Deuteronomy 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. 13 Six days thou shalt labor, and do all thy work: 14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God.
[The Great controversy pp 438] The keeping of the Sabbath is a sign of loyalty to the true God, “him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” It follows that the message which commands men to worship God and keep his commandments, will especially call upon them to keep the fourth commandment. In contrast to those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus, the third angel points to another class, against whose errors a solemn and fearful warning is uttered.
“If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” [Revelation 14:9, 10.] A correct interpretation of the symbols employed is necessary to an understanding of this message. What is represented by the beast, the image, the mark? The line of prophecy in which these symbols are found, begins with Revelation 12, with the dragon that sought to destroy Christ at his birth.
The dragon is said to be Satan; [Revelation 12:9.] he it was that moved upon Herod to put the Savior to death. But the chief agent of Satan in making war upon Christ and his people during the first centuries of the Christian era, was the Roman Empire, in which paganism was the prevailing religion. Thus while the dragon, primarily, represents Satan, it is, in a secondary sense, a symbol of pagan Rome.
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!