THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST

Ask people today what the image of the beast will be and you will hear some saying it will be a literal image like a statue which the beast system will try and force us to bow down to and worship, like Nebuchadnezzar's golden statue in Daniel. Others will say it will be an image of a person in the form of a hologram. While others will say it will be some sort of machine. But are any of these based on Bible truth? No. The reason is because there is much confusion as to who the BEAST is in the first place.

Are we simply going to be forced to worship a literal image, as in a statue, hologram or some kind of machine? No. Friends, Satan is all about deception in these last days, just as 2 Thessalonians 2 says and the majority of professed Christians are deceived upon this point, so much so that many of them are even involved in forming the image of the beast today! That's right! Professed Christians are actually involved in making the image of the beast. The deception is that great! So what is the image of the beast?

To save making this page way too long, let me direct you to another study of ours showing who the BEAST is. If you take a look at our page WHO IS THE 7 HEADED BEAST OF REVELATION, you will see that the first beast can be none other than the Roman Empire in it's PAPAL form [Papal Rome with its headquarters at the Vatican]. Now what is the main feature about the Papacy? It is a union of church and state, with the church directing the affairs of the state. This picture is amplified in Revelation 17 where we see that 'mother of harlots', an apostate church 'riding' (controlling) a beast - the state. Revelation 17 is simply giving a more detailed picture of Revelation 13 - an unholy union of church and state. And that very unholy union has caused the enforcement of religious laws and the persecution of MILLIONS of God's people throughout history and will do so again in the end times.

So if the beast itself is a church-state union, with the church controlling the state, then the IMAGE of the Papal beast will also be a 'Church and State Union', with the church telling the state what to do, 'speaking' and enforcing 'religious laws' upon the people - the mark of the beast!

Now Revelation 13 tells us that it is the SECOND beast which forms the image of the first beast. The second beast, that 'lamb like' nation which ends up speaking as a dragon is none other than the United States of America. No other nation has influence over the world like America does. Please see our page AMERICA IN BIBLE PROPHECY for the truth of the second beast.

So what is America going to form? An image to Papal Rome - a church-state union with the church directing the state.

Revelation 13:14 ...'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.'

Does forcing people to worship a literal image, statue or hologram sound like a deception to you? No, that is not a deception. While Satan confuses the churches with all sorts of diversions and false teachings, he is deceiving them into forming the image of the beast themselves by getting involved in politics and the affairs of this world. But where is the citizenship of every believer in Jesus Christ? Is it not in heaven and the heavenly government of our Creator? So what right has any Christian to do with the political or governmental affairs of any other government or any other kingdom? You must understand this - When we belong to a certain kingdom, we have no business getting involved in the affairs of another kingdom. Christians profess to be citizens of the heavenly kingdom, but they are constantly involving themselves in the political workings of the governments of this earth.

What does Revelation 17 tell us that the earth is deceived by? The wine of Babylon's 'fornication with the kings of the earth.'

If a citizen of Great Britain should come into the United States, still retaining his citizenship in the government of Great Britain, and should take part, or attempt to take part in the political affairs of the United States government, I am sure that the citizens of the United States would not be happy about his meddling and would tell him to focus on his own government. So why do Christians who profess to be citizens of the government of heaven meddle in the affairs of the governments of earth? They are ultimately meddling in the kingdom of Satan and this is what will form the image of the beast - an image of Papal Rome. And the Roman Catholic Church showed us just what happens when church and state come together - enforced religious laws with persecution! Will it be any different with the image of the beast? No!

In the 14th century the great protestant reformation was started by a man named John Wycliffe, who wrote the first English Bible for the common people to read and gain the light of heaven. Then the reformation got into full swing in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to a Catholic Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Throughout the years to follow, the Protestant reformation continued with Calvin, Knox, Wesley, Cranmer, Zwingli and many others.

Now the reason for the Protestant reformation was due to the Roman Catholic Church blinding the world with her false doctrines, traditions and forcing her dogmas upon the world through her fornication with the kings of the earth (Rev.17) and persecuting anyone who would not bow down to her. God broke the darkness of Papal rule through the Protestant reformation, exposing the great error of the popes and Papal Church. These Protestant reformers proclaimed that we need to base our beliefs solely upon the Word of God, rather than upon the traditions of men, which became known as 'sola scriptura'. And no, the early reformers did not come to the full truth of the gospel, but God used them to begin shining light around the world and breaking the darkness of Rome.

Please note, history records that the Roman Catholic Church has tortured and killed at least 50 million people.

The power of the Roman Church began to fall with the Protestant reformation, but the 'deadly wound' was finally inflicted in 1798 when General Berthier marched his French army into Rome and took the pope captive, where he later died. "In 1798 General Berthier made his entrance into Rome, abolished the papal government, and established a secular one" (Encyclopedia Britannica 1941 edition). This put an end to the Papal rule which spanned from 538 - 1798, a total of 1260 years. This "deadly wound" to the 'Papal head' of the first beast was prophesied in Revelation 13. But the same chapter also prophesied the "healing" of the deadly wound.

Revelation 13:3 ...'And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.'

That deadly wound began it's healing in 1929 when Mussolini signed an agreement with the Vatican giving them once again CIVIL POWER! And since then, the Papal Church of Rome has been growing in strength, by making agreements and securing the support of the nations of the world. In 2018, the Vatican had "diplomatic relations" with 183 of the 192 UN world states, and that number is growing all the time. So before long, the Roman Catholic Church will have the support of the whole world!

But this healing of the deadly wound is not just a civil healing. The main healing will come from the Protestant churches forming a union back with their 'mother.' And today we are seeing a great push for the various churches to come together with the Roman Catholic Church in this ecumenical movement. They are even saying that the past separation was a 'misunderstanding.' Just look at the following news article from 1999:

"Now as the Augsburg accord suggests, the value of separate denominations is under question. The Lutheran - Catholic concord is ""one of the most important ecumenical moments of the century", said the Rev. Joseph Komonchak ... This document appears to be saying that the doctrine that Luther thought was central to the reformation, and which led him to undertake it, is not one on which there are serious enough differences between Catholics and Lutherans to justify the division of the church ... Today, the heirs of that acrimony and fracture, the leaders of the modern Lutheran and Roman Catholic Churches, signed a document that officially settles the central argument about the nature of faith that Luther provoked. The agreement declares, in effect, that it was all a misunderstanding ... The agreement is significant beyond the dispute over doctrine that it resolves. It has deep implications for future relations among Catholics and Protestants, said theologians and church leaders. Many said the accord gives added promise to the ideal of their denominations champion - of full communion, or merger, between the churches". (The Washington Post, Nov 1. 1999)

Let's just think about this for a moment. The church leaders are now trying to say that tens of millions of TRUE Christians who obeyed the Word of God over Roman Catholic Church tradition, who were tortured and killed for simply following the Word of God instead of Rome, was a MISUNDERSTANDING!!?? Let me tell you what it was. It was Satan using the Roman Catholic Church to persecute anyone who believed in the True Word of God and wanted to live by it. There was NO misunderstanding on the part of the Christian martyrs who would rather die than bow down to Roman Catholic heresy. You will also notice in the above quote that this union between the Lutheran Church and the Catholic Church has paved the way for the other Protestant Churches to unite with them, which we are seeing take place TODAY.

Have you noticed the term 'Protestant' has been dropped by the majority of professed Christians in America and have replaced it with 'evangelical'. This is because they no longer see themselves as 'protesting against Rome'. Instead they are JOINING with her again!

"If Satan has been permitted to make use of Paganism as an instrument of deception, and also of Papacy, which is Christianity in a corrupt form, why may he not be permitted to make use of Protestantism also, when it becomes corrupt, as, if possible, a more efficient instrument of deception than either of the former?" (J.N.Andrews, Review and Herald, May 19, 1851, p.84)

Revelation 13:14 .....'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.'

Revelation 13 tells us that the 'second beast from the earth' will form the image to the first beast (the Papacy) and cause the whole world to bow down to the image of the beast and take the mark of the beast. Now which one nation on earth has the power to do such a thing? The only nation capable of doing this, the nation which rose 'as a lamb' and 'speak as a dragon' is America. (see America in Prophecy). So the nation of America tells the people to form an image of the Papal Church of Rome. In other words, they tell the people to form a church state union in America. And look at how much this has progressed with the Trump administration. Church leaders are now directing the affairs of the state, seeking to 'turn the nation back to God.' But these church leaders follow the traditions of Rome rather than the truth of God's Word.

"When the churches of our land, uniting upon such points of faith as are held by them in common, shall influence the State to enforce their decrees and sustain their institutions, then will Protestant America have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy." (The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol.4, p.278-279)

Just look at the following quote from the Christian Coalition of America website:

"Christian Coalition offers people of faith the vehicle to be actively involved in impacting the issues they care about - from the county courthouse to the halls of congress ... The Coalition is a political organization ... We actively lobby Congress and the White House on numerous issues ... Today, Christians need to play an active role in government again like never before". (signed, Roberta Combs, President. 'About us' page on Christian Coalition of America website)

We can clearly see just from the above quote that there is a Protestant movement (Roman Catholic by design) in America for Christians to gain civil power and impact the laws of the land. And this is known as the "Catholicization of America", which the Roman Catholic Church had planned since the Christian pilgrims went to the New Land to escape the persecution of the Papal Church. And today we are seeing this happening.

In 2004, for the first time, Roman Catholic and Evangelical Churches join in a new alliance!

"In the past two decades, the American religious Right has become increasingly Catholic ... What is new is the prominence that these Catholic thinkers and leaders have come to have within the domains of American politics that are dominated by evangelical Protestants ... In political terms, the evangelical Protestant Right has become Catholicized. They do not see Catholicism as a religion very different from their own because it leads to the same positions on the battlefield." (Howard Schweber, Professor, University of Wisconsin - Article for Huffington Post, Feb. 2012)

What a statement! Protestants don't see Catholicism as different from their own faith. And yet America was built upon the very people who were ESCAPING Catholicism!

The Papal Church of Rome is a religious/political institution and during the dark ages it forced it's own religious dogmas through the nations that supported her. In the same way the Protestants of America will cause congress and the President to force religious laws, 'speaking and causing' the world to take the mark of the beast. But they will think, just like Rome did back in the dark ages that they will be doing God's work, when in fact they will be doing the work of the devil.

Revelation 13:15 .....'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.'

The "speaking" of the image is the act of enforcing laws, which the Protestant churches are seeking now and will soon be able to accomplish. They are seeking to turn America back to God and they will believe that forcing religious laws will do that. But sadly, the religious laws, like the Sunday rest law many are seeking is a tradition of Rome, not a law of God. Rome has been seeking her Sunday rest law to be enforced around the world for a long time, and she will use her 'daughter' churches in America to achieve this. This will be the mark of the beast deception.

"The Blair Sunday bill now before Congress, demanding that the Government shall enforce the observance of Sunday, will, if passed, have this effect; and should it fail, a similar or a more stringent one will yet pass; and when such is the case, the image of the beast will be formed, and through the powerful influence of this nation, every civilized nation in the world will be inspired to either enact Sunday laws, or strictly enforce those already enacted. Then will all the world worship the beast and his image." (Review and Herald, January 1, 1889, p.2)

NOTE: The majority of churches today have already united with the governments of the world, in securing their 'tax exempt' status. Through this act, the churches have united with government, rather than uniting wholly with God.

Please do not join this ecumenical movement, but heed God's call to Come out of Her My People. Study the Word of God for yourself and stand firm on the truth, no matter what. This image of the beast will seem like a good thing when it is fully formed and it will deceive the majority of people, because Satan is the one behind it, and he is the master deceiver, trying if possible to "deceive the very elect". But stay separate and make a stand with God's end time remnant people.