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Mark of the Beast introduction – http://www.markbeast.org Bible Prophecy foretells that the mark of the beast will come upon “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave” and that whoever receives the mark of the beast will be doomed forever. Revelation 14:9-11 says their destiny will be “fire,” “brimstone” and “the wrath of God.” If you search the entire Bible, you will never find a more solemn warning than what is written in this passage, and thus the mark of the beast is evidently something very significant and extremely important to God. Despite this, there are countless Christians that have concluded there are no clear answers on what the mark of the beast can be. There is no doubt that God is very serious about this subject and that the primary motive behind His passionate warning is His genuine love for all of mankind. This very same love was best demonstrated when He gave His only Son to die on the cross for the sins of the entire world. Scripture also reveals that God only punishes His children for something that is a sin against Him and the mark of the beast is no different. Thus the mark of the beast is obviously a serious sin against God and why it incurs His full wrath. Since the mark of the beast is such an extremely important issue to God, why would He make it incomprehensible? Jesus said in Revelation 1:3 that the reader who hears and understands the words of the prophecies contained in this book are blessed. God has always intended for us to comprehend the book of Revelation and the mark of the beast is no exception. The truth can be understood and is already known by millions, but the majority have no idea because they are fighting with all their heart, might and soul to avoid something that has always been exceedingly important to God. The mark of the beast comes indirectly from the Satan and not the Lord and thus the Bible is really warning us about a final assault from an ancient foe against our souls. The mark of the beast is the Devil’s greatest delusion and it occurs just before Jesus Christ returns. When prophecy minded Christians contemplate the mark of the beast, they commonly assume it will be some sort of hi-tech computerized microchip, such as an RFID chip that will be surgically inserted under human skin by the government. Others are convinced the mark will take the form of a national ID card without which no one can buy or sell. Apocalyptic movies portray the masses with the number 666 tattooed above their noses. Endless speculation exists with the keyword being speculation. Most really don’t know what the mark of the beast is at all. For instance, the majority believe that 666 is the mark of the beast yet how many have missed that Revelation 13:17 states that the number and the mark are two separate symbols and so it is not possible for the mark of the beast to be 666. The truth on this mysterious number should be as well known as the origin of this solar seal with the number 666 on it that we will discuss in fine detail later. Revelation 19:20 states, “He deceived them that had received the mark of the beast.” The Devil is no fool and the mark of the beast is by far his greatest end time delusion and why those who get the mark of the beast are deceived. Since the mark of the beast deceives the world, it must be something the majority is already deceived on or not very obvious. Just think for a moment. How many people do you know that would allow big government to implant something inside their heads? And how could we possibly call this deceptive? The purpose of the information provided here is to pinpoint exactly what the “mark of the beast” is and who enforces it so you can avoid it. Those alive on earth when the mark of the beast comes must resist it at all costs as it is a life or death choice with the destiny of our souls at stake. So we will be avoiding hazy speculation and sticking with plain facts. You will be surprised how much ignorance there is on what the Word actually does say about the mark of the beast. The information contained here may be shocking to some but nevertheless, the details come directly from the Bible and history. Is the Mark of the Beast Technology? We just read how Revelation 19:20 says, “He deceived them that had received the mark of the beast” so we know that 666 and the mark of the beast has to involve some sort of subtle deception or be something we are already deceived on. If the mark was some form of technology that the entire world already seems to think is the obvious answer, then how could almost the entire world be misled? Jesus warned us that Satan’s deceptions are so deceptive they can “deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:24. Microchip Technology ‐ Biochip, Verichip or Barcode etc? How deceptive would it be for someone to command everyone to accept a computerized microchip in their forehead or hands? The Bible does not specifically say it will be a microchip such as a “miniature biochip or verichip” or that it will even involve any form of technology. These modern words, “biochip,” “verichip,” “bar code,” “computer” and “technology” do not appear in Revelation. People just assume that it will happen this way but it is nothing but pure speculation. How many people do you know that would accept the government implanting microchip technology inside their heads? The King James Bible is partially to blame for some thinking it is a chip implant as Revelation 13:16; 14:9 and 20:4 have incorrectly translated the Greek word “Epi” as “in” instead of “on” or “upon.” The KJV Bible is correct only once in Revelation 20:4 where it says, “upon their foreheads.” Thus the correct translation of all these verses is “on” or “upon” the hand or forehead and not in. Most also seem to overlook the mark of God that also goes on our forehead. What factors define those who get the seal or mark of God in their forehead versus those who get the mark of the beast? And what is God’s mark? Is it going to be a tattoo, barcode or microchip? I think most would agree that the seal of God is symbolic and is not literal and therefore stands to reason that the same symbology also applies to the mark of the beast since they are in competition to each other. You cannot get both as you either receive the mark of God or the mark of the Beast. See Revelation 7:3 and Revelation 9:4. We know Satan counterfeits most things of God and the mark of the Beast is the counterfeit to the mark of God. For instance, there is the true gift of tongues and a counterfeit speaking in tongues. Establishing what God’s mark is will point you to what the counterfeit is. How could technology be a counterfeit to the Seal of God? Is God into technology such as microchips etc? 2 Peter 1:20 says, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” Bearing in mind that the Bible has no reasonable reference to microchips or other technology, so this can only be considered as “private interpretation” and is neither allowed nor necessary. This would also be considered as adding to the book of Revelation, which also carries an extremely severe warning. Revelation 22:18-19 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” Why do some think the Mark of the Beast is Technology? The speculation that 666 or the mark of the beast is technology originated from error as those responsible did not even notice that 666 and the MARK are two separate symbols. Even today most still assume that 666 is the mark of the beast because they do not carefully read what the Bible does say. So when barcodes first appeared, some bright spark figured that those enforcing the mark were going to hide 666 in a barcode and so paranoia ensued. Of course this was based on incorrect knowledge of the Word anyway as 666 is NOT the mark! The technology theory has just snowballed from there and has continued to gain momentum over time. Further speculation comes from the following verse but where does this verse state in any way that it will be microchips or technology? As you can see, it does not. Revelation 13:17 “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.” Technology cannot be the Mark of the Beast It was assumed that if one cannot buy or sell then it must be controlled by some form of technology, and while Satan could use this to play a deceptive role, it is not 666 or the mark of the beast. Look at the above passage very closely. Note it says that you cannot buy or sell unless you have the MARK or the NAME or the NUMBER of his name. If the MARK was a computer chip and you did not have the MARK but you had the NAME or the NUMBER, you would still be able to buy and sell and yet you would not have the MARK. So what good would it be if the mark of the beast was technology? None whatsoever! So technology being the mark of the beast is found to be impossible and does not fit the context of the passages on the mark or the entire Bible. So careful exegesis on what the Bible does say ends another unbiblical assumption. We must follow the Bible alone and strive to be like the Berean Christians who read the Word daily to see if what they were told was true. (Acts 17:11) Note that the mark of the beast must be something that is a free will decision as one would not receive the full wrath of God for something that was forced upon you. Why would God pour out His most fiercest wrath upon you based on an implanted microchip anyway, which could be forced? Some claim because the mark of the beast is the mark of the devil but even if this were true, the free will issue remains the same. When we Is the Mark of the Beast from Satan? A lot of the speculation comes from the actual phrase, “The Mark of the Beast.” What does one typically think of when they hear this phrase? The first thought of the majority is that it is something satanic and horrible and extremely sinister. Remember that God also has a mark, which is more commonly called the Seal of God but can also be called the Mark of God. (Revelation 7:3; 9:4) What do you think of when you hear the phrase “The Seal of God” or “The Mark of God?” Most instantly think that it must be symbolic as God does not use technology and of course this phrase does not sound sinister or horrific at all. Why not? If we can cast some light on what the phrase “the Mark of the Beast” actually means, you will find that your whole conception of the mark of the beast will change dramatically. Is 666 the Devils Number? Many believe that 666 is the devil’s number because when they contemplate the phrase the “mark of the beast” they typically associate this phrase with Satan. The first thoughts that typically come to mind are something beastly and horrible like many envisage Satan’s appearance, but he was actually created a beautiful angel. The fact is, the Bible consistently uses the term “Beast” to describe a kingdom just as many nations today have an animal or beast that represents their country. For example: Australia has the Kangaroo and America, the Bald Eagle. Daniel 7:4 says that “the first beast was like a lion” and all theologians agree that this beast represents Babylon. This lion found on the Ishtar gate from the ancient ruins of Babylon is one of many and is not by coincidence. God had reason for all the beasts He chose. Daniel chapter 7 describes not just one but four beasts coming out of the sea and the fourth is indeed very horrible in appearance but what does the angelic interpreter say these four beasts represent? I imagine the answer is probably fairly obvious by now. Daniel 7:17 “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.” And Daniel 7:23 speaking of Pagan Rome, “Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.” So according to the angel, what is a beast in prophecy? Does it represent one man or Satan like so many assume? Or how about a three story supercomputer in Belgium as some others have wildly speculated? Nope, definitely not. According to Daniel 7:17 and 7:23, a beast represents a kingdom. Don’t forget this or we might end up thinking that Osama bin Laden, Mikhail Gorbachev or even Barack Obama is the beast. While such theories may titillate, they totally lack Biblical substance. The following two verses reveal what God used to symbolically represent Satan and as you can see it is not the Beast but a dragon or serpent. Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 20:2 “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,” Now note the following verse that identifies the beast and Satan as two separate entities and puts to rest the fallacy that the beast is Satan. Revelation 20:10 “And THE DEVIL that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where THE BEAST and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Who is the Beast that enforces the Mark? So who is this beast (kingdom) that enforces the mark? The following are not just our thoughts or the thoughts of some particular denomination but truth that was discovered by many brilliant people several centuries ago. We are not going to go into any detail that proves who the beast power is but there is a link below for those who want conclusive and very detailed evidence that is both fascinating and essential reading. The identity of the beast was first discovered in 1517 by Martin Luther who was a Roman Catholic Priest. He found that the beast is none other than the very Church he belonged to. Thus, what we are dealing with is not the mark of the devil but the mark of the beast, which more specifically is the mark of the Roman Catholic Church. What do you think of now when you hear the phrase, “The Mark of the Catholic Church?” Does it still sound sinister and horrific? Do you still think of technology? Would you agree that it now takes on a whole new meaning? Many Famous People knew Who is the Beast All these brilliant people knew that the Roman Catholic Papal Church is the little horn of Daniel 7, which is synonymous with the first beast of Revelation 13 that enforces 666 and the mark of the beast, and some of them died by the hand of the Roman Catholic Church. See also who is the antichrist. “John Wycliffe, William Tyndale (translated the Bible - Tyndale Bible), Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer; in the seventeenth century, Bunyan, the translators of the KING JAMES BIBLE and the men who published the Westminster and Baptist confessions of Faith; Sir Isaac Newton, John Wesley, Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards; and more recently Spurgeon, Bishop J.C. Ryle and Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones; these men among countless others, all saw the office of the Papacy as the antichrist.” — All Roads Lead to Rome, by Michael de Semlyen. Dorchestor House Publications, p. 205. 1991. More than fifty Popes have shown themselves to be atheists. The history of Popes records drunkenness, homosexuality, rape, murder, torture, adultery, incest, selling religious offices and much more. Many Popes have been labelled the most EVIL men in history. Here are some brief examples. Popes from 366-1045 AD, 1088-1492 AD and 1503-1958 AD. Here is the response given by the Catholic Church in regards to the reign of terror and bloodshed that evil Popes have done over the centuries. How could any man believe that we honour Christ with evil or obeying Satan or Satanic people? So does the Catholic Church specialize in technology or enforcing computer chips? Not likely! And again, why would this make God so angry that He would pour out His full wrath upon you. This is our most merciful and forgiving God that sent His only Son to die for our sins. Clearly, there is more to this and why Jesus says those who receive the mark are DECEIVED. The Catholic Church have enforced many things by death over the centuries but it was never technology, it was ALWAYS their religious viewpoint that was enforced by the death of millions. This is what the book of Revelation also reveals. Not (“Bible Alone”), Nihil Obstat, February 1, 1912 by Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor, Imprimatur. John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. “We confess that the Pope has power of changing Scripture and of adding to it, and taking from it, according to his will.” — Roman Catholic Confessions for Protestants Oath, Article XI, (Confessio Romano-Catholica in Hungaria Evangelicis publice praescripta te proposita, editi a Streitwolf), as recorded in Congressional Record of the U.S.A., House Bill 1523, Contested election case of Eugene C. Bonniwell, against Thos. S. Butler, Feb. 15, 1913. “The Saviour Himself is the door of the sheepfold: ‘I am the door of the sheep.’ Into this fold of Jesus Christ, no man may enter unless he be led by the Sovereign Pontiff; and only if they be united to him can men be saved, for the Roman Pontiff is the Vicar of Christ and His personal representative on earth.” — Pope John XXIII in his homily to the Bishops and faithful assisting at his coronation on November 4, 1958. “Indeed, there is but one universal Church of the faithful outside of which no one at all is saved.” — Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215; Denz. 151. “He is a heretic who does not believe what the Roman Hierarchy teaches.” — The American Textbook of Popery, p 164 (quoting from the “Directory for the Inquisitors”). What does the Catholic Church say should be done to heretics? “When confronted with heresy, she (Catholic Church) does not content herself with persuasion, arguments of an intellectual and moral order appear to her insufficient, and she has recourse to force, to corporal punishment, to torture.” — The Rector of the Catholic Institute of Paris, H.M.A. Baudrillart, quoted in The Catholic Church, The Renassance, and Protestantism, p 182-183. “The church may by divine right confiscate the property of heretics, imprison their person, and condemn them to flames. In our age, the right to inflict the severest penalties, even death, belongs to the church. There is no graver offense than heresy, therefore it must be rooted out.” Public Eccliastical, Vol. 2, p.142. “A heretic merits the pains of fire....By the Gospel, the canons, civil law, and custom, heretics must be burned.” — The American Textbook of Popery, p 164 (quoting from the “Directory for the Inquisitors”). Pope Innocent IV in 1252 approved torture and ordered civil authorities to burn “heretics” in the “Ad exstirpanda” Bull. This torture was reinforced by Popes Alexander IV, Clement IV, Nicholas IV, Boniface VIII and others from 1254 - 1303. Roman Catholic documents revealed that they murdered around 68,000,000 protesters from 1100 to 1800 AD when the inquisition stopped. A note about and for Catholics Our humble apologies to all Catholics but genuine love demands the identification of the antichrist that enforces the mark of the beast so that no honest person will be deceived for eternity is at stake. While identifying the Roman Catholic Church as the antichrist power, we hasten to remind all sincere Christians that many of Christ’s true followers are still members of this Church. They are unaware of the great deception under which they worship. The Saviour died for them as well as people of all other faiths. The present is surely the time for love to be expressed in sincere action as these precious saints are called out of apostasy into the light of God’s saving truth. The Mark of the Beast and Antichrist Many people today have been given a mindset of a one man antichrist and a theme of some evil and sinister mark of the beast. Well prepare yourself for the real bombshell. The talk of a one man antichrist, a rebuilt temple and seven years of tribulation is totally false and MANUFACTURED prophecy with the intent on deceiving the Christian populous on the real truth of antichrist. As you have already discovered, the Protestant reformation, which resulted in the vast assortment of Churches that we have today is the result of these early Protestants discovering that the Roman Catholic Church is the antichrist power spoken of all through Daniel, Revelation, 1 John and other books of the Bible. It is a major topic. Why? Because this is a very sinful apostate Church that is responsible for something that does truly matter to God. How did the Catholic Church respond to the Protestant reformation and the fact that they had been identified as antichrist? In 1545 the Catholic Church held the council of Trent and responded with the Counter Reformation in an attempt to have the finger pointed at either Nero or a fictional future antichrist. See futurism Bible prophecy, secret rapture and who is the antichrist today for more detail. So what does the Bible really say about antichrist and the origins? John said that in his time there were many antichrists and that anyone who denies Jesus came in the flesh is antichrist. 2 John 1:7. This for example would include a Church that denies Jesus came in the flesh by saying that Christ took on the sinless nature of Mary’s flesh. It may further shock you to know that John said that the origin of antichrist was from the early Church many centuries ago and not some future one man antichrist. 1 John 2:18-19 “Little children, it is the last time: and as you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there MANY antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 19 They went out from US, but they were not of US; for if they had been of US, they would no doubt have continued with US: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of US.” So who is John referring to when he says us? John could not have emphasized more clearly that antichrist went out from the Church that he and the other apostles established and formed their own Church. This is definitely not an individual although certainly could be headed by an individual, especially when you consider that Revelation 13:18 says that 666 is the number of a man heading this beast power. John is also pointing out that antichrist means in place of Christ and not just against Christ. So which Church broke away from the early Church and makes this blasphemous claim? Who claims to be God on Earth and places himself in place of Christ? “We hold upon this earth the place of God almighty.” — Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter, June 20, 1894. “The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, but he is Jesus Christ, Himself, hidden under the veil of human flesh.” — Catholic National, July 1895. “The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth.” — Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, “Cities Petrus Bertanous.” “Remember and understand well that where Peter is, there is the Church; that those who refuse to associate in communion with the Chair of Peter belong to Antichrist, not to Christ. He who would separate himself from the Roman Pontiff has no further bond with Christ.” — Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, quoted in “Acts of Leo XIII: Supreme Pontiff”, Rome: Vatican Press, 1896, (quoted in Apostolic Digest, by Michael Malone, Book 4: “The Book of Christians”, Chapter 4: “There is No Allegiance to Christ Without Submission to the Pope”) It may also surprise you to know that the four verses below are the only ones in the entire Bible that mention the word antichrist. Have a close look at what they say and do not say. They certainly do not match that one man antichrist theory you hear about today and why should they? That false deception originated from the true antichrist itself being the Papal Church. 1 John 2:18 “Little children, it is the last time: and as you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” 1 John 2:22 “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.” 1 John 4:3 “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” 2 John 1:7 “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” The Number of the Beast 666 and Origin The extraordinary truth about this mysterious number 666 and its origin is about to reveal just how wrong and ignorant the majority can be on Biblical topics and how Satan can and does keep many in the dark on extremely important issues. Remember this when you discover what the mark of the beast is. As we saw previously it is not 666 and is separate to the mark. Revelation 13:17 “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.” Just for clarity, note that the phrase the “Number of his name” above refers to that mysterious number 666 as it says the “number of HIS name.” In other words “the number of a MAN.” The very next verse shown below says that the “number of the beast” is “the number of a man” and that this number is 666. So the “number of his name” is in fact the number 666. So is 666 the devil’s number? Not even close! We also previously saw that the beast is not Satan and this number belongs to the beast power, which is the Papal Catholic Church. Thousands have speculated about this number but the Bible is clear. The Bible says it is the number of a man and this man is from the beast power, or in other words, from the Roman Catholic Church. Does the Catholic Church have a man at its head? Revelation 13:18 “Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding COUNT the number of the beast: for it is the number of a MAN; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” Origins of 666 and why God calls the Catholic Church Babylon Before looking further at 666 being the number of a man, let’s find out what the significance and origin of 666 is. We know the mark of the beast is about worship and that we are told not to worship the beast. We have also just seen that 666 is the number of a man heading this power, but why does God call the Catholic Church Babylon in the book of Revelation, and what is the origin of this mysterious number 666? See also number of the beast origin. Very few people know the answer to these questions or why Revelation speaks about this number with such negative connotations. So here is an EXTREMELY BRIEF overview of the history and origin of the number 666, and why this number is now associated with the Roman Catholic Church and its leader. You are about to find out why worship is such a significant issue in regards to this number 666 and the mark of the beast. Note first the significance of the Babylonians using the sexagesimal (base-60) number system from which comes 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute, 360 (60×6) degrees in a circle and 60 degrees in each angle of an equilateral triangle etc. 360 divided by 10 = 36 (more on this number in a moment) and 6 * 6 = 36. From this came that mysterious number 666, which is directly linked with the worship practices of ancient Babylon from around the time of Daniel. See also Daniel 3:1. Babylon worshiped gods that were associated with the sun, moon, planets and stars involved with astrology. Babylonians were the principle developers of astrology as we know it today and the pagan priests wore amulets called “Sigilla Solis” or “Sun Seal” which symbolized 36 constellations. In this system of worship, they had 36 supreme gods plus the god associated with the sun, which they believed to be the father of all the other gods and so was supreme over all. They believed that numbers had power over the gods they worshiped so they assigned numbers to their gods so that they could have power over them. They did this by counting their gods and assigning a consecutive number to each of the 36 lesser supreme gods, and then added up these numbers (from 1 to 36) and assigned the sum to the sun god. If you have not guessed by now, the sum of the numbers from 1 to 36 totals 666, which they assigned to the god associated with the sun. The calculation is below. See Murl Vance quote. 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14 + 15 + 16 + 17 + 18 + 19 + 20 + 21 + 22 + 23 + 24 + 25 + 26 + 27 + 28 + 29 + 30 + 31 + 32 + 33 + 34 + 35 + 36 = 666 However, they feared their gods as they believed they were primarily evil and thought that one of them might strike them down sometime, so they made amulets with a 6 x 6 matrix with 1 through 36 on them which are called numeric matrixes magic squares today. The design of the amulets was to protect them from a god striking them down using his magic power so the amulets had to be as powerful as possible. In order to increase its power, they arranged these numbers in such a way that the sum of any given row, column or diagonal was 111, and therefore the sum of all six rows or all six columns was 666. This was supposed to provide extra protection including from the sun god since this god's sum was present on the amulet. The one above has the god of the sun standing on the lion. This indicated the sun's position in the constellation of Leo during the hot days of August. The back is inscribed “Nachyel,” meaning “intelligence of the sun” and the numbers 1 to 36. The second illustration is also a solar seal, but it honours the star Basilisco, which was the diminutive form of the Greek basileus (king), thus meaning the same as the Latin regulus. Regulus is the only first magnitude star in the constellation of Leo. The sun and the moon are again clearly seen on this amulet and on the reverse side is the same arrangement of numerals with the actual figure 666 given as the total. See Murl Vance quote. These amulets were usually made of gold being like the colour of the sun or baked clay tablets and were carried in yellow silk or hung around their neck, which they believed provided protection as long as they carried it with them. This table as illustrated has the same arrangement of numbers as the above images in a 6 x 6 matrix and is also referred to in numerology as the magic square of the Sun. There are similar magic squares for Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury and the Moon, all of which have been known for centuries. The creating of amulets with this number arrangement that belongs to astrology appears to have continued well past the time of Christ. Archaeologists have found amulets with Latin inscriptions, so we know that the Romans were indulging in this practice. Therefore, the number 666 came about from pagan worship practices of the Babylonians and their practice of astrology. The symbolism of sun worship is still used in many areas of the Catholic Church today, not always obvious but often packaged discreetly as to not be noticed by the untrained eye. When the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon in 539 B.C, they came with their own religious practices and gods, so had no need of the priests of the Babylonian religious system. Although the Persians were sympathetic towards the Babylonian god Marduk and did accommodate the priests of this god for a while, it appears from history that they eventually fired the priests and used their own. The Babylonian priests left Babylon (probably because they were out of work) and most of them went to Pergamum and some to Egypt where they taught their religious practices to the Egyptians. The Egyptians readily picked up these Babylonian religious concepts and further extended and developed some of the ideas we find in astrology. The teaching of the Babylonian religious practices by the Babylonian priests and their direct descendants went on in the city of Pergamum for centuries afterwards. They taught astrology and the making of amulets with the numbers 1 to 36 on them in the special arrangements they commonly used. This continued until about the year 133 B.C. when the last king of the Attalid Empire, (Eumenes’ son, Attalus III) who had his capital at Pergamum, died without an heir and bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. Rome accepted the kingdom and set up the province of Asia, which included Ionia and the territory of Pergamum by 129 B.C. Sometime soon after this, the priests who were still teaching the Babylonian religious practices saw their opportunity and went to Rome. The Romans often adopted the religious practices of other cultures, which also helped the empire survive as long as it did. The Babylonian priests rightly calculated that the Romans would be very willing to learn and follow their teachings. Soon all of Rome filled with their religious teachings and practices. It eventually became so pervasive that people called Rome the “New Babylon.” Early Christians also used the term Babylon as a veiled code word for a particular city, so as to avoid persecution from that pagan power. That city was also Rome. See also 1 Peter 5:13. When the Christian Church came along, the practices and beliefs of the Babylonian religion followed right into the Church. Historians have said that it seemed almost the entire city of Rome converted virtually overnight to Christianity, but what actually happened is that the Babylonian religion was simply brought into the Church and the three supreme gods of the Babylonian religion were simply renamed as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Lesser gods became saints of the Church. The pagan Babylonian religious practices came into the Church right along with it. This made it easy for the followers of the Babylonian religion to convert to Christianity, but it certainly was not a genuine conversion. God condemns pagan religious practices, but they brought these practices into the Church anyway. 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 History fully supports this. The pagan Babylonian priests had a chief priest who held the title Pontifex Maximus (translated to Latin meant that he was head pagan priest or literally the Greatest Pontiff). Most have heard the word “Pontiff” applied to the Pope and history explains where that term comes from. Originally, the king of the Attalid Empire held the title of Pontiff, and he passed it on to the Babylonian Priests before he died and they went to Rome. This title was given to Julius Caesar in 63 B.C. thereby making him the supreme priest of the Babylonian Religion and its gods. (This shows that the Babylonian priests arrived in Rome before the time of Julius Caesar or this event could not have happened.) This meant that the Babylonian religion literally moved into Rome and took it over, becoming head of the Roman government. This title passed from emperor to emperor, all of whom served as chief priest of the Babylonian Religion from then on until 367 A.D, where the Roman Emperor Gratian became the first since Julius Caesar to refuse the title Pontifex Maximus. Before Gratian refused the title Pontifex Maximus, the young Emperor bestowed it upon Pope Damasus I, who became the first Pope in history to hold the title. This made him head of the Babylonian religion when he took the title of Pontifex Maximus. Damasus I was the head of the Christian Church in Rome, and took the title as head of the pagan Babylonian Religion and its collection of pagan gods. Did the Babylonian Religion move into the Christian Church? History says most definitely YES. So why does God call the Papal Church Babylon? The answer should now be clear. Some dispute that Church leaders incorporated pagan Babylonian religious practices into the Catholic Church but even Catholic historians admit it. Cardinal Newman in his Development of Christian Doctrine, pages 372, 373 says that the Church incorporated many pagan religious practices into the Church. He claims that the Church sanctified them and that made it safe to bring these practices into the Church. Every year Catholic Pilgrims kiss the feet of the Roman god Jupiter thinking they are kissing the image of Peter. God condemns idolatry, the making of images for worship, and even bowing down before images as part of an act of worship. Yet many images are in Catholic Churches and the Church teaches people to bow down before them. They may be praying to someone else but the act of bowing down before the image, regardless of what or who one is actually worshipping at the time is plainly what God condemns in Exodus 20:4-6. The reason the Bible speaks so negatively about 666 is that it symbolizes the power of the person who has this number to have power over all the other gods, which in the case of the Papacy is their claim to be God and to have authority over God and his law, which are false claims. Because the Popes claim both to be God and to have authority over God, they believe that they can change the law of God to suit their own purposes. This is extremely serious to God and He knows it will also lead many to be lost for all eternity. So the evidence presented here links 666 with ancient sun worshipping pagan Babylon and the Papacy of the Catholic Church, which is dominated by pagan practices and solar images and is referred to as Babylon in the book of Revelation. This is just a small part of the evidence that makes this relationship apparent. See mystery Babylon for more information. One should now understand the relevance of why God calls the Catholic Church Babylon, and as you can see, there is nothing directly Satanic about the number 666, which comes out of Babylonian pagan worship. As a result, the Catholic Church has symbolically become Babylon and why we find that the head of this power has the number 666. It was known a long time ago that various Papal titles such as “Vicarius Filii Dei” which means Vicar of Christ or substitute for Christ, being synonymous with Antichrist, i.e., assuming the power of God on earth, does count or add up to 666 in Roman numerals and Latin etc. All the parallels are amazing such as the numbers on the amulet count to 666 and in the same way the Bible says to count the number of the beast, which also comes to 666. See an excerpt of an article on the known titles of the Pope called “The number of a man” or select for the full original image. See Page 17 continued article. What is the Mark of the Beast? So what has the Roman Catholic Church done that has most impacted God and His true Church? It is because of this issue that God is going to pour out His full wrath upon the Papal Church just before the Second Coming of Christ and what the final choice and climax that involves the mark of the beast will be all about. We saw how 666 came from pagan sun worship and their supreme god being the sun, but now 666 is also the number of the Pope’s name. Remember also that 666 symbolizes that the person with this number to have power over all the other gods, which in the case of the Papacy is their claim to be God and to have authority over God and even his law. So what is the mark of the beast and how does it relate to sun worship? What the mark of the beast is not is some sinister event placed at the end of time that resembles some science fiction movie with no real significance. It is the conclusion to something that the beast power has been affecting for a very long time that is especially significant to God. Revelation shows that the mark of the beast is unmistakably about worship, which is something that has been an ongoing issue for thousands of years. It is essentially a battle that has been raging between God and Satan over worship ever since there was war in heaven and Satan and a third of the angles were thrown out. (Revelation 12:7-9) Scripture informs us that Satan wanted to be worshipped as God and why for all of Church history and long before, Satan has been working towards obtaining this goal. (Isaiah 14:12-14) The mark of the beast is the climactic ending to this ongoing issue of worship and the entire world is going to have to decide once and for all whom they are going to worship. It should come as no surprise that the beast power is in fact responsible for something that has affected the true worship of God for hundreds of years. This is why right before the return of Christ; God is basically going to say enough! The beast power will enforce their worship laws as they have done in the past, and it will be time for everyone to choose who they are going to worship and give their allegiance to. Those who worship God only will not be able to buy and sell and endure tribulation but God will protect many. Those who choose to worship the beast by their rules, which will be in opposition to God will ultimately perish. Those who worship the beast willingly receive the mark of the beast in their forehead, (mind) while those who do so under duress will receive the mark in their hand. (actions) After this God will destroy the beast power for its crimes against Him and His true Church. Remember that Revelation 13:2 says that the dragon (Satan) gave power to the beast and he did this so he could rob God of the worship he desired and to receive that worship in place of God. This is why it will incur the full wrath of God, because if you worship the beast, you will effectively be giving your allegiance to Satan himself who was always behind this plan to deprive God of worship, which has gone on for most of Church history now. Most Christians have been deceived by our adversary’s plan and some have even inadvertently helped Satan achieve his goal. There are a great multitude of Christian web sites that are fighting with all sorts of deceptions and lies to try and convince us that we do not have to worship God in the way he requested. What would make these Christians do this and go to so much effort to do so? Revelation 14:7 says to worship God who created the heavens and the earth and the sea and the fountains and the waters and verse 9-11 says not to worship the beast or we will incur the full wrath of God. It certainly sounds simple enough. Why would anyone want to worship the beast anyway? Surely all Christians would desire to worship God and would never worship the beast, or would they? Jesus said those who receive the mark are deceived, so could it be that the reason for this is because most of the world is already deceived on this issue? So what defines worship of God? And exactly how would we worship the beast? Is there anything that God has asked us to do in reference to worship that most of the world has ignored? And if so, has the beast power done something that would be a counterfeit to what God asked of us in relation to worship so that they would receive worship in place of God? The answer is found all through scripture for those with open eyes and is even staring us in the face in Revelation 14:7. The instruction to “worship God who created the heavens and the earth and the fountains and the waters” is only found in one other place in the Bible. It is found right in the middle of God’s law. While the second Commandment tells us who and what not to worship, the largest of the Ten Commandments is very significantly about the worship of God and in the way He Commanded. We are told that when we keep this Commandment, it is a sign, which is synonymous with a mark, that it is God we love and worship and that it is God that sanctifies us. And yet most of the Christian world fights with all their heart to bury this one Commandment. Well guess what? It is very important to God and it is just as much sin to disobey this Commandment as it is for any of the Ten Commandments. God “is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33) or a foolish God who placed a law that is NOT Love and Eternal in with nine other laws that obviously ARE Love and Eternal. Deuteronomy 6:5 actually proves this stating that to LOVE God with all your heart, might and soul is to keep every one of the Ten Commandments that had just been read 17 verses earlier! Did you know that the Catholic Church have their own version of the Ten Commandments and have removed the second Commandment? This is about who and what we should not worship. But did you also know that by the death of millions that they changed the fourth Commandment to Sunday in honour of sun worship through paganism from Babylon? Here is the relevance and link to 666. This is why most Churches today worship on SUN-day. Satan was behind the whole change and is the driving force behind all those who bend over backwards to attack this one Commandment and try and convince others that it does not matter. Why would so many be so desperate to convince us of this? Why are there hundreds of different excuses? Why isn’t there just one plain scripture that says this Commandment is gone? If one actually opens their eyes and looks at all the excuses, they will find that is exactly what they are. Excuses! Who is behind this and why? Do we really think that Satan would not attack something as important as God’s law? Satan worked through the beast power to change God’s day of worship to a day that actually goes all the way back to Babel and that day was used for satanic worship. Sunday worship was originally Satan worship 2000 years B.C. Have you ever noticed that Satan counterfeits most things of God? If God’s true day of worship is His sign and mark, then the mark of the beast and 666 as Satan’s counterfeit has to be referring to keeping of a false day of worship created by Satan and his mystery Babylonian system. Have you also noticed how occult symbols are usually reversed? What do Satan worshippers use for a cross? The occult symbol for a cross is an inverted cross and here is a very interesting place to find one! How many understand that God uses the 6:1 principle? That is, you have 6 of something normal and then on the 7th something special happens. Example: God created the world in 6 days and the on the 7th we have a very special day of rest and worship. Crops were grown for 6 years and the 7th year the land was to be rested. Slaves were kept for 6 years but on the 7th year you had to set them free. There are 6 weeks from Passover to the 7th week when we have Pentecost. There is 6 months from Passover to the 7th month when we have the Day of Atonement. We are currently approaching the end of 6000 years since creation and if Christ returns at the end of these 6000 years, we will then have the 7000th year period which is what the Bible calls the millennium. 6000 years + 1000 years (millennium) = 7000 years. None of this is by chance and is God’s plan. Have a look at the days of the week below. Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Sabbath The first six days are normal work days but day seven is the “Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Now remember that the occult uses the reverse symbol or is the opposite (in opposition) of God’s way. So if Sunday was always the plan of Satan for his day of worship and we know from history that it is, then his week would be the reverse of God’s. Instead of being the 6:1 principle it would be a 1:6 principle. So let’s reverse the week and see if this is the case. Sabbath Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 As you can see, it is not really just two days side by side. It is the reverse of God’s week. It is the occult equivalent and this is not by chance and why Satan chose Sunday. Satan has always planned to do this and has done it slowly over time and deceived most of the Christian world. Why is it such a burden for Christians to set aside this day exclusively for the worship of God as a sign that we are His? So a sign and a mark are synonymous and Satan’s sign or mark is the occult reverse of God’s. Can you now see why this false day of worship is called the mark of the beast and why it is all about worship? How many have noticed that Satan is busy trying to convince Christians that they do not have to obey the Ten Commandments at all anymore? Satan began with the easiest Commandment to attack, and the final stage of the change to God’s day of worship was achieved by giving the Papal Church their position and power and having them enforce it by law. The Seventh day was nearly murdered out of existence. Even Daniel 7:25 informs us that through persecution they would change God’s law. But do most Christians take note of this? No! The enemy is too busy keeping everyone in the dark on this issue ready for his grand climactic finale with 666 and the mark of the beast. This is what the great controversy is all about. Is it any wonder Satan attacks anyone who teaches obedience to the Sabbath and works so hard in the minds of Christians trying to keep them from discovering the real truth. Note these quotes from the Roman Catholic Church on their views on being able to change the Ten Commandments of God. Note also what the Roman Catholic Church actually say their MARK is. Their statement is extraordinarily credible when you consider that their definition is also perfectly consistent with absolutely all other scripture in regards to the mark of the beast. I wonder if their use of the word MARK is coincidental. I would say not! “We may according to the fullness of our power, dispose of the law and dispense above the law. Those whom the Pope of Rome doth separate, it is not a man that separates them but God. For the Pope holdeth place on earth, not simply of a man but of the true God....dissolves, not by human but rather by divine authority....I am in all and above all, so that God Himself and I, the vicar of God, hath both one consistory, and I am able to do almost all that God can do...Wherefore, no marvel, if it be in my power to dispense with all things, yea with the precepts of Christ.” — Decretales Domini Gregori ix Translatione Episcoporum, (on the Transference of Bishops), title 7, chapter 3; Corpus Juris Canonice (2nd Leipzig ed., 1881), col. 99; (Paris, 1612), tom. 2, Decretales, col. 205 (while Innocent III was Pope). “The Pope is of great authority and power, that he is able to modify, declare, or interpret even divine laws. The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts as vicegerent of God upon earth...” — Lucius Ferraris, in “Prompta Bibliotheca Canonica, Juridica, Moralis, Theologica, Ascetica, Polemica, Rubristica, Historica”, Volume V, article on “Papa, Article II”, titled “Concerning the extent of Papal dignity, authority, or dominion and infallibility”, #30, published in Petit-Montrouge (Paris) by J. P. Migne, 1858 edition. What does the Roman Catholic Church say their MARK is? “Of course the Catholic church claims that the change [i.e. Sabbath to Sunday] was her act, and the act as a MARK of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things.” — H.F. Thomas, Chancellor to Cardinal Gibbons. “Sunday is our MARK of authority. . .the church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact” — Catholic Record of London, Ontario Sept 1,1923. The fourth Commandment is so significant to God that He used it as a test Commandment to see if His children would keep His whole law. God is going to do this again with the mark of the beast issue to find those who love Him enough to keep His law and obey Him only. The interesting part is how God tested His children to see if they would keep His Ten Commandment law. He tested them by seeing if they would keep the Seventh day or not. And did they? No, and God accused them of breaking His whole law. If they failed to keep His Seventh day Sabbath, as far as God was concerned they were not keeping any of His Ten Commandment law. Many think we can just keep nine Commandments, yet God says if we do not keep the fourth then we are not keeping the other nine at all. We also find this principle in James 2:10 which says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” As you can see, there is more to the fourth Commandment than meets the eye in that it is an extremely significant SIGN that it is God we worship, love and give our allegiance to. Exodus 16:4-30 “Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, THAT I MAY PROVE THEM, WHETHER THEY WILL WALK IN MY LAW, OR NO. 5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily… 26 Six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. 27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. 28 AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, HOW LONG REFUSE YOU TO KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS AND MY LAWS? 29 See, for that the LORD has given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide you every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.” So why does the Sabbath define that it is God we give our allegiance to? It is because it is very significantly about whom we worship and belong to and who makes us Holy. Note carefully the following verses. Exodus 31:13-17 “Speak you also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily 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 that does SANCTIFY you. … 15 Six days may work be done; but in the Seventh is the Sabbath of rest, Holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Wherefore the children of Israel [Who is Israel today?] shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a PERPETUAL covenant. 17 It is a SIGN between me and the children of Israel FOR EVER: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the Seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” Ezekiel 20:20 “And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a SIGN between me and you, that you may know that I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD.” The fourth Commandment is one of the eternal Ten because keeping this extremely significant SIGN identifies us as God’s children who He sanctifies and makes Holy. It also defines therefore that it is God who we worship and love and give our allegiance to. It is not a SIGN when we keep a secular day and profane God’s Sabbath. There is a lot more that could be cited but I hope this is enough to help one understand why this day is very important to God and why it is a sin against God for us to not keep His Sabbath day Holy. The Mark of the Beast and Two Israels Some will say that this perpetual (never ending) covenant that is a sign forever, (Exodus 31:13-17) applies only to the Israel of God and that much is definitely correct. But the question is; who is the Israel of God today? Paul wrote, “They are not all Israel, which are of Israel” Romans 9:6. What does this text mean? Those “of Israel” refer to people belonging to the literal Jewish nation but just because people are “of Israel,” or Jewish, doesn't necessarily mean they are truly Israel indeed. Paul said there is an “Israel according to the flesh” (1 Corinthians 10:18) and an “Israel of God” (Galatians 6:14-16) centred in Jesus Christ. The “Israelites … according to the flesh” (Romans 9:3-4) refer to literal Jews who can trace their blood line back to Abraham but who do not as yet believe in Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Paul wrote, “They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God.” Romans 9:8. Thus this group although it has a wonderful religious heritage is made up largely of people who spiritually “are not the children of God.” In the New Testament sense, “the children of God,” applies only to those who have received Jesus Christ as Lord (John 1:12). “The Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16) refers to a composite group made up of both Jews and non-Jews who believe in the Crucified one, have died to self and been born again (see verses 14-15). This group is called “the Israel of God” because it is God centred, being made up of people who have a genuine experience with the Lord. Sadly, the majority of Israelis today don’t fit this description. Writing to non-Jews, or Gentiles, Paul wrote, “And if you belong to Christ, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” Galatians 3:28-29. This passage teaches that a Gentile, if he “belongs to Christ,” is mystically injected into “Abraham's seed,” which according to Isaiah 41:8 is Israel. In Galatians 6, Paul summarized his doctrine by saying that anyone, circumcised or uncircumcised, who becomes a “new creature” through faith in Jesus, is now part of “the Israel of God”, verses 14-16. See also Romans 2:28-29; 9:6-8 and Galatians 3:28-29. Thus before the cross we had a literal Israel but now those that are Christ’s after the cross are a spiritual Israel. There are many who do not understand that those who belong to Christ are spiritual Jews and the Israel of God under the New Covenant. If we reject this truth then we cannot be under the New Covenant. Observe who the New Covenant was only made with. This came into effect when the Jews rejected God’s message from Stephen (Acts 6:8-7:60) and stoned him. This ended the 70 * 7 prophetic years, (see also Matthew 18:21-22) which God gave Israel to end their rebellion and sin against Him. (Daniel 9:24) Needless to say they did not and this is why at this time the Gospel now went to the Gentiles also. See the 70 weeks of Daniel for comprehensive detail on this prophecy. Hebrews 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:” Is the Mark of the Beast Sunday Worship? This teaching on the mark of the beast is often attributed as being exclusive to a Church known as Seventh day Adventists but there are several Churches that understand and teach this. Are we saying that the mark of the beast is Sunday worship which some mock? Not exactly. The mark of the beast is exactly what the beast power said it is. Their ability to change the law of God and have most of the Protestant world follow her. The fact that this happens to be Sunday worship is beside the point. It is about worshipping on a day commanded by man in place of worshipping on the day Commanded by God. Acts 5:29 says, “…We ought to obey God rather than men.” It is also about keeping man made traditions in place of God’s Commandments. Jesus made it very clear that He does not want us keeping the traditions of men in place of the Commandments of God. See Mark 7:6-9. In Daniel chapter 3, the king commanded all to bow down and worship the golden image when they heard the music. But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused because it would mean disobeying the Commandments of God. This is what it is all about. Obeying God rather than man. It is about giving our allegiance to our heavenly Father and obeying Him only when it comes to His Commandments. Those that mock this truth are yet to explain why Revelation 14:12 shows that those who do not get the mark of the beast are those who endure tribulation but still keep the Commandments of God through faith in Christ. There is only one Commandment that defines the worship of God and this is the very Commandment that the beast (Catholic Church) changed and what they personally claim to be their mark. Some ask how would they know who had the mark for controlling buying and selling. Implanted computer chips could still be used even though it would not be the mark, and I would not be surprised if they are as that would make an excellent deception from Satan since most of the world already thinks that is what the mark is. And as for knowing who can and cannot. How did Hitler find the millions of Jews he murdered? Most are on Face book which the government watches and the NSA can now monitor just about anything. They can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit card details and could find anything they need to know. Hitler had no problem finding the Jews without technology but now that task would be easy. Common Sabbath Commandment Misunderstandings There is a lot of confusion over the fourth Commandment and it is beyond the scope of this document to cover the multitude of misunderstandings and excuses but below are a few common ones in very brief detail. Besides the fact that the Ten Commandments are to last as long as heaven and earth, one of God’s Commandments would not come to an end without the Bible SCREAMING the change at us. God’s law does not change on assumptions. The Sabbath of the Lord is not a ceremonial sabbath that was practised because of sin. Breaking it or any of the Ten Commandments is sin. The ceremonial law was written in a book and that is why it was also called the “Book of the Covenant.” This is where God would have written it if it was for Israel only but God wrote it in stone with the other nine Commandments. Have you ever heard the expression “it is not written in stone?” Written in stone means forever. On paper and in a book is temporary. So put very simply, there were two specific laws. One was temporary and only for the Jews and was nailed to the cross. The other was written in stone and was eternal and for everyone. If the Sabbath of the Lord was temporary and only for the Jews, which law would you place the Lord’s Sabbath in? Would you place His Sabbath in the temporary law or the eternal law? And your answer is? And where did God place His Sabbath? Precisely! God placed His Sabbath exactly where it belonged. He placed His Sabbath in the law that was eternal and for everyone! Unless you believe that God is a fool and the author of confusion, then this alone reveals the truth. God makes a distinction between His Sabbath and the ceremonial sabbaths in the Ten Commandments by exhorting, “But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God:” (Exodus 20:10, Deuteronomy 5:14). It is the Lord’s Sabbath! It did not belong to Israel. God further demonstrates this by calling His Sabbath, “My Sabbaths,” as in His weekly Sabbaths, (Exodus 31:13, Ezekiel 20:20) while calling the ceremonial sabbaths that were only for Israel, “Her Sabbaths.” (Hosea 2:11, Lamentations 1:7) Loving God with all your heart and your neighbour as yourself does not turn the Ten Commandments into nine or none. (Matthew 22:35) Jesus said ALL the law hang on these two Commandments as He quoted Deuteronomy 6:5, which is seventeen verses after the second reading of the Ten Commandments when no one can argue the fourth Commandment was being kept. See also the greatest Commandments. The Sabbath has existed since creation (the only reason we have a seven day week) before sin and Jews and God asked us to “remember” the day when He personally gave His law and ALL FLESH keep the Sabbath forever in the new Heaven and Earth. (Isaiah 66:22-23) Luke 23:56 says they “rested the Sabbath day according to the Commandment.” Luke was written 30 to 50 years after the cross. Jesus confirmed the Sabbath would still be kept when the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. (Matthew 24:20) further proving the Sabbath was not changed in honour of the resurrection. See also New Testament Sabbath. Leading historians say the Sabbath was kept by everyone till at least 90-120 A.D. when persecution for Judaism became so intense that some began keeping Sunday saying it was in honour of the resurrection to avoid persecution and death. Baptism is the memorial of the resurrection commanded in the Bible. God attested the correct day matters when he tested His children to see if they would keep His Commandments by testing if they would keep THE seventh day. (Exodus 16:4-30) We worship God every day but if we kept the Sabbath every day, we would not be Holy, we would be lazy. We should not mock God when He says the Seventh Day by telling Him He is wrong saying we can keep any day or the day does not matter. It is not the Sabbath of the Jews. There were no Jews at creation or when the Ten Commandments were given, and God is not a God of confusion or some FOOL that mixes temporary laws with eternal laws. The Ten Commandments are love and for everyone. The Ten Commandments or just the Sabbath were not nailed to the cross according to Colossians 2:16. Paul speaks of the ordinances (ceremonial law) which had yearly ceremonial sabbaths that were nailed to the cross. Galatians 4:10 does not say that we can observe any day or that the Sabbath was bondage. Paul refers to the ceremonial law here also that he called bondage, which it was, and this law did include Days, Times, Months and Years. We cannot decide to keep or not keep the Sabbath based on Romans 14:5, which is about Jews and Gentiles judging one another and was over the yearly feast days of the ceremonial law. Note the following Commentary on Romans 14:5 and how it associates all three of these passages and with the ceremonial law. People's New Testament by B. W. Johnson. One man esteemeth one day above another. A second difference of opinion is now cited. Some, Jewish converts or Gentiles who did not understand that the old covenant was ended, believed that the Jewish [ceremonial] Sabbaths and new moons should be kept sacred. Compare Col 2:16, and Gal 4:10. While comparing these two passages, note that the ceremonial law (Mosaic Law, Ordinances, Law of Moses etc) had meat and drink offerings, Holy feast (days), new moons (months) and sabbaths (yearly) that were Jewish only and ended at the cross. See also Adam Clarke and Albert Barnes Commentaries on Colossians 2:14-16, Albert Barnes and People’s New Testament Commentaries on Galatians 4:10 and Adam Clarke on Romans 14:5. God’s law has not changed based on our assumptions such as, “Hey! That looks like a Sunday meeting so the Sabbath must now be Sunday.” The expression “lay by him in store” in 1 Corinthians 16:2 means putting aside at home. The needs were clothing and food etc, which would be taken from the field or storage and would not be done on Sabbath but left until the first opportunity after which would be Sunday. Acts 20:7 is not a Sunday meeting. It was after sunset and before midnight on the first day of the week. Bible days begin and end at sunset. This meeting was on what we call Saturday night. Breaking bread is done daily at every meal and is a term used by the Jews for having a meal together and so is not necessarily the Lord’s Supper. Acts 20:7 KJV “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.” Acts 20:7 GNB “On Saturday evening we gathered together for the fellowship meal. Paul spoke to the people and kept on speaking until midnight, since he was going to leave the next day.” Acts 2:46 KJV “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,” Acts 2:46 GNB “Day after day they met as a group in the Temple, and they had their meals together in their homes, eating with glad and humble hearts,” See more on why the “first day of the week” cannot possibly be the Sabbath. The Mark of the Beast Symbolism The following information should help one better understand that the mark of the beast is symbolic and that there is no doubt that the mark relates to God’s law. When we look carefully at Revelation, we discover that the mark of the beast is not the only thing placed in people’s foreheads. Amazingly, the forehead is mentioned many times apart from the 666 and the mark of the beast. The first time the mark of the beast is mentioned is in Revelation 13:16 and three verses later John saw a group called the 144,000 with the “Father’s name written in their foreheads” Revelation 14:1. This solitary verse places new light on the entire topic. One group gets the mark of the beast while the other group gets the Mark of God, that is, the name of God in their foreheads. Referring to the saved, the very last chapter of the Bible says, “They shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.” Revelation 22:4. Hence both saints and sinners will all have something in their foreheads one day. Does this mean that God’s people will walk around with visible letters written on their foreheads? Of course not. The apostle John who wrote Revelation also saw a scarlet woman riding a beast. “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS” Revelation 17:5. No one doubts this is a symbolic prophecy. There will be no real prostitute riding a beast and therefore the writing of that mysterious name upon her forehead is also symbolic as the woman here symbolically represents a Church as the Church is the bride of Christ and this Church as we have just seen is the Catholic Church being Babylon symbolically. She gave birth to many Protestant Churches that ignorantly continued following her many false doctrines and that is why she is called the Mother of Harlots. See also Mystery Babylon or Mother of Harlots. What about the mark the Lord set upon Cain? Was this a physical mark or was it symbolic? Genesis 4:15 reads, “And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.” Did Cain spend the remainder of his life with writing on His forehead and if so, why would anyone have acknowledged it? This is obviously also symbolic and as we have seen, the book of Revelation is also a highly symbolic book. We know the seal of God is symbolic so what about this mysterious mark? Could it be symbolic too? If the beast is symbolic, which we know it is, then it’s logical to assume that its “mark” must also be symbolic. In other words, just like the forehead represents the mind, and the hand represents the actions, even so must both the “beast” and his “mark” represent something too. The symbolism of hand and forehead in regards to 666 and the mark of the beast is not something found only in the book of Revelation and by no coincidence is also where God’s Ten Commandment law is symbolized. The enemy has so many with the mindset that the mark of the beast is something evil and sinister that most do not see or want to see the relevance of the real truth. There are only between 18,000,000 and 30,000,000 Christians in the world that understand what is presented on this website. How many know about the origins of 666? It’s also the same with the rest of the facts. Why? How does Satan keep so many in the dark? Fifty years ago there was virtually no one teaching God’s law is abolished yet how many today teach that it is either no Commandments or nine Commandments? What do the majority believe the mark of the beast is? Answer: 666. As we have seen, this is wrong! Technology is probably the winner but as we have seen this is also not possible! How many consider that it could be associated with something that really does matter to God like His law? Millions of Christians do understand this but still the majority do not and why Jesus said that those who received the mark of the beast were deceived and that the beast would deceive the whole world. Not literally the whole world of course. Clearly the real truth is something that people are avoiding, not considering or do not understand. It is by no coincidence that Moses speaking of the Ten Commandments told the Israelites to, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These Commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. … 8 Tie them as SYMBOLS on your HANDS and bind them on your FOREHEADS.” Deuteronomy 6:5-8 NIV And Deuteronomy 11:18 NIV says, “Fix these words of mine in your HEARTS and MINDS; tie them as symbols on your HANDS and bind them on your FOREHEADS.” Note how Deuteronomy 11:18 above relates fixing the words of God’s Ten Commandment law in our hearts and minds with being a sign upon our hands and forehead. Where does God now write His law under the New Covenant? Hebrews 10:16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my LAWS into their HEARTS, and in their MINDS will I write them;” So if the mark of the beast is truly linked with something that is immensely significant to God like His Ten Commandment law, then we would expect to find evidence of this in the passages associated with 666 and the mark of the beast in Revelation. The very next verse following the passage in Revelation 14 on the consequences of receiving the number 666 or the mark of the beast is a verse that describes those who do not get the mark of the beast. What does this group do so that they do not get the mark? Note that “patience” also translates to endurance and means those who endure tribulation. Revelation 14:12 “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the Commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” The evidence is overwhelming and you do not have to use an infinitesimal amount of speculation to come to this conclusion. Not only do we have this overwhelming evidence, but the verse before the warning says, “Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:7 Remember that Greek Lexicons state that the phrase “worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” is a reference to the fourth Commandment and is the only other place it is found! The Mark is symbolic and this should be apparent by the fact that God also seals us with His Mark in our forehead and by the fact that we are sealed with His law and that the law is to be a sign upon our HANDS and FOREHEAD. This is not coincidence by any means. Do you really believe it is by chance that the MARK competes for exactly the same locations which symbolize our obedience to God’s law and especially when Revelation shows so distinctly that those who do NOT get the mark of the beast keep the Commandments of God? Every person on the planet will one day either get the Mark of God (seal) or the Mark of the Beast. You will find numerous times in the Bible that the forehead represents your heart and mind while your hands represent your actions. This is all symbolic as is 666 and the mark of the beast, which is something that is going to be a free will decision and will be something that God truly does care about. So what is imperative to God? What is the whole Biblical theme all about? It started when Adam and Eve sinned, which resulted in the need of a Saviour. The whole Old Testament is primarily about bringing forth the seed of Christ and God disciplining Israel, and for what? The very same thing. Sin! Idolatry, sun worship, murder, adultery and every other Commandment. So what do we find from Genesis to Revelation that has always been exceedingly important to God? The very reason Jesus died on the cross for us. It is because we broke His Ten Commandment law. Nothing is more important than that. Genesis 26:4-5 “And I will make your seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto your seed all these countries; and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my Commandments, my Statutes, and my Laws.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his Commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” 1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his Commandments: and his Commandments are not grievous.” Revelation 22:14 “Blessed are they that do his Commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Quotes on the Mark of the Beast Below are quotes from the Roman Catholic Church on what they claim their MARK to be, which also explains why most Churches now worship on Sunday. Revelation 13 tells us that Satan gave his power and authority to the Catholic Church. Why? Because it was Satan’s plan to have them complete the Sabbath to Sunday change. Why did Satan do this? The Sabbath is about who we give our allegiance to. If we love and obey God and keep His Seventh day Holy, we give our allegiance to God. But if we obey the law of the Catholic Church and keep their day, who do we give our allegiance to then? The Catholic Church answers this question below with two of their quotes. But looking deeper, who gave this Church power so God’s true day of worship could be changed? Read Catholic quotes on the Sabbath for more. Who Made Sunday Holy? “Question - Which is the Sabbath day? Answer - Saturday is the Sabbath day. Question - Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Answer - We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 364), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.” Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, p. 50, 3rd edition, 1957. “Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. ’The day of the Lord’ was chosen, not from any direction noted in the Scriptures, but from the (Catholic) Church’s sense of its own power...People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become 7th Day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy.” St. Catherine Church Sentinel, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995. Who Do We Reverence by Keeping Sunday Holy? “It was the Catholic church which...has transferred this rest to Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Therefore the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the (Catholic) church.” Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, p. 213. “I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says, ’Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’ The Catholic Church says: ’No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.’ And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in a reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church.” father T. Enright, C.S.S.R. of the Redemptoral College, Kansas City, in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 18, 1884, printed in History of the Sabbath, p. 802. Click here for a document clip or select for full original image. Whose Day of Worship is Sunday? “It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church.” Priest Brady, in an address reported in The News, Elizabeth, New Jersey, March 18, 1903. “They [the Protestants] deem it their duty to keep the Sunday holy. Why? Because the Catholic Church tells them to do so. They have no other reason...The observance of Sunday thus comes to be an ecclesiastical law entirely distinct from the divine law of Sabbath observance...The author of the Sunday law...is the Catholic Church.” Ecclesiastical Review, February 1914. Does the Bible support the Sabbath to Sunday change? “For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] church outside the Bible.” Catholic Virginian, October 3, 1947, p. 9, article “To Tell You the Truth.” “Most Christians assume that Sunday is the biblically approved day of worship. The Catholic Church protests that it transferred Christian worship from the biblical Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday, and that to try to argue that the change was made in the Bible is both dishonest and a denial of Catholic authority. If Protestantism wants to base its teachings only on the Bible, it should worship on Saturday.” Rome’s Challenge www.immaculateheart.com/maryonline Dec 2003 The Mark of the Beast & Mystery Babylon A large percentage of Revelation refers to this apostate Church that very significantly changed the law of God and this is even evident from the description and colours seen in Revelation 17 in regards to Mystery Babylon. Here we see a WOMAN that symbolically represents a Church described as the GREAT WHORE, which is an apostate Church drunk on the blood of the saints. This is absolutely and unquestionably the Papal Church and we previously saw why God calls HER mystery Babylon. The blood of the saints and the martyrs of Jesus described in verse 6 are the 70,000,000 to 100,000,000 Christians they tortured and murdered falsely as heretics during the dark ages. Revelation 17:1-6 “…Come hither; I will show unto you the judgment of the GREAT WHORE that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed FORNICATION, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a WOMAN sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, the MOTHER OF HARLOTS and abominations of the earth. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” More on the change to God’s Law by the Catholic Church This woman [Church] is riding (in control of) a scarlet coloured [sinful] beast [kingdom]. In other words this is the Catholic Church in control of a sinful kingdom being the Vatican. Why is she called sinful? Well for one reason because she changed the Ten Commandment law of God. The colours she is wearing are of course the same colours that the Priests of the Roman Catholic Church wear since they are one and the same. But did you notice that the colour blue is missing that the Levite Priests wore and that the colour blue represents the Ten Commandment law of God? Numbers 15:38-39 “Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that you may look upon it, and remember all the Commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that you seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to go a whoring:” Exodus 28:3-6 “And you shall speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work.” The theme remains the same all throughout the Bible. This apostate Church changed the law of God and more specifically and most significantly the fourth Commandment. We need to grasp this fact because it is so extremely relevant in regards to the mark of the beast and in that they say their Mark was their power to change the fourth Commandment of God. We have also seen in Daniel 7:25 that they would think to change the laws of God. They think they have changed God’s laws but to God they remain unchanged. Daniel 7:25 “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.” Again we see mention of the tragic persecution of the saints as heretics during the dark ages but the most important issue in the entire Word of God still remains sin, which is breaking God’s law (1 John 3:4). It is so critically important that we do fully comprehend that the Catholic Church that adopted so much of this mysterious Babylonian religion did change the Ten Commandments. This is what we find is truly important to God from Genesis to Revelation. God cannot tolerate sin yet alone an apostate Church that changed His law and had most of the Protestant world follow her. This is why it is going to come to a climactic ending and this Church is going to receive the full wrath of God. Note that God has many faithful people in this Church as well as the Churches that came from her and this is why there is a final call for those that are God’s children to come out of her in verse four so that they do not partake of her sins and plagues. The Call to come out of Babylon (Catholic Church) Once again you see the emphasis on the “blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” Many of these died for keeping the Seventh Day Sabbath. If you did not agree with the Catholic Church and chose not to follow them or their false doctrine, the result was torture and death. Revelation 18:1-24 “…I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her… 4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities… 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” Confusion over the Mark of the Beast One of the main reasons that the truth on the mark of the beast has not become more common knowledge is because most Christians do not understand or investigate the truth on what really happened to the fourth Commandment and tend to believe that the majority could not possibly be wrong. But is there another explanation as to how the majority could be wrong? There is and the simple answer is because Satan was very successful in nearly wiping out the fourth Commandment during the dark ages through the death of millions by the Catholic Church. Watch and listen carefully to this short true story of the death of a Sabbath keeper during the dark ages and find out how the fourth Commandment was nearly wiped out. It is exceedingly relevant of course that the fourth Commandment was nearly completely lost by the time the Protestant reformation began. As these Protestants discovered that antichrist was the Roman Catholic Church, they began all these new Protestant Churches but after so many centuries of persecution, they continued keeping the pagan day of the supreme Sun god (whose number was 666) for worship in ignorance and that is why Sun-day has such a stronghold today. It is always harder to restore a lost truth and even more so when people do not want to know because it would disrupt their lifestyle. God gave His only Son and yet so many constantly try to explain away one of His Commandments. How God must grieve when people do this. Jesus said that those who get the mark of the beast are deceived and so the mark must be something people are deceived on now. If what I am telling you is correct, and it is, then this would make perfect sense. God would NOT allow something that receives His full wrath to be unclear and where most of the world would end up being deceived. Those who get the mark are deceived by choice because they are not acknowledging something that is important to God. And again this makes perfect sense when you consider that the majority are trying to turn God’s Ten Commandments into nine Commandments and some even into none. When you have the inconsistency of Christians teaching that it is either Ten, Nine or Zero Commandments, then you know something is very wrong and God’s law is obviously under attack. Can we wilfully sin and still enter heaven? (Hebrews 10:26-29) Christians need to realize that Satan is behind this and start investigating what the real truth is behind this Commandment that Satan found all too easy to attack and change in honour of something that God absolutely detested. Sun worship! This is how we come to have the pagan name SUN-day. See an interesting email response. Remember how God tested Israel (Exodus 16) even before He gave the Ten Commandments to see if they would keep His law or not? He tested to see if they would keep THE Seventh day or not. When they didn’t, God accused them of breaking His whole law. This is why it is also called the test Commandment and will be again for the mark of the beast. It is a SIGN that we do love and worship and belong to God and that it is He who sanctifies us and makes us Holy. When we keep the fourth Commandment it shows that we give our allegiance to Him. Most have missed that the Bible clearly tells us this and that this is how God feels, and why this is such a HUGE issue to God in that the Roman Catholic Church did change His Ten Commandment law, which has affected His Church in an enormous way for many centuries. Absolutely millions of obedient Christian Saints died over this. This is what is truly important to God. Our loving obedience and the fact that Satan through man changed HIS Law that defines sin. See also John 14:15. How could man ever believe that he could change the law of God and have God respond with something like, “no matter, do whatever you want to my law that defines sin, that is okay.” It is because the law of God was broken that we had need of a Saviour. If man could change the law of God, then why didn’t man just abolish the Ten Commandments and then we would not have needed a saviour and Jesus would not have had to die on the cross for us. No Ten Commandment law, then no sin. Problem solved! This of course is absolutely ludicrous, which we should all be able to see, but sadly, not the Catholic Church. Mark of the Beast Conclusion The majority of Christians in ignorance are not keeping this special Commandment and so God has been robbed of the worship He desires on the day that He blessed and sanctified at creation because of what Satan did through this Papal apostate Church. This is why it is coming down to a very climactic and final showdown on this issue of whom we are going to obey and give our allegiance to. In the end, God is going to seal those with His mark that keep His Ten Commandment law while those who do not obey God and follow the mark of the Catholic Church and give their allegiance to them, will get their mark. That is, the mark of the Catholic Church, or should we say the mark of the beast. Do you think God cares if we obey the commandments of man rather than His Commandments? You’d better believe He does. Mark 7:6-9 says, “Jesus answered them, “How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you! You are hypocrites, just as he wrote: ’These people, says God, honor me with their words, but their heart is really far away from me. It is no use for them to worship me, because they teach human rules as though they were my laws!’ “You put aside God’s command and obey human teachings.” And Jesus continued, “You have a clever way of rejecting God’s law in order to uphold your own teaching.” Keep in mind all the following points and information when you read the passage below on the mark of the beast. God calls the Catholic Church Babylon and we have now seen why. 666 is the number of a man from the Catholic Church and 666 comes from pagan god sun worship and the worship of God was changed to the day of the sun by the Catholic Church. So what is God trying to tell us about 666? What became of sun worship? SUN-day - Dies solis (Latin) which means “day of the sun.” Satan desired to be worshipped as God with his own day of worship and knows God detests sun worship because it is idolatry. But the next page on the history also reveals that Sunday was a day of Satan worship. Satan gave power to the Papal Church and instituted the day of the sun, being SUN-day as that is also his day. The Church ended up worshipping on the day of the SUN god instead of worshipping the SON of God on His day. Satan got the worship he desired and God missed out. See Isaiah 14:12-14. The mark of the beast is about worship and Satan through paganism and the Catholic Church robbed God of the worship He desired for MOST of Church history. If you are starting to see the bigger picture, than you should understand why this is coming down to a final and climactic event over the mark of the Catholic Church and whom we are going to worship. The fourth Commandment defines that it is God we worship and Greek Lexicons say that the phrase in verse 7 that says, “that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” is a reference to the fourth Commandment. The Catholic Church changed this Commandment that defines who we worship and we are told not to worship the Catholic Church. How would we do that? What Commandment defines worship? Verse 12 says that those who do not get the mark are those who endure tribulation but still keep the Commandments of God. There is no mistake or speculation in that the mark of the beast is about the Ten Commandments since those who do not get the mark endure tribulation but still keep them through faith in Jesus. Did the beast change the Ten Commandments? So those who do not get the mark worship God only and keep His Commandments. So once again, which Commandment defines worship and which Commandment defines who we should not worship? The Roman Catholic Church changed them both! Now without any speculation, read what this passage below really says in regards to the mark of the beast. See also the Roman Catholic Ten Commandments. Revelation 14:7-12 “Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. [Fourth Commandment reference] 8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon [Papacy] is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast [Papacy] and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead [mind], or in his hand [actions], 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; 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 ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 12 Here is the patience [endurance - means to stand fast through tribulation] of the saints: here are they that keep the Commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Parenthesis are added. Remember that Satan counterfeits most things of God. The mark of the beast is Satan’s counterfeit to the mark of God. Since the mark of the beast is in opposition to the seal of God being His mark, compare the following five points and see if they are in fact a counterfeit and in opposition. 1a. God’s cycle and pattern is always 6:1. See what is the mark for more. 1b. Satan through the beast used 1:6. The beast has the occult counterfeit. 2a. The Sabbath Commandment is based on God and His Word. (pro-law) 2b. Sunday is based on the traditions of man. See Mark 7:6-9. (anti-law) 3a. True day of worship comes from the worship of the Son of God. (pro-law) 3b. False day of worship comes from the worship of the Sun god. (anti-law) 4a. God’s Seal is found in His law and His disciples are sealed with His law. 4b. The beast say that their mark was their authority to change the law of God and have the whole Protestant world follow her. See Catholic Quotes. 5a. The Ten Commandments are a sign upon our hands and forehead. 5b. The mark of the beast is on the same locations. Our hands and forehead! (Deuteronomy 6:5-8; 11:18; Revelation 14:9) Points 4 and 5 alone are very clear the mark is about the law of God. And for confirmation: Those who do not get the mark of the beast endure tribulation and keep the Commandments of God. (Revelation 14:12) So simple and clear! It is because so many have been deceived on the fourth Commandment truth that the majority are going to be deceived on the mark as Jesus said. See quote. If everyone discovered the truth on the fourth Commandment then most would easily see this truth. It is because most fight with all their heart, might and soul to avoid this one special Commandment that they do not. Remember that this is the Mark of the Catholic Church. What have they enforced over the centuries by the death of millions? It was always their religious viewpoint and millions died for keeping this Commandment. Are they going to do it again? They already are in some areas of the world where they can get away with it! Perhaps those rejecting this truth would like to explain why Revelation 14:12 says that those who endure tribulation (those who do not get the mark) keep the Commandments of God through faith in Christ. Does scripture show God cares about technology that one would receive His most fierce wrath for? What about breaking one of the Ten Commandments that defines He is our God and one Satan had an apostate Church change through paganism so that he could symbolically receive worship in place of God? Would this sin make God angry? Would you receive God’s fiercest wrath if you knowingly chose to follow the commandments of a persecuting power that received its position from Satan, when it is in TOTAL rebellion against God and His LAW? Would this really anger God? This is totally Biblical and not speculation and something that will be a free will decision. This is what the Bible reveals from Genesis to Revelation that God cannot accept and why God frequently punished Israel. The mark of the Roman Catholic Church according to them was that they were able to change the law of God and have almost the WHOLE Protestant world follow them. So does one obey God or man, or should I say God or Satan? What SIGN are you going to follow? The SIGN of God or the SIGN that shows you are giving your allegiance to the beast? So why is the entire world going to be deceived on the mark of the beast? The answer is simple. Because Satan has deceived the entire world into fighting to avoid one of God’s Commandments that defines we are His children! The History of Sun-Day Worship If you read the page titled 666 and the mark of the beast then you have seen how this mysterious number 666 is directly related to sun worship, but why is sun worship so relevant in regards to the mark of the beast and the worship of God? We have noted that Revelation 14:9- 11 reveals that those who accept the mark of the beast incur the full wrath of God and thus we know this issue has to be something very significant to God. What would you think if I told you that sun worship is directly linked with the worship of Satan? Would this be significant? And what if this sun worship also affected the true worship of God? God does in fact have a day of worship and Satan has a counterfeit day of worship and this day is the “Day of the Sun.” Most are unaware that worshiping on Sunday did not begin with the advent of Christianity; it was in fact a religious day of worship 2000 years before Jesus Christ. It was shortly after the flood of Noah that Nimrod and his mother-wife, Semiramis, founded the great pagan religions. From its beginning at the tower of Babel, sun worship spread throughout the entire ancient world. See first the origin of Babylon and Sun worship for even more detail. History reveals that all religions except the true religion of the God of the Bible originated in Babylon. It is admitted by most Bible scholars and historians that the gods and goddesses of the ancient civilizations were all a part of the same religious belief system. However, the names of the various deities were different because of the confusing of the languages at the tower of Babel. (See Genesis 10 and 11) See also “The Two Babylons,” by Alexander Hislop. This remarkable book historically documents sun worship as the leading religion in all the ancient civilizations. God reveals many times in the Old Testament how much He despises sun worship and that is why He allowed the destruction of the temple and Israel to go into Babylonian captivity for seventy years. God calls it an abomination! Deuteronomy 17:3-5 “And has gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; 4 And it be told you, and you have heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel: 5 Then shall you bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto your gates, even that man or that woman, and shall stone them with stones, till they die.” Jeremiah 8:1-2 “At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves: 2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.” Ezekiel 8:15-16 “Have you seen this, O son of man? turn you yet again, and you shall see greater abominations than these. 16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.” Alexander Hislop in his book The Two Babylons, p. 226 quotes, “The beginning, then, of sunworship, and of the worship of the host of heaven, was a sin against the light—a presumptuous, heaven-daring sin.” All the pagan religions, with their many and varied gods and goddesses, worshiped the sun as their main deity. Moreover, sun worship is the direct worship of Satan the Devil under the symbolism of worshiping the sun. One of the names of Satan in the Old Testament is Lucifer, which means “Light bringer.” This was Satan’s name before his rebellion against God. Isaiah 14:12-14 “How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [Light bringer] how are you cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! 13 For you have said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” Fire and Sun Worship Fire worship was just one of many forms of sun worship that in actual fact was also part of Satan worship. “Fire was worshipped as the enlightener and the purifier. Now, it was thus at the very beginning; for Nimrod is singled out by the voice of antiquity as commencing this fire-worship.” (ibid. p. 226) Ancient Israel not only transgressed the Sabbath of God by profaning and secularizing it when they worshiped Baal but in so doing they were also observing Sunday, because Baal worship is sun worship and Sun-day is the day when the sun is worshiped. “The sun, as the great source of light and heat, was worshipped under the name of Baal. … The sun, under that name, was worshipped in the earliest ages of the world…” (ibid. p. 226) 2 Chronicles 34:4 “They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; the sun-images that were high above them he hewed down; the Asherim and the graven images and the molten images he broke in pieces and made dust of them and strewed it upon the graves of those who sacrificed to them.” Baal was the principal deity of the Phoenicians, which was worshiped by the Semitic nations and means lord or master in the Hebrew tongue. Baal also represents the sun and therefore, Sun-day is Baal’s day and literally but somewhat blasphemously could be called the lord’s day. But Baal is not the Lord God of the Bible; rather it is the lord Satan. Satan is called the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) and is worshiped as god by those who have been deceived into believing his lies. Since Baal means lord, every minor god is also a Baal. Note the ancient stone idol of Baal. All Baal’s are referred to as Baalim (Plural). Baal was also worshiped as Baalzebub. Baal just as the Dagon has a symbol. Here is an example of how God feels about Baal worship and the Babylonian Mystery Religion. 2 Kings 23:4-5 NIV “The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. 5 He did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem-- those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.” The Sun and the Serpent Paganism is mainly a religion of nature worship of which the sun and the moon are the predominant deities. The sun is usually the male and the moon the female (as Horus and Isis of Egypt.) It is very interesting to note in ancient mythology, the serpent was UNIVERSALLY THE SYMBOL OF THE SUN. Sun worship and serpent worship began side by side. The sun was proclaimed to be the source of all fleshly life and the serpent the origin of all spiritual life. But remember, Revelation 12 states that the serpent has “deceived the whole world.” “Along with the sun, as the great fire-god, and, in due time, identified with him, was the serpent worshipped. “In the mythology of the primitive world,” says Owen, “the serpent is universally the symbol of the sun.” In Egypt, one of the commonest symbols of the sun, or sun-god, is a disc with a serpent around it. … The original reason of that identification seems just to have been that, as the sun was the great enlightener of the physical world, so the serpent was held to have been the great enlightener of the spiritual, by giving mankind the “knowledge of good and evil.” … At all events, we have evidence, both Scriptural and profane, for the fact, that the worship of the serpent began side by side with the worship of fire and the sun.” (ibid. p. 227) The religion of the serpent has passed down from one occult priesthood to another all the way down through the years as man was scattered throughout the earth from the time of the Tower of Babel. In the Orient today, everything is symbolized by that same serpent. A Buddhist temple in Thailand has two winged serpents adorning the sanctuary entrance. The serpent symbolizes a guardian to the temple in Alexandria, Egypt. Even the United States have adopted the serpent called Aesculapius in the medical field. In Greece, this serpent was the god of drugs and medicines, i.e., a counterfeit healer. The Romans adopted the worship of the serpent as a symbol of power that carries the soul to heaven. In the Archaeological Museum in Rome, a sarcophagus of the dead has two serpents pulling a chariot, taking these people to heaven. Rome also adopted this symbol of the serpent as the healer. Referencing the previous quote, why is the serpent seen as the great enlightener of the spiritual and giving knowledge of good and evil? We can go to the very beginning of the Bible for the answer to this question where Satan is first pictured as a serpent. We also find that at the other end of the Bible, Satan is still pictured as a serpent. In Revelation 12:3, Satan is called “a great red dragon,” which could also be translated “a fiery dragon” or “fiery serpent.” There can be no doubt that the serpent represents Satan. Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 20:2 “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,” This historical background is vital to understanding that sun worship was the dominant religion in all ancient civilizations, and that it spread from “Mother Babylon” into all countries: India, China, Africa, Greece, Rome, Mexico, South America, Egypt and Europe. Sun worship was a very prominent religion and Sunday was the main day of worship in the Roman Empire by the time of Jesus Christ, just as it was in ancient Babylon: “In Pagan Rome, this fire-worship and serpent-worship were sometimes separate, sometimes conjoined; but both occupied a pre-eminent place in Roman esteem.” (ibid. p. 236) “Now, if this worship of the sacred serpent of the Sun, the great fire-god, was so universal in Rome, what symbol could more graphically portray the idolatrous power of Pagan Imperial Rome than the "Great Fiery Serpent"? No doubt it was to set forth this very thing that the Imperial standard itself--the standard of the Pagan Emperor of Rome, as Pontifex Maximus, Head of the great system of fire-worship and serpent-worship--was a serpent elevated on a lofty pole, and so coloured, as to exhibit it as a recognised symbol of fire-worship.” (ibid. p. 238) The Babylonian sun worship system made the king or emperor the direct representative of the sun god and as such, he was the god-king or king-god. He was the only one in whom the highest level of the spirit of the sun-deity resided. This spirit was NOT the holy spirit of God, but the spirit of Satan the Devil. This is why the pagan emperors were worshiped as gods. After the kingdom of Babylon fell, the entire system of Babylonian and Egyptian mythology was transferred to Pergamos in Asia Minor. The teaching of the Babylonian religious practices by the Babylonian priests and their direct descendants continued in the city of Pergamum for centuries. They taught astrology (which likely included the science of astronomy) and the making of the amulets with the numbers 1 to 36 on them that totalled 666 in the special arrangements they commonly used and of course represented their supreme god the sun. John tells us in Revelation 2:12-13, Pergamos is called “Satan’s seat,” and was the headquarters of the original Babylonian sun worship until this system was carried into the City of Rome about 129 B.C. where they took over leadership, and is where the Roman Catholic Church now has its headquarters. This system was already beginning to work during the days of the apostles, but its fullness had not been revealed. Paul calls this entire hidden system of Worship “the mystery of iniquities” in Thessalonians 2:7 and in Revelation 17:5, John refers to it as “Mystery, Babylon the Great.” It is HIGHLY significant that Pergamos is called “Satan’s Seat” and it is not hard to see that God is telling us that this issue of sun worship that became sun-day worship in place of God’s day of worship is Satanic. This alone should tell us that what became of sun worship was Satan’s highest priority. The wise among us will realize that the attack on the fourth Commandment was Satan’s plan from the beginning, and that ALL Ten Commandments are in fact eternal as one SHOULD expect. We need to sit up and pay attention to this issue. The relocation of “Satan’s Seat” began in the person of Julius Caesar when as emperor he had supreme civil and religious rule. “When Julius Caesar, who had previously been elected Pontifex Maximus, became also, as Emperor, the supreme civil ruler of the Romans, then, as head of the Roman state, and head of the Roman religion, all the powers and functions of the true legitimate Babylonian Pontiff were supremely vested in him, and he found himself in a position to assert these powers.” (ibid. p. 241) In the year 46 B.C., Julius Caesar was made “Praefectus Morum” (supervisor of morals), which means he was made the head of Roman religions. And in the year 44 B.C., he was made dictator for life. (See Langer’s Encyclopaedia of World History) It is crucial to understand that from that time forward, the Emperor of Rome was also the head of the state religions. This did not change until Emperor Justinian, who reigned from 527-565 A.D., submitted to the head of the Roman Catholic Church. From that time forward, the Pope was acknowledged by the Emperor to be Pontifex Maximus (Latin for head pagan priest) over all religions. The Pope now had supreme authority in religious matters, and the Emperors had control of the political power of the state. Sun‐Day: The Main Roman Day of Worship The names of the days of the Roman week are very revealing in understanding about Sun-day worship before it allegedly became a “Christian” institution. Sun-day, or the day of the Sun, was the main pagan day of worship. Although other pagan gods had days named after them, only “dies solis” (Latin for “day of the sun”) was proclaimed to be holy. The prominence of sun worship in the Roman Empire was attributed to two factors. First, it had been a part of the religious worship system of pagan Rome for a very long time. It was widespread, but not the official dominant religion. Next, the Eastern cult of sun worship, “Sol Invictus” (Invincible Sun), through the cult of “Sol Invictus Mithra” and “Sol Elagabal,” became the dominant religion of the Empire. Notice the “bal” at the end of the name; this signifies that it incorporated Ba(a)l worship. Mithraism primarily was more of a private cult, though it numbered among its adherents magistrates and emperors. Sol Invictus Elagabal, on the other hand was a popular cult with grandiose temples and during the rule of the young Emperor Elagabalus (A.D. 218-222) was made the official cult of the whole empire. It is clearly indicated by the famous astrologer Vettius Valens that the “Day of the Sun” already enjoyed pre-eminence by the middle of the second century. In his Anthology composed between 154-174 A.D., when explaining how to find the day of the week of any given birth date, he states, “And this is the sequence of the planetary stars in relation to the days of the week: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn.” The “dies solis” [Day of the Sun] was evidently the most sacred day of the week for those faithful to Mithra and so the days of the week were arranged to the gods, whose names the Romans had dedicated to certain stars. They called the first day of the week the “Day of the Sun” because they believed it was the ruler of all the stars. The Sabbath to Sunday Change Jesus said that every stone of the Temple would be “thrown down.” (Matthew 24:1-2) This occurred when the temple was destroyed by the Romans during “The First Jewish War” in 70 A.D. When the Romans made war again with the Jews from 132-135 A.D., the Roman Emperor Hadrian banished all Jews from Palestine. These Jewish Wars took place after the book of Acts was written and resulted in great pressure upon the early Christian Church to move away from anything that “appeared Jewish,” including the Sabbath. Since Sunday was already popular throughout the Roman Empire as a day for sun worship, some Christian leaders (now called the early “Church Fathers”) yielded to temptation and began shifting from “Sabbath to Sunday.” “Jesus Christ rose on Sunday!” became their rationalizing cry. Thus they used the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who “died for our sins,” (sin is the breaking of God’s Law 1 John 3:4), as an excuse to break one of the Ten Commandments. Before the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., a strong Christian Church was planted inside the city of Rome itself in the heart of the Roman Empire. Paul wrote his letter, “The Epistle of Paul to the Romans,” to those early believers “in Rome.” Romans 1:7. But because it was surrounded by paganism inside the world’s mightiest capital, this Church soon experienced a “falling away” (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3) from the purity of the gospel and morphed into the wealthy and powerful Roman Catholic Church. This transition especially took place during the fourth century, in the time of the Emperor Constantine who favoured the Roman Catholic Church above all other Churches. In 312 A.D., prior to his pivotal victory over his rival Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine became a “Christian” after claiming to see in broad daylight a vision of “a cross above the sun” with these words emblazoned, “in hoc signo vinces” (by this sign conquer). After defeating his enemies and becoming Emperor of Rome, Constantine presided in full royal pomp over the “First Council of Nicea” in 325 A.D. As a shrewd political genius, his scheme was to unite Christianity and paganism in an effort to strengthen his disintegrating empire. He knew that pagans throughout the empire worshiped the sun on “the first day of the week,” and he discovered that many Christians and especially in Rome and Alexandria also kept Sunday because Christ rose from the dead on that day. So Constantine developed a plan to unite both groups on the common platform of Sunday keeping. On March 7, 321 A.D., he passed his famous national Sunday law: “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. (Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time [A.D. 321].)” Source: Codex Justinianus, lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; trans. in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol.3 (5th ed.; New York: Scribner, 1902), p.380, note 1. Now a professed Christian, Constantine nevertheless remained a devout sun worshipper. “The sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine,” notes Edward Gibbon in his classic Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. xx, par. 3. Constantine even printed coins which “bore on the one side the letters of the name of Christ, on the other the figure of the sun god.” Arthur P. Stanley, History of the Eastern Church, lect. vi, par. 14. Again, Constantine’s promotion of Sunday observance was part of his definite strategy to combine paganism with Christianity: “The retention of the old pagan name of dies Solis, or ’Sunday,’ for the weekly Christian festival, is in great measure owing to the union of pagan and Christian sentiment with which the first day of the week was recommended by Constantine to his subjects, pagan and Christian alike, as the ‘venerable day of the Sun.’” Stanley’s History of the Eastern Church, p. 184. In 330 A.D., Constantine moved his capital from Rome to Constantinople (modern Istanbul), thus preparing the way for the Roman Catholic Popes to reign in Rome as the successors of Constantine. As the Papal Church grew in power, it opposed Sabbath observance in favour of Sunday sacredness and made the day change official in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 363-364). At this time the Catholic Church decreed 59 Canon laws. Canon law 29 is as follows: Canon XXIX: “Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.” Constantine’s plan was successful and his sun-day law from sun worship was accepted by the Papal Church and the Sabbath to Sunday change complete. In spite of the rising popularity of Sunday sacredness, Church historian Socrates Scholasticus (5th century) wrote: “For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries [of the Lord’s Supper] on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.” Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History, Book 5, ch. 22. Another historian also confirmed this by stating, “The people of Constantinople, and almost everywhere, assemble together on the Sabbath, as well as on the first day of the week, which custom is never observed at Rome or at Alexandria.” Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History, Book 7, ch. 19. Thus even in the 5th century, Sabbath keeping was universally prevalent (except in Rome and Alexandria where the Babylonian religion came to rest), along with Sunday keeping. Many Christians kept both days. But as the centuries wore on, Sunday keeping grew in prominence and especially within Roman Catholic territories. History and scripture show that in pagan Roman times (before, during, and after the coming of Jesus Christ), Sun-day was the most prominent day of worship in the Roman Empire. Most of the Christian religions today wrongly assume that this pagan day of worship is holy. God knew from the beginning that Satan and man would falsify His appointments by changing the time. His handiwork is His creation which points back to the Creator. The pagan week certainly does not give glory to the Creator but only to the Babylonian pagan gods and we know who is behind them. Revelation 13:2 says that the dragon (Satan/Serpent) gave power to the beast (Kingdom/Papal Church) and Daniel 7:25 states that they would think to change God’s times and laws. Scripture leaves no doubt that Satan gave power to the Roman Catholic Church. What was Satan’s purpose here? The predominant reason was so he could institute his own day of worship right into the Christian Church and receive worship by representation, and very significantly, in opposition to God’s true day of worship. One religion absorbed by Rome involved the Philistine idol of the fish-man god called Dagon, which was also referred to as the devil. The most famous temples of Dagon were at Gaza (Judges 16:21-30) and Ashdod (1 Samuel 5:3-7; 1 Chronicles 10:10). Dagon was represented with the face and hands of a man and the lower half the body as the tail of a fish (1 Samuel 5:3- 4). The fish like form was a symbol of fruitfulness and as such was likely to be adopted by seafaring tribes in the representation of their gods, which is why Rome who ruled the seas easily adopted this religion. These images are just one of many proofs that this Babylonian system went not just to pagan Rome but also was adopted by the Church of Rome now being the rich and powerful Roman Catholic Church. The first image shown here is the Sun symbol of Baal. Now take a look at the Pope with the symbol of “Baal” (sun worship) at the forefront of his mitre, which also symbolizes the Dagon god. The symbol of the Dagon is in the form of a hat or mitre, as the devil worshippers refer to it. The Pope, being the devil’s representative on earth must wear the mitre, (hat), of the Dagon god. Notice the open mouth of the fish at the top of the Pope’s mitre. One can also see the body of the fish running down the back of the mitre of the Dagon. Note also the carvings and diagrams of Dagon priests and their fish head hats alongside the Pope with his similar fish head hat holding the crooked cross of Mithra. The carving on the left shows the Dagon priests sprinkling holy water. The pagan week is still named after the seven heavenly lights according to their risings that rule over the first hour of each day, i.e. they are the LORDS or MASTERS ruling that day. The sevenday week as created by God is shown by His weekly Sabbath, not by the risings of these seven pagan gods of the Babylonian Mysteries. So there would be no question as to when His week began and ended, God created the true weekly Sabbath, the appointed time for meeting with God, the day that is sanctified and set apart by God at creation. Exodus 31:13-17 states the Sabbath is God’s sign/mark between Him and us FOREVER so we may know that He is the LORD that sanctifies us. The true day of worship gives glory and points to the Creator. H226 oth Probably from H225 (in the sense of appearing); a signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc.: - mark, miracle, (en-) sign, token. A sign and a mark can be synonymous and in the Strong’s dictionary we find that the word translated “SIGN” in Exodus 31:13 and other similar verses can also be translated as “MARK.” We know that Satan counterfeits many things of God and so if the true Sabbath is God’s sign and mark, then the mark of the beast and 666 as Satan’s counterfeit has to be referring to keeping of a false day of worship created by the devil and his Babylonian Mystery System. This false Sabbath and appointed time is Satan’s way of leading mankind away from God. As Revelation 12 says, that old serpent, dragon, Satan the Devil has deceived the whole world. When Israel apostatized and were almost universally worshiping Baal, what appeal did Elijah make to them? “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21. History of Sun‐Day worship Summary Most Christians have no idea how extremely significant the fourth Commandment is to God and yet we find that Satan from the very beginning has been working towards his own day of worship with his intention to have it replace God’s true day of worship. Having a close look at the history of Sun-Day worship reveals that Satan had a long term plan and has gone to a tremendous amount of effort to achieve his goal. Why would Satan go to so much trouble if the fourth Commandment is not pertinent as our adversary would have us believe? Perhaps all Ten Commandments are to last as long as Heaven and Earth as Jesus said. If Christians could only grasp that the fourth Commandment is just as much an eternal Moral law as the other nine. Why would our God of infinite wisdom place a Temporary law in an Eternal law or a law that is NOT love in a law that IS love? Our God is not a fool and “is not the author of confusion…” 1 Corinthians 14:33. God included the fourth Commandment in His Moral Law of Love because it is a Law of Love and a very special one that is a SIGN it is God we Love and Worship and that we are His children. It is also a SIGN that it is God who sanctifies us and makes us His Holy children. It is NOT a sign when we keep another day. To do so is to profane the Holy and to try and make Holy the profane. Only God can make a day Holy. Having said this, let’s finalise and sum up this important topic. It was after the great flood of Noah that Nimrod and Semiramis founded the great pagan religions. From its beginning at the tower of Babel, sun worship spread throughout the entire ancient world. This is idolatry at its worst that God detests. What was the driving force behind this? God frequently punished Israel for the idolatrous practices that involved worship of the sun and other heavenly bodies. What spirit was behind Israel’s disobedience and sun worship? God eventually sent Israel into Babylonian captivity because of their continual idolatrous practices such as sun worship, which of course had also resulted in them profaning God’s Sabbath. Sun worship of course was huge throughout Babylon also being the origin of astrology. What spirit was behind this? When the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon, (539 B.C.) the Babylonian priests took their mystery religion to Pergamos. In Pergamos, sun worship and their mystery religion flourished. Who was behind this? Revelation 2:12-13 gives that answer and asserts that Pergamos was the seat of Satan. From Pergamos the Babylonian priests saw an opportunity and went to Rome (Approx 129 B.C.) and it was not long before Rome filled with their religious teachings and practices also. It became so pervasive that people called Rome the “New Babylon.” Need I ask what spirit was behind this? From pagan Rome, the practices and beliefs of the Babylonian religion went right into the Church of Rome. Historians have said that it seemed like almost the entire city of Rome converted virtually overnight to Christianity, but what actually happened is that the Babylonian religion was simply brought into the Church. What spirit was behind this and what is the goal? Constantine became a “Christian” after claiming to see in broad daylight a vision of “a cross above the sun” with these words emblazoned, “in hoc signo vinces” (by this sign conquer). Constantine’s scheme was to unite Christianity and paganism in an effort to strengthen his disintegrating empire. He knew that pagans throughout the Roman Empire especially worshiped the sun on “the first day of the week,” so he developed a plan to unite both groups on the common platform of Sunday keeping and passed his famous Sunday law (A.D. 321). What spirit was behind the uniting of paganism and Christianity and Constantine’s vision? Revelation 13:2 says that the dragon (Satan) gave power to the beast (Catholic Church). We won’t ask who was behind this since we are told. Why did Satan do this? From sun worship in Rome came Sunday worship in the Church. The Roman Catholic Church made keeping the Seventh-day Sabbath illegal in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 364). So what spirit was behind this step by step transition to Sun-day worship? During the dark ages of Papal persecution, millions died in their determination to keep God’s Seventh-day Sabbath Holy and it was nearly murdered out of existence. And again what spirit was behind this? So now when the Protestant reformation began, all the new Protestant Churches that came from it continued keeping Sunday in ignorance. Today most Christians fight with all their heart to avoid the truth about this one Commandment that Satan went to work on right from the beginning so he could receive worship by representation in place of God as he wanted to be like the most High. Pretty obvious what spirit was behind this! Even though there is a growing count of 500 plus Sabbath keeping Churches of different denominations that keep the Seventh-day Sabbath, the majority is still not keeping God’s true day of worship, but instead keeps the day that Satan instituted. This was always Satan’s plan and most do not want to find the real truth but instead have one of hundreds of different perpetuated excuses they have heard. What spirit is behind this? The answer remains the same. It is our adversary Satan who has deceived the entire world! Mark of the Beast Prophecy Tables I have heard some say the mark of the beast is Sunday worship. This is not quite true as we can worship God any day. It is about worshipping on a day commanded by man in place of worshipping on the day Commanded by God. Acts 5:29 says, “…We ought to obey God rather than men.” It is also about keeping manmade traditions in place of God’s Commandments. Jesus made it very clear that He does not want us keeping manmade traditions in place of the Commandments of God. See Mark 7:6-9. In Daniel chapter 3, the king commanded all to bow down and worship the golden image when they heard the music. But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused because it would mean disobeying the Commandments of God. This is what it is all about. Obeying God rather than man. It is about giving our allegiance to our heavenly Father and obeying Him only when it comes to His Commandments. The table below compares God’s True Church with an apostate Church that changed God’s law, which has affected what is truly important to God for a very long time. When God gave the Ten Commandments in such fiery majesty, He had purpose in every single Commandment. Not one Commandment was intended to change. Each and every one is to last as long as heaven and earth. If one studies the table below they should see the bigger picture and why Satan changed the day of worship through paganism. God’s True Church The Apostate Church Clothed with the sun. God, Church is light (1 John 1:5, Matthew 5:14) Clothed in purple and scarlet. Sin, Corruption (Revelation 17:3, Isaiah 1:18) The remnant Church, from the original (Revelation 12:17) Mother of Harlots, other Churches came from her (Revelation 17:5) It is God who wants the Worship and receives it (Revelation 14:7) It is Satan who wants the worship and receives it (Revelation 13:4) Christ is the head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23) Man is the head of the Church (Catholic Church quote 1, quote 2) Christ is its power and authority (Jude 1:25) Satan gave it its power and authority (Revelation 13:2) Based on scripture (Acts 17:11, 1 John 2:5) Based on Tradition (Catholic Church quote, Mark 7:6‐9) Keeps God’s Commandments (Revelation 12:17, 14:12) Changed God’s Commandments (Daniel 7:25) Worships God only (Keeps 2nd Commandment) Worships Idols and Mary (2nd Commandment deleted) Keeps God’s true Sabbath day of Worship (Revelation 12:17) Changed the Sabbath to Satan’s day of Worship (Catholic Church quote 1, 2) True day of Worship is based on the Word (Exodus 20:8‐11) False day of worship comes from Paganism (Historic Quote 1, Quote 2) True day comes from worship of the Son of God (Exodus 31:13‐17, Isaiah 58:13‐14) False day came from worship of the Sun god (Ezekiel 8:16) Our allegiance is to God when we worship on His holy day (Ezekiel 20:20, Exodus 31:13‐17, Revelation 14:7) Our allegiance is to Satan when we worship on their day (, Revelation 13:2, Revelation 13:4) Jesus is the capstone (Matthew 21:42, 1 Peter 2:7) Satan through Paganism is the capstone (Revelation 13:2) Does not commit fornication (Revelation 12:17, 14:12) Commits spiritual fornication (Revelation 14:8; 17:2, 4; 18:3, 9) Works on destroying the powers of Satan (Luke 9:1) Satan through her tried to destroy God’s true Church (Revelation 13:7, Daniel 7:25) Preaches the 3 angels messages One warns of the Mark of the Beast Does not preach the 3 angels messages The MARK of the Beast is her MARK Reigns with Christ for ever and ever Destroyed by God and thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 22:5) (Revelation 19:20) How do we respond when the Mark of the Beast is enforced? Did you know that God has given us an Old Testament example of how we should respond when the mark of the beast is enforced? In Daniel chapter 3, King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold image with dimensions effectively equal to 66+6 that he commanded all to worship. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would not disobey the Commandments of God and so refused to obey the king. Since they refused, the king threw them into a blazing furnace heated seven times hotter than usual. The King in amazement said, “Why do I see four men walking around in the fire? They are not tied up, and they show no sign of being hurt and the fourth is like that of the Son of God. Praise the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! They disobeyed my orders and risked their lives rather than bow down and worship any god except their own. There is no other god who can rescue like this.” As a result, the king promoted them to higher positions in Babylon. This is a beautiful example of the obedience God desires from us and what is required from us during the time of tribulation when the mark of the beast is finally enforced. You will note from the table below that this is the perfect parallel of the mark of the beast issue in Revelation Chapters 13 and 14 and wonderfully demonstrates how we need to respond in the end times. So when the mark is enforced what should we do? We should obey God and worship Him only and not worship the Beast or his image and keep God’s Commandments even if it means enduring tribulation or facing death as millions did during the dark ages. Remember that this 666 and the mark of the beast issue is very significantly about who sanctifies us and who we love, obey and WORSHIP by keeping the Commandments of God. It is extremely important not to forget that the fourth Commandment, the Sabbath, is not just about resting but is a SIGN that it is God we WORSHIP and hence give our allegiance to. Observe the parallels in this passage in regards to the mark of the beast issue. Perfect Parallels between 666 and the Mark of the Beast and Daniel chapter three (Daniel 3:1) Powerful kingdom in control (Revelation 13:11) (Daniel 3:1) Makes an image (Revelation 13:14) (Daniel 3:5) Image Worship is commanded (Revelation 13:15) (Daniel 3:6) Those who refuse to Worship the image are threatened with death (Revelation 13:15) (Daniel 3:4) It applies to all nations and people (Revelation 13:16) (Daniel 3:1) Size of the metal man/image and the number of the man is 666. When width only is given, the depth is the same as the width (Revelation 13:18) (Daniel 3:18) The choice is about who we Worship. That is to Worship God only or worship a false image (Revelation 14:7 Revelation 14:9‐11) (Daniel 3:18) Should Worship God only (Revelation 14:7) (Daniel 3:18) Keeps the Commandments of God (Revelation 14:12) (Daniel 3:17) Prepared to endure tribulation rather than break the Commandments of God (Revelation 14:12) (Deuteronomy 6:5‐8 Deuteronomy 11:18) God’s Ten Commandments are a sign on our HAND and FOREHEAD which is the same location as the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:16) The Mark of the Beast is Satan’s counterfeit system of Worship To further demonstrate that the mark of the beast issue revolves around worship, the following information and table have been added to even better illustrate this fact. As we have already seen Satan wanted to be worshipped as God. If Satan asked us to worship him, would we do it? Of course not. Does Satan know this? Of course he does. So Satan gets himself a front man and props him up by giving him his power, throne and great authority. (Revelation 13:2) So when the beast power is being worshipped, who is really being worshipped? Satan himself! This is called worship by representation. Jesus said in John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” So how do we worship the Father in spirit and in truth? We worship Jesus as He is our representative before the throne and the Father gave His power, throne and great authority to Jesus. As Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” So the way we have access to the father is by Jesus Christ. We worship Jesus in spirit and in truth and that worship is transferred to the Father because He is the representative of the Father. Jesus also said in John 14:9 “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father; and how sayest you then, Show us the Father?” We find in the book of Revelation that Satan counterfeits many things. Example: We find a counterfeit Godhead. We of course have the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and in the book of Revelation you have the dragon which is Satan, the false prophet and the beast. Note that the Bible does not use the word trinity but Godhead. The word trinity originated with Tertullian (160-225 A.D.), and the doctrine was established by the Roman Catholic Church in the council of Nicea in 325 A.D. that says the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, yet there are not three Gods but one God. See the Holy Trinity of God. There are many other things that Satan counterfeits of God eg. When God brought His chosen people out of captivity from the land of Egypt, He performed many miracles like turning Aaron’s rod into a serpent, changing rivers to blood and bringing up frogs to cover the land. The pharaoh’s magicians through the power of Satan were also able to counterfeit all these same miracles. (Exodus 7:10-11; 7:20-22; 8:6-7) In Job 1:16 Satan burned up Job’s sheep and servants with “fire from heaven” and in Job 1:19, Satan used a “great wind” to bring down a house killing the occupants and in Job 2:7, Satan smote Job with “sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.” If Satan has the power to change rivers to blood, bring up frogs to cover the land, change rods to serpents, control the weather, bring down fire from the heavens (see also Revelation 13:13) and inflict illness, then he can certainly heal people. Note Satan needed God’s permission to inflict illness on Job. (Job 1:12; 2:6) So we know God heals and Satan counterfeits, God gives the gift of tongues and Satan has a counterfeit, God has true Prophets and Satan has counterfeit false Prophets, (Matthew 24:11) God is going to seal His people with His mark in their foreheads (Revelation 7:3) and as we already know, Satan has a counterfeit mark in the forehead and hand. (Revelation 13:16) The mark of the beast issue is inarguably about worship and we find in Revelation that Satan has a total counterfeit system of worship in relation to the ministry of Jesus Christ and in regards to the mission of the beast power and its mark. This can be seen with careful exegesis. The table below makes it very easy to see Satan’s total counterfeit system of worship. When referencing scriptures, do not forget that a lot of symbolism is involved in the book of Revelation. Where obvious, scripture references have not been given. As discussed earlier, Antichrist does not just mean against Christ but Antichrist also means in place of or as a substitute as is the case here in Revelation. So in actual fact, the Antichrist will not appear as a violent opposer of Christ but a subtle impostor as seen in the first table above. Ten Points revealing Satan’s Counterfeit System of Worship The ministry of Christ This mission of Antichrist 1) Rises from the water to begin ministry (Baptism) (Matthew 3:16‐17) 1) Rises from the water to begin mission (Revelation 13:1) 2) Resembles Father (John 14:9, Hebrews 1:1‐3) 2) Resembles Satan (Revelation 13:1, Revelation 12:3, 9) 3) Horns and Crowns (Revelation 19:12‐16, Revelation 5:5‐8) 3) Horns and Crowns (Revelation 13:1) 4) Receives authority from the Father Matthew 28:18 4) Receives authority from the Dragon (Satan) (Revelation 13:2) 5) Ministry lasts 3.5 years (Daniel 9:27) 5) Mission lasts prophetic 3.5 years (Revelation 13:5) 6) Wounded to death on the cross and then resurrected 6) Wounded to death then deadly wound healed (Revelation 13:3) 7) Receives worship after resurrection 7) Receives worship after deadly wound is healed (Revelation 13:3‐4) 8) Given universal dominion (Daniel 7:14) 8) Given universal dominion (Revelation 13:7) 9) Placed the Sabbath on the Seventh day of the week as the true day to achieve the Worship He desires. When kept, it defines it is God we give our allegiance to. 9) Changed the Sabbath to the First day of the week as the counterfeit day so Satan could achieve the Worship he desires. When known, who do we give our allegiance to? 10) God has His seal or Mark (Revelation 9:4) 10) The beast (Papal Church) has its own Mark (Revelation 13:16) There are many excuses given as to why this Commandment does not matter anymore. I hope after what you have just read that you will realize that these are perpetuated lies from the enemy. Do not go by what others tell you but study the Word and see what it says. This is what counts. For much more detailed information see 666 and the mark of the beast or select the following to just see additional information with some very enlightening mark of the beast comparison tables and an excellent revision. Those who want to investigate the real truth about the fourth Commandment should start with the Sabbath day and follow the links to God’s Sabbath truth. You may also like to read more on the change of the Sabbath to Sunday. Mark of the Beast and Paganism The Pantheon is an ancient temple in Rome that was later converted into the Church of Santa Maria ad Martyres. Dating from 125 AD, this is the most complete ancient building in Rome. The Pantheon was dedicated to pan theos, meaning “all the gods.” When it became a Church, it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and all the martyrs. The Pantheon is the burial place of several important Italians and it remains an active Church. The statues of the “gods” from the Pantheon are now found in the Vatican Museum with the exception of the great statue of Jupiter, which has been modified, re-titled, and seated on a throne in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome as St. Peter. Thousands of pilgrims kiss the foot of Jupiter while thinking it is the statue of Peter and have nearly worn it away. Notice the sun wheel above his head? Note also that the pattern on the wall behind the statue utilizes the symbol of Baal. Following the conquest of Mesopotamia by the Persians, the Babylonian priesthood fled to Pergamum in Asia Minor. Here they erected the Acropolis temples of Pergamum in honour of the Greek Pantheon, but continued to worship the Babylonian mystery god under the name of Saturnus. Many of the Babylonian mysteries were preserved in the temple of Zeus at Pergamum and transferred to Rome in 133 B.C. when Attalus III died without an heir and bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. The penetration of the religion of Babylon became so general that Rome was called the “New Babylon.” The origin of the number 666. In 133 B.C. the Babylonian solar cult was bequeathed to Rome by Attalus III. There its symbols and forms were incorporated into the cult of Caesar and later into Roman Catholicism. Note that the numbers add up to 111 for each row, column and even the diagonals, with the grand total of 6 x 111 equalling 666 for each table. Winged serpent spirit, signifying the soul of the departed (Egypt). It is very interesting that in ancient mythology, the serpent was universally the symbol of the sun. Sun worship and serpent worship began side by side. The sun was proclaimed to be the source of all fleshly life and the serpent the origin of all spiritual life. Winged serpent guardians, King Tut’s throne, Cairo, Egypt. The religion of the serpent has passed down from one occult priesthood to another all the way down through the years as man was scattered throughout the earth from the time of the Tower of Babel. Remember that sun and serpent worship began together. Mayan serpent sun god coming out of the mouth of a dragon was used in connection with the Mayan sun god ‘Quetzalcoatl’ on the Island of Cozumel, 1000 A.D. What do they represent? Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth…” Romans adopted the worship of the serpent as a symbol of power that carries the soul to heaven. In the Archaeological Museum in Rome, a sarcophagus of the dead has two serpents pulling a chariot taking these people to heaven. Rome also adopted this symbol of the serpent as the healer as have many countries. Roman bath, in Bath, England. Notice the serpent as a symbol of healing. Even the United States has adopted the serpent called Aesculapius in the medical field. In Greece, this serpent was the god of drugs and medicines, i.e., a counterfeit healer. Serpent door handle on the new St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, California. The serpent as we have already seen became the symbol of healing in many countries. It is hard to imagine a symbol that represents Satan on the door of a Cathedral. One would think they would have to know what the Bible says it represents. Dragon on a large papal crest in the Vatican museum. Vatis = diviner, can = serpent. Vatican = The Divining Serpent. Knowing the meaning of the word Vatican no one will be surprised that the crest of the Vatican is “a serpent-dragon” The Bible says in Revelation 12:9 “the dragon, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world…” The Persian sun god Mithra was widely accepted in the Roman world prior to Christianity. Sunday was dedicated to Mithra (lord), receiving the title of the “Lord’s Day” Mithraism had seven sacraments the same as the Catholic Church. The Eucharist hosts were signed with a cross, an ancient phallic symbol which originated in Egypt, and the Egyptian cross (the ankh) still shows the original form which included the female symbol. The Pope enthroned under a canopy with astrological figures of the Zodiac in the Vatican Museum. The sign of Leo is directly above the Pope’s head. During the Dark Ages, the greatest astrologer of all times, Nostradamus had to be cautious of the Inquisition which he narrowly escaped several times. Yet that Church had knowledge of the stars and used astrology. Golden child in the Vatican treasury, like so many other images of the child in Catholic Churches, is reminiscent of the ancient worship of Tammuz as a child. Born on Dec. 25, he represented the rebirth of the sun. As a pagan god child, he was called “Baal-berith.” Pagan Anglo Saxons called Dec. 25 “Yule” Day, which is a Babylonian word for infant. Egyptians and Persians celebrated the birthday of their god on Dec. 25th. Other names applied to the sun god as a child are Mithras, Horus, Isvara, Deoius, Jupiter, Plutus, Ninus, Osiris, Dionysus, Bacchus, Iacchus, Adonis, Attis etc. All these myths of child worship originated from ancient Babylon with Semiramis and Nimrod. Mother or Mary worship is the most powerful and emotional phenomenon in the Roman Catholic Church today. This mystic cult is given credence by the multitude of accounts about supernatural phenomena involving statues, apparitions and healings. Since Mary worship is found nowhere in the writings of the first Christians, it is evident that its origin is found in the universal adoration of the mother goddess all throughout paganism before the time of Christ. It was adopted into the rising Roman Church early in its history - some suggest after the 4th century A.D. Serpent crosiers were commonly carried by bishops and high Catholic Church officials in the Middle Ages. They claim that the crosier represents the shepherd’s crook, but it can be traced to the divining staff or augur of Pontifex Maximus of ancient Rome who inherited it from the priests of Babylon. It is unrealistic to assume that shepherds of nomadic existence would use wooden rods with handles like the one shown or anything like it. Common sense would have them use something straight and not entangle themselves with when having to fight off wild animals. Thinking about plays representing the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, it is absolutely disgusting to see shepherds hold staffs other than straight wooden rods. The pagan symbol representing male and female union. The wavy lines portray the female and were associated with the serpent, while the straight line is male and is representing the phallus. We find the same principles of male-female in the paganism of astrology, which is very much a religion of nature worship of which the sun and the moon are the predominant deities. The sun is usually the male and the moon the female (as Horus and Isis of Egypt, which originated from Semiramis and Nimrod her husband/son. See the origin of sun worship and Babylon.) Adad, Enlil, Baal, Neptune, Poseidon and other “gods” of storm and sea were depicted as carrying tridents. It was symbolic of lightning. Here Poseidon or Neptune, said to be ruler of the sea or underworld, holds the trident, which is traceable to the horned, hoofed sun god of Babylon who carried the trident or pitchfork. The trident is also a representation of the male-female symbol. A cross on the altar of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London with four tridents in the Hindu fertility style. Some dispute that Roman Catholic Church leaders incorporated pagan Babylonian religious practices into the Catholic Church but even Catholic historians admit it. Cardinal Newman in his Development of Christian Doctrine, pages 372, 373 says that the Church incorporated many pagan religious practices into the Church. He claims that the Church sanctified them and that made it safe to bring these practices into the Church. A trident projecting from the head of baby Jesus on a Roman Catholic Madonna and child image. This in fact originally represented Semiramis and Nimrod her husband/son. See the origin of sun worship and Babylon. Also notice the hand how it is displayed with two fingers and thumb prominent, another way of symbolizing the trident, a Satanic hand sign, symbolic of occult powers, also used by high Church officials and priests in various blessings invoking the sign of the cross by motioning their right hand with two fingers and thumb casually extended. It is also found in freemasonry of which origins can be found in the Catholic Church. The old statue of Jupiter with its occult blessing hand is now St. Peter in the Vatican. As stated earlier, the statues of the gods from the Roman Pantheon can now be found in the Vatican Museum with the exception of the great statue of Jupiter, which has been modified, re-titled, and seated on a throne in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome as St. Peter. Thousands of pilgrims kiss the foot of Jupiter while thinking it is the statue of Peter and it has been nearly worn away from the many pilgrims who kiss paying homage. Notice the sun wheel above his head? You can also note also that the pattern on the wall behind the statue utilizes the symbol of Baal. Pagan priests as half fish sprinkling holy water on Assyrian temple laver in the Pergamum Museum of Berlin. One of the names of this god in Babylon and Phylistia was Dagon (dag=fish, on=sun). The most common ways of depicting Dagon are described by the archaeologist Layard, “The Head of the fish formed the mitre above that of a man, while its scaly, fish-like tail fell as a cloak behind, leaving the human limbs and feet exposed.” Layard’s Babylon & Nineveh, p.343 Dagon the sun-fish god, again clearly displayed with fish attire and mitre. Note also the carvings and diagrams of Dagon priests and their fish head hats alongside the Pope with his similar fish head hat holding the crooked cross of Mithra. The carving on the left shows the Dagon priests sprinkling holy water and is taken from the above image. This pine cone staff in the Egyptian Museum Turino, Italy is a symbol of the solar god Osiris and originated in Egypt where he was their messiah who died for his people and whose Mother, Isis, was worshipped as the Virgin Mother. Osiris was the Egyptian counterfeit of Jesus Christ. The pine cone on the tree of life, slowly ripens the conifer’s female seeds, and in the later stages the cone opens up to release its mature seeds. This process symbolizes the seeding effect on other people and culture together with the expansion of consciousness. Assyrian winged god with pine cone, representing power of regeneration, traceable to Tammuz of Babylon. Most paganism in history is traceable back to Tammuz of Babylon. His mother Semiramis, was the first Virgin Mother predating the birth of Jesus Christ by over a 1000 years. The Catholic practice of making the Sign of the Cross originated in Babylon as people paid homage to their messiah, Tammuz, who “died for the good of his people.” There love was demonstrated for Tammuz by making the sign of the “T.” Satan has transferred this sign for Tammuz into the Catholic Church, as they think they are making the sign of the Christian cross. Tammuz was the Babylonian counterfeit of Jesus Christ. Here the Greek god Dionysus carries the pine cone staff as a fertility symbol. Pine cones and pine cone staffs are very common on pagan statues and art symbols of fertility and regeneration. Children are always looked upon as extending the life of the human species. Therefore, it is predictable that the Pine Cone should be linked to the new life of the conception of children. The largest pine cone in the world in the Court of the Pine Cone at the Vatican, Rome. Pagans have always coveted eternal life and have sought it by worshipping and revering many objects they find in Nature. The Roman Catholic Church utilizes the pine cone just as any good Pagan religion would do. This is further evidence that Roman Catholicism is more Pagan than Christian. In fact we could say that Roman Catholicism is counterfeit Christianity with Paganism as its beating heart. Pine cones are common in Roman Catholic architecture and sacred decorations. Note how the cone at the Vatican is immature and therefore unopened, just the way they want it! The Pope carries a pine cone mounted on his staff, the ultimate pagan symbol. Since the ultimate goal of religion is the securing of eternal life, one should not be surprised that the Pope should be carrying the ultimate Pagan symbol of eternal life. One of the most visible evidences that sun worship has continued under the name of Christianity. Look at the Pope with the symbol of “Baal” (sun worship) at the forefront of his mitre, which symbolizes the Dagon god. The symbol of the Dagon is in the form of a hat or mitre. Notice the open mouth of the fish at the top of the Pope’s mitre. The most famous temples of Dagon were at Gaza (Judges 16:21- 30) and Ashdod (1 Samuel 5:3-7; 1Chronicles 10:10). Dagon was represented with the face and hands of a man and the lower half the body as the tail of a fish (1 Samuel 5:3-4). Waldensian Christians worshiping in a cave while being attacked by Catholic soldiers. “The Papists took care after every mission of persecution to destroy as much of the Waldensian literature as possible.” Bompian, A Short History of the Italian Waldenses, p.56 “The inquisitors declare that the sign of a Vaudois (Waldenser) deemed worthy of death was that he followed Christ and sought to obey the Commandments of God.” H.C. Lea, History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Vol.1 Statue in the sanctuary of the Jesuit Church of Rome depicting the Church’s authority over kings and her destruction of what she considered Protestant heresy. On August 15, 1534, Ignatius Loyola established a new order of priests and brothers The Society of Jesus, better known today as the Jesuits. They were so evil they were banned in many countries. View of the plaza at the Vatican, also known as St. Peter’s square. The Papal palace is on the right edge. The large eight rayed sun wheel design symbolic of Ishtar is immediately noticeable. Look closely in the center of the wheel. What you see there is an obelisk, a genuine Egyptian obelisk shipped from Heliopolis to Rome by the Roman emperor Caligula. The obelisk is of course a phallic symbol but it also was used in sun worship. It is claimed that the word obelisk literally means Baal’s shaft or Baal’s organ of reproduction. Source: Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated, by Dr. Cathy Burns, pg. 341. Note around the obelisk at the center of the huge eight point sun wheel is a smaller four pointed sun wheel, the same symbol found on the altar stone in the temple of Baal in Hatzor. Leviticus 26:30 CJB “I will destroy your high places, cut down your pillars for sun-worship, and throw your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols; and I will detest you.” Ezekiel 6:4 AMP “Your altars shall be made desolate and your sun-pillars shall be broken in pieces, and I will cast down your slain before your idols.” The Egyptian obelisk that stands in the square of St. John Lateran (shown at left) is the largest in existence. Originally carved during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmoses III, it stood in the Temple of Amon in Thebes (Karnak), but was removed to Rome by emperor Constantius (A.D. 317-361) and placed in the Circus Maximus. In 1587 Pope Sixtus V unearthed the fallen, broken and long forgotten obelisk and had it repaired and placed in the Piazza S. Giovanni in Laterano. It is possible that Moses saw this very obelisk when he was in Egypt. Now this obelisk meant to honour the sun god stands beside what Catholics call the supreme “Mother of all Churches”, the official cathedra of the bishop of Rome, the Pope, which brings to mind the apostate Mother Church, Mystery Babylon the mother of harlots. A tablet from the early 9th century B.C. which depicts the Babylonian sun god Shamash seated on the right, holding emblems of his authority, a staff and ring, and the king with two attendants on the left. In the centre on an altar is a large four point sun image with additional small wavy rays between the points. Now look closely at the tapestry below John Paul II who is making his first public appearance as Pope in 1978. On the tapestry hung from the balcony, there is the symbol of Baal / Shamash very evident. Compare with the above image. In Hebrew, the word for sun is: 8121. shemesh, sheh’-mesh; from an unused root mean. to be brilliant; the sun; by impl. the east; fig. a ray, i.e. (arch.) a notched battlement:-- + east side (-ward), sun ([rising]), + west (-ward), window. Look closely at the chest and around the neck of this Neo-Assyrian standing stone (stele/stela) dating from about 824-811 B.C., which depicts King Shamshi-Adad V. Note in particular the necklace the King is wearing. On it is what is called a Cross Pattée or Cross Formée. It was about twenty eight hundred years ago that this shape was symbolic of pagan sun worship. Now look closely at the Pope who wears a similar symbol around his neck on the Pallium, which the Pope also confers on selected bishops as an ornamental token of his favour, and it is also worn by archbishops and patriarchs as a symbol of their authority as a metropolitan, derived from unity with the Pope. Note also, that beneath John Paul’s Pallium there is a partially obscured diagonal cross, which mimics the diagonal bands below the Cross Pattée worn by the pagan king. The Pope also has a ring and staff of authority, remarkably similar to the depiction of the sun god Shamash. Looking up into the dome of St. Peter’s you will notice the very obvious 16 ray sun wheel. Indeed the light from the sun streams into the centre hub of the dome making a genuine sunlit sunburst image at the centre of the wheel. The Bible says these symbols were associated with sun worship, which is strongly condemned in scripture. So why are they so prevalent in the Roman Catholic Church if they are associated with paganism and apostasy and what became of sun worship? From sun and serpent worship 2000 B.C., to Sunday worship in the Church. Satan has infiltrated the Christian Church and most do not understand what has happened or the relevance. Sunday or “dies solis”, the day of the sun came from Satan worship and is his day. The Babylonian mystery religion went straight into the Church of Rome and God calls her Mystery Babylon. She claims her mark to be her change of the fourth Commandment to the day of the sun. The Mark of the Beast and 616 and 606 Some have heard about ancient manuscripts that supposedly have the numbers 616 or 606 instead of 666. Some have also claimed one of the copies with the number 616 is again supposedly older than the other documents with the number 666 on them. If true, there are good reasons to believe that the numbers 606 or 616 were due to scribal errors that somehow propagated down through additional copies as other scribes copied the earlier manuscripts. A mistake made early in the “life” of the document of Revelation could easily propagate and appear to us as if it is the more correct version, even if it was a mistake. This is especially likely given that the original meaning of the number 666 was concerned with its magical properties. If you read the page on 666 and the mark of the beast, then you know that Babylon worshiped gods that were associated with the sun, moon, planets and stars involved with astrology. Babylonians were the principle developers of astrology and the pagan priests wore amulets called “Sigilla Solis” or “Sun Seal” which symbolized 36 constellations. In this system of worship, they had 36 supreme gods plus the god associated with the sun, which they believed to be the father of all the other gods and so was supreme over all. They believed that numbers had power over the gods they worshiped so they assigned numbers to their gods so that they could have power over them. They did this by counting their gods and assigning a consecutive number to each of the 36 lesser supreme gods, and then added up these numbers (from 1 to 36) and assigned the sum to the sun god. The sum of the numbers from 1 to 36 totals 666, which they assigned to the god associated with the sun. See also Murl Vance quote. See also 666 number of the beast. 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14 + 15 + 16 + 17 + 18 + 19 + 20 + 21 + 22 + 23 + 24 + 25 + 26 + 27 + 28 + 29 + 30 + 31 + 32 + 33 + 34 + 35 + 36 = 666 606 and 616 cannot be the number or the Mark of the Beast The numbers 616 or 606 had no magical meaning of any significance to the Babylonians, so that by itself should inform us that these had to be copy errors. People copied things by hand before the printing press, so if you wanted a copy of any manuscript and you had the money, you hired somebody to copy it for you or to read it to you if you could not read. It seems highly implausible that God would say that the woman in Revelation 17 is Babylon and connect it with the first beast of Revelation 13, and then give us the number 616 or 606 instead of 666. Since God modelled the woman after Babylon, there would be absolutely no reason to use the numbers 606 or 616 and every reason to use the number 666. The Babylonian mystery religion never used these numbers and they had no significance to them in any way shape or form. Thus, these numbers 616 or 606 can only be scribal errors regardless of whether the document may appear to be earlier. Nero and the Mark of the Beast Some have also said that the numeric value of the name Caesar Nero works out to 616 if one drops the letter “n” at the end of the name to make it Caesar Neron, (Hebrew names typically added the “n” to foreign names ending with an “o”) because “n” has a value of 50, so 616 + 50 = 666. The problem of course is that Nero does not fit the majority of the descriptions of the beast. For instance, the beast was said to blaspheme the tabernacle of God, which means it substituted and established its own service for that which God had provided. Nero never did that in the temple of God. He also never changed God’s times and laws, took out three of the kingdoms from the fall of the Roman empire or persecuted the saints for 1260 years, and most other criteria are also not met. Hence, Nero cannot be the beast and he is not the person who receives that mysterious number 666. The fact is that Satan is always trying to stay one step in front of the truth and now that the real origin and truth on 666 is becoming more widely known, he is trying to throw confusion out there by attempting to take attention from the real number that did in fact come from Babylon. It reveals that 666 came from astrology and sun worship that eventually became Sun-day worship in the Church. This was our adversary’s attack on one of the Commandments of God that most do not want to know about much to the enemy’s delight. There really can be no doubt that the number is not 606 or 616 as these numbers have no significance but that once mysterious number 666 definitely does