Both were given stately honors as they serve the world culture. 

Ezekiel 23:41

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

“You sat on a stately couch, with a table prepared before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil.” Ezekiel 23:41 

The Babylonians of Chaldea set the Israelites on a stately couch as a reward for the way the Israelites changed themselves to be pleasing to them. A table was set before the Israelites with items given from the hand of the Babylonians of Chaldea to nourish Israel’s worldly power. In exchange, the Israelites gave to them things that only belonged in the worship of the Living God, incense and oil.

The phrase, “sat on a stately couch”, refers to sitting in a dignified place with some power. A “table prepared before it” refers to being served what is necessary to nourish a stately existence. Also, the table is a place to sit items on. In this case, God’s incense and His oil were set on the table. Incense refers to what rises up from the spirit and soul to God [like prayers], and the oil is the Holy Spirit.

The “stately couch” of Israel today is the government of the State of Israel, that is their stately place in the world. They were sat there in 1948 by the members of the United Nations and have maintained that “stately couch” with the aid of America. The “table prepared before it” has items setting on it given by America to nourish Israel’s ability to survive in the hostile region of the Middle East. Mostly, the table has America’s military aid and the backing of America’s political power. In exchange for the worldly items set on the table, Israel has given things on the table that should only belong to God. They give flattery, praise, service, spirit, and soul to America instead of communing with God in prayer through the Holy Spirit.

Today’s culture is sitting on a stately couch as their dignity and esteem is built up as they are empowered by the entity giving them what to think, feel, say, and do. This entity enables the image of the beast to speak and live through the masses of people across the globe. The table set before them brings empowerment with uncanny knowledge, heightened intuition, extraordinary skills and talents, uncanny authority over others, uncanny emotional responses, etc. In their demeanor they boast, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” Revelation 13:4 The “him” in this verse is the beast of the image and mark of the beast. The masses of the global culture gives praise to this entity as their god and they are groomed to the mark of the beast by what they are given to say and do.

Jesus Christ says to us, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1