This could be a sensitive topic for many Christians. We must unmask who the antichrist is, and what they have to do with the Sabbath. The reason it will be a sensitive chapter is that there are many well meaning people who are in genuine ignorance about the leader of their church, and who the Bible says that leader is. We are not speaking against the people involved in that church, but against its false doctrines, and against its leadership.
Let us see what Daniel says about how to identify the antichrist.
Daniel 7:24-25 KJV — And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Here it is again below, in list form.
The "little horn" or kingdom "came up among them" the 10 horns which were the kingdoms of Western Europe (Daniel 7:8). So it would be a little kingdom somewhere in Western Europe.
B. It would have a man at its head who could speak for it (Daniel 7:8).
C. It would pluck up or uproot three kingdoms (Daniel 7:8).
D. It would be "diverse" or different from the other 10 kingdoms. (Daniel 7:24).
E. It would make war with and "wear out" or persecute the saints (Daniel 7:21, 25).
F. It would emerge from the pagan Roman empire, the fourth world kingdom (Daniel 7:7, 8).
G. God's people (the saints) would "be given into his hand" for "a time and times and the dividing of time" (Daniel 7:25).
H. It would "speak great words against" or blaspheme God (Daniel 7:25). In Revelation 13:5, the Bible says the same power speaks "great things and blasphemies."
I. It would "think to change times and laws." Daniel 7:25.
Now we will unmask who it is, and how they are the only option possible. Again, we are not speaking against the people involved in this church, but against the false doctrines, and the leadership of this church.
The antichrist of Bible prophecy is the Roman Catholic Vatican, the Papacy. They fit all ten points mentioned. The list below corresponds with the list above.
The papacy arose among the nations of Western Europe.
B. It has a man at its head who speaks for it.
C. The papacy led the charge to destroy three of the ten nations of Western Europe. These nations uprooted were the Vandals, the Heruli, and the Ostrogoths. Because these nations refused to support the Papacy, the Papacy led the charge and force the other seven nations to destroy these three “dissenters.”
D. The Papacy is a unique organization. It is the smallest nation in the world, and is both a religious AND political power. This makes it different from the nations of Western Europe.
E. The Papacy is responsible, both directly and indirectly, for the deaths of millions upon millions of people during the Dark Ages. Some estimates place the number of martyrs during this 1,260 year time period between 50 million and 150 million people.
F. The papacy emerged from the ancient imperial Roman Empire. You see, Rome didn’t fall to other conquering nations. It was not conquered from the outside; rather, it crumbled from within. And during that process, the papacy arose, and took it over.
G. The Bible states that a time period of 1,260 years would be given to allow the papacy to rule during the dark ages. Daniel 7 states this time period would begin with the three nations above were destroyed. This was completed in the year 538 AD. The 1,260 years takes us to 1798, when Revelation 13 states they would receive their deadly wound. True to the prediction, the pope was taken captive in that year by France, and they have not since enjoyed the power they had before. However, Revelation 13 also states that their lost power will be regained, albeit for a very short time period before Jesus returns. It is important to note here that the Bible gives us a principle that in Bible prophecy a symbolic day equals a literal year. See Ezekiel 4:5-6 and Numbers 14:34. Thus it is that we can say that it is not 1,260 literal days, but it is 1,260 literal years instead.
H. The Bible also states that the papacy also would speak blasphemous words against God. The papacy claims the right to forgive sins, which belongs only to God. Luke 5:21 states claiming the right to forgive sins when you are not God is blasphemy. The papacy also claims to BE God, to be Jesus under the veil of human flesh. John 10:33 defines that claim to be blasphemy as well.
I. Lastly, the Bible states that the antichrist Papacy would attempt to change times and laws. This is where the antichrist makes his direct attack against the Sabbath.
Now of course, no human can actually change the Ten Commandment Law of God. However, the papacy boldly claims the credit for doing so.
Consider the following quotes:
Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters. —C. F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons, in answer to a letter regarding the change of the Sabbath, November 11, 1895.
There is but one church on the face of the earth which has the power, or claims power, to make laws binding on the conscience, binding before God, binding under penalty of hell-fire. For instance, the institution of Sunday. What right has any other church to keep this day? You answer by virtue of the third commandment (the papacy did away with the 2nd regarding the worship of graven images, and called the 4th the 3rd), which says 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.' But Sunday is not the Sabbath. Any schoolboy knows that Sunday is the first day of the week. I have repeatedly offered one thousand dollars to anyone who will prove by the Bible alone that Sunday is the day we are bound to keep, and no one has called for the money. It was the holy Catholic Church that changed the day of rest from Saturday, the seventh day, to Sunday, the first day of the week. —T. Enright, C.S.S.R., in a lecture delivered in 1893.
The Pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine law". The pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts a vicegerent of God upon earth —Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, art. Papa, II, Vol. VI, p. 29.
So you can see, I’m sure, that the papacy is rather bold in their blasphemous claims. Even they admit that Sunday is not the Sabbath of the Bible, and have even challenged people to provide proof, which, of course, nobody has been successful in furnishing.
Now for the mark of the beast.
The Sabbath is the sign of God’s authority, and that is why satan hates it so much, and why satan has come up with his own counterfeit day of worship. Since God has a seal, Satan also has his mark.
But is God’s seal? To find it, we need only to understand that a kingly seal has three elements: the name of the ruler, the title of the ruler, and his territory. Where do we find this in Scripture? Isaiah gives us a very strong indication of where to begin looking.
Isaiah 8:16-20 KJV — Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples…To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Bind the testimony. Seal the law. Testimony is another name for the Ten Commandments, as shown in places such as Psalm 111 and Psalm 119. Bind and Seal in Isaiah 8 are both written as commands, not options. God commands that these be bound and sealed among His people.
The word for seal means to affix one's seal, or to mark; basically, to claim as one’s own. The word for bind means to bind, to be in or bring, or to be shut up in. Thus the Word of God is telling us that we can find God’s Seal in His Ten Commandment Law.
So, let us obey that command and do just that. Where in the Ten Commandments do we find God’s seal? Is there any specific one of the Ten that God will use to seal, bind, and identity those who are His people in the end of time? Let us read below and find exactly what we are looking for.
Exodus 20:8-11 KJV — 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 (His Name) made (Creator, His Title) heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is (His Territory), and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Thus we find the seal of God in the very heart of the Ten Commandments: Commandant number four, the Sabbath Commandment. In the very end of time, the tail end of the world, just before Jesus returns and right around the time the tribulation will begin, we will see this controversy reach all time fever pitch heights.
You see, the whole world will be brought to decide who they will serve: God, or Satan. We’ve discussed what God’s seal is, but what is Satan’s mark, aka, the mark of the beast?
Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters. —C. F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons, in answer to a letter regarding the change of the Sabbath, November 11, 1895.
As we learned in a previous chapter, the antichrist, the beast power that will force the mark of the beast on the world, is the papacy. Learn from their own lips what they claim to be their mark of authority.
Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters. —C. F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons, in answer to a letter regarding the change of the Sabbath, November 11, 1895.
The mark of the beast is Sunday sacredness enforced by secular law. It is not yet the mark of the beast as this law has not yet been made or enforced, although many states within the USA do have Sunday blue laws on their books. And while the scope of this book is not about the USA, Revelation 13 shows us the papacy, the USA, and apostate protestantism will all three work together to force the world to obey the coming Sunday law, aka, the mark of the beast.
But many will point to the fact that Revelation 13 states the mark of the beast is received in either the forehead or the hand. Indeed it does, and so does Revelation 14:9-12.
However, what we must understand is Revelation is highly symbolic. The forehead is where your frontal lobe is housed behind. This is your critical thinking center, where you make your decisions and where you decide what you believe.
To accept the mark of the beast in the forehead is to truly believe that this is the solution to all the ills plaguing the world. Indeed, Revelation 13 shows us that the coming Sunday law will come in on the heels of an attempt to stave off natural disasters, or what evangelicals will see as the judgments of God.
Indeed, Roger Moreau, a former demon worshiper and former attendant of a satanic secret society, stated an over 3 hour interview (easily found on YouTube), that the national and global Sunday laws will be attached to the natural disasters that will destroy whole cities. He stated that as these natural disasters get worse, and as life in general gets much harder for everyone, that the fallen angels, also known as demon spirts, will impress and convince the world of the necessity of Sunday laws. They will see it as the only solution to appease God’s wrath. However, far from appeasing God’s wrath, they will only increase their own judgment and punishment, forcing religion, which no man has any right to do.
To accept the mark of the beast in your right hand is to obey because you want to eat and not die. Revelation 13 tell us that those who refuse to obey the mark of the beast will be prohibited from economic participation, and eventually, declared worthy of death. Those who take the mark in their hand are only interested in self preservation, regardless of whether or not they really believe in it.
PROJECT 2025
Friends, if you don’t believe this is possible, consider looking into something called, “Project 2025.” This is a combination religious and political campaign to try and “take back America.” They even have a document that is around 900 pages, part of which includes a plan to institute a national day of rest, or sabbath of sorts, but that would default to Sunday. The mention of this sunday law of sorts is around page 587 of their document. This is happening right in front of our faces, and out don’t even see it.