Revelation 13 deals with the impending global conflict in which all the governments of the world will be involved, as they follow a common ideology/religion. To this end, they use a deception that represents the image of the beast. Anyone who worships the image of the beast will receive a new identity mark in the form of a number that will be visible as a mark on the right hand or forehead. The recent health crisis has shown how people are willing to accept external features in order to ward off perceived dangers. Wearing this visible mark indicates that the individual's heart has been led astray and is bound to man instead of God.
God warns against believing the image of the beast because it is a deception and man can only be dependent on God. Every human being destroys himself because he thirsts for love and does not find it. The body and illness prove that seeking from the wrong source (humans) is a deception. The final decision of each individual becomes clear in the symbols of the Sabbath and Sunday, which ultimately show where the heart is truly anchored. However, these are only outward manifestations of what is happening in the heart. In the twelfth part of the series “The Great Controversy”, we will learn more about the meaning of these themes as well as about the seven plagues and their consequences.