Key Thought:  Like the persecutions of the past, the mark of the beast is designed to force everyone to conform to a certain set of beliefs and system of worship.
June 17, 2023

1. Have a volunteer read Revelation 13:5, Revelation 12:6,14, and Daniel 7:25.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in these passages.
2. How long was this power to rule through previous centuries?
   (Note: 42 months; a time, times, and half a time; and 1,260 days is the same 1,260 years from 538AD with Justinian’s Code to 1798AD with Berthier marching into Rome and putting the pope in prison.)
3. Personal Application: How do you respond to people who don’t believe in applying time prophecies to history? How would you help them see that they are to help us, warn us, and guide us? Share your thoughts..
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “Why didn’t anyone understand the idea that the church itself was the antichrist until you Adventists came up with this idea in the 1800s?” How would you respond to your relative?
   (Note: The time prophecy hadn’t been fulfilled until the late 1700s and 1800s, so it wasn’t understood until after that time. (See John 14:29). People did identify the church as antichrist. Almost all Protestant leaders pointed to the Papacy as the antichrist in the 1800 and 1900s.)

2. Have a volunteer read 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4,9-12.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What does Paul predict about the last days? What identifying marks does he give for the beast, the antichrist power?
3. Personal Application: Why must we be careful not to get into fanaticism, new date setting, or speculating beyond what has been revealed by inspiration? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Given the state of the world; this idea of persecution by the church, and the mark of the beast being Sunday worship just doesn’t seem possible. ” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Revelation 17:12-16.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Why do the ten kings give their power to the beast and then turn against her and burn her with fire?
   (Note: When the plagues fall on them, they realize they have followed the wrong doctrine and system.)
3. Personal Application: Why can’t there be a middle ground between God’s way and man’s way? If we try to compromise, what might be the result? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “What is the meaning of the ten kings having power one hour with the beast? Why are they making war with the Lamb? Is this a symbolic specific time or does it just mean a short time?” How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read Revelation 14:9, Revelation 14:12..

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What two characteristics have those who don’t receive the mark of the beast?
3. Personal Application: Where is the mark of the beast placed? What do the forehead and the hand represent? Share your thoughts.
   (Note: The forehead is the cerebrum, the thinking part of the brain. It is the mind of choice and who we worship. The hand represents the work we choose to do on the Sabbath in spite of our knowledge that we shouldn’t.)
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

Amen!(0)

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Read 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12. What does Paul predict about the last days? What identifying marks does he give for the beast, the antichrist power?

The apostle Paul warns the Christian community of a “falling away” from the truth of God’s Word. He is concerned about the seeds of apostasy already present in the New Testament church, which would flourish in the coming centuries before the second coming of Christ. A counterfeit gospel would come into the church, distorting the Word of God.

Satan is the one who is behind this apostasy. He is the true “man of sin” who desires to exalt “himself above all that is called God” and sits in the “temple of God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). But the “great deceiver” works through human agencies to accomplish his purposes. The identifying characteristics in Daniel and Revelation reveal that the little horn of Daniel 7:1-28, the beast of Revelation chapters 13 and 14, and the “lawless one” of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 represent the same entity.

The SDA Bible Commentary states it this way: “A comparison with Daniel’s prophecy of the blasphemous power that succeeds that of pagan Rome … , and with John’s word picture of the leopardlike beast. … reveals many similarities between the three descriptions [the little horn, the beast power, and the lawless one]. This leads us to the conclusion that Daniel, Paul, and John are speaking of the same power, … the papacy.” — Volume 7, p. 271.

It is extremely important to remember that Bible prophecy is describing a system of religion that has compromised God’s Word, substituted human traditions for the gospel, and one that drifted away from biblical truth. These prophecies are given by a God of incredible love to prepare a people for the coming of Jesus. They are a rebuke of apostate religious organizations that have departed from God’s Word, though not necessarily the people in them (see Revelation 18:4). Our message is about a system that has deceived millions. Though deceived, these people are much loved by Christ. Hence, we must treat them accordingly.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

Amen!(0)

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/monday-falling-away/