Where does the Catholic Church fit in with the Image of the Beast as characterized in Revelation 13? The answer can only come by way of a thorough study of the Scriptures combined with a projection of things to come in the future based on those Scriptures. Image: Eikone-likeness, profile, resemblance. Note in Revelation 13 that everyone on earth will be required to worship the Beast and its Image. Anyone who refuses will be killed. The question then involves how the Beast government will control the actions of everyone in the entire world? This is possible only through local governmental/religious organizations that will have total power to deal with their local populations–the method used by the Catholic Church and the Roman Government during the Inquisition. At the behest of the church the government then executed judgment on those who did not live up to church expectations. The coming church/ government Inquisition will make the former one pale by comparison as the Universal Church, backed by the Universal Government, will rule with ruthless efficiency, according to Scripture.

That one man (the False Prophet) will be able to force the world to worship an Image is not practical if the Image will be a statue as most of us have been taught.  Though we do not know from Scripture exactly how the worship situation will take place, the following is the scenario that is likely to transpire.

An interesting fact relative to forced worship is that it is the IMAGE, not the False Prophet himself, that will have the power to “BOTH SPEAK AND CAUSE TO BE PUT TO DEATH” anyone who does not worship it (Rev. 13:13-16). What could be this Image of the Beast that can both “speak” and “cause to be put to death” anyone who refuses to worship it? What else but the Catholocism with its globe-encircling church system acting as its agents in place could perform such a task. The Beast, as we know from Daniel and Revelation, is a government. In the middle of the third century Pope Leo I, infatuated with the internal structure of the Roman Government, organized the Catholic Church in the image of the Roman model as confirmed by Myers in Ancient History as well as in the Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. At the end of the age, could not the Beast be the revised Roman Empire (European Union), and could not the Catholic Church be the IMAGE OF THAT GOVERNMENT, and could not the local church be the entity which causes all people world-wide to worship both the Beast (government) and the Image of the Beast (church)? No one knows for sure, but this is the best scenario I can envision based on the limited information provided by the Scriptures.

Equally as important as the composition of the Beast and its Image is what this terrible duo will do to the people of the world when they gain unchallenged power during the Great Tribulation. In the next posting I will lay out a possible scenario based on what they have done in the past and the power they are gathering at present. From this information I will try to project what will take place in the future using the Holy Bible as the basis for my projections. In our attempt to peer into the future, we must remember that God said what is coming will be many times worse than anything that has gone on before. Dear reader, IF YOU HAVE NOT MADE THE BIBLICAL JESUS CHRIST YOUR LORD BY BELIEVING AND OBEYING HIS WORD WITH TOTAL FAITH IN HIM, HE WILL NEVER BE YOUR SAVIOR. If you are involved in Catholicism or Protestantism–COME OUT AND BE SEPARATE, TOUCH NOT THE UNCLEAN THING. ONLY THEN WILL HE BE YOUR GOD (2 Cor. 6:17). To be continued. L.J.