The battle between the secular state and the religious world has taken on a new twist. Louisiana recently passed legislation requiring all classrooms in the state to display the Ten Commandments. [1] As Seventh-day Adventists, we believe in the Ten Commandments and that the world would be a better place if people followed them. It certainly would be ideal if everyone kept the 10 Commandments, but it is not the state’s responsibility to impose this standard on society, particularly the first four commandments, which deal with how to worship God.
The state’s involvement in promoting the Ten Commandments by civil law is actually a very bad idea because the Decalogue contains religious references about the true day of worship, calls us to worship the true God, prohibits us from blaspheming God’s name, and warns against the desecrating of that which is holy. Louisiana’s state government has opened the door, and this will have nation-wide implications for toleration and freedom because political leaders are now mixing with religious policies, and the outcome will only bring confusion and trouble.
Louisiana politicians have crossed a red line that will have far-reaching consequences. Don’t imagine for a second that the ultimate goal is only to reestablish the Ten Commandments. This is just the first small step. A precedent has been set, however minor it may appear, but the momentum will only build and will lead to far more significant implications—a Sunday rest through legislation.
This is what many non-Seventh-day Adventist citizens are anticipating. Some have openly called for a Sunday law since Louisiana passed the Ten Commandments law, while others are concerned that the next proposal will prohibit secular activities on Sunday. This is how well-intentioned laws may appear innocent on the surface, but there is an underlying issue: governments, not God, will become the final arbiter when it comes to legally defining morality and enforcing their interpretation of the 10 Commandments.
According to Revelation 13, the nations will, in the not-too-distant future, enforce a government-issued code of worship for all mankind.
“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” Revelation 13:11, 12.
It is well known, particularly in Adventist circles, that this two-horned beast represents the United States of America. According to Bible prophecy, our nation will engineer a worldwide movement to reestablish the principles of church-state rule, not just here in our nation but also throughout the world. The first beast whose deadly wound was healed represents the papacy, or ecclesiastical Rome. Prophecy also predicts that the USA will “exerciseth all the power of the first beast” and will speak like a “dragon,” foreshadowing the rise of the spirit of intolerance and persecution that was manifested by the Papacy during the Dark Ages.
Our nation will establish an apostate religious-political system modeled after Rome. The only piece of the puzzle that has yet to take shape is for the USA and Rome to come together into a close-working relationship for the implementation of this world-wide prophetic agenda.
“By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.” (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 451)
Sources
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp66xdxj0l3o.amp
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Any legislation regarding the 10 Commandments will lead to public discussion about Sunday laws as you have documented here. Thanks for informing us about current events.
The final movements will be rapid. The sleeping saints must wake up and end the foolishness. We must put on the armor of truth and prepare for the conflict that is before us. We must be ready lest we fall away.
Brother Andy, again I am prompted to ask, if these things are escalating to this degree now and we are so close to the end then wouldn’t this necessitate that we must be in the reign of the eighth king of Revelation 17? Are we not to have heavenly revealed united understanding on the fulfillment of that prophecy? Pope Francis is the eighth king, and everyone who abuses me on this subject will not understand and be ill prepared. God is showing me things that you cannot see. The only way for you to see is to fast and pray. I was sent to warn you.
I think we can all agree that Rome and the US will be the final players. Without doubt, the papacy is being described in Revelation 17. We have divine inspiration in the book The Great Controversy that sheds light on the final events.