The Beast of Revelation 13, His Mark & His Trojan Horse

The Beast of Revelation 13, His Mark & His Trojan Horse

By: WLC Team

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The myth of an unbroken continuous weekly cycle is the foundation upon which the "mark of the beast" will rest. Think that Saturday is the Sabbath observed by Adam, Noah, the Patriarchs, Moses, the Prophets, Yahushua, and the Apostles? Think again! Time is short, beloved of Yahuwah. Study to show thyself approved.

Who is the infamous "beast" of Revelation?

In Revelation 13, we find two beasts: (1) a beast from the sea; (2) a beast from the land. It is primarily the first beast that we are here concerned with, though, because it is his mark that we want to further explore. For more on the beast from the land, please refer to: The USA in Bible Prophecy (Content Directory).
Who is the Beast in the Book of Revelation?

Who is the Beast in the Book of Revelation?

The first beast in Revelation 13 is irrefutably Rome and, by extension, the Roman Catholic Church (RCC). When the attributes and history of the Catholic Church are juxtaposed with the characteristics of the sea beast given by the John the Revelator, we find an incomprehensibly perfect match. When we add to this John's description of the "harlot" in Revelation 17 and Daniel's depiction of the antichrist power in Daniel 7, we are left with no room to doubt what the RCC's role is in Bible prophecy.

The Roman Catholic Church perfectly fits every detail of the prophetic description. The RCC is the "beast."

The RCC is both a Church and a City.
The RCC is seated upon Seven Mountains.
The RCC is arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones.
The RCC asserts power over ALL the inhabitants of Earth.
The RCC arose within a densely populated area with cultural diversity.
The RCC completely eradicated three other kingdoms when rising to power.
The RCC makes war with the Saints.
The RCC has a single man acting and speaking for the whole.
The pope exalts himself as high as Yahuwah.
The pope is identified with the number "666."
The RCC speaks pompous words and blasphemies.
The RCC has attempted to change Yahuwah's Calendar and Law.
The RCC ruled supreme for 1,260 years.
The RCC was stripped of authority by a civil power and taken into "captivity."
The RCC was mortally wounded (but will ultimately recover).

For a detailed explanation of the Catholic Church's perfect fulfillment of the above points, please refer to: Who is the Beast in the Book of Revelation?
What is the beast's "mark"?

We know with certainty that Rome is the "beast." So, rather than generalizing about what "the beast's mark" is, let's be specific and ask what "Rome's mark" is. To find the answer, we do not have to look far. The RCC, in her gross arrogance and Luciferian pride, unashamedly boasts that the "mark" of her authority is the exaltation of Sunday. This, she says, is proof that she is "above the Bible."

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).
Mark of the Beast

Mark of the Beast: What it is & how to avoid it!

Such reprehensible statements are hardly uncommon by the RCC. The "beast" is quite proud of its efforts to exalt the pagan Sunday, while trampling the word of Yahuwah under foot:

"The Sunday...is purely a creation of the Catholic Church."(American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883.)

"Sunday...is the law of the Catholic Church alone..." (American Sentinel (Catholic), June 1893.)

"Sunday is a Catholic institution and its claim to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles." (Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August 1900.)

"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.)

"Is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday and to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday." (James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 edition), p. 72-73 (16th Edition, p. 111; 88th Edition, p. 89).)

"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.)

"Who Do We Reverence and Pay Homage to by Keeping Sunday Holy? From this we may understand how great is the authority of the church in interpreting or explaining to us the commandments of God – an authority which is acknowledged by the universal practice of the whole Christian world, even of those sects which profess to take the holy Scriptures as their sole rule of faith, since they observe as the day of rest not the seventh day of the week demanded by the Bible, but the first day. Which we know is to be kept holy, only from the tradition and teaching of the Catholic church." (Henry Gibson, Catechism Made Easy, #2, 9th edition, vol. 1, pp. 341-342.)

"It was the Catholic church which...has transferred this rest to the Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Roman Catholic] church." (Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, 1868, p. 213.)

"Protestants...accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change...But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that...in observing the Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope." (Our Sunday Visitor, February 15, 1950.)

"The [Roman Catholic] Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday." (The Catholic Universe Bulletin, August 14, 1942, p. 4.)

What is often overlooked here is that it is not just a change of days that the RCC arrogantly boasts of, but a change of calendars. While many scholars, even within the RCC itself, are apparently ignorant of this fact, history bears it out with no uncertainty. We will expand more on this later.

The Catholic Church's boast that she has the power to change Heaven's Holy Days is the fruition of Satan's long cherished aim of receiving worship - by establishing when to worship.
Heaven's Holy Days

Heaven's Holy Days

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of El: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation [H4150 - mo'ed], in the sides of the north:

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:12-14)

"Congregation" in the above passage is translated from the Hebrew word, mo'ed, which "is used in a broad sense for all religious assemblies. It was closely associated with the tabernacle itself."1 Satan's goal from the beginning has been to establish when to worship, and by virtue of exercising that power, usurp the right to be worshiped. The Roman Catholic Church, as his earthly agent, has aided and abetted him every step of the way.

. . . and the dragon [Satan2] gave him [Rome] his power, and his seat, and great authority. (Revelation 13:2)

How sad it is to see so many professed Christians today indifferent to the testimony of Scripture and the climax of the ages that is unfolding before them. It is utterly heart-breaking to see so many of Yahuwah's professed people complacently seated upon the pews of tradition while His living word, covered with the dust of neglect, cries out for her children.
What is the antithesis of the beast's "mark"?

In Scripture, we find that not only does Rome have a "mark," but Heaven does also. Sometimes referred to as a "seal," Heaven's mark is the antithesis, or direct opposite, of Rome's mark.

Rome's Mark = Sunday exaltation and the establishment of worship times via the modern counterfeit calendar (contrary to the divine law)

Heaven's Seal/Mark = Loving obedience to the divine law, including the observation of the seventh-day Sabbath, the New Moons, and annual feasts (all of which are established by Heaven's calendar)

It is utterly heart-breaking to see so many of Yahuwah's professed people complacently seated upon the pews of tradition while His living word, covered with the dust of neglect, cries out for her children.

Note: When speaking of Heaven's seal/mark here, we say "loving obedience" to the divine law because we cannot earn Heaven's favor by works or by outward ceremony. We all, without exception, are unworthy of the Father's favor and love. "Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags"3 in the sight of Heaven, and our only hope is Yahushua and His righteousness. Keeping the Father's commandments is the fruit of our salvation, not the root. All who are truly in a saving relationship with the Father, and who have a living connection to Him, will joyfully keep His commandments and will live up to all of the light available.4 It is here that Yahuwah's seal/mark is received, for it is our loving obedience that reveals His spirit working in us.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of Yahuwah; and in His law doth he meditate day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2)

More than 2,500 years ago, the prophet Ezekiel penned a remarkably prophetic description of the calendrical dichotomy that we are today witnessing. His description could not be more accurate as, today, millions of professed Christians are standing with their backs to Yahuwah's law while exalting Rome's counterfeit solar calendar.
Christmas: Origin, History, & Traditions

Christmas: Origin, History, & Traditions

Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of the Yahuwah's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of Yahuwah, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of Yahuwah, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. (Ezekiel 8:15-16, emphasis supplied)

Naturally, when we understand the tremendous importance of Heaven's feast days (calculated by Heaven's calendar), we become increasingly distraught over those who knowingly or unknowingly disregard them in favor of the beast's days, e.g. Saturday/Sunday, Christmas, and Easter.

This genuine remorse is known to Father Yahuwah, as is every thought, emotion, motive, and intention of the heart. In loving condescension, He places His mark (or seal) upon all who sigh and cry over the abounding lawlessness and high-handed abominations.

And Yahuwah said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. (Ezekiel 9:4, emphasis supplied)

Yahuwah then commands His messengers to slay everyone who does not bear His mark. (Bear in mind that the seal/mark of Yahuwah is the opposite of the mark of the beast. In the end, everyone living will have one or the other; there will be no in between.)

And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity . . .but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. (Ezekiel 9:5-6, emphasis supplied)
The Mark: Literal or Figurative?

Many have argued that the "mark of the beast" must be a literal mark (e.g. a computer chip, a tattoo, etc.) that can be seen/detected by human beings. In Ezekiel 9 (above), though, we have a clear example of a "mark" that is apparently seen only by the Father and His angels. Furthermore, the passages in Revelation that introduce the "mark of the beast" in Revelation 13 are surrounded by symbols. The beast from the sea, for example, is not intended to represent a literal animal rising out of water. While the language employed uses literal expressions, the meaning in context is to be interpreted symbolically. This point is further illustrated by where the beast's mark is to be placed:

Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of Yahuwah, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. . . . (Revelation 14:9-10, emphasis supplied)
666: Number of the Beast | Identifying Satan’s Power Elite!

666: Number of the Beast | Identifying Satan’s Power Elite!

The forehead is used figuratively throughout the Old Testament to represent the mind, thoughts, or beliefs:

Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no latter rain. You have had a harlot's forehead; You refuse to be ashamed. (Jeremiah 3:3)

Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. (Ezekiel 3:8-9, emphasis supplied)

The hand is used throughout the Old Testament to denote one's actions or practices.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. (Eccl. 9:10, emphasis supplied)

Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart. (Proverbs 7:3, emphasis supplied)

It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that Yahuwah's law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahuwah has brought you out of Egypt. (Exodus 13:9, emphasis supplied)

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (Deut. 6:6-8, emphasis supplied)

Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (Deut. 11:18)

Note: The frontlets between the eyes is indicative of the forehead. According to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, the marking of the forehead and hand "had its primary sense in the figurative equation with God's commandments as the 'frontlets' . . . the overall stipulations of the Mosaic covenant (Deut 6:8; 11:18) [which includes the observation of Sabbaths and feast days]. These 'frontlets' were to be 'memorials' on the forehead . . . reminding the Israelite to think upon the commandments of the Lord and to keep them. Later Jewry took these 'frontlets' in a literal ostentatious way and were rebuked by Jesus (Mt 23:5)."5

To bear something as a mark/sign upon the forehead is to believe or endorse it with the mental faculties. To bear something as a mark/sign upon the hand is to endorse or support it through action or practice.

Bear in mind that John was a student of Scripture. He was thoroughly familiar with the writings of Moses and the prophets. The imagery that he saw in his visions and the language that he employed when communicating them was not foreign to him. He would have understood everything in the context of the Old Testament Scriptures. And this is how he would have expected his readers to interpret everything that he penned.
What role does the modern weekly cycle play in all of this?

As mentioned earlier, the modern calendar is a fraud. The Gregorian calendar observed today the world over is the culmination of hundreds of years of deceit and compromise. It is not the calendar established at Creation and it is not the calendar that was observed by the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles.
A brief history of the modern calendar:
Julian Calendar History

Julian Calendar History

Prior to the establishment of the Julian calendar, the calendar of the Roman Republic was an observational lunar calendar that employed an 8-day week.

45 B.C. - The Julian calendar was established. The Julian calendar discarded the lunar reckoning of the preceding calendar6, yet continued to utilize an 8-day week.

1st Century A.D. - The Julian calendar transitioned to a 7-day planetary week, beginning on Saturday and ending on Friday.

321-325 A.D. (Council of Nicaea) - Constantine formally established the 7-day planetary week, beginning on Sunday and ending on Saturday.

1582 - Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar. When transitioning to the Gregorian calendar, 10 days (October 5-14) were removed to bring the calendar into alignment with the seasons. The 7-day planetary week that Constantine instituted at the Council of Nicaea was unaffected by the transition.

1927 - The world united in using the Gregorian calendar. (Turkey was the last country to officially make the change.7)


Related Content: The fallacy of a continuous weekly cycle (Content Directory)

History makes clear the 7-day planetary week (beginning on Sunday and ending on Saturday) that the world observes today is only about 1,700 years old. Herein lies the crux of the matter. The Creator's appointed times cannot be found using a 1,700 year old Roman [beast] calendar! Those who insist on clinging to the paradigm of a continuously weekly cycle, beginning on Sunday and ending on Saturday, are doing so to the exclusion of both the Biblical testimony and the historical evidence. If anyone is yet tempted to blindly embrace the doctrine of a continuously weekly cycle, let him take into consideration also that the International Date Line that governs the modern weekly cycle was devised by a committee of men in Washington D.C. less than 200 years ago, in 1884. (MUST READ: Date Line Deception: What it is & Why it matters!)
The Creator's Calendar:

The Creator's Calendar is a luni-solar calendar, not a Roman solar calendar.

And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons [worship times8], and for days, and years. (Genesis 1:14, emphasis supplied)

In Scripture, each lunation starts with the celebration of a special day of worship: New Moon Day. Because it is a worship day, it is not counted as part of the 6 work days in the first week of each month. New Moon Day starts with the first dawn after the astronomical new moon also known as the conjunction. Six work days follow and then a seventh-day Sabbath on the eighth of the month. Three more weeks follow, ending on the 29th. Through measurement and calculation in the days leading up to the 29th, the time of conjunction is revealed so one can determine if the month has 29 or 30 days. No month ever has more than 30 days. The true luni-solar calendar is very user-friendly. Days of the week always fall on the same dates of the month. Every time a seventh-day Sabbath in Scripture is assigned a date, it always falls on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of the month. (The Creator's Calendar)

Remember, again, the clear distinction between the beast's mark and Heaven's mark:

Rome's Mark = Sunday exaltation and the establishment of worship times via the modern counterfeit calendar (contrary to the divine law)

Heaven's Seal/Mark = Loving obedience to the divine law, including the observation of the seventh-day Sabbath, the New Moons, and annual feasts (all of which are established by Heaven's calendar)

Those who defiantly persist in using the beast's calendar for establishing worship times will ultimately bear his mark (the "mark of the beast"), whereas those who joyfully obey the call to "come out of her" and choose instead to worship according to Heaven's calendar will ultimately receive the seal of Yahuwah.
Deadly Subterfuge: The Beast's Trojan Horse

The erroneous belief in a continuous weekly cycle is a Trojan horse in the minds of the masses; it is this belief that will enable the mark of the beast to be readily accepted without detection or protest, even by many who profess a zeal for Yah's Sabbaths and feast days - because they obstinately cling to the simplicity of a Saturday vs. Sunday paradigm.

The Procession of the Trojan Horse in Troy

Let every man and woman study to show themselves approved. In the light of Scripture's testimony and the abundance of historical evidence, there is no excuse for anyone insisting that the modern 7-day planetary week is part of an unbroken cycle stretching back to Creation week. It just isn't so. It is assumption and tradition alone that prop up this fallacious doctrine. Please do not take WLC's word for any of this. Prayerfully research this for yourself. Truth is never afraid of the fullest investigation.
Let every man and woman study to show themselves approved. In the light of Scripture's testimony and the abundance of historical evidence, there is no excuse for anyone insisting that the modern 7-day planetary week is part of an unbroken cycle stretching back to Creation week.
Time is running out!

Time is short, dear friends. The world is coming unglued at the seams. We are fast approaching the climax of the ages and soon every person on Earth (including YOU) will have made their irreversible decision to either accept the Father's invitation to live forever or reject it. In the end, every person alive will either bear Yahuwah's seal or Rome's mark (the "mark of the beast"). Now is not the time to be lackadaisical about the doctrines we hold, including the calendar we adhere to and the feast days we observe. The choices we make today will decide our tomorrow, and ultimately our eternity.

History makes it incontrovertibly clear:

The modern 7-day week is not part of an unbroken cycle that stretches back to Creation.
Saturday is not the Biblical seventh-day Sabbath.
None of Heaven's feast days can be found on the Roman/beast calendar.
The modern calendar is a Rome-birthed deception.

Scripture's weight of evidence is decisively clear:

The Biblical weekly cycle restarts with each New Moon.
New Moon Day is day one of the lunar month and is followed by six work days and then a seventh-day Sabbath. Six more work days follow and then another seventh-day Sabbath. This pattern repeats for a total of four weeks in each Biblical lunar month.
The seventh-day Sabbath always falls on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th day of the lunar month.
The Biblical seventh-day Sabbath and the annual feast days can only be found on Heaven's calendar.

Leaving Laodicea: Becoming Philadelphian

Leaving Laodicea: Becoming Philadelphian


What will you do now?

Will you continue to bow in allegiance to the beast's calendar? Will you accept his mark without protest or concern? Or will you, like a faithful Berean, search these claims out to see if they be so?

And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:10-11)

Eternity is within reach. Choose this day Whom/whom you will serve. Do not be hardened through the deceitfulness of assumption and tradition, but seek truth will all of your heart.

Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart, And so find favor and high esteem In the sight of Elohim and man. Trust in Yahuwah with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:3-3:6)

All Scripture quotations are taken from the KJV or the NKJV, unless otherwise noted. The proper Names of the Father and Son have been restored in the quoted texts.

1 "Lexical Aids to the Old Testament," Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, p. 1626.

2 The "dragon" in Revelation 13:2 is a reference to Satan. "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 12:9)

3 Isaiah 64:6

4 Many of the faithful followers of Yahuwah that have gone before us did not have the light that we have today. They were faithful to all that they had, and now it is our responsibility to embrace all that Yahuwah reveals to our generation.

5 Harris, R. Laird., Archer, Gleason L., Waltke, Bruce K., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Moody Publishers, 1980, Entry 804a, p. 348, emphasis supplied.

6 "In the mid-1st century B.C. Julius Cæsar invited Sosigenes, an Alexandrian astronomer, to advise him about the reform of the calendar, and Sosigenes decided that the only practical step was to abandon the lunar calendar altogether. Months must be arranged on a seasonal basis, and a tropical (solar) year was used, as in the Egyptian calendar . . . ." ("The Julian Calendar," Encyclopædia Britannica.)

7 https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-gregorian-switch.html

8 The word translated as "seasons" in Genesis 1:14 is mo'ed. "Mo'ed is used in a broad sense for all religious assemblies. It was closely associated with the tabernacle itself. . . . [Yahuwah] met Israel there at specific times for the purpose of revealing His will. It is a common term for the worshiping assembly of . . . [Yahuwah's] people." ("Lexical Aids to the Old Testament," Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, p. 1626.) For more on this important topic, please refer to: The Creator's Calendar (Content Directory)