The Mark of the Beast and the Climate Change
Revelation 13 contains a prophecy that has taken on startling relevance in today’s world:
“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 13:12)
The first beast represents Papal Rome. The second beast—the United States—emerges with lamb-like principles of freedom yet ultimately “speaks as a dragon.” The prophecy is remarkable in that it says both “the earth” (the land itself) and the people will give honor to the first beast. This implies laws that directly affect the land—laws of enforced rest—in the name of honoring Papal authority.
❖ The Environmental Connection
In our day, the climate change movement provides a plausible path for such legislation. The Vatican has been one of the leading moral voices on environmental stewardship. In his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, Pope Francis explicitly links Sunday observance with ecological healing, calling it a day to restore right relationships with God, humanity, and the earth itself.
This framing means:
- Sunday becomes a secular and religious “solution” to climate change.
- It appeals to believers and non-believers alike as a common good.
- The land is given enforced “rest” on the Papal Sunday, fulfilling Revelation’s statement that “the earth” will in some way worship the beast.
❖ Examples of the Push
Growing calls for a weekly day of rest to reduce environmental impact include:
- “A Sabbath for the Earth and the Poor” – blending environmental and religious language.
- Activists proposing a Green Sabbath movement.
- Economists, religious leaders, and NGOs suggesting Sunday as a legal rest day for ecological benefit.
The prophetic pattern is clear: A movement begins with a moral-sounding cause—save the planet—but ends in enforced observance of Papal tradition.
❖ The Real Issue: Worship
Revelation 13 and 14 make one point repeatedly—this is a matter of worship. The coming crisis will not be merely about environmental policy but about who has the right to command our allegiance. When church and state unite to enforce a man-made day of rest in place of God’s commanded Sabbath, the choice becomes clear:
- Follow the Creator’s law.
- Or submit to human authority in defiance of God.
✦ The Sabbath and the One True God ✦
It is not just the day of worship that matters, but the God of the day. Revelation 14:1 says the redeemed have the “name of the Father” written in their foreheads. This is significant:
- The Father is “the only true God” (John 17:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6), the source of all life.
- He is “Lord of heaven and earth” (Matthew 11:25), the Creator who made all things through His Son Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:9).
The fourth commandment ties our worship directly to the true God:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy… For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day.” (Exodus 20:8–11)
The three angels’ message in Revelation 14 echoes this call:
“…Worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” (Revelation 14:7)
Thus, keeping the true seventh-day Sabbath is a sign of allegiance to the Creator. But worshiping on the counterfeit day—Sunday—honors the authority of the Papal system instead.
❖ Final Warning
Revelation 13 warns that the lost will bear “the mark, or the name, or the number of the beast.” This means any connection—whether by honoring the beast’s day (Sunday) or accepting the beast’s false god—places one under its authority. The Trinity doctrine, long promoted by Rome, is intertwined with its counterfeit system of worship, making the final choice about both the day we honor and the God we serve.
The coming Sunday rest laws, justified by climate emergency rhetoric, will not merely be about protecting the planet—they will be about transferring worship and loyalty from the one true God to an apostate power. The saints, however, will stand apart, sealed with the name of the Father, honoring His seventh-day Sabbath, and worshiping the Father as the one true God and His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, who is worthy of all honor as the one through whom all things were made and by whom we are redeemed.