The Dragon

The Dragon of Revelation 16 is identified as spiritualism. The term dragon is first spoken of in the book of Revelation in chapter 12. In this chapter, the dragon makes war with a woman who gives birth to a child.​¹ The child is identified as Christ and the woman (who is standing on the moon and clothed with the sun​²) is identified as the Church.​³ That human power that was seeking to destroy Christ as soon as He was born was the Pagan Roman system that was in power at the time when Jesus was born.

Paganism is a form of spiritualism. In Revelation 12:9 we are told who the ultimate identity of the dragon is behind the human powers: Satan. What form of spirituality did Satan offer to the world? Genesis 3 presents the awful reality of Satan’s religion. It,

• Calls God’s word into question;​⁴
• Twists the words of God does not respect God’s Word;^​5
• Breaks God’s laws and does what looks or feels right;​⁶
• Teaches we never die (becoming a perpetual living soul)​⁷ which misrepresents the true experience of dying – where the body returns to dust, the breath to God, and the person knows nothing.​⁸ The belief in the immortality of the soul often leads to communicating with spirits, believing that they are departed persons speaking from the grave.​⁹ David wrote, “For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?”​¹⁰ Jesus spoke of death as a sleep​¹¹ from which we will be woken at His second coming.^​12
• Leads people to seek to be as gods;^​13
• Seeks to save self through one’s own works;​¹⁴
• Leads to division between God and man, leading to an unwholesome fear of God;​¹⁵
• and does not take responsibility for sin and judgment.​¹⁶

Religions and faith groups that have any of the features above fall into the category of spiritualism. Notably, theosophical, occult, new age, and eastern religions are clearly all spiritualism. There are numerous such organisations represented at the UN.​¹⁷

The False Prophet

The False Prophet of Revelation 16 is identified as apostate Protestantism. The first time that false prophet was used in the New Testament, it referred to a man who was of the Jewish Church who was prophesying in the synagogue where Paul sought to proclaim the truth.​¹⁸

Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves”​¹⁹ (emphasis supplied). Then Peter wrote, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction”​²⁰ (emphasis added).

These passages make it clear that the false prophet is from among God’s people who instead of sharing truth, promulgate lies. In modern terms, this is someone who is purporting to be a Christian, but prophecies (or shares God’s truths) falsely. Protestantism is a Christian movement that claims to be Sola Scriptura (solely reliant on the true words of God found in Scripture). However, the majority of protestant denominations today have apostatised from the word of God. The Greek word apostasia (which is translated to apostacy) means to fall away or defect from the truth. Two key truths, among others, that have been discarded are:

1. The seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment;​²¹ and
2. The fact that breaking of God’s commands means that we shall surely die​²² and, as such, when we die there is no immortal soul. The Bible is clear that, “…the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.”​²³ The false doctrine that suggests that a person goes straight to an afterlife upon their death is the foundation of other false doctrines such as the eternal burning hell. God gave Sodom and Gomorrah as examples of what the fires of perdition will be for the ungodly.​²⁴ They are not burning today. Similarly, those who have rejected Jesus Christ, will one day be ashes under the soles of the feet of the saved.​²⁵

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.^​26 No man can live, without the breath of God in his nostrils.^​27 An eternal burning hell would require God to simultaneously sustain the life of the wicked, whilst also torturing them to death. Not only is illogical, but it misrepresents the character of God. There will come a point when the whole universe is cleansed of all sin, sinners, pain and death.​²⁸ This will be achieved upon the return of Jesus Christ after the millennium with a fire of destruction with eternal consequences.​²⁹

Any protestant Christian denomination that does not seek to uphold the entire Bible as a source of truth and the sole test of faith is imbuing the spirit of the False Prophet. Any that to not espouse that obedience to God’s Word is an outcome of being a faithful Holy-Spirit-filled Christian is part of the False Prophet. Finally, any denomination that adds to the Word of God with words that are not in accordance with the law and the prophets​³⁰ has become a part of the False Prophet.

Numerous protestant denominations and organisations fit this description at the UN.​³¹ However, one of the most influential organisations is the World Council of Churches, which has been integrally involved with the UN since its inception.​³² The formation of the UN and its acceptance by the general public of the United States was made possible because of the strong influence of Protestant Christian Internationalist organizations, such as the Federal Council of Churches, which gave birth to the World Council of Churches.​³³ These organisations believed in establishing peace in this world, contrary to what the Scriptures teach. The Beast of Revelation 16 is identified as the Papacy, and its largely unbiblical belief system as expressed in the Roman Catholic denomination. The book of Daniel identifies four historical powers that rule over God’s people from the time of Daniel until the end of the world and Jesus’ return. The first three powers are identified by name in the book of Daniel as Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece.​³⁴ The fourth power is only identified through description. It is described as the power that takes over from Greece and as a power that defies God by making its own religious laws.​³⁵

The Beast

In Daniel chapter 2, this fourth power goes through a transition (unlike the powers before it) where it changes from being represented only by metal to being represented as both metal and clay. In Jeremiah 17, God likens the Church to clay that can be moulded by a potter. Thus, in simple terms, the metal and the clay represent a civil power (the metal) mixed with a Church power (the clay). Historically, there is only one power that matches the description of the fourth power given in the book of Daniel: first, the Pagan Roman system and then the Papal Roman system that eventually became the Holy Roman Empire until its demise in the late 1700s.

In Daniel 2, it also traces a transition in the final church-state union from the metal being mixed with miry clay (harder clay) to being mixed with potter’s clay (malleable clay).​³⁶ This change in types of clear appears to represent the formation of a church-state system that resembles and operates with the same spirit as the Papacy before it, but it seems more malleable than the Papacy was. Whilst the Roman Catholic denomination exists as an entirely separate entity, since 1798 it has sought to fulfil its purposes through what was once God’s Church – the Protestant Church.

Following the lineage of Protestant interpretation, Seventh-day Adventists understand the “beast” in Revelation 16 as the same system symbolized by the final power in Daniel 2, the little horn of Daniel 7, the blasphemous power in Daniel 8, and the sea beast of Revelation 13. Each of these prophetic symbols describes a power arising from the ruins of the Roman Empire, speaking “great words against the Most High,” persecuting the
saints, and claiming authority to change divine law.​³⁷ Many organizations at the UN represent the Roman Catholic church. There are multiple subsidiary organizations, but the most influential of all the Roman Catholic organisations is its political arm, the Holy See. It is the “Supreme authority of the Church, that is the Pope as Bishop of Rome and head of the college of Bishops. It is the central government of the Roman Catholic Church.” ​³⁸

The Holy See was not able to join the League of Nations because, at the time when the League was formed, the Holy See was not considered a nation-state and therefore was not permitted to participate. In 1929, with the handing over of the Vatican City, its status changed.​³⁹ However, due to opposition, the Holy See never joined the League of Nations.​⁴⁰ In the early 1960s, the Holy See joined the UN as a permanent observer. It can participate in all aspects of the UN, except voting in some circumstances. It has the right to participate in the general debate of the General Assembly, to make interventions, the right of reply, to have its communications circulated, to raise points of order, and to co-sponsor draft resolutions and decisions.​⁴¹ The Holy See has six seats in the General Assembly.​⁴² The maximum seats that member states can have is five.​⁴³ Not only is there a greater representation at the General Assembly, but UN civil society NGOs “are dominated by Catholic groups.”​⁴⁴ Collectively, this represents an enormous amount of power for a religious organization at an international level. Research has revealed that the Holy See uses its various positions at the UN to advance its theological positions.​⁴⁵ Moreover, because it remains an observer state, not a member state, it does not have to and chooses not to ratify the UN Charter or many other UN instruments. The Roman Catholic church wields power and influence over the UN and its member states, but remains aloof and above any power that they may seek to exercise over it.​⁴⁶

Footnotes

1. Revelation 12:4.
2. Revelation 12:1.
3. Revelation 19:7 and Jeremiah 6:2 where God’s people are represented as a woman.
4. Genesis 3:1.
5. Genesis 3:2-5.
6. Genesis 3:6.
7. Genesis 3:4.
8. Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 3:19, 9:6; Psalm 146:3-4.
9. 1 Samuel 28:5-13. This is clearly not the godly prophet Samuel, as this passage began with the fact that the Lord would not talk with Saul. Furthermore, this witch correctly points out that she is practicing and art that is forbidden by God. Finally, it says, that she “Saw gods ascending out of the earth.” If it truly was Samuel, why would she see multiple and why would he ascend out of the earth and not down from heaven? This was none other than a demon masquerading as Samuel in order to deceive Saul.
10. Psalm 6:5.
11. Matthew 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11.
12. 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18.
13. Genesis 3:5-6.
14. Genesis 3:7.
15. Genesis 3:8-10.
16. Genesis 3:12-13.
17. See Scope of Involvement.
18. Acts 13:5-10.
19. Matthew 7:17.
20. 1 Peter 2:1.
21. See Day for Rest and Worship.
22. Genesis 2:17.
23. Ecclesiastes 9:5–6.
24. 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 1:7.
25. Malachi 4:3.
26. Ezekiel 33:11.
27. Genesis 2:7.
28. Revelation 21:4.
29. Revelation 20:14; 21:8.
30. Isaiah 8:20.
31. See Scope of Involvement.
32. Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, “WCC and the UN: Common Heritage and Shared Challenges,” World Council of Churches (document, 7 April 2016), accessed 3 January 2026, https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/wcc-and-the-un-common-heritage-and-shared-challenges
33. Michael G. Thompson, “Sherwood Eddy, the Missionary Enterprise, and the Rise of Christian Internationalism in 1920s America,” Modern Intellectual History 12, no. 1 (April 2015): 65–93, doi:10.1017/S1479244314000493; accessed 3 January 2026, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-intellectual-history/article/sherwood-eddy-the-missionary-enterprise-and-the-rise-of-christian-internationalism-in-1920s-america/83E7862818313F3866D000EFFF6EDB35

    Willem A. Visser ’t Hooft, Memoirs, accessed 3 January 2026, https://archive.org/details/memoirs0000viss/page/n5/mode/2up?utm_source

    Jurjen A. Zeilstra, Visser ’t Hooft, 1900–1985: Living for the Unity of the Church (full text PDF), translated by Henry Jansen with Lucy Jansen-Hofland, accessed 3 January 2026, https://www.oikoumene.org/sites/default/files/File/Visser%27t-Hooft_1900-1985_Full_Text.pdf

34. Daniel 2,7,8,11.
35. Daniel 7, 8.
36. Daniel 2:41.
37. Daniel 7:25; 8:11–12; Revelation 13:5–7.
38. Holy See, “Our History,” Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, accessed January 3, 2026, https://web.archive.org/web/20070927092418/http://www.holyseemission.org/short_history.html
39. John R. Morss, “The International Legal Status of the Vatican/Holy See Complex,” European Journal of International Law 26, no. 4 (November 2015): 927–946, accessed January 3, 2026, https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article/26/4/927/2599610?
40. Elias D. Mallon, S.A., Ph.D., “CNEWA Connections: The Holy See at the United Nations,” Catholic Near East Welfare Association, September 15, 2022, accessed January 26, 2026, https://cnewa.org/the-holy-see-at-the-united-nations/
41. Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, “The Status of the Holy See at the United Nations,” Holy See Mission, accessed January 3, 2026, https://holyseemission.org/contents/mission/mission-55e37172a07413.52517830.php
42. Ibid
43. United Nations, “Charter of the United Nations: Chapter IV — The General Assembly,” United Nations, accessed January 3, 2026, https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/chapter-4
44. The Guardian. “United Nations Too Christian, Claims Report.” January 1, 2014, accessed January 3, 2026,
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/01/united-nations-too-christian-report
45. Yasmin Abdullah, The Holy See at United Nations Conferences: State or Church?, 96 Columbia Law Review 1835 (1996), https://uniset.ca/microstates2/va_96ColumLRev1835.pdf
46. Catholics for Choice, The Catholic Church at the United Nations: Church or State? (Washington, DC: Catholics for Choice, 2013), accessed January 3, 2026, https://www.catholicsforchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/CFC_See_Change_2013.pdf