Lessons on the Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ and His Apostles
Lesson No. Fifty
Warnings Against the Mark of the Beast
Revelation 12 – A warning that the war which began in heaven continues on earth. The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible (JST) makes more revisions in this chapter than in any other chapter in the book of Revelation. These revisions helps us understand that this prophecy applies to the latter days.
The woman John sees in Vs 1-3 represents the Church of God, and the child she delivers after much travailing in birth pains represents the kingdom of God. We are reminded that it requires much pain and sacrifice to establish God’s kingdom on the earth. Satan, represented by “a great red dragon” (Vs 4) has always tried to devour the child and destroy God’s work beginning in the premortal existence.
The woman fled into the wilderness, symbolic of the Great Apostacy, where she remained until the Church and kingdom of God was restored through Joseph Smith. (Vs 5-7)
Satan and his angels where cast out of heaven to remain on the earth to continually fight against God and His work. (Vs 8). Those who keep their covenants and endure to the end are able to overcome Satan by the power of the atonement. (Vs 11).
“Woe to [a warning to] the inhabitants of the earth…for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time….The dragon [Satan]…persecuted the woman [the Church] which brought forth the man-child [the kingdom of God]. Therefore, to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might flee into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time…from the face [Satan who wants to destroy the Church in its infancy” (Vs 12-14). The “great eagle” could possibly symbolize the role which the United States would play in providing a safe place for the Church to start and then grow in the Lord’s due time.
“Therefore, the dragon [Satan] was wroth with the woman [the Church] and went to make war with the remnant of her seed [the saints in the latter days], which kept the commandments and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Vs 17).
We must be vigilant as Satan continues to war against the Lord’s Church and its faithful members. Our protection is to stay in the mainstream of the Church and follow the council of the Lord’s prophet.
Revelation 13 – A warning against receiving the mark of the beast (Vs 16-17) in our forehead. The fierce-looking beasts which John sees represent degenerate earthly kingdoms controlled by Satan. (See Revelation 13 Headnote). Satan controls degenerate earthly governments and societies by attacking the divine principles of agency and accountability which if weakened results in the loss of freedom. Satan’s purpose is to put us in bondage. The seven heads of the beast [Satan] (Vs 1) could include the following:
Moral relativism – Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke of the threat of moral relativism: "What has caused the current public and legal climate of mounting threats to religious freedom? I believe the cause is not legal but cultural and religious. I believe the diminished value being attached to religious freedom stems from the ascendancy of moral relativism. More and more of our citizens support the idea that all authority and all rules of behavior are man-made and can be accepted or rejected as one chooses. Each person is free to decide for himself or herself what is right and wrong. Our children face the challenge of living in an increasingly godless and amoral society” (Preserving Religious Freedom, February 4, 2011, Chapman University School of Law).
Socialism – Elder Marion G. Romney in April 1966 General Conference, at the request of the First Presidency, spoke about the growing problem of socialism in the United States. The threat of socialism is much worse now as many leaders and citizens have embraced it. Elder Romney compared socialism to the gospel: “The gospel preserves to men their God given agency, while socialism deprives them of it…The spirit of socialism: We’re going to take. The spirit of the [gospel]: We’re going to give….Socialism is founded, in theory and in practice, on force, the principle of the evil one....Socialists endeavor “to turn an existing state into a welfare state by permeating existing parties with socialistic ideas…” This is what is happening today. Socialism is more government at the expense of individual agency and accountability.
The bondage of debt – Covertness, greed, pride and materialism are often the cause of the bondage that can result from unnecessary debt. Those who receive the mark of the beast in their right hand, or in their forehead embrace what Satan stands for. (See Vs 16) “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark or name of the beast” (Vs 17). Satan has great control over the economies where people embrace or allow the philosophies of Satan to dominate. This includes the financial bondage so prevalent in the last days. The leaders of the Church have consistently, over many years, warned against the bondage of debt.
Warnings and promises for the people of the latter days – As we conclude our 2019 study of the New Testament we must remember that Satan has laid many snares for the people of the latter days. Therefore, we must take heed, and do all that is necessary to insure that we do not become comfortable with Satan and receive the mark of the beast [Satan] in our right hand or in our forehead.
Most importantly we have learned that if we keep the commandments and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ our names will “be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life” (D&C 132:19; see also Revelation 13:8), and we have the promise of the greatest of all gifts even that of eternal life.