Events leading to the fulfilment of the mark of the beast.
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 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.” Revelation 13: 16,17.
When the book of Revelation was written by the apostle John in the 1st century on the isle that is called Patmos (Rev. 1: 9), the 1st and 2nd beasts (kingdoms) of Revelation 13 symbolizing the papacy (verses 1-10, 18) and the United States (verses 11-17) respectively were not yet in existence. Note: Kingdoms are symbolized by beasts (Daniel 7:17).
The papacy
Yet most of the words of this prophecy of Rev. 13 has been fulfilled. Just as prophecy predicted, the Roman Catholic church came on the world stage when the “dragon gave the beast his power and seat and great authority (Rev. 13:2). The dragon primarily symbolizes Satan (Rev. 12:9), but Satan works through men and at that time he fully controlled the Roman Empire through their pagan religion, and they were his chief agents in persecuting Christians. Seeing that persecution was not working, Satan caused it to cease and working through the bishop of the Christian church at Rome, corrupted Christianity with pagan doctrines.
Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in AD 313 proclaiming toleration for the Christian religion and convoked the First Council of Nicaea in 325 whose Nicene Creed included belief in ‘one holy Catholic and apostolic Church’. And in 330 he moved his capital to Constantinople leaving Rome with the bishop of the church of Rome, thus fulfilling the words: “the dragon (pagan Rome) gave the beast (the Catholic church) his power (civil power), and seat (city of Rome) and great authority”. Then afterwards Emperor Theodosius 1 made Nicene Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire with the Edict of Thessalonica in AD 380. And yet paganism was the real victor because this new religion was paganism cloaked with Christianity.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, the Catholic church sought to step into Rome’s place and rule over Western Europe. But 3 of the 10 nations that Rome had used to rule the world i.e. the Heruli, Vandals, and Ostrogoths refused to yield to the Catholic religion and authority. Therefore, the Catholic church made war against these 3 nations. The last of these nations i.e. the Ostrogoths were defeated in March 538 and forced to leave Rome. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Rome_(537–538). Therefore, March 538 marks the beginning of the years of papal supremacy.
The papacy wars against the saints
The prophecy also says, “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them” (Rev. 13:7). Did the Roman Catholic church make war with and persecute the followers of God?
“In the thirteenth century was established that most terrible of all the engines of the papacy,–the Inquisition. The prince of darkness wrought with the leaders of the papal hierarchy. In their secret councils, Satan and his angels presided, while unseen in the midst stood an angel of God, taking the fearful record of their iniquitous decrees, and writing the history of deeds too horrible to appear to human eyes. “Babylon the great ” was “drunken with the blood of the saints.” The mangled forms of millions of martyrs cried to God for vengeance upon that apostate power.” E.G. White, The Great Controversy, 1884, page 64.
“The establishment of the Holy Office, or the Inquisition, as the persecuting arm of the Roman Church against all heretics. This effort accounted for the slaughter of 50 million martyrs over a period of about 300 years” The Other End of the World, p 127, by Roger Rusk, Plantation House, 1988. Therefore, history tells us that this part of the prophecy has been fulfilled as well.
The papacy rules for 42 prophetic months
The Catholic church then went on to rule the world for “42” prophetic months or 1260 literal years when “power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” Rev. 13:5. One prophetic day represents 1 year (Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6). So, from 538 AD when it had expelled the Ostrogoths from Rome to 1798 the Catholic church ruled supreme till 1798.
The papacy receives a deadly wound and is healed after some time.
The end of the rule of the papacy was also prophesied, and according to the prophet he “saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death” (Rev. 13:3). And that happened on February 10, 1798 when the French general Louis Berthier under directions from Napoleon Bonaparte entered the city of Rome, took pope Pius VI prisoner and exiled him to France.
But according to prophecy “his deadly wound was healed” (Rev. 13:3). This was fulfilled in 1929 when Cardinal Gasparri and Benito Mussolini signed the Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Vatican. It was signed by Benito Mussolini for the Italian government and by cardinal secretary of state Pietro Gasparri for the papacy. Upon ratification of the Lateran Treaty, the papacy recognized the state of Italy, with Rome as its capital. Italy in return recognized papal sovereignty over the Vatican City and restored temporal powers to the papacy.
For a detailed study of Revelation 13 you can read The beast, its image and its mark @
The seal or mark of God
To understand what the mark of the beast is we must first understand what the mark of God is, because Satan always makes a counterfeit of what God has. God says, “Hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.” Ezekiel 20:20. The Sabbath law says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shall thou labour and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. Exodus 20:8-11.
The Sabbath law has 3 elements that constitute a seal: (1) The Author of the law is Jehovah. (2) His title is that of Creator. (3) His dominion is heaven and earth and the sea i.e. the whole world.
The seal or mark of the papacy
And since the seventh day of the week (Saturday) is the Sabbath, the day of God’s memorial of creation and the day to be kept holy, the mark or seal of God, then the counterfeit sabbath which nearly the whole of Christendom worships on i.e. is the first day of the week (Sunday), is the mark or seal of the power that instituted it.
Which power instituted Sunday worship? The answer is:
“The Ten Commandments…Written by the finger of God on two tables of stone, this Divine code was received from the Almighty by Moses amid the thunders of Mount Sinai…Christ resumed these Commandments …He proclaimed them as binding …The Church, on the other hand, after changing the day of rest from the …. seventh day of the week, to the first, made …Sunday as the day to be kept holy.” The Catholic Encyclopaedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04153a.htm
With these and many other official writings the Roman Catholic proudly boasts of changing or attempting to change the sanctity of the Sabbath from the 7th day of the week to the 1st day of the week. This is a direct fulfilment of the prophecy of Daniel 9:25 when speaking of the same power i.e. the papacy, saying “He shall think to change times and laws”. Therefore, this counterfeit sabbath is the mark of the Roman Catholic church. It is the mark of the beast.
The first step Satan took to enforcing Sunday observance was the law enacted by his chief agent at the time Constantine in A. D. 321. It reads: “All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon the venerable day of the sun. Country people, however, may freely attend to the cultivation of the fields, because it frequently happens that no other days are better adapted for planting the grain in the furrows or the vines in trenches. So that the advantage given by heavenly providence may not for the occasion of a short time perish.”—Joseph Cullen Ayer, A Source Book for Ancient Church History (New York: Charles Scribner’s sons, 1913), div. 2, per. 1, ch. 1, sec. 59, g, pp. 284, 285. Quoted from The Great Controversy 1911 by E.G. White, page 681.
Even though as can be seen from the law it was a purely pagan law dedicated to their sun god but still Emperor Constantine enforced it after his nominal conversion to Christianity.
“The royal mandate not proving a sufficient substitute for divine authority, Eusebius, a bishop who sought the favor of princes, and who was the special friend and flatterer of Constantine, advanced the claim that Christ had transferred the Sabbath to Sunday. Not a single testimony of the Scriptures was produced in proof of the new doctrine. Eusebius himself unwittingly acknowledges its falsity and points to the real authors of the change. “All things,” he says, “whatever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord’s Day.”—Robert Cox, Sabbath Laws and Sabbath Duties, page 538” E.G. White, The Great Controversy, 1911, page 574.
The USA
The 2nd beast i.e. the USA came on the world stage and fulfilled the prophecy spoken by John when he said “I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.” Rev. 13:11, Assuming a position of prominence and influence about the year 1798 when the 1st beast received its deadly wound. This can be none other than the USA because unlike the 1st beast which “rise up out of the sea”, representing that turbulent sea of “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Rev. 17:15), the USA on the other hand rises peacefully “out of the earth”, a territory previously unoccupied and without overthrowing other nations. The 2 lamb-like horns are emblems of innocence and gentleness as expressed in its two fundamental principles of Republicanism and Protestantism.
“The identity of the “two-horned beast” is further shown by its wonder working; by its deceiving “them that dwell on the earth by those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast.” Revelation 13:14. “Spiritualism arose in the United States and has gone to all the world by means of American mediums.” E.G. White The Great Controversy 1884, page 503.
The birth of Spiritualism began around 1848 with the Fox sisters from Rochester, New York. The two younger sisters used “rappings” to convince their older sisters and others that they were communicating with spirits.
“Many endeavor to account for spiritual manifestations by attributing them wholly to fraud and sleight of hand on the part of the medium. But while it is true that the results of trickery have often been palmed off as genuine manifestations, there have been, also, marked exhibitions of supernatural power. The mysterious rapping with which modern Spiritualism began was not the result of human trickery or cunning, but the direct work of evil angels, who thus introduced one of the most successful of soul-destroying delusions. Many will be ensnared through the belief that Spiritualism is a merely human imposture; when brought face to face with manifestations which they cannot but regard as supernatural, they will be deceived, and will be led to accept them as the great power of God.” Ibid., page 372.
“Spiritualism is now changing its form, veiling some of its more objectionable and immoral features, and assuming a Christian guise. Formerly it denounced Christ and the Bible; now it professes to accept both.” Ibid., page 405.
“As the teachings of Spiritualism are accepted by the churches, no real restraint is imposed upon the carnal heart, and the profession of religion becomes a cloak to conceal the basest iniquity. A belief in spiritual manifestations opens the door to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. The influence of evil angels is felt in the churches throughout the land.” Ibid., page 422.
Spiritualism first in the USA and then later to the rest of the world has resulted in the emergence of hundreds of false prophets who profess to work miracles some false some real with the power of Satan. Just like the Sunday-sabbath which has its roots in paganism so in a like manner the modern-day spiritual manifestations also has its roots in paganism. Spiritualists are witchdoctors disguised as Christian prophets.
The image of the beast
Revelation 13 goes on to say that the USA “spoke as a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those that dwell in it to worship the first beast who deadly wound was healed,” and “telling those who dwell on earth to make an image of the beast” Rev. 13:11,12,14 NKJV.
What is the image of the beast and how is it formed? What is an image of the Roman Catholic Church? It is another religious body that copies the main characteristics of the Catholic church; that adopt its main pagan doctrines i.e. Sunday-sabbath and immortality of the soul; that is supported by the State; that can legislate and punish all those who oppose its laws. And this is formed when all the churches unite upon common points of faith such that they will speak with one voice to influence the State to enforce their decrees and sustain their institutions.
Most of the churches have united under the World Council of Churches families (WCC) which has other ecumenical bodies under it such as the Christian World Communion (CWC), National Council of Churches (NCC), etc.. Since they don’t pay taxes, it means they are in effect being sustained by the state. The only thing that is left is for the State to enforce the decrees of the WCC then it will become a persecuting power as was the Roman Catholic church against dissenters before it received its deadly wound, in other words the World Council of Churches will be an image of the beast.
It was in the USA that the churches first united under the Federal Council of Churches which later became the National Council of Churches which then gave birth to the World Council of Churches. Therefore, the USA which controls almost all the Western world financially, militarily and spiritually will be foremost in advocating for a law to enforce Sunday holiness.
The USA as already mentioned is symbolized by a lamb with 2 horns representing Protestantism and Republicanism. But the prophecy indicates that a change happens to the USA in that “it spoke as a dragon”, and this happened when most of the churches adopted pagan doctrines e.g. spiritualism, Sunday-sabbath, and immortality of the soul, instead of remaining true to Protestantism i.e. protesting the false doctrines of the Catholic Church and using the Bible only as its creed.
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Angel’s messages
It was in the USA in 1840-1844 that the 1st and 2nd Angel’s messages of Revelation 14 had its direct fulfilment. Preached by William Miller a Baptist preacher and his associates the 1st message says, “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” (verse 7).
It was meant to arouse the people of God from their spiritual slumber and separate them from the love of the world and prepare them for the Investigative Judgement of God. It is also asking us to worship God as Creator thus calling our attention to the true Sabbath on which He rested and blessed after creating all things. We give glory to God by accepting Christ as our Lord and Saviour and living Christ’s righteous life by faith, which alone will enable us to stand in the “hour of His judgement”.
But most of the churches rejected this message and as a result were declared to be Babylon by the 2nd message saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” (verse 8).
The term Babylon, derived from Babel (Genesis 11:9), and signifying confusion, is applied in Scripture to the various forms of false or apostate religion. So, the image of the beast and the Babylon quoted above are the same thing, because the churches that make up Babylon or the image of the beast have conflicting creeds and false doctrines, resulting in great confusion. Its moral fall is here announced which is caused by these false doctrines that are likened to intoxicating wine.
The preachers of the 1st and 2nd messages also preached on the non-immortality of the soul. The prevailing belief was that the soul is immortal and that the dead are already in heaven and have already received their reward. If that was the case then there would be no need of a judgement message. But this was shown not be the case as the scripture says that “The living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything.” “Their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun” “There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Eccl. 9:5,6,10. “The grave cannot praise thee; death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day. The father to the children shall make known thy truth.” Isa. 38:18,19. “In death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who shall give thee thanks?” “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” Ps. 6:5; 115:17.
And because the churches rejected the 1st and 2nd Angel’s messages they were not prepared to receive the 3rd Angel’s message which says,
“If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 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: 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. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Verses 9-12
This message dealt with specifically the true Sabbath and the false sabbath. Warning us not to receive the mark of the beast i.e. Sunday holiness when it is made law or else he/she will receive the wrath of God which are the 7 last plagues and at last be thrown in the lake of fire.
The National Reform Association
“He (USA) exercises all the power of the first beast before him, and causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast” by attempting to include the Sunday-sabbath as law in the constitution. On this point Satan was mainly using the National Reform Association to achieve his objectives.
The prophetess Ellen White warned the world first in 1884 and again 1888 that “In the movements now in progress in the United States to secure for the institutions and usages of the church the support of the State, Protestants are following in the steps of papists. [See Appendix, Note 11.] Nay, more, they are opening the door for popery to regain in Protestant America the supremacy which she has lost in the Old World. And that which gives greater significance to this movement is the fact that the principal object contemplated is the enforcement of Sunday observance,—a custom which originated with Rome, and which she claims as the sign of her authority. It is the spirit of the papacy,—the spirit of conformity to worldly customs, the veneration for human traditions above the commandments of God,—that is permeating the Protestant churches, and leading them on to do the same work of Sunday exaltation which the papacy has done before them.” The great Controversy 1888, page 573.
“[Note 11.] These movements are apparent under diverse forms and in different ways, but the organization which embodies almost every form, and works in every way to gain its end, is the National Reform Association. It originated in a conference representing “eleven different denominations of Christians from seven of the states of the Union.”….It proposes to have our national constitution amended, “in order to constitute a Christian government,” “acknowledging almighty God as the source of all authority and power in civil government, the Lord Jesus Christ as the ruler among the nations, His revealed will as the supreme law of the land;” and so placing “all Christian laws, institutions, and usages of our government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land.” One of its propositions, announced by David Gregg, D. D., Pastor Park Street Church, Boston, is that the state has “the right to command the consciences of men.” Ibid., page 688.
Because the watchmen upon the walls of Zion i.e. the Seventh Day Adventist church (SDA), God’s true church at that time were spiritually asleep and not prepared for the crisis that was to come upon the world, God heard the prayers of His faithful servants to hold back the “four winds” and prevented the Sunday movement from succeeding (Review and Herald, January 1, 1889) through A.T. Jones and others in 1889 and 1890 to defeat the Breckinridge Sunday Bill.
Unfortunately, the SDA refused to come out of their spiritual slumber and were eventually captured spiritually by Babylon, which is the World Council of Churches (W. C. C.), as the prophetess Ellen G. White predicted in Letter 242 1903. And in joining the WCC, the SDA church fulfilled the last day event prophecy of Isaia 4:1 which reads:
“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one Man, saying, we will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.” Isaiah 4:1.
Since this is a prophecy written in symbols, we will have to understand the symbols first and then determine when it was fulfilled.
“Seven” symbolizes wholeness or completeness or all, e.g. seven days signifies a complete week or a whole week or all the number of days of the week.
A “woman” symbolizes a church, a pure woman–a pure church, an impure woman an impure church, e.g. “I promised you to one husband, to Christ” says Paul, “that I might present you as a pure virgin to Him” 2 Corinthians 11:2 NIV. Again, Babylon in Rev. 17:5 is called the mother of harlots, i.e. an impure church that has churches that follow after her example of impurity and corruption.
The “one Man” obviously refers to Christ.
“Bread” symbolizes the word of God, e.g. Jesus says, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: … the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” John 6: 51,63.
“Apparel or clothes” symbolizes righteousness/unrighteousness. Filthy clothes—unrighteousness. Clean clothes – the righteousness of Christ, e.g. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” Isaiah 64:6. “Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes, and he stood before the Angel. And the Angel said to those who were standing before him ‘Take off his filthy clothes’ Then He said to Joshua ‘See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you’” Zechariah 3:3,4 NIV.
So, without the symbols the text reads, “In that day all the churches will take hold of one Man, i.e. Christ, saying, we will teach our own words or doctrines, we will wear our own righteousness, only let us be called by your name i.e. Christian, to take away our shame” Isaiah 4:1
So, when was the prophecy fulfilled? It could not apply to the times of Isaiah because Israel was the only true church of God at that time. Likewise, it cannot be applied during the times of the early Christian church during the times of the apostles for there was only one church. Again, it could not be applied during the times of the great apostasy during the supremacy of the Catholic Church for no other church was tolerated to operate openly and God’s true church was in the “wilderness” as explained before. It had a partial fulfilment during the Protestant era because God’s people were not united under one body as Christ said they should do: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” John 17: 20,21.
Towards the end of the Protestant era the “Judgement message” or “Advent message” was sent through William Miller and his associates to the world, the purpose of which was to separate God’s people from the world and unite them under one body and name, which eventually happened by the raising of the Seventh Day Adventist church. Again, the prophecy could not apply during her time as she was God’s only true church.
But when the Seventh Day Adventist church apostatized from God starting in 1932 with the introduction of the church manual which replaced the Bible, the word of God as the church creed and later officially joining Babylon in the Christian World Communion, then the prophecy of Isaiah 4:1 was fulfilled because none of the denominational churches are God’s true church. And as the prophecy predicted, each church teaches their own doctrines and not Bible doctrines and from their own doctrines each church defines its own righteousness and yet all of them want to be called by Christ’s name i.e. Christian.
So, as one can see the prophecy concerning the rise and fall and resurrection of the Catholic church, the rise of the USA, the rise of Spiritualism, the rise of the World Council of Churches, the change of the sanctity of the Sabbath from the 7th day of the week to 1st day of the week, all have been fulfilled as prophecy predicted. And lastly the fulfilment of Isaia 4:1.
All that is left is for the mark of the beast i.e. Sunday holiness to be made law throughout Christendom. This will be the last test upon Christians before the 7 last plagues fall upon the earth. Then the Lord Jesus Christ will come again to take the ransomed home to heaven while the rest of the wicked will be destroyed.
Pope Francis – Encyclical Letter Laudato SI in 2015
However, Satan does not tire in his efforts to bring about the Sunday law. In 2015 his chief agent the pope wrote an encyclical letter proposing a Sunday law under the pretext that it would be beneficial for the environment and for human beings as on such a day there would be less pollution and man would rest from his labours.
European Sunday Alliance in 2024
In Europe the organization that is being used by Satan to push for a Sunday law is the European Sunday Alliance. According to its manifesto published in March 1,2024 @ https://europeansundayalliance.eu/ says:
It “is a network of national Sunday Alliances, trade unions, civil society organizations and religious communities committed to raising awareness of the unique value of synchronised free time for our European societies.”
Among others “It is coordinated by a Steering Committee bringing together the Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of the EU (COMECE)….the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CESI), the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE)…. the Jesuit European Social Centre (JESC)…”
“On the occasion of the EU elections in June 2024, the Steering Committee of the European Sunday Alliance invites interested policy makers to support the role of synchronised free time as a key element in addressing mental health issues and loneliness in our society, in particular by: ensuring that all relevant EU legislation and non-legislative measures respect and promote the protection of a common weekly day of rest for all people living and working in the EU, which shall be in principle on a Sunday….”
Like their master the pope they pretend they are doing it for the welfare of humanity when in actual fact once it becomes law the penalties will definitely follow for those not adhering to the law.
Gabriele Bischoff a member of the European parliament says, “The Roman Emperor Constantine recognized the special importance of a common day off and introduced the work-free Sunday to protect the Sunday as a common day off”
Brando Benifei a member of the European parliament says, “Work free Sunday must be guaranteed for everyone. We need the work life balance that is real, that is concrete, which means that we have the time for our family life, for our private interests, for our passions, for thinking, for living outside of the work time. Sometimes today we see this as a blending situation between private life and and work life. This must stop. We need to give a clear boundary and this is why we must support a work free Sunday.”
Project 2025
Back in the USA, the latest movement to advocate for a Sunday- sabbath holiness is Project 2025. In their manifesto under the heading Sabbath Rest, they write “God ordained the Sabbath as a day of rest, and until very recently the Judeo-Christian tradition sought to honor that mandate by moral and legal regulation of work on that day. Moreover, a shared day off makes it possible for families and communities to enjoy time off together, rather than as atomized individuals, and provides a healthier cadence of life for everyone. Unfortunately,
that communal day of rest has eroded under the pressures of consumerism and secularism, especially for low-income workers. Congress should encourage communal rest by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) 9 to require that workers be paid time and a half for hours worked on the Sabbath. That day would default to Sunday”
Under the current administration of the USA, the stage is set for the enforcement of a Sunday law as seen by the appointment of Jonathan Berry in the Department of Labor as its chief legal officer who is also a key architect of the labor chapter of Project 2025. Whether a Sunday law will passed under the current administration or not remains to be seen. But according to prophecy when the USA passes a Sunday law then:
“By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to the disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy be a sign to us that the limit of God’s forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation’s iniquity is full, and that the angel of mercy is about to take her flight, never to return.” Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, volume 5, p.451.
From the above statement when the a Sunday law is passed which is the mark of the beast, then probation will close shortly after that whereby there will no longer be an intercessor between guilty man and God after Jesus Christ our High Priest finishes His work as Mediator in the sanctuary above and makes the announcement that “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still” Revelation 22:11. Now while probation is still open is the time by the grace of God to form characters that are after the image of Christ.