This is an excerpt from a book by Bro F.G. Smith: The Revelation Explained.
Revelation chapter 13
11. And I
beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and
he had two
horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
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.
13. And he
doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down
from heaven
on the earth in the sight of men,
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.
18. 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.
The symbolic description of this beast directs us
also to a political and a religious system rising at the expiration of
the twelve hundred and sixty years' reign of the first beast, but that
he was no such terrible beast politically as the one before him is
proved by the fact that he had but two horns and they _like a lamb_.
This beast rose "out of the earth"--the Apocalyptic earth, or the
territory of the Roman empire. The first beast rose out of the sea, which,
as before shown, signifies the heart of the empire in an agitated
state; for the ten horns came up through the greatest political
convulsions that the page of history records. When John beheld the second beast
"coming up," however, the empire was in a state of comparative
quiet, although fierce wars followed afterward. He stands as a symbol of
_Protestantism_ in Europe; although his power and influence afterwards
extended beyond the "earth"--the Apocalyptic earth--into
"the whole world." Chap. 16:14. That this beast came up upon the same territory
occupied by the Papacy is proved also by the statement that "he
exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him." It was predicted in a
subsequent chapter (17:16) that the ten horns, or kingdoms of Europe,
after supporting the Papacy during the Dark Ages, would later turn against
her. This has met a remarkable fulfillment under the reign of
Protestantism.
The first two nations to turn violently against
Popery were England and Germany. They have ever since been the chief
supporters and defenders of Protestantism, and they are doubtless the two
kingdoms symbolized by the two horns of the beast. While at one time the Pope
was a temporal sovereign and could, by his political and
ecclesiastical power, humble with ease the mightiest nations of Europe before him,
his authority has been wrested from him by degrees, so that to-day not
a vestige of his temporal power remains, and his anathemas fall
harmlessly. The nations have asserted their rights as kings. When King Victor
Emmanuel entered Rome on the twentieth day of September, 1870, the
Pope's temporal sun set forever, and he does not control even the city in
which he lives--Rome. He is often referred to as "the
prisoner of the Vatican."
"He that leadeth into captivity shall go into
captivity," said the prophecy; "he that killeth with the sword must
be killed with the sword." It was by force of arms that the Popes
obtained and maintained their temporal power over the nations, and by the
force of arms they have had their authority torn from them. Religion has
been referred to as "the basis of government"; for the
legislators of any country are to a great degree influenced in their deliberations by
religious sentiments. In all Protestant countries that greatest
of Protestant principles, religious liberty, is as truly recognized
by statute as was that infernal principle of the Papacy, religious
intolerance, when formerly enforced by law. Protestant principles have
so far permeated the nations of Europe formerly controlled by the
Papacy that religious toleration is generally granted. In Italy, the
headquarters of Popedom, where the Catholics are greatly in the majority,
religious liberty is granted by law. And even Spain, denominated by the
Encyclopædia Britannica "the most Catholic country in the
world," exhibits "a general
indifferentism to religion," meaning that the
fanaticism and intolerance of former ages that caused thousands, and perhaps
millions, to be slain, is rapidly dying out. In the vision before us,
however, the special actions ascribed to this beast--_speaking_, working
miracles, deceiving, making an image and imparting life to it, etc., which
all belong properly to the department of human life--show
conclusively that it is the character of this beast as an _ecclesiastical
power_ that is the chief point under consideration. He was not to become
such a terrible beast politically (for his horns were only _like a
lamb_), but "he
_spake_ as a dragon." As soon as we enter the
department to which _speaking_ by analogy refers us, we find this beast
to be a great religious power; and it is in this character alone
that he is delineated in the remainder of the chapter. That the description
of a religious system is the main burden of this symbol, is shown
also by the fact that it is in every case referred to in subsequent chapters
as the "false
prophet." Chap. 16:13; 19:20; 20:10. Therefore
every reference I make to this second beast hereafter should be understood as
signifying the religious system of Protestantism, unless otherwise
stated.
That Protestantism in its many forms can be properly
represented by a single symbol--a beast or false prophet--may seem a
little strange at first; but when we come to consider next the making
of an image to the beast, it will be seen that the Protestant sects,
from God's standpoint of viewing, are all alike in character, as were the
multitudinous forms of heathen worship represented under the single
symbol of the dragon. Hence only one beast, or the making of one image, was
necessary to stand as representative of the entire number. It will be
noticed by the reader that from verse 12 to the close of the chapter the
term _beast_ signifies the first beast, or the Papacy, and that
the second beast, or Protestantism, is designated by the pronoun _he_.
_Image_ is defined to be "an imitation, representation,
similitude of any person or thing; a copy, a likeness, an
effigy." The second beast, then, is to manufacture something in _imitation_ of
the first beast. If any doubt exists as to which phase of the first
beast, political or ecclesiastical, is copied, it can be settled by
considering what is said
of the image made from the original. "The image
of the beast
should--_speak_." This directs us by analogy, as
heretofore explained,
to the department of religious affairs; hence the
second beast forms an
_ecclesiastical organization_ in imitation of the
hierarchy of Rome. At
this juncture the Protestant will doubtless exclaim,
"Oh, our churches
are nothing like the church of Rome!" But
consider a little in the light
of truth. God's Word teaches that they bear the close
relationship of
_mother_ and her _daughters_ (Rev. 17:5), and by the
help of the Lord we
shall point out a similarity of character in this and
subsequent
chapters. The symbol of the church of Rome in chapter
17 is that of a
corrupt _prostitute_, while the symbol of
Protestantism is that of her
_harlot daughters_. The Roman church is a humanly
organized institution
governed by a set of fallible men, their claims of
infallibility to the
contrary notwithstanding. Protestant sects, likewise,
are all human
organizations (even though they may sometimes deny
it), and are governed
by a man or a conference of men. The Roman Catholic
church makes and
prescribes the theology that her members believe.
Protestant churches,
also, make their own disciplines and prescribe rules
of faith and
practise. The Word of God, inspired by his Spirit,
could not be enforced
in Romanism without destroying it; for its main
spirit is Antichrist.
So, too, the whole Word in Protestantism would soon
annihilate her
God-dishonoring sects; for they are all contrary to
its plain teachings,
which condemn divisions and enjoin perfect unity and
oneness upon the
redeemed of the Lord. What is said concerning the
image of the beast
applies to sectarianism as a whole and the human organization
of all her
so-called churches, regardless of the differences
that exist between
them as individual institutions; for they may differ
as widely as the
various systems of heathen religions symbolized by
the dragon, yet they
can be represented by the single symbol of an image
to the first beast,
because they are built upon the same general
principles--are but human
organizations, falsely called churches of Christ, and
are all contrary
to the Scriptures.
Imparting life to the image of the beast simply
signifies the complete
organization of the ecclesiastical institutions so
that they are capable
of self-government and their decrees possess
authority. Every living
body is animated by a spirit. The sectarian spirit
that animates the
Methodist body will lead people into that body, etc.;
but the one Spirit
of God will, if permitted, baptize us all into the
one body of Christ,
where we can all "drink into one Spirit." 1
Cor. 12:13. "And he spake as
a dragon" signifies the great authority by which
his laws are enacted
and enforced upon the people.
"And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh
fire come down from
heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 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." Fire
from heaven upon Elijah's
sacrifice was the attestation of God to his divine
mission. Bringing
down fire from heaven, then, symbolically describes
the claims of this
beast to being a true prophet of the Lord.
At this point we must make a distinction which, being
true in the facts
of history, must necessarily be intended in the
symbolic representation.
According to the symbols of the preceding chapter the
woman, or true
church, "fled into the wilderness, where she
hath a place prepared of
God, that they should feed her there a thousand two
hundred and
threescore days." The time-prophecy is the same
and covers the same
period as the reign of the Papal beast; therefore
just as an important
change in the Papacy occured at the expiration of the
prophetic period,
so also we must expect a radical change with respect
to the true church:
it must no longer be completely obscured in the
wilderness.
As the Reformation, and Protestantism as a religion,
was the means of
ending Rome's universal spiritual supremacy, so also
the same movement
must be regarded as possessing sufficient light and
truth to again bring
into prominence the work of the Spirit and the true
people of God. "Fire
from heaven" may therefore be regarded as
describing the divine work of
reformation, the unfolding of truth accompanied by
the saving power of
God. Such spiritual work has accompanied the origin
of various religious
movements during the Protestant era.
The general description of the two-horned beast,
however, brings into
prominence an evil characteristic--the disposition to
lead people into
deception by making an image to the beast and then
worshiping it. The
evil does not inhere in the work of bringing down
"fire from heaven,"
but in image-making and image-worship, for which the
Spiritual work
simply furnished an occasion. The Spiritual work of
reformation is
therefore to be distinguished from the later work of
creed- and
sect-making. And since the beast takes advantage of
Spirit
manifestations, in order to deceive men, he becomes a
sort of apostate
and is denominated "the _false prophet_."
See Chap. 16:14; 19:20.
Ecclesiastically considered, the two-horned beast
stands as the symbol
of the religious system of Protestantism as a
whole--a peculiar
combination of truth and error, of good and bad, of
"fire from heaven"
and false, miracle-working power (chap. 16:14); while
the "image to the
beast" signifies the sectarian institution--the
man-made,
man-controlled, unscriptural sect machinery
manufactured in imitation of
the Papal original. To exalt such earth-born churches
and lead people to
adore and worship them is but a species of idolatry
and the rankest
deception. It is a sad fact that multitudes of people
in Protestantism
are more devoted to their particular church than they
are to the Lord
Jesus Christ. They can witness the open rejection of
God's precious Word
and the vilest profanation of his holy name, without
uttering a word of
protest; but let anyone say a word against _their
church_, and instantly
they are aroused to the highest pitch of
excitement--beast-worshipers!
The Protestant era has witnessed many wonderful
reformations in which
the true fire of God fell upon waiting souls, but
this initial work of
the Spirit has in each case been employed as an
excuse for taking the
next step--making an image. Thousands of honest
souls, lacking better
light, have been induced to submit to such human
organization. But the
truly saved have always loved and adored their Lord
more than the human
church to which they were attached, therefore they
should not be
regarded as beast-worshipers. They are the ones whom
the Lord
denominates his people when the voice is heard
calling them out of
Babylon. Chap. 18:4.
The "mark of the beast" next claims our
attention. The beast referred to
is the Papacy. How did the Papacy mark its subjects?
Undoubtedly, by the
false spirit which animated that organization,
branding them all with
its delusive doctrines and errors. In a previous
chapter the servants of
God were represented as receiving the seal of God in
their foreheads.
This was shown to signify the pure Word and doctrines
of the Bible being
planted within them by the Holy Spirit. In making the
sect image in
imitation of the Papal original, then, the principle
of marking subjects
has also been copied. The members of every sect
organization are
indelibly marked. You cannot become one of them
without solemnly
agreeing to believe the doctrines taught in their
discipline and
accepting the government of their man-made
institutions. Subscribing to
the rules of faith and practise that originated with
the sect shows how
its members worship the image. They are also said to
worship the first
beast, the original of the image. How is this
fulfilled? In the same
manner that the worshipers of the first beast
worshiped the dragon that
preceded it; namely, by accepting and believing false
principles of
faith that originated in the system immediately
preceding. Protestant
sects have transferred many of the false doctrines of
Romanism to their
own creeds, hence they worship the first beast just
as truly as the
Papists worshiped the dragon by accepting heathenish
principles. The
greatest principle of false doctrine that originated
with Catholicism,
and one that has been transferred to _every
Protestant sect_, is, that a
human organization is necessary to complete the
church of Christ on
earth. The church of Rome has an earthly head and a
human government;
and Protestants, also, firmly believe the
unscriptural doctrine that
they must bow to an organization of men and thus be
under a visible
headship: they receive the mark of the beast. Many
sects have also
copied other Popish doctrines, such as infant
baptism, the destruction
of all outside of the pales of the church (?),
infantile damnation,
sprinkling, and other things too numerous to mention.
Thus, they worship
the first beast as well as his image.
They also receive the "name of the beast."
Here again "beast" refers to
the Papacy. The Papal beast was represented as being
full of the names
of blasphemy, which blasphemy was shown to signify
the usurpation of
prerogatives and rights belonging to God alone. The
greatest
ecclesiastical usurpation reached by the Romish
hierarchy was that of
claiming to be the head of the church and the right
to prescribe and
enforce their doctrines, naming their organization
the _Holy Catholic
Church_. In making their sect organizations in
imitation, Protestants,
as above stated, have transferred the same principle
and make the same
blasphemous claim of a right to make disciplines to
govern God's people,
and then name their sect machinery a _church_ of God.
The name may be
Methodist, Baptist, Mennonite, Episcopalian, or what
not, it is only a
_beast name_, yet a name that you must accept if you
desire to become
one of them.
They not only receive the name of the beast, but also
receive the
"number of his name." It will be necessary
first to explain what is
meant by the number of a name. "The modern system
of notation by the
nine digits and the cipher, was not introduced until
the tenth century,
but on account of its superior excellence, has since
superseded every
other. Previous to this great discovery, the letters
of the alphabet
were used to denote numbers, each letter having the
power of a _number_
as well as a _sound_. The same system is still
retained among us for
certain purposes. The Roman letters I. V. X. L. C. D.
M., have each the
power of expressing a number. This, however, was the
common and the best
mode of notation that the ancients possessed."
The number of a name,
therefore, was merely the number denoted by the
several letters of that
name.
The number of the name of the beast--the first
beast--is said to be the
number of a _man_. When we enter the Romish hierarchy
and search for a
man the number of whose name will be six hundred and
sixty-six, where
could we go more appropriately than to the Pope
himself, its authorized
head? The Scriptures point him out particularly as
the "_man_ of sin,"
"the son of perdition." 2 Thes. 2:3, 4. Has
the Pope of Rome a name the
letters of which, used as numerals, make six hundred
and sixty-six? Yes.
He wears in jeweled letters upon his miter the
following blasphemous
inscription: _Vicarius Filii Dei_--Vicar of the Son
of God. Taking out
of this name all the letters that the Latins used as
numerals, we have
just six hundred and sixty-six. U and V were both
formerly used to
denote five.
V .....
5 F ..... 0
I .....
1 I ..... 1
C ...
100 L .... 50
A .....
0 I ..... 1
R .....
0 I ..... 1
I .....
1 D ... 500
U .....
5 E ..... 0
S .....
0 I ..... 1
---
666
In some manner the worshipers of Protestant images
also receive the
number of this name--six hundred and sixty-six. The
name is that of
"Vicar of the Son of God." In all
Protestantism (see remarks on chapter
11:7, 8) the true Vicars of Christ on earth--the Word
and Spirit of
God--have been set aside, and conferences of men have
taken their places
in all the official acts relative to spiritual
affairs. Hence the number
of the name applies to them as well. What that number
specially
symbolizes I do not know, unless it is, as has been
explained by
others--_division_. While the policy of Romanism has
been that of unity,
still the false claims made by one individual can be
as well made by
another, and by many, which has been the case, as
just explained;
therefore it would not be improper at all to make the
Pope's number a
symbol of the whole, since his system has been so
largely copied by the
rest. The whole structure of sectarianism is built on
the principle of
division, and it so happens that there is always
enough left to divide
again. So this special number is perhaps the symbol
of endless division,
signifying the great number of human organizations
claiming to be
churches of Christ. The church of God, however, is
built on the
principal of unity; division is destruction to its
true nature and life,
for it is Christ's body.
It is further said 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." To "buy or
sell" is to engage in the ordinary pursuits of
life and have intercourse
with human society. Applying this as a symbol to theanalogous
department of the church, we have the fact set forth
that those without
the special mark have no more recognized standing in
the so-called
churches than men that are not allowed to buy or sell
have in a
community. But _selling_, as a symbol, would
specially indicate the
dealing out of truth, or the preaching of the gospel.
A Holy Ghost
minister in the clear light of heaven's truth,
independent of all the
creeds of Babylon, will not be allowed the privilege
of laboring freely
among sectarians, after the truth for which he stands
becomes well
known. And if he holds meetings in the community, the
members of the
sects are often warned by their leaders against
"buying"--receiving--it
from the Holy Ghost minister, because of his not
having the mark or name
of the beast. Their ministers are specially marked,
for they come out of
their colleges and theological seminaries with the
stamp of their
respective doctrines upon them and a license from the
sect to enter its
ministry; and those not thus marked or designated
have no place among
them. This may also explain the manner in which the
beast causes those
who will not worship the image to be killed--ananalogous
killing;
namely, an ecclesiastical cutting-off, or excommunication,
as explained
in previous chapters.[9]
[Footnote 9: The early history of Protestantism shows
that at that time
the principle of religious intolerance brought over
from Romanism
manifested itself in the actual putting to death of
numerous dissenters.
For example see pp. 252, 291-294 of the present work.
It is possible
that the persecuting principle ascribed to the
two-horned beast may
include both the literal and the ecclesiastical
cutting-off, reference
being made directly to the intolerant spirit.]
The facts just stated are well illustrated by the
following
circumstances. A few years ago a brother in the
ministry went into a
certain town to find a place to conduct a series of
holiness meetings.
He was directed by a Presbyterian lady to their
pastor, who, she said,
was a believer in the doctrine of holiness. When he
called on the
minister and made known his errand, the first
question asked him was
this, "Are you a member of the Presbyterian
church?" The brother
answered in the negative. He did not have the _name
of the beast_. The
next question that greeted him was this, "Do you
believe the Westminster
Confession of Faith to be orthodox?" He
answered, "No, sir." He did not
have the _mark of the beast_. The last question asked
was, "Do you
belong to any of the various orthodox Protestant
denominations?" The
brother said, "No." He did not have the
_number of his name_. The answer
was, "You cannot have our house."
While on a missionary trip in the Near East, the
writer, in company with
another brother, attended a Seventh-Day Adventist
service in Bucharest,
Roumania. After the sermon another brother requested
that we be given
the opportunity to speak a little, but the request
was absolutely
refused. It was explained that we would say nothing
against them or
their work but only speak about salvation; but we
were not permitted
even to testify in a few words. The difficulty was
that we did not have
either the "mark of the beast" or its
"name."
