The prophetic characteristic of the dragon is confederation, as identified by Isaiah.
龙的先知性特征是同盟，正如以赛亚所指出的。
Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. Isaiah 8:9–16.
众民哪，你们要结盟，终必破碎；远方的诸国啊，都要侧耳听：你们要束腰，终必破碎；你们要束腰，终必破碎。 你们一同商议，终必归于无有；你们发言，必不得立，因为神与我们同在。 因为耶和华以大能的手这样对我说，教训我不可行这百姓所行的路，说： 凡这百姓所称为“阴谋”的，你们不要说是“阴谋”；他们所惧怕的，你们不要惧怕，也不要畏惧。 你们要以万军之耶和华为圣；让他成为你们所当惧怕的，让他成为你们所当畏惧的。 他必作圣所，却又作以色列两家的绊脚之石、跌人的磐石，作耶路撒冷居民的网罗和圈套。 他们中间必有许多人绊跌、仆倒、破碎，又落入网罗而被捉拿。 你要捆绑这证言，在我的门徒中封住这律法。 以赛亚书 8:9-16。
In the last days, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, when Isaiah says, “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples,” there is an “evil confederacy” on planet earth. It is important to understand that the history of the United States leading to the Sunday law is prefiguring the same events on the global level.
在末后的日子，在十四万四千人受封印的时候，当以赛亚说：“捆起见证，把律法封在我门徒中间”之时，地球上存在一个“邪恶的同盟”。重要的是要明白，美国通向周日法令的历史，正在预示同样的事件将在全球层面发生。
“Foreign nations will follow the example of the United States. Though she leads out, yet the same crisis will come upon our people in all parts of the world.” Testimonies, volume 6, 395.
“列国必效法美国。虽然她率先行此，然而同样的危机也必临到我们在世界各地的子民。”《证言》卷六，第395页。
Sister White carefully identifies who the “evil confederacy” is, and it represents the progressive liberalism of the modern globalists. As she does so, she repeatedly quotes the previous verses in Isaiah, which identify an evil confederacy during the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand.
怀特姐妹谨慎地指出“邪恶的联盟”指的是谁，并指出它代表现代全球主义者的进步自由主义。她在这样做时，反复引用以赛亚书前面的经文，这些经文指出，在十四万四千人受印的时期，有一个邪恶的联盟。
“The Lord declares through the prophet Isaiah: Isaiah 8:9–13 quoted.
主借着先知以赛亚宣告：引述以赛亚书8:9-13。
“There are those who question whether it is right for Christians to belong to the Free Masons and other secret societies. Let all such consider the scriptures just quoted. If we are Christians at all, we must be Christians everywhere, and must consider and heed the counsel given to make us Christians according to the standard of God’s Word.” Evangelism, 617, 618.
“有人质疑，基督徒加入共济会及其他秘密社团是否合宜。凡此类人都当思考刚才所引用的经文。若我们真是基督徒，就必须在任何地方都作基督徒，并且要思量并听从所赐的劝告，使我们能按照上帝话语的标准作基督徒。” 《布道》，617、618。
The evil confederacy of the last days is associated with Freemasons, and other secret societies. Its religion is spiritualism, and it is made up of the world bankers and the billionaire merchants of the earth, who “centralize the wealth and power of the world,” and who promote such movements as Antifa and Black Lives Matter to foment “the spirit of unrest, of riot and bloodshed” on a “world-wide scale,” in an effort to reproduce the anarchy of the “French Revolution.”
末世的邪恶同盟与共济会及其他秘密社团有关。它的宗教是通灵术，并由全球的银行家和亿万富豪商人组成，他们“把世界的财富与权力集中起来”，并推动诸如 Antifa 和 Black Lives Matter 之类的运动，以在“全球范围内”煽动“不安、暴乱与流血的精神”，试图重现“法国大革命”的无政府状态。
“Spiritualism asserts that men are unfallen demigods; that ‘each mind will judge itself;’ that ‘true knowledge places men above all law;’ that ‘all sins committed are innocent;’ for ‘whatever is, is right,’ and ‘God doth not condemn.’ The basest of human beings it represents as in heaven, and highly exalted there. Thus it declares to all men, ‘It matters not what you do; live as you please, heaven is your home.’ Multitudes are thus led to believe that desire is the highest law, that license is liberty, and that man is accountable only to himself.
招魂术断言，人类是未堕落的半神；认为“每个人的心灵将自行审判”；“真知识使人超越一切律法”；“一切犯下的罪都是无罪的”；因为“凡存在的都是对的”，而且“上帝不定罪”。它把人类中最卑鄙的人描绘为在天上，并在那里被大大尊崇。于是它向所有人宣称：“你做什么都无关紧要；随心所欲地生活吧，天国是你的家。”无数人因此被引导相信，欲望是最高的律法，放纵就是自由，而人只向自己负责。
“With such teaching given at the very outset of life, when impulse is strongest, and the demand for self-restraint and purity is most urgent, where are the safeguards of virtue? what is to prevent the world from becoming a second Sodom? At the same time anarchy is seeking to sweep away all law, not only divine, but human. The centralizing of wealth and power; the vast combinations for the enriching of the few at the expense of the many; the combinations of the poorer classes for the defense of their interests and claims; the spirit of unrest, of riot and bloodshed; the world-wide dissemination of the same teachings that led to the French Revolution—all are tending to involve the whole world in a struggle similar to that which convulsed France.” Education, 227, 228.
“在人生之初，正当冲动最为强烈、对自我克制与纯洁的要求最为迫切之时，若给予这样的教导，德行的保障何在？又有什么能防止世界变成第二个所多玛呢？与此同时，无政府主义正试图扫除一切法律，不仅上帝的律法，也包括人间的法律。财富与权力的集中；以多数人为代价使少数人致富的庞大联合；贫困阶层为捍卫自身利益与主张而结成的联盟；不安、骚乱与流血的风气；以及曾经导致法国大革命的同样思想在全世界的传播——这一切都在促使整个世界卷入一场与当年震撼法国的斗争相似的较量之中。” 《教育》，第227、228页。
Any thoughtful person should ask themselves what goes on at meetings such as recently took place at Davos, where men express their plans for planet earth without any consideration of the rest of earth’s population? What secrets were there discussed? Of course, Davos is simply one of several secret restricted meetings of the world’s billionaires, bankers, corrupted politicians and morally perverse men who develop their exalted plans for planet earth.
任何有思想的人都应该问问自己：在类似最近于达沃斯举行的那类会议上究竟发生了什么？在那里，一些人全然不顾地球上其余人口，宣示他们对地球的计划。那里讨论了哪些秘密？当然，达沃斯不过是若干场秘密的封闭会议之一，参加者是世界上的亿万富翁、银行家、腐败的政客以及道德败坏之徒，他们在其中制定着自诩崇高的地球计划。
“In these last days, there are arising strange fallacies and man-made theories which God declares shall be broken in pieces. The spirit of covetousness has led men to seek worldly advantage, and by extravagance and display they have tried to hide their wicked deeds which they have done in order to reach their object. Men occupying high positions of trust have revealed this unlawful desire for gain; they have practised extortion and robbery, and have gratified the evil passions of their hearts, until our cities are corrupted through their wickedness. God has declared that he will uncover these works of deceit and robbery by their own working. In some cases the judgments of God have already fallen heavily on these cities.
在这末后的日子里，出现了奇异的谬论和人为的理论，神宣告它们必被打得粉碎。贪婪之风使人追求世俗的利益，他们借着奢侈和炫耀，企图掩盖为达目的所做的恶行。身居高位、受托重任的人也显露出这种不法的贪利之心；他们行勒索与抢夺，放纵心中的邪恶私欲，以致我们的城市因他们的罪恶而败坏。神已经宣告，他要借着他们自己的作为，揭露这些欺骗与掠夺的行为。在某些情况下，神的审判已经沉重地临到这些城市。
“Isaiah 8:8–12 quoted.” Review and Herald, July 18, 1907.
引述以赛亚书8:8-12。《评论与先驱报》，1907年7月18日。
The cities have been corrupted, as predicted in the previous passage, and that corruption is brought about by the evil confederacy of Isaiah chapter eight. They have been corrupted by, “men occupying high positions of trust” who “have revealed” their “unlawful desire for gain.” The corrupted cities are easily seen in states whose attorney generals have been elected by the funds of communists such as George Soros. It can be seen when established laws go un-enforced by corrupted politicians in Washington, DC. It can be seen by laws which are only employed against those on the other side of the political spectrum, as illustrated by persons such as Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff.
正如前文所预言的那样，这些城市已经被腐化，而这种腐化是由以赛亚书第八章中所说的邪恶同盟所造成的。它们被那些“身居高位、受人信任的人”所腐化，这些人“暴露出”他们“对非法牟利的欲望”。在那些州里很容易看到这些被腐化的城市，而这些州的州总检察长是靠诸如乔治·索罗斯这样的共产主义者的资金当选的。当既定法律在华盛顿特区被腐败的政客不予执行时，这种情况也可见一斑。还可以从那些只用来对付政治光谱另一侧人士的法律中看出这一点，例如南希·佩洛西和亚当·希夫等人的所作所为便是明证。
In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. Isaiah 59:13–15.
我们悖逆，向耶和华说谎，离弃我们的神，口说欺压和叛逆，心里筹划并说出虚谎的话。于是，公平转而退后，公义站在远处；因为真理在街上仆倒，正直不能进入。是的，真理缺乏；离恶的人反成了掠物。耶和华看见这事，因没有公平就不喜悦。以赛亚书 59:13-15。
In the previous passage from the Review and Herald, the men who occupy high positions of trust, identifies corrupted politicians whose Wall Street portfolios always exceed the best possible returns, because of their legislative work in legalizing “insider trading” for themselves, and no one else. Review the history of Martha Stewart. The cities in the passage are corrupted through their wickedness, and this is especially apparent in the cities and states governed by the globalist Democrats.
在《Review and Herald》先前的一段文字中，身居要职、被赋予高度信任之人被指认为腐败的政客；由于他们通过立法仅为自己将“内幕交易”合法化，他们的华尔街投资组合的收益总是超过任何可能达到的最佳水平。回顾玛莎·斯图尔特的经历。文中提到的那些城市因其邪恶而败坏，这一点在由全球主义的民主党人治理的城市和州中尤为明显。
The evil confederacy in the last days consists of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, and the beast and false prophet have their own wicked prophetic characteristics, but the characteristics that are so apparent in liberal globalism are the traits of the dragon.
末世的邪恶同盟由龙、兽和假先知组成；兽和假先知各自具有其邪恶的预言性特征，但在自由派全球主义中如此明显的那些特征，乃是龙的特质。
“Revelation 17:13–14 quoted. ‘These have one mind.’ There will be a universal bond of union, one great harmony, a confederacy of Satan’s forces. ‘And shall give their power and strength unto the beast.’ Thus is manifested the same arbitrary, oppressive power against religious liberty, freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience, as was manifested by the papacy, when in the past it persecuted those who dared to refuse to conform with the religious rites and ceremonies of Romanism.
引述《启示录》17:13-14。“这些人同心合意。”将会有一种普世性的联合纽带，一种全面的合一与和谐，是撒但势力的联盟。“并且把他们的权柄和能力给那兽。”于是，就显明出同样专断、压迫的权力，反对宗教自由——按良心的指引敬拜上帝的自由——正如过去教皇制度在迫害那些敢于拒绝遵从罗马教的宗教礼仪与典礼之人时所表现的一样。
“In the warfare to be waged in the last days there will be united, in opposition to God’s people, all the corrupt powers that have apostatized from allegiance to the law of Jehovah. In this warfare the Sabbath of the fourth commandment will be the great point at issue; for in the Sabbath commandment the great Law-giver identifies Himself as the Creator of the heavens and the earth.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, 983.
在末后的争战中，凡已背弃对耶和华律法之忠诚的各样腐败权势，都要联合起来，敌挡上帝的子民。在这场争战中，第四条诫命的安息日将成为争论的重大焦点；因为在安息日的诫命中，这位大立法者表明自己是天地的创造主。《基督复临安息日会圣经注释》，983。
We will consider the prophetic characteristics of the beast and apostate Protestantism in the following articles. It is important to identify what has been revealed concerning which political party is leading out and pulling the strings in the enforcement of Sunday legislation. Of course, both parties (Democrat and Republican) come together at the Sunday law issue, as did the Pharisees and Sadducees at the cross, but there is no justifiable reason to suggest that the label of Protestant or apostate Protestant can be associated with the Democratic party, for it is clearly the dragon power.
我们将在以下文章中考察那兽与背道新教的预言特征。重要的是要辨明，关于哪一个政党在强制执行星期日法令方面带头并在幕后操纵，已经有什么启示。当然，两党（民主党和共和党）在星期日法令的问题上会联合起来，正如法利赛人和撒都该人在十字架的事上那样；但没有正当理由把新教或背道新教的标签与民主党联系在一起，因为它显然是龙的权势。
The history of the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand is the history where Isaiah’s evil confederacy of chapter eight is identified. That history began on September 11, 2001, when the fourth president, Bush the second, was in power. In that history the sixth president would arrive in 2016, and he would awaken (stir up) all the realm of Grecia, for he would awaken the world to the struggle between the dragon power and apostate Protestantism that accomplishes the work of restoring the beast to the throne of the earth.
十四万四千人受印的历史，就是以赛亚书第八章所说的那邪恶同盟被揭示出来的历史。那段历史始于2001年9月11日，当时第四任总统布什二世在位。在那段历史中，第六任总统将于2016年到来，他要唤醒（搅动）希腊国的全境，因为他会使世界醒悟到龙的势力与背道的新教之间的争战，这场争战完成了使兽重新登上地上宝座的工作。
The blind, unreasoning hatred against Trump is identified by many as a kind of insanity, for it is based on dishonesty and irrational logic. The world attempts to define the unjustifiable hatred for Trump, but the reality is that it is not a straightforward human insanity on the part of the globalists, it is the supernatural manifestation of the fulfillment of prophecy during the history of the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand.
对特朗普的盲目、非理性的仇恨被许多人认定为一种疯狂，因为它建立在不诚实和非理性的逻辑之上。世人试图为这种对特朗普无可辩解的仇恨下定义，但事实是，这并非出自全球主义者的单纯人类疯狂，而是十四万四千人受印的历史进程中预言应验的超自然显现。
“O that God’s people had a sense of the impending destruction of thousands of cities, now almost given to idolatry! But many of those who should be proclaiming the truth are accusing and condemning their brethren. When the converting power of God comes upon minds, there will be a decided change. Men will have no inclination to criticize and tear down. They will not stand in a position that hinders the light from shining to the world. Their criticism, their accusing, will cease. The powers of the enemy are mustering for battle. Stern conflicts are before us. Press together, my brethren and sisters, press together. Bind up with Christ. ‘Say ye not, A confederacy, . . . neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.’
但愿神的子民能意识到成千座城市即将遭到毁灭，如今几乎完全陷入偶像崇拜！然而，许多本应宣扬真理的人却在指责并定罪他们的弟兄。当神改变人心的大能临到时，必将带来显著的改变。人就不再倾向于批评和拆毁；他们也不会站在阻挡光照耀世界的立场上。他们的批评、他们的控告，将会止息。仇敌的势力正在集结备战；严峻的争战摆在我们面前。弟兄姊妹们，要团结一致，要团结一致。与基督联合。“不要说：阴谋……他们所怕的，你们不要怕，也不要畏惧。要把万军之耶和华当为圣；以他为你们所当怕的，所当畏惧的。他必为你们作圣所，却向以色列两家作绊脚的石头、跌人的磐石；向耶路撒冷的居民作网罗和圈套。他们中间必有许多人绊跌、坠落、破碎、陷入网罗而被擒拿。”
“The world is a theater. The actors, its inhabitants, are preparing to act their part in the last great drama. God is lost sight of. With the great masses of mankind there is no unity, except as men confederate to accomplish their selfish purposes. God is looking on. His purposes in regard to his rebellious subjects will be fulfilled. The world has not been given into the hands of men, though God is permitting the elements of confusion and disorder to bear sway for a season. A power from beneath is working to bring about the last great scenes in the drama,—Satan coming as Christ, and working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are binding themselves together in secret societies. Those who are yielding to the passion for confederation are working out the plans of the enemy. The cause will be followed by the effect.
世界是一座舞台。演员，就是它的居民，正准备在最后一场伟大的戏剧中扮演自己的角色。上帝被人遗忘。对于人类大众而言，除非人们为实现自私的目的而结成同盟，否则毫无合一。上帝在看着这一切。他对那悖逆子民的旨意必将成就。世界并未交在人的手中，尽管上帝容许混乱与无序的因素在一段时期内掌权。一股来自下界的势力正运作，要促成这场戏剧的最后伟大场景——撒但冒充基督而来，并在那些结成秘密社团、彼此捆绑的人中，以各样不义的诡诈施行作为。那些屈从于结社狂热的人，正在落实仇敌的计划。因必有果。
“Transgression has almost reached its limit. Confusion fills the world, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings. The end is very near. We who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.” Review and Herald, September 10, 1903.
罪恶几乎满盈。混乱充斥世界，不久一场大恐惧将临到人类。结局近在眼前。我们这些知道真理的人，应当为那不久将以出人意料的方式席卷世界的事作好准备。《评论与先驱》，1903年9月10日。
Islam of the third woe is about to strike “thousands of cities” and Laodicean Adventism has no sense of the impending destruction that is about to happen. In the time period when Isaiah’s evil confederacy is accomplishing its work, there is a satanic “power from beneath” that is “working to bring about the last great scenes in the drama,” and these things come as an “overwhelming surprise.” The insanity exercised towards Trump is caused by a power from beneath. It is a component of the last scenes of earth’s history.
第三祸患的伊斯兰教即将袭击“成千上万座城市”，而老底嘉式的复临派对即将临到的毁灭毫无警觉。在以赛亚所说的邪恶同盟正在成就其作为的时期，有一种撒但的“来自下方的权势”，正“致力于带来这场戏剧中的最后重大场景”，而这一切将以“压倒性的意外”临到。针对特朗普所表现的疯狂，是由来自下方的权势所致。这是地球历史最后场景的一个组成部分。
This should not be understood as an endorsement for Trump, it is simply God’s Word, which never fails. During the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand God is pouring out His power from on high, while Satan is exercising his power from beneath.
这不应被理解为对特朗普的背书，这只是神的话语，永不落空。在十四万四千人受印期间，神从高天浇灌祂的大能，而撒但则从下方施展他的能力。
“If we would have the spirit and power of the third angel’s message, we must present the law and the gospel together, for they go hand in hand. As a power from beneath is stirring up the children of disobedience to make void the law of God, and to trample upon the truth that Christ is our righteousness, a power from above is moving upon the hearts of those who are loyal, to exalt the law, and to lift up Jesus as a complete Saviour. Unless divine power is brought into the experience of the people of God, false theories and ideas will take minds captive, Christ and His righteousness will be dropped out of the experience of many, and their faith will be without power or life.” Gospel Workers, 161.
若要得着第三天使信息的精神和能力，我们必须把律法与福音一同呈现，因为它们相辅相成。正当从下边来的势力煽动悖逆之子，使上帝的律法作废，并践踏“基督是我们的义”这一真理的时候，从上头来的能力正在感动那些忠心之人的心，要高举律法，并把耶稣举起为完全的救主。除非神圣的能力进入上帝子民的经历，错误的理论和观念就会掳去人的心思意念，基督和祂的义会从许多人的经历中被排除，他们的信心将毫无能力与生命。——《福音工人》，第161页。
The manifestation of Satanic power which occurs before, and leading up to the soon-coming Sunday law, typifies the crowning act of Satan’s power that occurs at the soon-coming Sunday law.
在即将到来的星期日法令之前，并为其铺垫而出现的撒旦权势的彰显，预表了该法令来临时将发生的撒旦权势的登峰之举。
“By the decree enforcing the institution of the Papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. 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 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.” Testimonies, volume 5, 451.
“借着那道强制设立教皇制度、违犯上帝律法的法令，我国将完全与公义断绝关系。当新教伸手越过鸿沟，与罗马权势握手；当她越过深渊，与招魂术携手；当在这三重联合的影响之下，我国将摒弃其作为一个新教并共和政体之宪法的每一项原则，并为传播教皇制度的谬妄与迷惑预作安排之时，那么我们便可知道，撒但奇异作为的时候已经来到，而结局近了。”《证言》卷五，451页。
The motivation that is currently coming from beneath, and manifesting its activities in the globalist representatives of the dragon in the United States, will be reproduced in the nations of the world after the Sunday law arrives. Even now, the nations of the world are manifesting the same supernatural insanity over Trump.
那股当前来自下界、并在美国“龙”的全球主义代表身上显明其活动的动机，将在星期日法令到来之后在世界各国重演。即便现在，世界各国也在围绕特朗普表现出同样的超自然疯狂。
“Foreign nations will follow the example of the United States. Though she leads out, yet the same crisis will come upon our people in all parts of the world.” Testimonies, volume 6, 395.
“外国各国必效法美国。虽然她率先而行，然而同样的危机也必临到我们在世界各地的子民。”《教会证言》卷六，395页。
What the Republicans of the United States define as insanity on the part of Democrats in their illogical opposition to Trump, is actually a supernatural manifestation of satanic power that is in fulfillment of Daniel chapter eleven, verse two. Trump, the sixth president since the time of the end in 1989 was to “stir up” (awaken), the socialistic globalists of the entire world. The hatred against him is supernatural, and it prefigures the manifestation of satanic power that arrives in greater magnitude at the soon-coming Sunday law.
美国共和党人把民主党人在对特朗普的非理性反对中的表现称为“疯狂”，其实这是撒但权势的超自然显现，正在应验《但以理书》十一章二节。自1989年“末时”以来的第六任总统特朗普，要去“激起”（唤醒）全世界的社会主义全球主义者。对他的仇恨是超自然的，并且这预示着在即将到来的星期日法令之时，撒但权势将以更大规模显现。
The manifestation of the power from beneath, according to Sister White’s reference takes place during the evil confederation, which Isaiah warns about in chapter eight, and in that period the sealing of God’s people is occurring.
按照怀特姐妹的说法，来自下方的权势的显现发生在以赛亚在第八章中所警告的邪恶同盟期间，并且在那段时期，上帝的子民受印的工作正在进行。
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. Isaiah 8:16.
将见证捆起，将律法封在我的门徒中间。以赛亚书 8:16。
We will continue this study in the next article.
我们将在下一篇文章中继续这项研究。
“Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of miracle-working demons. The spirits of devils will go forth to the kings of the earth and to the whole world, to fasten them in deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan in his last struggle against the government of heaven. By these agencies, rulers and subjects will be alike deceived. Persons will arise pretending to be Christ Himself, and claiming the title and worship which belong to the world’s Redeemer. They will perform wonderful miracles of healing and will profess to have revelations from heaven contradicting the testimony of the Scriptures.
带有超自然特征的可怕景象将不久在天上显现，作为会行神迹的恶魔之能力的记号。鬼魔的灵要出去，到地上的众王并普天下的人那里，使他们陷于迷惑，催促他们与撒但联合，在他向天上政权发动的最后一场争战中同心作战。借着这些手段，统治者与臣民都要同样受骗。将有人兴起，自称就是基督本人，索取本属于世界救赎主的称号与敬拜。他们要施行奇妙的医治神迹，并自称得着来自天上的启示，却与圣经的见证相矛盾。
“As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. Revelation 1:13–15. The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air: ‘Christ has come! Christ has come!’ The people prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts up his hands and pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ blessed His disciples when He was upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his angels sent to them with light and truth. This is the strong, almost overmastering delusion. Like the Samaritans who were deceived by Simon Magus, the multitudes, from the least to the greatest, give heed to these sorceries, saying: This is ‘the great power of God.’ Acts 8:10.
作为这场大欺骗戏剧的压轴之举，撒但将亲自冒充基督。教会长期宣称把救主的降临当作她一切盼望的成全。如今，这位大欺骗者要使人以为基督已经来了。在地上的不同地方，撒但要在世人中显现为一个威严、光辉灿烂的存在，酷似约翰在《启示录》中对上帝之子的描述。启示录 1:13-15。环绕他的荣耀超过凡人眼目至今所见的一切。得胜的呼声响彻空中：“基督来了！基督来了！”众人俯伏在他面前敬拜，而他举起双手为他们祝福，正如基督在世时为门徒祝福一样。他的声音柔和低沉，却悦耳动听。他以温柔怜悯的语调陈述一些救主所说过的那同样恩慈、属天的真理；他医治百姓的疾病；随后，他以自称基督的身份，宣称自己已将安息日改为星期日，并命令众人尊他所赐福的那日为圣。他宣称，那些仍坚持守第七日为圣的人，因为拒绝聆听他派来、带着亮光与真理的天使，便是在亵渎他的名。这是一种强大、几乎要压倒人的迷惑。像被术士西门所迷惑的撒玛利亚人一样，无论大小的众人都留心这些邪术，说：“这是‘神的大能’。”使徒行传 8:10。
“But the people of God will not be misled. The teachings of this false christ are not in accordance with the Scriptures. His blessing is pronounced upon the worshipers of the beast and his image, the very class upon whom the Bible declares that God’s unmingled wrath shall be poured out.” The Great Controversy, 624, 625.
但上帝的子民不会被迷惑。这位假基督的教导不合乎圣经。他宣告祝福临到那敬拜兽及其像的人，而圣经却宣告，上帝不掺杂的忿怒将倾倒在这一类人身上。《大争论》，624、625。