Luke 21:8

Christian, Be Not Deceived!

The above comparisons not only positively prove that Rev. 17 deals with the same powers as those brought into the prophetic limelight in Rev. 13, but these verses also clearly reveal that the main burden of Rev. 17 is to portray the events to transpire at the time when the beast's "death-stroke" is healed and all the world, except those whose names are written in the book of Life,

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will wonder after the beast. Those whose names are written in the book of Life, as shown by a comparison of Rev. 21:27 with Rev. 22:14, are those who keep the Commandments of God: that is, the remnant church mentioned in Rev. 12:17 as those "who keep the Commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus". Thus proving in yet another way that Rev. 17 is a portrayal of the mighty conflict, involving the Sabbath-keeping remnant people of God, which will result from the ascending of the beast from its state of death back on to the stage of action again, when it will go forth with even greater fury against the people of God—a fury sustained by all the mighty power of Satan as he would imitate the resurrection of the Lord and reveal a mightier power than ever before manifested by him. 

The apostle Paul, pointing to the last days, prophesied concerning "the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness" (2 Thess. 2:9, 10). The servant of the Lord also pointed to this coming conflict, saying: "The last great conflict between truth and, error is but the final struggle of the long-standing controversy concerning the law of God. Upon this battle we are now entering – a battle between the laws of men and the precepts of Jehovah, between the religion of the Bible and the religion of fable and tradition" (GC. 582). And God's servant has also warned of the unprecedented nature of the coming conflict, saying: "The great controversy between good and evil will increase in intensity to the very close of time.... And all the depths of Satanic skill and subtlety acquired, all the cruelty developed, during these struggles of the ages, will be brought to bear against God's people in the final conflict" (GC. 9, 10). 

In both Rev. 13 and Rev. 17 one of the prominent aspects of the inspired Word is that the world wonders after the beast following its resurrection from its state of death. Even John wonders, when beholding the woman seated upon the beast. He said: "And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her" (Rev. 17:6, 7, R.V.) The people of the world wonder at the manifestation of political power that supports this woman as she guides the beast attack upon the people of God. But John sees beyond the manifestation of political power to the Babylonian principles, the tenets of religious belief, that give the woman such, control over the civil power. 

What cause for wonder even by saint John: how a woman so vile could be supported by the beast; how this notorious woman that had led the forces of evil against the people of God down through all the ages and in so doing had brought endless trouble

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to her supporters as the judgments of God had been poured out upon them; how this woman, who had been ensconced upon the saddle of this beast in former days and had been forced to dismount from the beast when it had received its "death-stroke", should again be permitted by the beast to regain her seat when she had been the cause of its death– these things caused John to wonder! Well might any person who sees the activities of human society in the light shining from the throne, wonder that kings and governors who have known of the terrible state of affairs that operated in the Dark Ages when the woman controlled the governments of Europe should be so utter foolish as to permit this woman to mount again onto the back of the State–this time in a world-wide way–to be guided her principles. It surely is incredible that intelligent men and women who know the history of the vile and cruel days when the apostate church dictated to the State, men and women who have experienced the blessings of the period of liberty and democracy which has given freedom from the bitter persecution of the Dark Ages, should, with all this knowledge amply demonstrated before them, permit themselves to be deluded into parting with their blood-bought heritage, to part with democratic forms of government, and to permit the State to be saddled again with the Babylonian principle of the union of church and State. Surely John, wondering at this turn of events, expresses the sense of wonderment in the hearts of all God's people today as they see the world fast approaching this crisis hour portrayed in the amazing prophecy of Rev. 17. 

With what amazement God's people today witness the inglorious spectacle of Protestant politicians fawning before princes of the Papacy in order to obtain the votes from the Catholic bloc. The balance of power today is largely in the hands of the Roman Catholic church, for though they represent a minority group in democratic countries, yet the evenness of the balance between the Government and the Opposition presents a unique opportunity for power-craving bishops and the hierarchy of Rome to bargain with vote-hunting politicians. Here and these concessions are made; a little here and a little there the pressure exerted by the Roman Catholic church has results: the thin edge of the wedge, of the uniting of Church and State under one pretext or another is today being driven into the foundations of houses of Parliament. Already, through constant reiteration concerning the supposed injustice of Roman Catholics paying taxes to support State schools and also their own church schools, and through other ways of exerting political pressure upon vote-catching Protestant politicians, the way is being paved for the progress of Papal power even in democratic countries. The Lord's servant says: 

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"The Roman Church is far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation. She is employing every device to extend her influence and increase her power in preparation for a fierce and determined conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution and to undo all that Protestantism has done . . . Protestants little know what they are doing when they propose to accept the aid of Rome in the work of Sunday exaltation. While they are bent upon the accomplishment of their purpose, Rome is aiming to re-establish her power, to recover her lost supremacy. . . Let the principle be established in the United States, that the church may employ or control the power of the State; that observances maybe enforced by secular laws, in short, that the authority of the church and state is to dominate the conscience, and the triumph of Rome in this country is assured. God's Word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare.... Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage-ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey the Word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution.” (GC 565, 581).

CHAPTER SEVEN 

THE RESURRECTION OF THE BEAST: AN IMITATION 
OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS. "THE MYSTERY OF 
THE BEAST THAT . . . IS ABOUT TO COME UP OUT OF THE ABYSS" (R.V.) 

The coming of the beast "out of the bottomless pit", or "out of the abyss" (R.V.), is one of the important features in this prophecy. The understanding of this part of the prophecy will throw light upon the two mysteries of the Bible: "The mystery of Godliness" and "the mystery of iniquity", for, according to the principle we enunciated in the previous chapter, the mystery associated with the beast in Rev. 17 will be found to have a definite relationship to "the mystery of Godliness". What part of the mystery of Godliness is here referred to? Among the many contrasting items concerning the two mysteries which we have listed in the previous chapter, we included those which show that the death and the resurrection of the beast are set forth as imitations of those of Jesus. Here we present further details concerning these:

From the above comparisons it will be readily seen that the expressions found in Rev. 17 are mentioned with obvious reference to that which has been declared concerning the Lord Jesus. The Babylonian system counterfeits the things of Christ, and by this unique method of repeating the same phrases which have been employed in revealing the glory of the Person and the work of Christ, the counterfeiting principle is glaringly exposed; for no 

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matter how many or how great the similarities in some superficial things, there are seen, glaringly so, the vital differences between "the mystery of Godliness" and "the mystery of iniquity". We hasten o draw attention to one example: this beast that is to come out of the abyss as Jesus came out of the tomb, but, in contrast to Jesus Who is “alive forevermore” and Who "dieth no more", this beast rises from the dead "to go into perdition"; a fact which is stated in both verses 8 and 11 of Rev. 17. Thus, as the resurrection of Jesus to life evermore is repeated in the Apocalypse (Rev. 1:18; 2:8), so the resurrection of this beast to go into perdition is repeated. What a theme for serious thought! A religion that is like that of Christ's in many superficial ways, but lacking the vital power of the Omnipotent Lord. It has some vitality, some power, but it is Satanic and goes into perdition; while believers in the faith of Jesus, though subjected to the first death, rise to die no more. 

By the principle we have shown to operate in the understanding of the Apocalypse, we thus see that one of the important parts of this prophecy is the resurrection of this beast. This is not a feature that is mentioned casually or incidentally; it is one that is very conspicuous. A failure to grasp this important teaching will prevent anyone from grasping the essential parts of this prophecy. It will be observed that in Rev. 13:3, 12, 14 where mention is made of the beast receiving "the death-stroke", the main point disclosed is not the beast receiving "the death-stroke" but the healing of that "deadly wound". 

The following extract from `The Revelation of St. John", p.p. 143-145, by William Milligan, D.D., will clearly state what is intended by the beast receiving a "death-stroke" and the significance of its resurrection after thus being slain. Professor Milligan says: 

"Observe the words of chap. 13:3, 'And I saw one of his heads as though it had been smitten unto death; and his death-stroke was healed'. . . . it speaks distinctly of death and of resurrection from the dead. The words of the original are unfortunately translated in our English version, 'and I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death'. They are better, but not adequately, translated in the R.V., in which for 'wounded to death' we read 'smitten unto death' - with the margin 'slain' for 'smitten'. The true translation is ‘slaughtered unto death’, for the Greek word used occurs, in addition to the present instance, seven times in the Apocalypse, in every one of which it must be translated 'slain', or 'slaughtered', or 'killed'. How can it be otherwise translated here? ... The whole representation, in short, of the beast implies that it had not merely died as Christ had died, but that it had also 

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risen as He had; and it is not simply as the beast 'slaughtered unto death', but as the beast with `its death-stroke healed', that in chap. 13:3 it receives the homage of the world." 

The emphasis is not on the beast receiving the "death-stroke" but upon its resurrection from the dead. The healing of the "death-stroke" looms large in Rev. 13 and it is this feature that is emphasized in Rev. 17. The world wonders after the beast when it emerges from "the abyss". 

The failure to grasp the essential fact that the prophecy of Rev. 13 emphasizes the healing of "the death-stroke", or the resurrection of the power of the beast, has caused Protestants generally to be blind to the importance of God's last-day Message of warning against the restored power of the beast which is to be re-inforced by apostate Protestantism. Protestants during the last century have been expecting all the time to see the Papacy gradually peter away and eventually become defunct, or, without being of much further consequence, to be overthrown by God, or some such belief. Even Uriah Smith's excellent commentary shows evidence that this was his idea. We draw attention to this most sympathetically, for no doubt that without explicit guidance from Heaven that would have been the natural conclusion to be drawn from circumstances then in existence. We cite but two extracts in order to make it clear that it would be natural for anyone believing that the Papacy had reached the pinnacle of its power during the 1260 years of its long supremacy and that it would never again be a tremendous power in the world, to fail to grasp the significance of those parts of the prophecies of Rev. 13 and 17 wherein the restoration of Papal power, even though for "a short space", to even higher heights is proclaimed with clarion tones. Uriah Smith believed that the prophecy of Dan. 7:26, respecting the judgment sitting, "and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end", began to be fulfilled shortly after 1844. In his notes given in connection with this verse, he says: 

"'The pope's temporal power was thus [in 1870] wholly taken away, nevermore, said Victor Emmanuel, to be restored.... His dominion was to be consumed unto the end, implying that when his power as civil ruler should be wholly destroyed, the end would not be far off.... All, in this line of prophecy, has now been fully accomplished except the closing scene. Next, comes the last, crowning, finishing act in the drama, when the beast will be given to the burning flame, and the saints of the Most High take the kingdom" (Daniel and the Revelation). 146, 147 (ed. 1891). (Emphasis mine.)

Uriah Smith wrote concerning the healing of "the death-stroke": 

"In 1800 another pope was elected; his palace and temporal dominion were restored, and every prerogative except, as Mr. Croly says, that of a systematic persecutor, was again under his control; and thus the wound was healed." (p. 145). 

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The revised edition reads, "the 'deadly wound' was beginning to be healed', which, of course, is a wise revision. In his notes on Rev. 13, he said: "But the deadly wound was healed when the papacy was reestablished, though with a diminution of its former power by the election of a new pope, March 14, 1800" (p. 538).  

Again, in his notes on Rev. 17:12, 13, he says: 

"This language must refer to the past, when the kingdoms of Europe were unanimous in giving their support to the Papacy. . it cannot apply to the future; for after the commencement of the time of the end, they were to take away its power, and consume and destroy it to the end (Dan. 7:26); and the treatment which these kingdoms are finally to bestow upon the Papacy, is expressed in verse 16, where it is said that they shall hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. A part of this work the nations have been doing for years" (p. 728, ed. 1891). (Emphasis mine.) 

Distinguishing between the two beasts of Rev. 13 the symbols for the Papacy and Protestant America—Uriah Smith reasons that the lamb-like beast could not be interpreted in association with the leopard beast "to constitute the Papacy" because the leopard beast is the one "that has a head that is wounded to death, which is afterwards healed; that beast that the whole world wonders after ... and all this before the succeeding power, the two-horned beast, comes upon the stage of action at all" (pp. 535, 536, ed. 1891). 

Thus the healing of the deadly wound, and all the world wondering after the beast is applied as having been fulfilled in the long ago. But that is not the teaching of the Spirit of Prophecy, which says: "The influence of Rome in the countries that once acknowledged her dominion, is still far from being destroyed. And prophecy foretells a restoration of her power. 'I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast.' The infliction of the deadly wound points to the abolition of the 'Papacy in 1798- After this, says the prophet, 'His deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast.' Paul states plainly that the man of sin will continue until the second advent. To the very close of time he will carry forward his work of deception (2 Thess. 2:8). And the Revelator declares, also referring to the Papacy, 'All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life' (Rev. 13:8). In both the Old and the New World, Papacy will receive homage in the honour paid to the Sunday institution, that rests solely upon the authority of the Romish church" (GC. 579). 

It will be observed that the Lord's servant applies to the future the verses declaring that the whole world will wonder after the beast. Uriah Smith, on the other hand, referred the fulfillment of these verses in the past and could not see how they could have 

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a future fulfillment. Therefore, as the healing of the deadly wound refers to a future resurrection of Papal power and the consequent wondering of the world after the beast, it was thus impossible for Uriah Smith to understand the full import of the symbolism employed in Rev. 17, which was given especially to make this truth stand out boldly as a solemn warning to the people of God who must pass through the world's crisis portrayed in Rev. 17. 

Without a clear grasp of the prophetic symbolism depicting the resurrection of Papal power and the consequent furious struggle for life among liberty-loving people, it is impossible to understand the full import of the Revelator's portrayal of the final conflict—the main parties being the beast and the false prophet against the remnant church—which, ends in "Armageddon"—the destruction of all those who have sought to slay the remnant people of God. 

The Papal beast had been permitted by God to employ political power with which to persecute the saints; and the period allotted to it for this nefarious work is stated in Dan. 7:25; Rev. 11:2; 12:6, 14; 13:5 to be 1260 years, which ended in 1798. We will not attempt to deal with the events associated with the cessation of the Papacy by the intervention of political power in 1798, thus fulfilling Rev. 13:10. We mention this date, only that we might point out that even in Rev. 13:3, which might be considered as pointing to the coming of the time (i.e. of events leading up to 1798) when the Papal head would be wounded, the paramount part of the revelation is concerned with the healing of the "deadly wound" and with those things that will follow because of that wound being healed. The Revelator, having pointed to the wounding of one of the heads of the beast, immediately passes to the healing of this wound, and saying: "All the world wondered after the beast." 

It is the healing of "the death-stroke" that is again mentioned in Rev. 13:12 in connection with those great events that will occur when this healing takes place. In v. 14 the emphasis again is placed, not on the wounding, but the healing of "the deathstroke". The vitality, the power of this beast is such that people are awed by its resurrection, and this causes them to say "that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live", or, as in the R.V., "and lived".  As the resurrection from the dead proved Jesus to be of God (Acts 2:24; 3:15; Rom. 1:4; etc.), so the resurrection of this beast will lead people to conclude that it is of God. As the Christian's hope lies in Christ's resurrection power so the world will be led to conceive that the uprising of this beast from the state of death will bring the world into a state of "peace and safety". 

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Three times in Rev. 13 (vs. 3, 12, 14) the healing of the death-stroke is mentioned; three times it is said that the beast though having apparently died, will live again, and then precipitate the saints and the world into the final scenes. Three times also in Rev. 17 (vs. 8–twice in this verse–and 11) we are directed to the world-shaking events that will follow the resurrection of this beast. The emphasis in Rev. 17, as we have seen that it is in Rev. 13, is upon the living of the beast after receiving its death-stroke, that is the resurrection of the beast. Notice verse 8, R.V.: "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss ... when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and shall come". Thus twice in v. 8 our attention is directed to the beast after a period when it is not in a state of death; when it "is about to come up out of the abyss ... is to come" (A.R.V.). Verse 11 also points us to the "is not" or the period of death which is followed by its resurrection to life again, then it will be in another "is" period. After its resurrection from the "is not" or state of death period, the verse says: "even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition". In v. 8 he is said to go into perdition after he has ascended out of the bottomless pit, or the abyss, so when the same expression is employed in v. 11 following its "is not" period when it is said that "he is the eighth, and is of the seven", we know that this term has reference to the period a to its resurrection. Later, we shall deal more fully with this third mention in this chapter (Rev. 17) of the period of this beast's resurrection life when it is said to be "the eighth", for as we shall then show this number is employed here only because of its great significance in connection with its resurrection life. As we shall later show, this is the final and completely sufficient evidence that the Lord is directing our minds to the period when this beast will emerge from its state of death and work mightily its great work of evil in the strength of resurrection power. 

In the list of similar terms applicable to both "the mystery of Godliness" and "the mystery of iniquity", we observed that what is said of the beast in Rev. 17:11 .parallels what is said of Jesus as Lord God Almighty in Rev. 11:17. In Rev. 11:17 the phrase "and art to come" is not given in the Revised Version and is also omitted by many authorities. If these words were not actually in the original when penned by John, it would lend further force to the principle of similarities and contrasts employed in the Revelation concerning the two mysteries: "of Godliness" and "of iniquity". There can be no doubt that what is said of the beast in Rev. 17:11 is meant to be a reminder of what is declared concerning the Lord Jesus in Rev. 11:17. As shown above, reference 

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​

is made to both the Lord Jesus and the beast in the two tenses: past and present. If the Revisers and other authorities are correct in the the omission of "and art to come" from Rev. 11:17, then in both it and in Rev. 17:11 no explicit mention is made of either the Lord Jesus or the beast in the future tense; but, it should be noted carefully, this omission of the future tense in these two verses serves all the more to emphasize their existence beyond the grave and of the particular time referred to, by the work which they are portrayed as doing at the time indicated in each of the verses. 

When probation closes, the Lord Jesus will then exercise His almighty power on behalf of His persecuted people. This time is in the future, and it is to this time after the close of probation to which we are directed when it will be said of the Lord Jesus: "We give thanks, 0 Lord God Almighty ... because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned." His actions then, in the time now future, will reveal that He exists for the salvation of His people even as He does now in the present tense. Then, at that time, the emphasis will not be upon His existing in the eternity beyond, but that He is "a very present help in trouble" (Ps. 46:1). The actions which He will perform in the future on behalf of His people render it unnecessary to declare that at that time He will be in existence. Similarly, the emphasis in Rev. 17:11 need not be upon the mere mention of the fact that the beast will be in existence in the future, as if it would merely be an existence. The emphasis is placed upon the great activity, the worldshaking actions to be accomplished b the beast after it emerges from the bottomless pit: its future actions will be very solid and woeful evidence that the beast is alive. Christ lives in the three tenses to bless and to save; to bring light and joy to His people. The beast's existence in the three tenses is to curse and to destroy; to bring pain and sorrow to God's people. In both Rev. 11:17 and Rev. 17:11 the emphasis is upon the great activity of both Jesus and the beast at the future time referred to in each of those verses; actions will prove the existence of either.  

The prophet Daniel described the world-shaking events that will follow the healing of the wound given to the king of the north in 1798. Daniel 11:40 mentions the wounding of this king, of the north by the forces of atheism (represented-by the term ‘the king of the south' in GC. 269 “Egypt" is said to be the symbol of "atheism"). but here, as in Rev. 13 and 17, the emphasis is not upon the wounding, but the recovery of the king of the north from that wounding and his subsequent actions which reveal that he has been resurrected. As Jesus was resurrected by 

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Divine power so the beast will be resurrected by Satanic power. Jesus was "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead" (Rom. 1:4). The beast of persecution will be resurrected by Satanic power to accomplish its work of unholiness. 

 Dan. 11:40-45 reveals the gigantic strides that will be made by the king of the north when he has fully recovered from the death-stroke Country after country will fall before his triumphant marching to power. Nothing earthly can stop his progress to victory. And, as indicated in Rev. 17:12-17, the Lord will permit this last terrific burst of resurrected power to be revealed by the beast in order to bring the great controversy between good and evil to its final consummation, when every person on the planet must be brought to a point of decision. After having described the king of the north as country after country falls before his victorious forces until he is about to slay the people of God, Daniel then unfolds before the enthralling gaze of the saints the mighty working of Jesus as He intervenes on behalf of His people–see Dan. 12:1. 

As we have shown in the Revelation, Jesus is presented as the great Jehovah of the Old Testament, and as such He is the self-existent God in the three tenses: past, present and the future (Rev. 1:8, etc.). The mystery of iniquity is represented by the beast who is also portrayed in Rev. 17:8, 11 with references to the three tenses. These same three tenses also are implied in Rev. 13:3, 12, 14 where the beast exists before it received its death-stroke; experiences a period when it suffers from its death-stroke; and then a period following the healing of that wound. Jesus' work while upon the earth was limited to Palestine, but following His resurrection His work has encompassed the entire world. Similarly, the earlier experiences of the beast, great as they were, were limited mainly to Europe, but the prophecy points to the time when, following its resurrection, the beast will exercise power which will encompass the whole world. 

As the resurrection of Jesus convinced His people that He was the true Messiah, and this mighty event led them to go forth in His resurrection power, so the prophecy informs us that the resurrection of the beast and the great things that herald this mighty event, will deceive multitudes in the world to obey the behest of the beast. John says concerning the beast that when "his wound was healed all the world wondered after the beast . . . saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" (Rev. 13:3, 4). It is to this feature that we are again directed in Rev. 17:8: "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss.... And they that 

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dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose name hath not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how he was, and is not, and shall come" (R.V.), or "shall be present", or "is at hand, is nearby". Thus the prophecy of Rev. 17 focuses the spotlight upon the time when the beast is rising to power, and the growth of its power is such that it awes earth's multitudes, stupefies democratic forces, and eventually, through deception, receives their support in the supposedly-beneficial plan of Sunday enforcement for the salvation of the world from the forces of materialism. It is "when they behold the beast, how he was, and is not, and is at hand, or shall be present" that those whose names have not been written in the book of Life "shall wonder" "after the beast". Note that we have combined two texts: Rev. 13:3 and Rev. 17:8. Rev. 13:3 says that when "his deadly wound was healed all the world wondered after the beast". Thus we are able to double check our findings as to the actual meaning of the Greek words employed in Rev. 17:8, for here we again read regarding the world wondering after the beast. That Rev. 17 was written to throw light upon the time when the beast's wound would be healed is perfectly obvious by comparing the key verses in both Rev. 13 and 17. Notice the following comparisons: