The position of the papacy, as king of heaven and earth, is the man that sits as the head of the Vatican who speaks pompous words against God and persecutes the saints. He is the same man who sits in the temple of God showing himself that he is God and proves that he is above the word of God by changing God's appointed times and Law.
"The Pope has the power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ." "The Pope has the authority and often exercised it, to dispense with the command of Christ." Decretal, de Tranlatic Episcop. Cap. (The Pope can modify divine law.) Ferraris' Ecclesiastical Dictionary.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-5 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
According to Revelation 17:9 a person needs wisdom to understand that the impure church, also known as, the harlot woman who sits on seven hills is the Vatican.
Revelation 17:9 “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman (harlot) sits.
In the same way that God has given us prophetic information in the Old Testament to help us identify the Messiah and His kingdom, He has also given us prophetic information in the Old Testament to help us identify the Antichrist and his kingdom. Let's take this time to identify the Antichrist because once we identify the Antichrist and his kingdom it will help us to identify the false doctrines that led to the great apostasy and the formulation of replacement theology.
Before we start, there are a couple of symbols that God uses in the Bible that we need to identify.
1. A Beast, a Stone, a type of Metal and a Horn are metaphors for kingdoms. A little Horn means it's a little kingdom.
2. A woman in the Bible is a metaphor for a church. The pure Woman or virgin are the people who obey God's Law through the teachings of Messiah, and the Harlot or impure church are those who follow the traditions and commandments of a man-made religion.
3. One day in Bible prophecy equals one year (Daniel 9: 24-27, Ezekiel 4:5-6, Numbers 14:34). Every Bible scholar knows this, and no Bible prophecy would fit its historical timeline without applying to prophecy the (day for a year) principle.
Here are just a few Bible scholars of the past who understood and correctly apply this principle: "John Wycliffe, John Knox, William Tyndale, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, Phillip Melanchthon, Sir Isaac Newton, Jon Huss, John Foxe, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Charles Finney, C. H. Spurgeon, Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, Albert Barnes, E. B. Elliot, H. Grattan Guinness, and Bishop Thomas Newton."
When we read the Bible, we will find a progressive revelation of truth in the form of prophecies. In other words, truth in the Bible is revealed over time and can be understood and tested by looking back in history and see the events that took place. A fulfilled prophecy is a very powerful faith builder for the people of God.
Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.
The first prophecy I want to look at is found in the book of Daniel. This is a very powerful prophecy because God starts with the kingdom of Babylon and takes us thousands of years into the future right up to the second coming of Messiah where He sets up His earthly kingdom and rules from the throne of His father, King David.
Daniel 2:31-34 “You, O king Nebuchadnezzar, were watching; and great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
Daniel 2:44 in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
In the above verse, we find Daniel's interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The dream reveals future political kingdoms rising and falling thousands of years before they existed, starting with the head of gold as King Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon.
Daniel 2:38 King Nebuchadnezzar, you are that head of gold.
With this starting point, we can trace these kingdoms from their beginning point all the way to the coming of Messiah's kingdom, as the Stone cut without hands. This is when Messiah comes and destroys all the kingdoms of this world and sets up His one thousand year millennial kingdom.
These powerful prophecies can help strengthen our faith and avoid deception. You can even find all these kingdoms in your high school history books and encyclopedias. It's a shame that today's education system won't make the biblical connection because God foretold of these kingdoms thousands of years before they existed.
Daniel also receives a vision from God, which mirrors the king's dream, but instead of God using metals to represent the four political kingdoms, He uses animals to represent the religious side of these same four kingdoms.
Daniel 7:4-7 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’ “After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.
These four Beasts represent the religious side of the same four political kingdoms as in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Each of these four Beasts adopted all the pagan beliefs and practices of Babylon and passed them on to the kingdom that came next, ending with the legs and feet of iron as the kingdom of pagan Rome. Then something very interesting happens. In 476-AD, Pagan Rome falls and divides into ten kingdoms, symbolized by the ten Horns of the Beast and the ten toes of the statue.
Out of these ten kingdoms comes a little kingdom, symbolized by a little horn. This little kingdom has the eyes of a man and speaks pompous words against the Most High God, changes God's appoint times and Law and persecutes God's people. This little Horn also destroys three of these ten kingdoms by plucking them up by the roots. When Daniel says, "I was considering the horns" he is actually looking at the kingdoms of divided Rome. He then identifies a little horn kingdom coming up from the middle of Rome. Today we know this little to be the Vatican with its Catholic Church. This is the kingdom that changed God's times and law and persecuted God's people.
Daniel 7:8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.
Daniel 7:24-25 The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings. He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change appointed times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.
The fourth Beast is pagan Rome, and the ten horns are the ten kingdoms that formed after Rome fell and divides in 476-AD.
The Heruli, Vandals and Ostrogoth kingdoms no longer exist because history tells us that the Vatican Catholic Church, working through the governmental powers of its time, destroyed them because of their Arianism view of the Catholic Jesus. Arianism rejects the Catholic's co-eternal, co-equal Trinity God doctrine.
Arianism ~ In Christianity, Arianism is a Christological concept which asserts the belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was begotten by God the Father at a point in time, is distinct from the Father and is therefore subordinate to the Father. ~ Wikipedia
From among these ten kingdoms in Rome arose a little Horn or a little kingdom. The Vatican is that little kingdom that comes up from the middle of divided Rome. The Vatican is in fact a kingdom of its own. It has its own laws with a man at its head called the Pope. It's a little kingdom because the Vatican is only 110 acres.
According to Daniel, the little horn kingdom is different from all the other kingdoms. The reason for it being different is that it's both a political kingdom and a religious kingdom. It has a man at its head called the Pope, rather than a king like the other kingdoms. We know it's both a political kingdom and a religious kingdom because God tells us not to worship it, worship has to do with religion. According to Daniel, the man at the head of this kingdom speaks pompous words against God, changes God's times, God's Law and persecutes God's people. This happens when the four Beasts of Daniel's vision become one composite Beast in John's vision in Revelation. It's a composite Beast kingdom because it's made up of all the pagan beliefs and practices of the other four kingdoms that came before it.
Notice how it's the Dragon who gives this kingdom its power, throne and great authority.
Revelation 13:1-4 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him.
The Beast in Revelation is made up of the four Beast kingdoms of Daniel's vision. Daniel tells us that a Beast is a kingdom, so there is no need to guess. Daniel 7:23 Thus he said: The fourth beast shall be A fourth kingdom on earth. The Vatican is the smallest kingdom in the world. It's a country with its own king, laws and money. God's word is true and 100% accurate.
Vatican City - Wikipedia: Vatican City officially Vatican City State or State of Vatican City (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), is an independent state located within the city of Rome. With an area of 44 hectares (110 acres), and a population of about 1,000, it is the smallest state in the world.
The Holy See ~ The term "Holy See" is from the Latin Sancta Sedes, meaning "holy chair. "It is said that the Holy See is the jurisdiction in Rome of the Catholic Church. In other words, it is similar to a government, which is not surprising considering that the Vatican is its own country and has its own money and its own laws. ~ GotQuestions.org
These four kingdoms become one political/religious kingdom, symbolized by the Beast in Revelation 13:1-4. God tells us not to worship this Beast, or it's image, or receive its mark.
Revelation 14:9-10 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast or its image, and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God.
The Vatican is the little horn kingdom that sits right in the middle of divided Rome. It took all the beliefs and practices, that were passed down from Babylon, and Christianized them. God tells us not to worship this Beast, or its image.
What is the image of the Beast? The image of the Beast is not the Beast itself, but it looks just like it because it's the image of the Beast. When the Protestant reformation broke away from the Roman Catholic Church, it took just about all the beliefs and practices of the Beast with them.
Practically everything Protestants regard as essential or important they have received from the Catholic Church... The Protestant mind does not seem to realize that in accepting the Bible and observing the Sunday, in keeping Christmas and Easter, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope. ~ Our Sunday Visitor (February 5, 1950)
When you look at the beliefs and practices of today's Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and so on you find the same pagan holidays such as Easter, Christmas, Good Friday and Sunday worship.
You can find all the same pagan holidays in today's churches as in the Catholic Church. You even find the belief of the immortal soul and the Trinity God. Listen to what the Roman Catholic Church says about the Protestants.
"But since Saturday, not Sunday, is specified in the Bible, isn't it curious that non-Catholics who profess to take their religion directly from the Bible and not the Church, observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Yes, of course, it is inconsistent; but this change was made about fifteen centuries before Protestantism was born, and by that time the custom was universally observed. They have continued the custom, even though it rests upon the authority of the Catholic Church and not upon an explicit text in the Bible. That observance remains as a reminder of the Mother Church from which the non-Catholic sects broke away - like a boy running away from home but still carrying in his pocket a picture of his mother or a lock of her hair". "The Faith of Millions"
When the people of God rejected these changes coming out of the Vatican, such as, Sunday worship, they were persecuted and even killed.
Michael Servetus, who was one of millions who were persecuted for rejecting the trinity God. He was burned alive in a very cruel and unloving way after evidence given by John Calvin to the catholic inquisition. Michael was charged with heresy for denying the trinity. ~ Encyclopedia Americana - Christianity.com - Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church.
John Calvin, the founder of today's Presbyterian Church, is the one who ordered Michael burned alive. They even used green wood so that it would take longer. Today, you might not get burned alive for rejecting the Trinity, but you will absolutely be excommunicated from mainline church and be declared a cult.
Let's look at some important, key facts that give us undeniable proof that the Vatican is in fact the little Horn kingdom that God warned us about.
The Vatican has to rise up to power from the middle of the ten kingdoms, which means, Rome must first fall and divide into ten kingdoms, which it did in 476-AD. If the Vatican came up after 476-AD, it fulfilled that key prophetic point.
"Roman Catholic Church is given supreme authority as a religious state in 538-AD"
"The (Roman Church-State) power became supreme in Christendom in 538AD, due to a letter of the Roman Emperor Justinian, known as Justinian's decree, which setup and acknowledged the bishop of Rome as the head of all churches. It gave the (Roman Church-State) political power, civil power, as well as ecclesiastical power. This letter became part of Justinians code, the fundamental law of the empire, and that year, pope Vigilius ascended the throne under the military protection of Belasarius (one of Justinians Generals)." (The History of the Christian Church, Vol.3)
This alone is a very powerful witness to God's prophetic truth because no other kingdom or person fits this key timeline point.
The Vatican has to have a man at it's head. The Papal church has always and will always have a man at it's head, never a woman.
Papal supremacy is the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that the Pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ and as pastor of the entire Christian Church, has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered: that, in brief, "the Pope enjoys, by divine institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls." ~ Wikipedia
Notice the Pope's triple crown adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls? The triple crown represents his authority over heaven, earth and even under the earth.
"Hence the pope is CROWNED with a TRIPLE CROWN, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions." Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, Vol. VI, pp. 438, 442
On the Pope's crown, you find the words, Vicarivs Filii Dei (Vicar of the Son of God). Revelation tells us not to accept the mark of the Beast or the number of his name.
Revelation 13:17-19 no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
The name on the Pope's crown is his authoritative name and title as king of heaven and earth. When the name is calculated, it adds up to 666.
We find a warning in Revelation 14:9-10 not to have the mark of the Beast on your hand or your forehead.
Revelation 14:9-10 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast or 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 God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
The mark, 666 on the forehead or hand is not a literal 666, bar code or a computer chip, but rather, it's spiritual symbolism for who or what you worship (forehead) and your works (hand).
Let me give you an example: If I told a faithful Catholic that the Pope is Antichrist, they would probably attack me because they have the mark of the Beast on their forehead, but if I said the same to a Baptist they would probably say, "Amen" because they have the mark on their hand. They may not be worshiping the Beast, but they do what the Beast says because they practice the same pagan holidays and keep Sunday as the Lord's day.
“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
Some people will try to convince you that the number 666 is a literal number on your forehead, but if that were true, then the Father and His Son's name on your forehead would have to be literal too.
Revelation 14:1 Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. There were 144,000 people with Him. These people had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
If you have the Father and Son's name on your forehead, it means you worship them. Now don't get me wrong, a chip could be given to those who worship the Beast to be able to identify who their followers are, but you must first have the spiritual mark in your forehead because worship takes place in the mind.
The Vatican is the Little Horn kingdom of Daniel's vision. Daniel says this kingdom would be different from the other kingdoms. The other kingdoms are governmental kingdoms with a king, but the Little Horn is both a church and a state, which makes it different from all the other kingdoms.
The Beast is a kingdom that has a man at it's head that speaks pompous words against God, changes God's appointed times and Law and persecutes the saints. The Catholic Church has taken all the beliefs and practices of Babylon, which have their root in sun worship, and Christianized them.
Sun worship is a great abomination to God, even though sun worship, in the Lord's house, is nothing new to God's people.
Ezekiel 8:15-16 Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.” So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun.
Heliopolis, (Greek), Egyptian Iunu or Onu (“Pillar City”), biblical On, one of the most ancient Egyptian cities and the seat of worship of the sun god, Re. It was the capital of the 15th nome of Lower Egypt, but Heliopolis was important as a religious rather than a political centre. ~ Britannica.com
"The deadly wound is healed"
Revelation 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.
The prophet Daniel gives us a prophecy of the Beast persecuting the saints for a time, times and half a time.
Daniel 7.25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.
In order to understand this timeline, we have to use the Bible to interpret the meaning of a time and times and half a time.
Revelation 12.14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
Now all we have to do is figure out how long the woman was in the wilderness, then we'll know how long a time, times and half a time is.
Revelation 12:6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
One thousand two hundred and sixty days equals, 42 months. What this means is that the Beast will rule for 1260 literal years or 42 prophetic months because in Bible prophecy, a day equals one year.
Revelation 13:4-5 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.
We know from our study that the Beast is the Vatican and the Pope is the man at the head of this kingdom. Did the Vatican rule for, 1260 years? Yes it did.
The Papacy came into power in 538-AD but in 1798 the Pope was dethroned and for 1260 years or 42 months there was no Papal rule.
French troops commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the papal troops and occupied the Papal States in 1796. In 1798, upon his refusal to renounce his temporal power, Pius was taken prisoner and transported to France. He died one year later in Valence. ~ Wikipedia
From 538-AD to 1798-AD the Pope was on his throne and much persecution was done to the saints but in 1798 the Papacy received a deadly wound when the Papacy was dethroned. This deadly wound was healed in 1929 when Mussolini signed the Lateran Treaty which restored the Papacy's authority and the Vatican became a State again.
God is showing us these things not to offend us, but so that we're not deceived into worshiping the Beast and Antichrist. The message in these last days is that God is calling His people to come out of Babylon. The only why we can come out of Babylon is to first know what it is.
Revelation 18:4 I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of Babylon, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
Babylon is spiritual, it has to do with that whole system of worship that has it root in Babylonian sun worship and was created by the papacy to draw worship away from God and give it to itself and Satan. Remember the offer that Satan made to Messiah? Worship me, and I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world. I guess the papacy took the offer.
Revelation 13:4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
Spiritual Babylon is a massive world system and very rich and powerful, Satan is using it to deceive the whole world.
Revelation 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Since the Pope is the king and ruler of spiritual Babylon, he should look like a king who is from literal ancient Babylon.
Revelation 18:3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
Does the Vatican commit fornication with the kings of the earth? In other words, does the Papacy intermingle with the leaders of the world? Yes it is.
No other religious leader has this kind of access or relationship with the leaders of the world.
This whole system of false worship was devised and created by Satan, through the papacy, to destroy and do away with God's people and His plan to restore Israel back to Himself.
Luke 2:25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon who was righteous and devout, looking for the restoration of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
Acts 1:6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Satan is the one giving the papacy it's power, throne and great authority. This means when we worship the Beast, we are actually worshiping Satan through his system.
Revelation 13:2 Now the Beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
Satan receiving worship is something he has wanted from the very beginning.
Isaiah 14:13-14 For Satan has said in his heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
Matthew 4:8-9 the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”
Today's Jesus is the invention of the Catholic Church, it's the seed of the Serpent that God warned Eve about. Today's Jesus is not Israel's promised Messiah. Those who follow today's Jesus find themselves keeping Christmas, Easter, Good Friday and Sunday as the Lord's day. They believe in the immortal soul and eat unclean animals, all of which Messiah taught nothing about. As a matter of fact, everything done in today's church is rooted in the way the pagan nations worship their false gods. God told us not to adapt the pagan forms of worship in our worship of Him.
Deuteronomy 12:29-31 When the Lord your God goes ahead of you and destroys the nations, and you drive them out and live in their land, do not fall into the trap of following their customs and worshiping their gods. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations worship their gods? I want to follow their example.’ You must not worship the Lord your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the Lord hates.
Israel's true Messiah is God's mouthpiece.
John 3:34 For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit.
Deuteronomy 18:18 The Lord said, "I will raise up for them a Prophet like you Moses, from among their brethren, and I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.
Because Messiah speaks for God, God has given Him all authority.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth".
Israel's Messiah is the one we should be listening to and submitting to.
Satan's mouthpiece.
There is another man in the world that speaks and has been given authority, but he does not speak for God nor does his authority come from God.
Revelation 13:2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
The Beast that speaks for the Dragon is the Vatican. The Pope, who sits on his throne in the Vatican, does not speak for God nor does his authority come from God. The man on this throne is the man of sin, the lawless one, the son of perdition who claims to be God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
This man of sin, who opposes and exalts himself above God and claims to be God, is the mouthpiece of the Serpent.
Audience Hall in the Vatican.
Notice the Pope's throne where he sits when he speaks for the Serpent.
The forehead or frontal lobe of the brain is the part of the mind where worship takes place and moral values and decisions are made, and your hand represents your works or the things you do. You might not worship the Beast itself, but you definitely can be practicing what it teaches. You might be saying, "I'm not a Catholic" but do you celebrate Sunday as the Lord's day. Do you celebrate Christmas, Easter and Good Friday? You might not have the mark of the Beast on your forehead, but you absolutely have it on your hand.
