VERSE 14 continued “And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.”
(As explained in The Keys of Revelation)
“In Verse 13 the two-horned beast does not use fire from heaven to make men worship either itself or the first beast; rather, a neutral “image to the beast” is made. How very clever!
An edict will not be published forcing one to choose between being a Roman Catholic or an Episcopalian or else be put to death; instead, a third or new arrangement will come into being. Standing by this new arrangement will be Catholicism (the beast), and included in the arrangement will be all Protestantism united with the two-horned beast. The two-horned beast will do the talking, saying, “If you do not worship this other third party or have the mark, you will be put to death.”
That third party will have “the mark” of the beast and “the number of his name.” In other words, the spirit and organization of Papacy will be in this third system (Rev. 13:16,17). The arrangement will be cleverly done in this neutral manner so that people cannot protest because of not being Catholic, Episcopalian, etc. Catholics would not accept Protestants speaking alone, but a third system, a new arrangement, which purports to be for unity and the spirit of ecumenism will receive their support. Both sides—Protestant and Catholic—will concede to the new arrangement, considering it a necessity. Accordingly, the Church of England is often called the “bridge” between Protestantism and Catholicism; because it has more the forms and rituals of Catholicism than of Protestantism, yet originally seceded from Catholicism, the Church of England has some sympathetic interest to both Protestants and Catholics and is in between the two. As the spokesman between Protestantism and Catholicism, the Church of England will be influential in the future in doing the damage; it will be the church nearest the mother system’s tongue. Several past archbishops of Canterbury have been very strongly in favor of union with Rome.
The next point to be observed is contained in the concluding clause of Verse 14: “the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.” First, it is important to note that this clause is not of a parenthetical nature or a mere mark of identity, but it constitutes the very reason or basis for making the image in the first place. A most impressive lesson was and is drawn by others from the past experience of Papacy. The first beast was slain and arose from death. What more important conclusion could other sects, including the Anglican episcopacy, draw than this? —that Papacy flaunted death itself! The keynote here is the theme and hope of survival from destruction.
Now a most important clue comes to light in Verse 14; viz., that the image referred to could not have been fully formed prior to 1929, for in that year the temporal power of the pontificate was restored. Only then was the death-stroke healed. Therefore, only sometime subsequent to 1929 could the two-horned beast be portrayed as saying to those who dwell upon the earth that they should make an image of the beast “which had the wound by a sword, and did live.”
Continued with next post.
