The book of Revelation tells us that there will again be a battle over how to worship and everyone will be identified by either the seal of God or the mark of the beast.

As it was in the days of Cain and Abel so it will be again at the end of time. Those people who receive the mark of the beast will be aggravated with God's faithful people for worshipping God according to God's directions found in the holy scriptures.

Those who receive the mark of the beast will, like Cain, be protected from persecution by man, however they will receive of God's plagues and be eternally lost.

One of the strongest warnings in all of the Bible involves the mark of the beast:

"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 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:" Revelation 14:9-10

Who will be protected through the seven last plagues?

Revelation 7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

NOTE: Those who receive God's seal in their foreheads will be protected during the plagues (See Psalm 91:7-11).


What is this "seal" the righteous have in their foreheads?

Isaiah 8:16 Bind up the testimony; seal the law among my disciples.

NOTE: God's seal is found in His law. A seal is what makes a document official, and it normally contains three characteristics: Name, Office, and Territory. An example would be "Cyrus king of Persia" in Ezra 1:1.


Which of the Ten Commandments contains all the elements of a seal?

Exodus 20:11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is.

NOTE: The fourth commandment is the only one that contains all three elements of a seal: (1) "The Lord"--His name, (2) "made"--His office as Creator, (3) "heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is"--His territory.


4. What has God given as a special sign of His power?

Ezekiel 20:12 I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.

Ezekiel 20:20 Hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.

Exodus 13:9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth.

Isaiah 59:6, 7 Their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. ... Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.

NOTE: Neither the mark of the beast nor the seal of God is outwardly visible. The forehead represents the mind, and the hand is a symbol of work. "On the hand" and "between the eyes" are consistent symbols in Scripture for a person's thoughts and actions (Exodus 13:16; Deuteronomy 6:8; 11:18).

A person will receive the mark of the beast in his forehead by choosing to believe that Sunday is a holy day in spite of Bible truth. A person will be marked in the right hand by working on God's Sabbath or by outwardly keeping Sunday laws for convenient reasons--such as a job, family, etc. Although the sign is invisible to men, God will know who has which mark (2 Timothy 2:19). In a sense, each person will mark himself. If I respect and regard God's holy Sabbath, He will mark me as His own. If I regard the beast's false Sabbath, He will mark me as belonging to the beast.


How does Jesus determine if we are His servants?

Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey.

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.


Does anyone have the mark of the beast now?

Revelation 13:17 No man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

NOTE: No person has the mark now. When it becomes a forced issue, only those who have received the mark of the beast will be able to buy or sell. At that time, people who keep God's holy Sabbath will do so at the risk of their lives (Revelation 13:15), and those who choose to profane His holy day and officially cast their votes by placing the laws of men above the Law of God will be marked as belonging to Antichrist. All who are loyal to Jesus and His holy day will receive Jesus' glorious seal, thus making them His forever. Those who try to remain neutral will be counted for Antichrist (Matthew 12:30).


What two things does the Antichrist power attempt to change?

Daniel 7:25 He shall ... think to change times and laws.

NOTE: Daniel 7 reveals an Old Testament description of the Antichrist power. It clearly predicts that the beast would attempt to change both God's laws and times. The papacy has tried to change God's laws by: (1) omitting the second commandment against veneration of images, (2) shortening the fourth commandment from 94 words to just eight in order to avoid mentioning which day is the Sabbath, and (3) dividing the tenth commandment into two commandments. The papacy attempted to change God's times by: (1) teaching people to recognize the first day of the week as the Sabbath instead of the seventh day, and (2) adopting the pagan Roman practice of beginning each day at midnight instead of sundown. God's timing for the Sabbath is from sundown Friday night to sundown Saturday night (Leviticus 23:32). No mortal should ever dare to tamper with God's sacred law or times (Matthew 5:18).


What was God's criticism of His ancient priests, or pastors?

Malachi 2:8, 9 Ye have caused many to stumble at the law. ... Ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

NOTE: God is still hurt when His pastors are partial to eight or nine commandments and cause many to stumble over His command to keep the Sabbath holy. Virtually all churches admit in their official writings that there is no Scripture support for Sunday sacredness. Tragically, both Protestantism and Catholicism stand guilty before the judgment bar of God for throwing out the Bible Sabbath! God Himself gave the Sabbath as a sign, or mark, of His power to create and His power to sanctify and save (Exodus 31:17; Ezekiel 20:12). Dare any man tamper with this sacred sign, which represents the great God of heaven and all that He stands for?


How did God's ancient leaders regard the great things of His law?

Hosea 8:12 I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.

NOTE: Times have not changed. God has placed the Sabbath, His great sign, in the middle of His law and begins that commandment with the word "remember." Yet many people today feel that keeping His seventh-day Sabbath is a strange thing.


What specific, solemn rebuke did God give to religious leaders regarding His holy Sabbath?

Ezekiel 22:8 Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.

Ezekiel 22:26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane ... and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

NOTE: God pointedly rebukes religious leaders who say that the Sabbath doesn't matter and who claim "Thus saith the Lord" when it is not true.


What specific sin does God command His leaders to denounce?

Isaiah 58:1, 13, 14 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression. ... If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honourable; ... Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.

NOTE: God charges spiritual leaders to call Sabbath-breaking a sin and to insist that His people keep His Sabbath day holy. As with the disciples of old, our only safety is in obeying God rather than men (Acts 5:29).


When you decide to accept Jesus and fully follow Him, what happens?

Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

NOTE: Glorious rest and peace enter your heart at conversion. The Sabbath, which means "rest," is a symbol of the rest and peace that comes from the new birth (Hebrews 4:1-10). Those who are truly born again will keep the Sabbath as a blessed sign of that rest (notice verses 4, 9, 10). There is no joy like the joy that comes to a converted person who keeps God's Sabbath holy.


Before you can say "no" to the mark of the beast, you must say "yes" to the seal of God. Jesus is waiting at the door of your heart for an answer. Will you decide now to move under His glorious Sabbath banner as evidence that you have accepted Him as your Creator and Saviour?


Supplemental Study

What Important Question Does the Papacy Ask Protestants?

Protestants have repeatedly asked the papacy, "How could you dare to change God's law?" But the question posed to Protestants by the Catholic church is even more penetrating.
Here it is officially: "You will tell me that Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, but that the Christian Sabbath has been changed to Sunday. Changed! but by whom? Who has authority to change an express commandment of Almighty God? When God has spoken and said, Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day, who shall dare to say, Nay, thou mayest work and do all manner of worldly business on the seventh day; but thou shalt keep holy the first day in its stead?

This is a most important question, which I know not how you can answer. You are a Protestant, and you profess to go by the Bible and the Bible only; and yet in so important a matter as the observance of one day in seven as a holy day, you go against the plain letter of the Bible, and put another day in the place of that day which the Bible has commanded. The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the ten commandments; you believe that the other nine are still binding; who gave you authority to tamper with the fourth? If you are consistent with your own principles, if you really follow the Bible and the Bible only, you ought to be able to produce some portion of the New Testament in which this fourth commandment is expressly altered."¹