The Marvel of Nations

THE TWO-HORNED BEAST THE SAME AS THE FALSE PROPHET OF CHAPTER 19

The works attributed in verse 14, just quoted, to the two-horned beast, identifies this power with the false prophet of Revelation 19:20; for this false prophet is the agency that works miracles before the beast, “with which,” says John, “he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worship his image,” — the very actions which the two-horned beast is to cause men to perform. We can now ascertain by what means the miracles in question are wrought; for Revelation 16:13, 14, speaks of spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty; and these miracle-working spirits go forth out of the mouths of certain powers, one of which is this very false prophet, or two-horned beast. MANA 151.1

Miracles are of two kinds — true and false, just as we have a true Christ and false christs, true prophets and false prophets, and true apostles and false apostles. By a false miracle we mean, not a pretended miracle, which is no miracle at all, but a real miracle, a supernatural performance, wrought in the interest of falsehood, for the purpose of deceiving the people, or of proving a lie. The miracles of this power are real miracles, but are wrought for the purpose of deception. The prophecy does not read that he deceived the people by means of the miracles which he claimed that he was able to perform, or which he pretended to do, but which he had power to do. MANA 151.2

They, therefore, fall far short of the real intent of the prophecy, who suppose that the great wonders wrought by this power were fulfilled by Napoleon when he told the Mussulmans that he could command a fiery chariot to come down from heaven, but never did it; or by the pretended miracles of the Romish Church, which are only shams, mere tricks played off by unscrupulous and designing priests upon their ignorant and superstitious dupes. MANA 151.3

Miracles, or wonders, such as are to be wrought by the two-horned beast, and, withal, as we think, the very ones referred to in the prophecy, are mentioned by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10. Speaking of the second coming of Christ, he says, “Whose coming is after [κατὰ, at the time of, 2 Timothy 4:1] ¹ the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” These are no sleight-of-hand performances, but such a working of Satan as the world has never before seen. To work with all power and signs and lying wonders, is certainly to do a real and an astounding work, but one which is designed to prove a lie. MANA 152.1

Again, the Saviour, predicting events to occur just before his second coming, says, “For there shall arise false christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Here, again, are wonders foretold, wrought for the purpose of deception, so powerful that were it possible even the very elect would be deceived by them. MANA 153.1

Thus we have a series of prophecies setting forth the development, in the last days, of a wonder-working power, manifested to a startling and unprecedented degree, in the interest of falsehood and error. All refer to one and the same thing. The earthly government with which it was to be especially connected, is that represented by the two-horned beast, or false prophet. The agency lying back of the outward manifestations was to be Satanic, “the spirit of devils.” The prophecy, according to the application made of it in this book, calls for such a work as this in our own country at the present time. Do we behold anything like it? Read the answer in the lamentation of the prophet: “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the Devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Revelation 12:12. Stand aghast, O Earth! tremble, ye people, but be not deceived! The huge specter of evil confronts us, as the prophet declared. Satan is loosed. From the depth of Tartarus myriads of demons swarm over the land. The prince of darkness manifests himself as never before, and, stealing a word from the vocabulary of heaven to designate his work, he calls it — Spiritualism. MANA 153.2

1. Does Spiritualism, then bear these marks of Satanic agency? MANA 154.1

(1.) The spirits which communicate claim to be the spirits of our departed friends. But the Bible, in the most explicit terms, assures us that the dead are wholly inactive and unconscious till the resurrection; that the dead know not anything (Ecclesiastes 9:5); that every operation of the mind has ceased (Psalm 146:4); that every emotion of the heart is suspended (Ecclesiastes 9:6); and that there is neither work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave where they lie. Ecclesiastes 9:10. Whatever intelligence, therefore, comes to us professing to be one of our dead friends, comes claiming to be what, from the word of God, we know he is not. But angels of God do not lie; therefore these are not the good angels. Spirits of devils will lie; this is their work; and these are the credentials which at the very outset they hand us. MANA 154.2

(2.) The doctrines which they teach are from the lowest and foulest depths of the pit of lies. They deny God. They deny Christ. They deny the atonement. They deny the Bible. They deny the existence of sin, and all distinction between right and wrong. They deny the sacredness of the marriage relation; and, interspersing their utterances with the most horrid blasphemies against God and his Son, and everything that is lovely, and good, and pure. they give the freest license to every propensity to sin, and to every carnal and fleshly lust. Tell us not that these things, openly taught under the garb of religion, and backed up by supernatural sights and sounds, are anything less than Satan’s masterpiece. MANA 154.3

2. Spiritualism answers accurately to the prophecy in the exhibition of great signs and wonders. Among its many achievements these may be mentioned: Various articles have been transported from place to place by spirits alone. Beautiful music has been produce independently of human agency, with and without the aid of visible instruments. Many well-attested cases of healing have been presented. Persons have been carried through the air by the spirits in the presence of many others. Tables have been suspended in the air with several persons upon them. And finally, spirits have presented themselves in bodily form, and talked with an audible voice. MANA 155.1

Experiments conducted by the great German philosopher, Prof. Zollner, demonstrated the following facts, as related by him to Joseph Cook during the late visit of the latter to Europe; namely, abnormal knots were tied in cords; messages were written between doubly and trebly sealed slates; coin passed through a table in a manner to illustrate the suspension of the laws of the impenetrability of matter; straps of leather were knotted under Prof. Zollner’s hands; the impression of two feet was given on sooted paper pasted inside two sealed slates; whole and uninjured wooden rings were placed around the standard of a card-table, over either end of which they could by no possibility be slipped; and finally, the table itself, a heavy beechen structure, wholly disappeared, and then fell down from the top of the room in which Prof. Zollner and his friends were sitting. MANA 155.2

A writer in the Spiritual Clarion speaks as follows of the manner in which Spiritualism has arisen, and the astounding progress it has made:— MANA 156.1

“This revelation has been with a power and a might, that, if divested of its almost universal benevolence, had been a terror to the very soul; the hair of the very bravest had stood on end, and his chilled blood had crept back upon his heart at the sights and sounds of its inexplicable phenomena. It comes with foretokening, with warning. It has been, from the very first, its own best prophet, and step by step it has foretold the progress it would make. It comes, too, most triumphant. No faith before it ever took so victorious a stand in its infancy. It has swept like a hurricane of fire through the land, compelling faith from the baffled scoffer and the most determined doubter.” MANA 156.2

3. Spiritualism answers to the prophecy in that it had its origin in our own country, thus connecting its wonders with the work of the two-horned beast. Commencing in Hydesville, ¹ N.Y., in the family of Mr. John D. Fox, in the latter part of March, 1848, it spread with incredible rapidity through all the States. It would be impossible to state the number of Spiritualists in this country at the present time. In 1876, only twenty-eight years from the commencement of this remarkable movement, estimates of the number of its adherents were made by different ones, which, though differing somewhat from one another, are nevertheless such as to show that the progress of Spiritualism has been without a parallel. Thus, Judge Edmonds puts the number at five or six millions (5,000,000 or 6,000,000); Hepworth Dixon, three millions (3,000,000); A.J. Davis, four million two hundred and thirty thousand (4,230,000); Warren Chase, eight millions (8,000,000); and the Roman Catholic Council at Baltimore, between ten and eleven millions (10,000,000 to 11,000,000). Of those who have become it devotees, Judge Edmonds said as long ago as 1853:— MANA 156.3

“Besides the undistinguished multitude, there are many now of high standing and talent ranked among them, — doctors, lawyers, and clergymen in great numbers, a Protestant bishop, the learned and reverend president of a college, judges of our higher courts, members of Congress, foreign ambassadors, and ex-members of the United States Senate.” MANA 157.1

This statement was written about thirty-two years ago; and from that time to this the work of the spirits has been steadily progressing and spreading among all classes of people. MANA 157.2

One reason why it is now difficult to estimate the number of those who might properly be denominated Spiritualists, is that the more prominent and respectable of the adherents of this movement, are drawing under cover the obnoxious and immoral features of the system, heretofore so prominent, and assuming a Christian garb. By this move they bring themselves and a multitude of church members upon common ground, where there is no distinction between them in fact, though there still may be in name. MANA 157.3

And from this nation Spiritualism has gone abroad into all the earth. Queen Victoria is said to be a devotee of the new philosophy. See Townsend’s “New World and Old,” p. 201. The late rulers, the Emperor and Empress of France, the Queen of Spain, Pius IX., and Alexander II., are all said to have sought to these spirits for knowledge. The same is said of the present Emperor of Russia, Alexander III., who is reported to have followed the direction of the spirits in regard to the time and manner of his coronation. Thus it is working its way to the potentates of the earth, and is fast preparing to accomplish its real mission, which is, by deceiving the world with its miracles, to gather the nations to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. Revelation 16:13, 14. MANA 157.4

Here we pause. Let this work go on a little longer, as it has been going, and as it is still going, and what a scene is before us! Having seen so much fulfilled, we cannot now draw back and deny the remainder. And so we look for the onward march of the last great wonder-working deception, till that is accomplished which in the days of Elijah was a test between Jehovah and Baal, and fire is brought down from heaven to earth in the sight of men. Revelation 13:13. Then will be the hour of the powers of darkness, — the hour of temptation that is coming upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Revelation 3:10. Then all will be swept from their anchorage by the strong current of delusion, except those whom it is not possible to deceive — the elect of God. Matthew 24:24. MANA 158.1

And still the world sleeps on, while Satan, with lightning fingers and hellish energy, weaves over them his last fatal snare. It is time some mighty move was made to waken the world, and arouse the church to the dangers we are in. It is time every honest heart should learn that the only safeguard against the great deception, whose incipient, and even well-advanced workings we already behold before our eyes, is to make the truths of God’s holy and immutable word our shield and buckler. MANA 158.2