“When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country [the United States] shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.” — Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church,vol. 5,p. 451.

 “We have tended to overlook the fact that Sunday is the day of worship of the opposing forces ... in the story line of the Book of Revelation. Sunday is an extremely important symbol, revealing the unbelievable craftiness and sophistry of the dragon.... This ... change of God’s law expresses in one simple action the very essence of the hatred of the dragon against God in the cosmic conflict. Its simplicity is highly deceptive. The dragon has sought to usurp God’s place in the cosmos by depicting himself as the true object of worship and arguing that God’s law is unjust — that it should be changed. The dragon changed the law at the juncture within the Decalogue where God is identified as Creator and Redeemer, the only one worthy of worship (Exod 20:8-11; Deut 5; cf. Rev 4:11; 5:9, 13, 14). The change of the law manifests not only the dragon’s hatred for the will of the Lord (the law), but it is also his attempt to usurp God’s place by becoming the object of worship.... The universalization of this change in the law would assure him victory.” — Ángel Manuel Rodríguez, “The Closing of the Cosmic Conflict: Role of the Three Angels’ Messages,” unpublished manuscript, pp. 53, 54.

 1. Though living in anticipation, even expectation, of final events, why must we be careful about not getting into fanaticism, date setting, or speculating beyond what has been revealed to us through inspiration? What are the dangers of doing this, and what have been the results when the expected events have not unfolded when and how people have said they would happen?
 2. While we must avoid the dangers depicted in the previous discussion question, how do we respond to those who say that our scenario about the mark of the beast and persecution cannot happen because it just doesn’t seem possible, given the current state of the world? Why is this line of reasoning, though on the surface seemingly sensible, really not sensible at all? (After all, look at how quickly great changes can come to the world.)