In spite of the hellish determination of the Beast and the Dragon, the truth of Elohim and the blessing of His precious holy days has been known and loved by loyal followers in every age. Even after Constantine I made an edict requiring Christians to worship upon Sunday (in fact even after that law was later enforced by the death penalty, around 364 C.E.), a faithful few still obeyed the commands of heaven, confounding the wrath of the Beast.

Ironically, those who were looked upon by heaven as being the loyal, true Christians because of their unswerving obedience; were the ones who presented to the world as being "accursed from Christ." In the Council of Laodicea, held in C.E. 364, the following proclamation about Sabbath-keepers was made:

Thus, clearly from the time of the apostles until at least 364 C.E., Sabbaths were being kept weekly and annually by European Christians, "…notwithstanding the decree of that council (Laodicea) against it" (Sunday A Sabbath, p 163).

The Sabbaths, as well as the rest of the Torah, were being kept in Ethiopia at this time, as well. In Ethiopian literature, it is taught that the Torah reached this African country through one of King Solomon’s sons. Having been born to Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (see 1 Kings chapter 10), the young man later visited his father to learn of the Elohim of Israel.

The Law of Moses (the Torah) was kept in Ethiopia into the early fifteenth century! This is evident through the fact that the Papacy began to verbally attack the Ethiopian royal family in 1410, in attempt to get them to turn their backs on the Torah and accept Catholicism. To end the onslaught, the then matriarch of the royal family wrote a letter to the Catholic Church (which may be read in its entirety in the book, The Church History of Habassia or Ethiopia, p 60-64). This letter stated that the Catholic Church should leave Ethiopia alone. The Ethiopians were Christians, not Judaizers, as they had been accused of being. Throughout the letter, this Ethiopian queen, explained the Biblical definition of being a Christian. She stated, "We do observe nothing but what we find in the Law and the Prophets" (p. 61).

She then continued to list the characteristics of a true Christian, as taught in the Torah, explaining that she could never espouse Catholicism in Ethiopia as the Catholic Church could not, by Biblical definition be considered Christian! From this queen’s letter, the following is a complete list of the items Ethiopia believed, in 1410, which differed from the Papal doctrine:

• Ethiopia believed in baptism by immersion.
• Ethiopia worshipped on the Seventh-day Sabbath.
• In Ethiopia, confession of sins was made only to God.
• Ethiopia believed that "exhorting to alms" (strong-arming people into giving money to the church) was wrong.
• Ethiopia believed that both the Old and New Testaments were in effect and should be obeyed.
• Ethiopia kept all of Elohim’s feasts and refused to keep the Papal holy days.

In Europe, Sabbath keepers were given many names, one of which was: the Waldenses. Through them, Sabbath and complete Torah keeping may be traced from the time of the apostles into the early 16^th century C.E.! (See God’s Holidays, pp 122-126.)

The Papacy responded to this faithful band of Christians with lethal persecution. They were hunted down, stoned, pulled apart on the racks and burned at the stake. Yet none of this was able to stop the message or their stand upon the Truth. To Catholicism, the Waldenses displayed two main beliefs which were absolutely inexcusable: One, the Waldenses brought the Scriptures to the villages. Against the Papal edict that the Word of Elohim was never to be spoken in a common tongue, Waldenses read the Bible to the people in their own languages. The second belief that Waldenses held that greatly irritated the Papacy was that Papal edicts were not equal to Biblical commands. This was blatantly obvious in one of their Passover hymns (translated into English):

All pageantry not from the Bible Word

Most certainly arrives from Italy!

Of this truth we bear witness, hearts bestirred

As far as Rome itself, the Pope’s city.

Just ask the Pope! He shall himself confess

His celebrations do not come from God,

The Jewish statutes God alone will bless

Where Popes unholy refuse to trod.

He may claim that the Bible is divine,

But his grand liturgies are not found there.

He does not say they are not Rome’s design,

Invented for the god-man’s idol prayer.

However held, Passover in God’s Word

As we can clearly read what God commands

Pope Victor changed, the Jewish rites interred,

Wrote innovations with unholy hands…

Instead of Sabbath, they Sunday hold,

The Passover into Easter transform;

Whitsuntide they boldly make the celebration of the

Fiftieth day (Pentecost)…

(Bosnia Cathars 1588-1623 Samuel Kohn: Die Sabbatharier in Siebenburgen Ihr Geshichte, Literalur, und Dogmatik, Budapest, Verlag von Singer & Wolfer, 1894; Lipzig, Verlag von Franz Wager, p 80.)

The Waldenses continued to stand as loyal Torah-keepers into the 1600’s! Two of the many names Waldenses were known by are "Cathari" and "Puritans" (History of the Ancient Christians, p 45). This fact lends some interesting detail to early American history. When the Puritans first began to settle in what was then known as New England, their motivation for moving from Europe to America was that they might establish: "A country without a king and a church without a pope!" Thus, the Puritans, who settled at Salem and Boston Massachusetts in 1630, were a renamed faction of the original Waldenses who had been keeping the Sabbaths and the whole Law from the time of the apostles (ibid. p. 23 and 45).

Naturally, Rome tried to break the Waldenses. For the Catholic Church to keep her holy image, this group could not be allowed to continue preaching that the Papacy was in league with Satan! By 1655, the persecution of the Waldenses had reached an all-time high.

Rome was doing everything possible to cause the Waldenses to relinquish their loyal stand upon the Word of Elohim by "…taking away their children, and bringing them up in the Roman religion, or in hindering them from disposing of their goods, or in imprisoning some, and massacring others, as they did in the year 1655" (History of the Ancient Christians, p 538).

Studying groups like the Waldenses is interesting in that it demonstrates that the Sabbath truth is not just now appearing, having lain dormant since the days of the apostles. It is also interesting in that the experience of the Waldenses can aid in understanding the Abomination of Desolation. We may better understand that which will be set up in the ride of the prophetic red horseman, during the time of the Second Seal.

The Bible states that, through the same power (the Papal Beast), even greater persecution than was unleashed upon the Waldenses in the Dark Ages will be brought against the faithful in the End of Time. (See the chapters titled "Decoding the Final Prophetic Timeline.")

Christ warned the Christians that when they would see the "abomination that causes desolation standing in the holy place," they should flee to the mountains. (See Matthew 24:15.) A great insight into the meaning of this warning is found in Luke chapter twenty-one.

What was the "abomination" that brought about Jerusalem’s desolation? Looking back in history to the time when Jerusalem was destroyed, we find that in 70 C.E., the Roman armies of Titus surrounded Jerusalem. In the ensuing massacre, 250,000 Jews were slain and 97,000 men, women and children were taken prisoner. The pagan Roman armies desecrated the sacred things of Elohim. Pigs were sacrificed on the temple site as an abominable affront to Elohim’s holy Law. ("The Mark of the Beast," Amazing Discoveries, http://www.amazingdiscoveries.org/markofbeast-p6.html.)

This Abomination that desolates will bring destruction yet again. There is to be a final fulfillment of this event in response to the message of the fourth angel being given by the Rider on the white horse. As is so often the case in prophecy, the original fulfillment was literal, but the final fulfillment will be more spiritual in nature. This time, the Abomination will send its armies and again surround Jerusalem; only it will be spiritual Jerusalem who is under attack.

The Biblical application of Jerusalem, as a term referring to Elohim’s people, is found in the fact that the New Jerusalem is called the Bride of Christ. (See Revelation 21:2.) As Christ’s faithful people comprise His church and His church makes up His Bride, this final attack against Jerusalem will actually be an attack against the loyal people of Elohim.

Now that we have defined the group who will be attacked, we must Biblically identify the attacker. The Bible tells us that the abomination that makes desolate is the armies of Rome. (See Luke 21:20.) In the time of the Waldenses, the armies of Rome attacked them. But, as they saw events heating up which would precipitate such an attack, the Waldenses fled to the mountains. What sign did the Waldenses have to inform them that the abomination that makes desolate was being set up?

When the armies of Rome began to advance against spiritual Jerusalem, as represented in the Dark Ages in the Waldenses, they did so at the command of the Papacy. Rome had made laws, which no longer allowed the Torah-keepers to keep the Sabbaths. When this first Sunday law was passed, in 364 C.E., the later-named-Waldenses saw that the Abomination that makes desolate was setting up in the "place where it ought not" (see Mark 13:14), which is "in the holy place" (see Matthew 24:15).

Allowing many of them to escape the coming destruction, the Waldenses observed a preparatory sign indicating that the Abomination of Desolation was coming. This sign was the establishment of a Sunday Law (364 C.E.). When it became illegal to disobey Rome, the armies of Rome were quickly dispatched to bring desolation and death to all the Sabbath-keepers.

Just as the proclamation of the Fourth Angel’s Message indicates that soon the first Seal will opened and the white horse will ride bringing the seal of Elohim to the needy world; so the current statements from the Vatican indicate that the necessary precursors to the Abomination of Desolation are already in place. Rome is already preparing the stage for the moment when all will again be required to observe its counterfeit holy day. At first, the Papacy intends to lull people into a false sense of security. The intended Sunday laws are painted as being for the people’s best good, and are toted as a basic human right!

Thus, the Beast still carries the same message; it has just been reframed to suit a more democratic society and mindset. At first, the Papacy will democratically convince the greater majority that Sunday legislation is in the best interest of the world. But, for those who fail to agree with this legislation, the Papacy’s democratic gloves will come off. Papal Rome will not remain gentle when dealing with dissenters in the future, any more than it was in the past. The prophecies in Revelation are clear that the death penalty will finally be pronounced upon any who stand loyal to Elohim. In addition, only those who receive the Mark of the Beast will be able to buy food and conduct business.

Just as was indicated by the study of the word, "Armageddon," the holy days will divide the sides in the final conflict. As we have already studied, those who are loyal to Elohim through faithfully keeping the Torah including the Sabbaths will receive the Seal of Elohim. But whether through pressure, fear of persecution, or consenting belief, those who follow the commands of the Beast will receive his mark. What is the Mark of the Beast? Perhaps the most unequivocal answer to this question must come from the Beast itself! The Papacy knows the answer to this important question. In fact, it has answered in its own literature, as follows:

In light of how Sabbath-keepers were treated the second time the Abomination of Desolation stalked the land, there can be no doubt that accepting the call of the fourth angel will be a decision fraught with risk. Yet his clarion call is already sounding, "Come out of Babylon – that ye be not partakers of her sins and receive not of her plagues." (See Revelation chapter 18.) What side will you be on, dear Reader, when the final battle lines are drawn and the separation of light from darkness has been complete? Where will you be standing then?

• From the apostles to the Puritans, Sabbath-keepers have remained loyal to Elohim in spite of the persecution they endured from the Papacy.
• Those who keep the Beasts’ days will receive the Mark of the Beast. The mark of the Beast’s authority is its spurious days of worship.