheist will be able to deny. All religions will unite in following him, and any who speak against this counterfeit will be seen as speaking blasphemy. This is why Christ warned, “If anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it (Matthew 24:23). For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24).

Satan will claim to be the Son of God and will demand that every person honor him by honoring his “Sabbath,” the first day of the week. Those who see through this overmastering delusion will be called enemies of God, and thus will come to pass the warning of Christ that the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service (John 16:2).

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