"Let us then look a little further at this symbol of Rev.13:11-17, and see if our government has developed any features in its past history, or present character, which answer to the specifications brought to view in the symbol.
7. “He causeth the earth, and them which dwell therein, to worship the first beast.”The first beast, as already noticed, is the Papacy; and to worship any power is to obey it in some particulars which are peculiar to itself, and in opposition to the demands of other powers. In the present case it is further explained by the words of verse 16, that (the two-horned beast) causes all to receive a mark, which is the mark of the beast
(Rev.16:2). The mark ....In the case of the Roman Catholic Church, in reference to which these expressions are used, the worship and the mark are found in the observance of the first day of the week as the sabbath, which that church claims as its special badge of authority. **See Roman Catholic catechisms.**
This comes into direct conflict with the authority of God, who, for reasons set forth in His word, demands the observance of the seventh day. It is impossible for anyone to obey them both; for they are intentionally placed in antagonism and opposition.
Therefore, by his course with reference to these two days, as to which he will observe as the Sabbath, every one, with full intelligence in regard to the issue before him, decides whether he prefers to obey God in opposition to the church, or the church in opposition to God.
And it is therefore a striking and corroborative fact that he Sabbath commandment is the only one in which the earth—the land, in contrast with them (the people) who dwell therein—as set forth in Rev.13:12, can be caused to obey (Lev.26:34,35; 2Chron.36:21), and thus worship the beast. And the contest is now on in this country between these two institutions."
Uriah Smith