478
The Great Controversy 1888
tral Africa were lost sight of and forgotten by the world, and for many
centuries they enjoyed freedom in the exercise of their faith. But at
last Rome learned of their existence, and the emperor of Abyssinia
was soon beguiled into an acknowledgment of the pope as the vicar
of Christ. Other concessions followed. An edict was issued forbid-
ding the observance of the Sabbath under the severest penalties. But
papal tyranny soon became a yoke so galling that the Abyssinians
determined to break it from their necks. After a terrible struggle, the
Romanists were banished from their dominions, and the ancient faith
[578]
was restored. The churches rejoiced in their freedom, and they never
forgot the lesson they had learned concerning the deception, the fa-
naticism, and the despotic power of Rome. Within their solitary realm
they were content to remain, unknown to the rest of Christendom.
The churches of Africa held the Sabbath as it was held by the papal
church before her complete apostasy. While they kept the seventh
day in obedience to the commandment of God, they abstained from
labor on the Sunday in conformity to the custom of the church. Upon
obtaining supreme power, Rome had trampled upon the Sabbath of
God to exalt her own; but the churches of Africa, hidden for nearly a
thousand years, did not share in this apostasy. When brought under the
sway of Rome, they were forced to set aside the true and exalt the false
Sabbath; but no sooner had they regained their independence than they
returned to obedience to the fourth commandment. [
See Appendix,
Note 12.
]
These records of the past clearly reveal the enmity of Rome toward
the true Sabbath and its defenders, and the means which she employs
to honor the institution of her creating. The Word of God teaches that
these scenes are to be repeated as papists and Protestants shall unite
for the exaltation of the Sunday.
The prophecy of
Revelation 13
declares that the power represented
by the beast with lamb-like horns shall cause “the earth and them
which dwell therein” to worship the papacy—there symbolized by the
beast “like unto a leopard.” The beast with two horns is also to say
“to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to
the beast;” and, furthermore, it is to command all, “both small and
great, rich and poor, free and bond,” to receive “the mark of the beast.”
[
Revelation 13:11-16
.] It has been shown that the United States is the
power represented by the beast with lamb-like horns, and that this