Picture: Counsel #27 — The Mark of the Beast CCW 104.1
In the Bible, people fall into two groups: those who honor God and those who don’t. One clear dividing line is the Sabbath. Some mocked the Sabbath,[169]Lamentations 1:7 others profaned it,[170]Nehemiah 13:17 and some grew weary of keeping it.[171]Amos 8:5-7 Adventist eschatology[172]Eschatology = The final part of earth’s history. warns that disregarding the seventh-day Sabbath ultimately leads to receiving “the mark of the beast.”[173] https://www.amazingfacts.org/study/bible-study-guides/the-mark-of-the-beast/ CCW 104.2
This mark isn’t a microchip or hidden code—it’s about worship and authority. It’s the enforcement of Sunday worship, the first day of the week, in place of God’s seventh-day Sabbath. That shift came from satanic-inspired human power, not God, most clearly through the papacy’s claim to change His law. At the end of time, each person will have to choose: follow human authority, or honor God’s command.[174] https://executivecommittee.adventist.org/newsletter/article/answers-to-questions-on-the-mark-of-the-beast-and-end-time-events/ CCW 104.3
“It [the second beast] also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.” Revelation 13:16, 17 NIV CCW 104.4
“The laws of nations should be respected as long as they do not conflict with the laws of God; but when there is collision between them, every true disciple of Christ will say, as did Peter when commanded to speak no more in the name of Jesus, ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.’” Ellen White in Signs of the Times, March 22, 1910, par. 10 CCW 104.5
Reflect: How can we receive the seal of God while avoiding unnecessary strife over Sunday? CCW 104.6
