"Then Is Finished The Mystery Of God"

Chapter 23

"The Image of the Wild Beast"

Revelation 13:14-18

IMAGES have long been used for carrying on idolatry. The "first wild beast," that is, Satan's worldwide organization of politics, likes to be idolized. It recommends, really demands, that it be idolized, by means of an image. It makes this recommendation by means of its seventh head. In the Revelation vision to the apostle John the idolatrous proposal is pictured as being made by "another wild beast," the two-horned one that ascends out of the earth. However, when we remember that this two-horned earth beast is identical with the seventh head of the "first wild beast" out of the sea, we are amused at discerning how the "first wild beast" itself makes the idolatrous proposal for itself to be worshiped, but does so by means of its own seventh head. Notice, please, in Revelation 13:14, 15, how John describes this:

"And it misleads those who dwell on the earth, "because of the signs that were granted it to perform in the sight of the wild beast, while it tells those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the wild beast that had the sword-stroke and yet revived. And there was granted it to give breath to the image of the wild beast, so that the image of the wild beast should both speak and cause to be killed all those who would not in any way worship the image of the wild beast."

The "great dragon," Satan the Devil, has always favored idolatry. Imitatively, then, the two-horned

earth beast in further "speaking as a dragon," makes an idolatrous proposal at a very crucial time in human history. In this it further misleads "those who dwell on the earth." Since the time of its ascent out of the earth as the seventh world power, it has misled mankind away from God and his Messianic kingdom "because of the signs that were granted it to perform in the sight of the [first] wild beast." Why should it not mislead earth's dwellers? Those very "signs" that it performed identify it as being the same one as "the false prophet" out of whose mouth comes one of the "three unclean inspired expressions that looked like frogs" and that gather the "kings of the entire inhabited earth" and their armies to the disastrous war against Jehovah God at Har-Magedon.  — Revelation 16:13-16.

The identifying clue for showing that this "false prophet" is the same as the two-horned earth beast is found in the account of the war at Har-Magedon, in which, at Revelation 19:20, the capture of the "first wild beast" is described. Who is captured along with it? "Along with it the false prophet that performed in front of it the signs with which he misled those who received the mark of the wild beast and those who render worship to its image."

At the critical time the two-horned earth beast, as "the false prophet," "tells those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the wild beast that had the sword-stroke and yet revived." (Revelation 13: 14) At this time the "first wild beast" has received the "sword-stroke" that symbolizes costly defeat in World War I of 1914-1918 C.E. So the advice to build the "image to the wild beast" must come after World War I, that ended by the signing of an Armistice, November 11, 1918. The advice came at the Paris Peace Conference. Responsive to this advice, what did the people make that was an idolatrous "image"?

A man-made "image" for worship is forbidden by Jehovah God's law, for it turns men away from worshiping the one living and true God and from trusting

in His Messianic kingdom. The idolatrous image was patterned after the "first wild beast" that came up out of the sea, not down from heaven as the New Jerusalem does. To that "first wild beast" the dragon, Satan the Devil, had given "its power and its throne and great authority." That "first wild beast" must therefore symbolize Satan's visible all-inclusive world political organization. (Revelation 13:1, 2; 20:1, 2, 10) Hence to be an "image of the wild beast" the man-made idol would also have to be a political organization and to have a worldwide scope or coverage. This is what the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations, have proved to be. This international political organization for world peace and security is the modern "image of the wild beast."

THE MAKING OF THE "IMAGE"

The historical facts prove that two-horned earth beast did tell the people to make this symbolic "image of the [first] wild beast." One of the most prominent members of the Peace Conference in 1919 was the then British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George. Reminding his countrymen of what he had done in the interest of peace, Mr. Lloyd George, in a speech in Britain toward the beginning of 1931, said, with reference to himself:

"It was the member who was elected in this town forty years ago who proposed the first resolution in the gathering of the principal Allied statesmen in Paris in 1919 upon which the Covenant of the League of Nations was afterwards based. The cabinet of which I was the head was the only government in the world that had, before the conference met, and even before the Armistice was signed, prepared carefully thought-out plans for putting the principle of that resolution into operation. Even during the most anxious moments of the war there were committees of that cabinet sitting to frame a scheme for setting up an association of nations for ensuring peace on earth."*

Confirming the above, Mr. Lloyd George said, in chapter 28 of his Memoirs:

"It was found at the Peace Conference that the British Government alone had taken measures to work out a practical scheme for the constitution of a League of Peace. President Wilson had not gone beyond the vague idea and the striking phrase. He had not attempted to develop his thoughts into any concrete plan."  — See The Golden Age, No. 402, as of February 13, 1935, page 311.

At the Paris Peace Conference in early 1919 T. Woodrow Wilson, president of the American ally of Great Britain in World War I, advocated the League of Nations. He won acceptance of the League of Nations Covenant as part of the proposed peace treaty, enlisting the support of such Great Powers leaders as Georges B. E. Clemenceau, "The Tiger," France's Premier who was made Permanent Chairman of the Paris Peace Conference. However, after the Treaty was adopted with the League of Nations Covenant as an integral part thereof, the American Senate refused to ratify the Treaty, and later (on August 25, 1921) a separate peace was concluded with defeated Germany. On the other hand, the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America (Protestant) did favor the League, saying in its message to President Wilson at the Peace Conference:

"Such a League is not a mere political expedient; it is rather the political expression of the Kingdom of God on earth. . .. The Church can give a spirit of good-will, without which no League of Nations can endure. . . . The League of Nations is rooted in the Gospel. Like the Gospel, its objective is 'peace on earth, good-will toward men.'"

But later in that same year, on Sunday, September 7, in his public address the president of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society stated to an audience of 7,000 that "the Lord's displeasure is certain to be visited upon the League, however, because the clergy  — Catholic and Protestant — claiming to be God's representatives, have abandoned his plan and endorsed the League of Nations, hailing it as a political expression of Christ's kingdom on earth." — The Star-

Journal of Sandusky, Ohio, under date of September 8, 1919.

The League of Nations did not begin officially until January 10, 1920, the day when ratifications of the Treaty of Versailles were exchanged in Paris, France. In 1919 Geneva, Switzerland, had been agreed on as the city of the League's headquarters, and the first assembly of the nations convened in that city on November 15, 1920. As history went on to show, the purpose of the League of Nations was frustrated by the outbreak of World War II in 1939, and the formal dissolution of the League took place on April 18, 1946, and its assets were transferred to the newly formed United Nations, its successor.

The League of Nations appointed a committee of experts to draft a scheme for the organization of a World Court of Justice. The Secretary-General of the League pointed out that the World Court was to be the "most essential part of the League of Nations." The League and the Court were considered to be complementary to each other. The Court was meant to be the judicial arm, the judicial tribunal, of the League. In course of time the United States of America did join this World Court, and for this it was accused of actually joining the League of Nations. As time went on the American share in the work of the League of Nations grew steadily. In this way the symbolic "two horns like a lamb" on the head of the second wild beast lent their power to the making and maintaining of the "image of the [first] wild beast."

It is thus historically correct to say that to the two-horned earth beast the permission was granted "to give breath to the image of the [first] wild beast" and make it live, function. (Revelation 13:15, NW; NEB; AS; RS; Mo) That first wild beast had seven heads and ten horns. Its "image" would have those same features, although its body would not necessarily have the same color. In Revelation 17:3-17 there is described for us the breathing "image of the wild beast." There it is the "scarlet-colored wild beast that was

full of blasphemous names and that had seven heads and ten horns." In Revelation 17:11 we read that this scarlet-colored wild beast "is also itself an eighth king, but springs from the seven [heads]," thus indicating that the political "image of the wild beast" is, as a whole, an eighth world power in effect. But it owes its existence to the seven symbolic "heads," particularly the seventh 'head' that gives breath to it. It was given breath to function on January 10, 1920.

What was the purpose of giving breath of life to the "image of the [first] wild beast"? Revelation 13: 15 goes on to say: "So that the image of the wild beast should both speak and cause to be killed all those who would not in any way worship the image of the wild beast." The "image of the wild beast" was meant to speak, not idly, but with authority. Especially through its World Court it has done so. The "image" was meant to be worshiped. It was even empowered to command worship from dwellers on the earth through their governments, inasmuch as the people are represented by their national governments who were members of this international political organization. Those who would not worship it were "to be killed." According to the Constitution of the League, known as the Covenant, any nation violating its pledge to submit its disputes to arbitration instead of directly going to war "is automatically in a state of outlawry with the other nations, which are bound to sever all economic and political relations with the defaulting member." (The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 17 [1929 edition], page 176) Eventually, feeling the need to worship the "image of the wild beast," sixty-three nations at one time or another were members of the League of Nations.

According to the way that the "image of the wild beast" spoke, and also according to the way that its promoters spoke, the very life of every person on earth depended on the worship of this international political "image." Without it in existence and functioning world war could not be prevented; another

world war would wreck all civilization. Everybody would "be killed." In one's own interest it was a case of one's worshiping the "image" or being killed by the consequences. After the political "image of the wild beast" was proved to be ineffective in its then form by the outbreak of World War II, a successor to the League of Nations in the new form of the United Nations organization was provided in 1945 after the world war. This very act was a most dramatic act of worshiping the "image of the wild beast." The belief was international that without it the world could not exist in the newly introduced atomic age. An "image of the wild beast" must exist and be worshiped in order for the "wild beast" itself to continue existing on earth.

The dire need for the "image of the wild beast" to live and function effectively as a "third force" was recently pointed up after the "lightning invasion" of Czechoslovakia made by troops of the Soviet Union and four satellite states on August 21, 1968. At this the then Secretary General of the United Nations, U Thant, expressed himself because the balance of power between the two most powerful members of the United Nations was so precarious.

Speaking at a luncheon on September 19, 1968, held in support of a Fund that was established in honor of the late Dag Hammerskjold, former Secretary General of the United Nations, U Thant said that there was need for "a vigorous and articulate third force" to voice "the conscience of mankind." There was need for such a third force that would press "upon all member states the imperative of relying more and more on the machinery of the United Nations if we are to keep the peace of the world." The member states numbered at that time 124, including the United States of America, its strongest supporter from the start. All were worshipers of the "image of the wild beast." — New York Times, under date of September 20, 1968.

According to an earlier report in the New York

Times, under date of July 10, 1967, even the then Russian Premier Aleksei N. Kosygin enhanced the importance of the United Nations. Datelined Moscow, July 9, the United Press International dispatch said: "Premier Aleksei N. Kosygin said today that the international situation was 'very grave' and that the United States and the Soviet Union could not resolve world problems by themselves. He said settlements must be made by the United Nations. ... 'It is an error to believe that all international problems can be resolved by the two great powers. These must be regulated by all the countries. That is why we do not believe in an agreement between the two great powers on world problems. We believe in the United Nations, where all countries, large and small, are represented. The international situation is now very grave.'"

MARK, NAME AND NUMBER OF THE WILD BEAST

Just as King Nebuchadnezzar of the ancient Babylonian Empire (the third "head") ordered the ruling officials of all parts of his empire to bow down to an image in united worship, in order to unify his empire, so now, since 1920, pressure is put upon all humankind to worship the "image of the wild beast," in order to hold together or perpetuate the political "wild beast" itself. The worshiping of the "image of the wild beast" is, in effect, the worshiping of the "wild beast" itself; the "image" of the real thing receives only "relative worship," not the principal worship. The modern-day effort to make all of earth's inhabitants identify themselves as worshipers of the political "wild beast" was foreseen prophetically by the apostle John, who writes:

"And it puts under compulsion all persons, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, that they should give these a mark in their right hand or upon their forehead, and that nobody might be able to buy or sell except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast

or the number of its name. Here is where wisdom comes in: Let the one that has intelligence calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is a man's number; and its number is six hundred and sixty-six [Χξ ']." — Revelation 13:16-18.

Since "all persons" are involved, "the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves," it is vital for each one of us today to find out whether he has the identifying "mark" or not. The "mark" (kháragma, Greek) was either a seal applied for authentication of something or a brand mark that was burned into the skin of a slave or of an animal. It is therefore a "mark" of identification to show to whom or to what a person belongs or to which god a person is rendering religious devotion and service.

The idolatrous "image of the wild beast" causes its worshipers to receive this mark "in their right hand or upon their forehead." They receive the "mark," not of the "image of the wild beast," but of the "wild beast" itself. So, then, if you worship the "image of the wild beast," it automatically causes you to procure the "mark" of the "wild beast." It stamps you as a worshiper of the political "wild beast" and as being owned by it, like a branded slave. The forehead is generally exposed to everyone a person meets, so that the mark on the forehead betrays openly who is one's owner, one's master.

Except in the case of left-handed persons, the "right hand" is the one most generally used. Certainly if a person worships the "wild beast," which symbolizes Satan's visible worldwide political organization, he will lend a hand of assistance and cooperation to that political organization. He will actively take part in its political controversies, campaigns, elections and nationalistic plans and projects. By doing this he receives the symbolic "mark" in his "right hand." By this course of action, also, he reveals what sort of political personality he is, just as openly as if there were a political stamp upon his forehead. He betrays

thereby that he is not for God's Messianic kingdom, but is for Satan's worldwide political organization in its various phases, pictured by the "seven heads" of the "wild beast." He openly shows that he is a "part of the world," in sharp contrast with Christ's true followers. These "are no part of the world" just as Jesus Christ himself was "no part of the world." (John 17:14, 16; 15:19) They "had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand."  — Revelation 20:4.

Those not worshiping the "image of the wild beast" were to "be killed." It appears that the killing was a threat and meant inescapable death in a world catastrophe that would come if there were no international organization for world peace and security. Worshiping the "image" meant also worshiping the "wild beast," and yet a person could worship the "wild beast" without worshiping its "image," as in the case of nations that existed before the building of the "image." So the scheme was that every dweller on earth should be forced to worship the "wild beast," whether directly or indirectly through the "image of the wild beast." Action was to be taken to make it practically impossible for the nonworshipers to live. This was to be brought about by a form of boycott: "that nobody might be able to buy or sell except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of its name." — Revelation 13:15, 17.

Speaking of its member nations (not individual persons) the Charter of the League of Nations ruled that any member state breaking the laws of the Covenant would become an outlaw nation and the other member states would break off economic and political relations with that outlawed state. But what about individual citizens? In totalitarian or authoritarian political states citizens who have refused to join or give support to the ruling element in the one-party state have been boycotted, denied free rights of proper buying and selling. This is done to make it impossible for them to subsist. So if now a person feels

unable to live, he must under such compulsion submit to accepting the "mark" of the political "wild beast."

The underlying principle of this compulsory procedure is this: that, if you desire the political "wild beast" to do business with you to your prospering and getting ahead in this world, you must do business with the "wild beast." You must lend your best hand to its aid and maintenance and make an open-face appearance, plainly detectable in your personality, to show that you belong to it as your owner and master. With national pride you must belong to the political state. Those who put their trust in only the political state yield to such compulsion and get marked in their "right hand" and upon their "forehead" of public profession. The faithful genuine Christian defies all such compulsion. He refuses to commit worldly idolatry and to be marked as such an idolater. He puts his trust in Jehovah's Messianic kingdom, which was "finished" as a mystery in the year 1914 C.E. He lends his hand to its service and support and does not meddle in worldly politics, although still being law-abiding. — Romans 13:1-7.

From the standpoint of the true God, "whose name is Jehovah," it is a disgraceful, unchristian thing for a person to have the "mark" of the wild beast in the right hand and forehead. Patriotic-minded people may object to that fact, but to Jehovah God the thing that such people worship as a most beautiful, noble, respectable, worthy, inspiring thing is like a hideous blasphemous "wild beast" that came up out of the sea. (Revelation 13:1) The idolaters would consider the object of their patriotic, nationalistic adoration as deserving of the name the symbolic value of which amounts to the number 777, the symbol of perfection up to the third degree (7 + 70 + 700). If that were the case, then one's being marked with "the name of the wild beast or the number of its name" would seem to the idolaters as being an honor. But, as a shock to the patriotic sensibilities of the idolaters, Jehovah God gives an inferior numerical rating to

the "wild beast." It takes wisdom to appreciate this, not worldly wisdom of men under the influence of the "dragon," Satan the Devil, but heavenly wisdom from God. Says Revelation 13:18:

"Here is where wisdom comes in: Let the one that has intelligence calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is a man's number; and its number is six hundred and sixty-six [Χξ ']."

This numerical value of the name is the number 6 up to the third degree, namely, 6 + 60 + 600. It is "a man's number," hence a human number. But for these past six thousand years humanity has been marked by imperfection, just as the number six comes short of the number seven, the symbol of perfection that is repeatedly used in the book of Revelation. Furthermore the number six has been associated with men who defied Jehovah God. For instance, the Philistine giant Goliath, who taunted Jehovah much to the indignation of the Israelite shepherd, David of Bethlehem, likely had six digits on each hand and foot. (1 Chronicles 20:5-7) Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon erected a tall national image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits broad, and he had the three Hebrew friends of the prophet Daniel thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to break Jehovah's law and worship the golden image. (Daniel 3:1-23) In view of such connections the number six would stand for something man-made, something imperfect, sinful, like man in his rebellion against God, something that could be defiant and opposed to Jehovah God, hence something disapproved by Him.

Moreover, since doing something three times makes it emphatic, the compounding of the number six to the third degree, namely, six + six times ten + six times a hundred, would signify something emphatically imperfect, bad, disapproved by God, something falling far short of perfection. So this is what heavenly wisdom, as imparted by the inspired Word of God, calculates "the name of the wild beast" or "the number of the wild beast" to be. Human history since

the days of the mighty hunter Nimrod, the founder of ancient Babylon, shows that this number of human imperfection and of inadequacy stamps the Devil's visible, worldwide political organization as symbolized by the wild beast. Is any man-made thing, that bears such a distinguishing number, deserving of being worshiped in defiance of God's law? Each person must answer for himself before God.

The number 666 stands as a warning to all people in this time particularly, when extreme efforts are being made to have all humans branded "in their right hand or upon their forehead" with the identifying "name of the wild beast or the number of its name." Faithful worshipers of the one living and true God Jehovah refuse at all costs to be marked with the wild beast's number. The very next verse after Revelation 13:18, which reveals the number 666, pictures the 144,000 triumphant anointed followers of the Lamb Jesus Christ as having something different "written on their foreheads." What? The name of the Lamb and the name of his heavenly Father. (Revelation 13:18; 14:1) Also, at Revelation 7:2-8, these 144,000 spiritual Israelites are said to be sealed as slaves of God "in their foreheads" with the "seal of the living God."

Immediately after that vision, the international "great crowd" are brought to view as having palms in their hands and as worshiping, not the "wild beast," but Jehovah God "in his temple." (Revelation 7:9-15) What a glorious "great crowd" to be among today! In order for us to enjoy their favored standing before Jehovah God and his Lamb Jesus Christ, one needs to shun getting the mark, the number of the political "wild beast," the beastly foe of "the mystery of God."