Answers to Questions on the Mark of the Beast and End Time Events

1. Since neither Sabbath nor Sunday are specifically mentioned in the book of Revelation, how can the mark of the beast involve a day of worship or a law requiring the observance of Sunday?

The mark of the beast is mentioned seven times in Revelation (13:16, 17; 14:9, 11; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4). Four of these appear in its central vision (Rev 12-14), which is introduced by a view of the ark of the covenant containing the ten commandments (Rev 11:19). God’s remnant people are identified as those who “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev 12:17). Immediately after this, John describes two beasts which persecute God’s church: (1) “a beast rising up out of the sea” (Rev 13:1) and (2) “another beast coming up out of the earth” (Rev 13:11). The first beast commands false worship and his persecuting activity resembles that of the “little horn” of Daniel 7 that would “intend to change times and law” (Dan 7:25) and persecutes God’s people for 1260 days (Rev 13:4, 8). The connection with Daniel’s prophecy shows that the false worship involves an attempt to change God’s “times” and His ten commandment law. The one commandment of the ten dealing with time is the fourth—to keep the seventh-day Sabbath holy. Historically, the attempt to change the day of worship has been perpetrated by the papacy of Rome which reveres Sunday as the day of rest instead of Saturday, the biblical Sabbath. The fact that the second beast in Revelation 13, representing the United States of America, exercises the same authority as the first beast (Rev 13:12) and cooperates with the first beast to enforce false worship shows that Sunday will be an important distinguishing mark of those who worship the beast and his image in contrast to God’s remnant people who “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Rev 14:12). Their obedience includes keeping the seventh day holy because they heed the call to “worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water” (Rev 14:7; see Exod 20:11). These will receive the seal of God (Rev 7:4; 14:1) while those who reject this call and reverence Sunday, the mark of the beast’s authority, are described as part of Babylon and receive the mark of the beast (Rev 14:8-11). The final test, then, is over true or false worship based either on obedience to God’s law, including the Sabbath, or a man-made day of worship, Sunday.