In Search of the Final Church

by Cody Francis

In Search of the Final ChurchThere are literally thousands of churches across our land today, and hundreds of different denominations. All a person has to do is look in the phone book of any big city and he will be overwhelmed with page after page of churches. Skeptics of Christianity, and religion in general, point to the vast number of churches with scorn. They mock at how all these churches could claim to be Christians and claim to derive their beliefs from the Bible and yet still have a varied assortment of beliefs. They laugh that all religion must simply be a joke, and it is true that it is a mockery to God that there are thousands of different creeds all claiming to be His true religion and teaching. Others, as they pick up a phone book to look for a church to attend, become confused, throw the book down and give up attending any church. With all of the different churches presenting their high claims and flowery appeals to join their church, how can we know the true church. Is there really such a thing as a true church? How could there be a final church? Is there really a way that we can locate God’s true, final church? It is almost as if we are in a maze trying to find where God wants us to be, but not quite sure where to turn. By turning to the pages of God’s Holy Word, the answer will become clear.

The Early Church

In order to understand the final church and see if it is even possible to find this final church, we must study and understand the early Christian church. The first step was taken in the organization of the Christian church while Jesus was still on the earth. This first step was in the ordination of the twelve disciples. The gospel record is short and to the point in this monumental event. “And He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto Him whom He would: and they came unto Him. And He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach,” Mark 3:13, 14, KJV. Thus Jesus, while still upon the earth set the framework for the Christian church.

Not long after this initial step had been taken, Jesus gave one of the most wonderful promises in all of the Word of God, especially for His fledgling church. “And Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:15-18. Jesus was in the process of building His church in the gospel dispensation, and how crucial that His church be built upon a right foundation. If, in this world we are building a physical structure, we know how imperative it is to start right. We may have the most beautiful house, but if it has an inadequate foundation, it will not stand the test of time. Previously I was employed doing remodeling and carpentry, and I can still remember one of the first houses that I worked on. Our job was to attempt to put a foundation under this house, which at one time had a foundation, but over the years it had disintegrated away. The house was in descent condition, but the foundation, being poorly laid, had become non-existent. How cumbersome of a job that was! Jacking up the house, removing and carrying away the debris from the remaining foundation and attempting to solidify the house again with a stronger foundation. It was impossible to construct a foundation as good as what it could have been at the beginning. In order to build the foundation correctly, it was necessary lift the badly sagging walls, which in turn cracked the interior wall covering and made all of the doors and windows difficult to open and shut. How much better it would have been to build the foundation right in the first place. And that is exactly what Jesus was doing while He walked the earth. His church was to have a right foundation. One that would stand the test of trial and time. One that would not crumble when problems arose, and, indeed, the foundation that Jesus laid has endured the millennia and will never crumble throughout the eons of eternity. Why? Because the foundation, which Jesus laid, could never be improved upon. What is this unbreakable foundation? “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” I Corinthians 3:11. What is this ever-enduring foundation? It is none other than Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus is the foundation of His true church and there is no other foundation that will stand the manifold tests. The foundation has been laid and Jesus has promised that the gates of Hades would be powerless to prevail against His true church. What a promise of all promises for those inexperienced apostles. The church that Jesus was establishing and building right then would stand the test of time and endure throughout all eternity. Have Jesus’ words proved true? Have His true people been completely overcome and have the floods from Hades deluged and destroyed them? Absolutely not.

It is important to note that Peter was not the foundation that Christ laid for His infant church. The gates of hell did prevail against Peter. In the next few verses after Jesus explains what he was to build His church upon and that His church would go through, Peter rebukes Jesus; (Matthew 16:22) and Jesus, speaking to Peter, says, “Get behind Me, Satan!” Matthew 16:23. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus again rebuked Peter when Peter drew His sword attempting to defend the gospel with worldly means. (John 18:10, 11.) Again, as Jesus was undergoing the most inhumane treatment, during the farce of the trial that the Jewish leaders put Him through, Peter three times rashly denied that He even knew Jesus. (Matthew 26:69-75.) After Jesus’ death and ascension, Peter capitulated under Jewish pressure and Paul was forced to openly protest against his inconsistent conduct. (Galatians 2:11, 12.) Surely, a solid foundation Peter was not. He was used mightily by the Lord, but He was not the immovable foundation that Jesus laid; for the Word of God records Peter’s stumbles and falls again and again. The foundation that the church of Christ is built upon is none other than Christ Himself. He is the cornerstone that will bear the test of time without showing the slightest crack. “Jesus said to them, ‘Did you never read in the Scriptures: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes”?’” Matthew 21:42. “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitly joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,” Ephesians 2:19-21. Jesus is the Rock (I Corinthians 10:4) upon which the church is built. If there is any organization or body that claims to be God’s church, but is not founded on Jesus Christ, the Rock of Ages, we can be assured that it is not the true church.

After Jesus’ death and ascension, His interest in His true people was no less than while He walked and talked with them here on this earth. It has been recorded in the Old Testament, of God’s tender care for His true people, and the same is even truer after Jesus poured out His blood for them. “He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.” Deuteronomy 32:10. God’s people are kept as the apple of His eye, as His pride and joy, the one supreme object of His great love and watchcare, but the devil also understands God’s love for His people and attacks His church with a hellish vengeance. How much more precious, then, is Jesus’ promise that the gates of Hades will not prevail against His church, and not only has Jesus promised that His true church will not be overcome, but He has also lifted the curtain and foretold the trials and victories of His people during the fierce onslaughts of the enemy.

Two Great Signs

“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. And she bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.” Revelation 12:1-5. This is one of the greatest chapters in Revelation, dedicated to Christ’s church from its establishment to the very end. Important and significant are the lesson taught, and in order to succeed in our search for the final church, we must carefully study this most instructive chapter.

Two startling signs were shown to John, the first of which was the most glorious and beautiful woman that John had ever seen. This pure woman wearing a crown of twelve stars was clothed with the sun and standing upon the moon. No woman has ever been clothed with the dazzling glory of the sun, nor has a woman ever stood upon the moon. What could this great sign mean? This is a very important symbol in Bible prophecy and is used over and over again throughout the entire Bible. The symbol of a woman is always used to represent a church. “I have likened the daughter of Zion to a lovely and delicate woman.” “And say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” Jeremiah 6:2; Isaiah 51:16. Zion, which according to Isaiah 51:16 is God’s people, is likened to a beautiful woman. God’s church, God’s people, are represented by a pure woman. There are many other instances of this as well. “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish… This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:22-27, 32. Paul is here giving counsel on how husbands and wives should relate to each other and is drawing his instruction from how Christ loves us and how the church is to show its love back to Christ. Clearly the husband, or bridegroom, (John 3:28, 29) is Christ and the wife, or woman, is the church. Paul also refers to this same symbolism when he is writing to the church at Corinth. “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in Achaia… For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” II Corinthians 1:1; 11:2. Paul refers to the church at Corinth as a chaste virgin. We can have no doubt, then, from the abundant weight of Biblical evidence that a woman in prophecy represents a church.

This great sign of the woman whom John saw was none other than God’s true people, or His true church. This view that John is given is a panoramic view of God’s true church from when Christ was on this earth to the very end of time. It reveals the trials and the difficulties that would arise and threaten to overthrow God’s people, but it more importantly illustrates how Jesus’ special promise, that the gates of hell would not prevail against His true people, has never once failed.

There is a second significant sign that John sees in this drama of the ages—a great, fiery red dragon. This dragon is none other than the archenemy of our God. “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:9. Thus is brought to view, the two main earthly players in the waging controversy of the ages—God’s true church and the devil with his legions of fiends. The Church in the Wilderness

This dragon is not content to sit by and watch his usurped kingdom be wrested from his hands, so he has launched an all out war against Christ and His true people. In Revelation 12:4, the devil’s attacks against Christ are described, “And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.” As soon as Christ came into this world as a helpless infant, all the fury of hell was unleashed against our Saviour. Through Herod, the devil attempted to put an end to Christ’s life before He even began His ministry. Throughout Christ’s life the devil was unceasingly on His track tempting Him to sin and seeking to crush out His life; but in all of his assaults, he was utterly defeated. Jesus was “caught up to God and to His throne” completely victorious over the devil. (Revelation 12:5.) Never once did He falter or fail. He met the devil on his own ground “that He might destroy the works of the devil” (I John 3:8) and was the victor on every point. Seeing that he had totally lost the battle, the devil’s ire was vented in double measure against Christ’s church, the one supreme object of His regard on this earth. “Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.” Revelation 12:13. The devil’s designs had been thwarted, Christ had come off conqueror, but now the devil’s rage roared against the church of God and he unleashed his weapons of warfare against the true church.

As the apostles had been laid to rest, unconverted leaders began to lead the majority astray. Paul had repeatedly warned of this, but few were prepared for the onslaught of false apostles. “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.” Acts 20:29, 30. “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. Then the lawless one will be revealed,…” II Thessalonians 2:7, 8. “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.” I John 2:18. There is abundant evidence from history that this dreaded event took place. “Toward the latter end of the second century most of the churches assumed a new form. The first simplicity disappeared; and insensibly, as the old disciples retired to their graves, their children, along with new converts, both Jews and Gentiles, came forward and new modeled the cause.” Ecclestiatic Researches, chap. Vi, 51, ed. 1792. (taken from History of the Sabbath, by J. N. Andrews, 197) As Paul had foretold, wolves came in not sparing the flock. The simplicity of the gospel disappeared and a flood of pagan practices deluged the once pure assemblies. The flood of unconsecrated members who came streaming into the now popular churches was so great that they became the majority. “Christianity had now become popular, and a large proportion, perhaps a large majority of those who embraced it, only assumed the name… they were as much heathen as they were before. Error and corruption now came in upon the church like a flood.” Wharey’s Church History, 54. In the cathedrals and large assemblies of the day, Christ was no longer the foundation. Multitudes attended religious service without knowing a personal Saviour, Jesus Christ. They were just going through the forms, but had no heart experience. Indeed the words of the prophet were fulfilled, ‘So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.’” Revelation 12:15. Water, in the Bible, is a symbol for many people. (See Revelation 17:15; Isaiah 8:7; 17:12) The dragon, the devil, brought hundreds and thousands of his followers into the Christian assemblies in hopes of separating all from Christ, but God upheld His faithful people. Those who were willing to stand upon the Rock of their salvation were sustained. God would not allow His faithful people who were holding fast the truths from God’s Word to be overcome. It is true that the organization was infiltrated and taken over by the flood of pagans coming into the church. So much so that the historians call the organization of these dark years of earth’s history “baptized paganism.” “Christianity became the established religion in the Roman Empire and took the place of paganism. Christianity began to wear the garb of heathenism. The errors that later overran the church began to take root. Christianity, as it existed in the Dark Ages, might be termed ‘baptized paganism.’” Wharey’s Church History, 54.

With the organization taken over by pagans claiming to be Christians, those whose faith was established upon the Rock, Christ Jesus, were forced to flee into the wilderness. If we are looking for an organization that the gates of hell did not prevail against, we will find none. The true church, that the gates of hell were powerless to overcome, was the faithful souls who clung to Christ as their only hope and ground of salvation. It is not an ecclesiastical body or religious organization that can lay claim to being Christ’s true church, but only the people who are seeking to follow Christ no matter where He leads. They may be few in number, despised by the world and without worldly honor or wealth, but if they have surrendered their lives to Christ, they are regarded by our loving Lord as the apple of His eye. The Biblical account had predicted, “Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days…. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.” Revelation 12:6, 14. God’s true church was forced to flee from the apostasy and persecutions of an apostate organization, where they could worship God according to the dictates of their conscience. It was, indeed, a trying time for God’s faithful people. The grand establishments that they had helped to build, the clergymen that they had taught from their youth up, the congregations that they loved, they had to leave in order to follow the truths from God’s holy Word. The historians affirm the fulfillment of this amazing prophecy. “Now this district, on the eastern side of the Cottian Alps, is the precise country of the Vallenses [Waldenses]. Hither their ancestors retired, during the persecutions of the second and third and fourth centuries: here, providentially secluded from the world, they retained the precise doctrines and practices of the primitive church endeared to them by suffering and exile; while the wealthy inhabitants of cities and fertile plains, corrupted by a now opulent and gorgeous and powerful clergy, were daily sinking deeper and deeper into that apostasy which has been so graphically foretold by the great apostle.” The Ancient Vallenses and Albigenses, Dr. Faber, 293, 294. (taken from Truth Triumphant, by B.G. Wilkinson, 67, 68.) Into the wilderness and solitary places, God’s true followers were forced to flee, but God had prepared the mountain fortresses especially for His people during this time of their need.

Here in the isolation of the forgotten places of this earth, God’s people found a refuge. There with the majestic mountains encircling them and the stately firs standing guard around them, they worshiped and praised the God of heaven. From their mountain retreats they held fast to the truth taught by Jesus and His apostles. They studied from God’s Word and committed large portions to memory, preserving those sacred pages for generations still to come. Although they were little known and despised by the world, to the Creator of the universe, they were His faithful church.

The bitterest attacks were launched against His faithful people during this time. The Word of God had declared, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Revelation 12:11. Many gladly yielded their lives for Christ’s sake. They did not love their lives unto the death. Crusade after crusade was launched against them by the state church. Pardon for all sins past, present and future was promised if they would only kill one of these faithful souls. Speaking of the beast power, or the great, apostate religious system of the dark ages, prophecy had said, “And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.” Revelation 13:7. An all out war was waged against the true church of God for one thousand two hundred and sixty years. (Revelation 12:6; Ezekiel 4:6.) The abundance of historical evidence for this is overwhelming, but one excerpt will tell the tragic tale. “There was no village in the Vaudois valleys but had its martyrs. The Waldenses were burned; they were cast into damp and horrid dungeons; they were smothered in crowds in mountain caverns, mothers and babes and old men and women together; they were sent out into exile in a winter night, unclothed and unfed, to climb the snowy mountains; they were hurled over the rocks; their houses and lands were taken from them; their children were stolen to be indoctrinated with the religion that they abhorred. Rapacious individuals were sent among them to strip them of their property, to persecute, and to exterminate them. ‘Thousands of heretics, old men, women and children, were hung, quartered, broken upon the wheel, or burned alive, and their property confiscated for the benefit of the king and Holy See.’ The Papacy and the Civil Power, Thompson, 416.” Truth Triumphant, B.G. Wilkinson, 251. But for this long period of persecution stretching from AD 538 to AD 1798 (For more information see Steps to Life’s booklet, Surviving the Great Tribulation), God still preserved His people. Many lost their lives at the hands of the antichrist, but God did not allow His church to be stamped out. At times it looked like the church was about to fall, but it was ever upheld by the almighty hand of our God.

The account from Revelation of the church in the wilderness clearly teaches that God has ever had, and will always have, a people who are holding fast to His Word. The devil may have the multitudes on his side. He may have the great and lofty cathedrals. He may have the seminaries and universities. He may have the doctors and theologians. He may have the religious organizations, but there is one thing that he will never have, that is the truth. It is the small, hated, persecuted band of Christ’s followers that have the truth. God will allow the fires of persecution to refine them, but He will never allow it to consume them. God has a church that the gates of hell are not permitted to prevail against. His church is not the denominations. It is not the religious hierarchies and organizations. It is not those who profess only to be Christians. God’s pure, true church are His people who are holding to Christ Jesus as their Rock and love Him and His truth more than life itself. His true church boldly unfurls the banner of truth regardless of the threats and denunciations from the world. They love the truth from God’s Word and they stand for it even if it costs them their lives. So God’s true church continued for century after century, hidden from the world, but shielded and protected by God. The time was foretold, though, when God’s church would emerge from hiding and proclaim a worldwide message—it is the final church.

The Final Church

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and he went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17, KJV. After this period of terrible persecution, in which God’s true church was hunted, stalked and burnt, John saw the remnant, or the very last part, coming to the front of the battle again. God’s true people had been forced into hiding and into the solitary places of the earth, but now they come to the forefront again. It is as when a train goes into a tunnel. The light from the train shines so that all can see and then when it goes underground into the

tunnel, the light becomes much fainter and barely able to be seen. Then barely from the other side the light can be seen again until it is brighter and lighter until all can see. So it is with God’s church. For a time it took refuge in the wilderness and the light was fainter and hardly noticeable to some. It was still there, but just more difficult to see. Then as the church comes forth from the wilderness it becomes brighter and brighter until all can see. God’s final church will not be an obscure group in the heart of some unknown land, but it is to emerge with a message for all. It is described as the remnant, or the very last part. It is the final church.

Just like the church in the wilderness, though, the final church is not an organization, denomination or anything like that. Men look at the outward signs when thinking of a church, but God looks at the heart. “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” I Samuel 16:7. When man thinks of a church, he thinks of the bricks and mortar, he thinks of the grand national establishment, he thinks of the priests and presidents and pastors, but God looks deeper than all that. An organization has never remained pure. God’s church is built of totally different material than that. God’s church is the people who hold to the truth from His Word. They may be censured and cast from their denomination or conference, but if they are steadfastly adhering to God’s truth, they are a part of His faithful church. Paul clearly tells us what the church is. “But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” I Timothy 3:15. The church of the living God is none other than the pillar and ground of the truth. The issue is really quite simple; is the truth taught and practiced there? If the answer is yes, you have found the church. If the answer is no, you had better look further. What is the truth? “Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your Law is truth.” “You are near, O Lord, and all of Your commandments are truth.” Psalms 119:142, 151. God’s holy Law is truth. That great Law that He proclaimed with His own lips from Mount Sinai and wrote with His own finger, is the essence of truth. (Exodus 20:18, 19; 31:18.) God’s true people will proclaim God’s holy Law, but not only will they be proclaiming God’s holy Law, they will be living it, as well. If an organization, or church body, claims to be God’s final church, they must be the pillar and ground of the truth, or God’s Holy Law. Another definition of truth was given by Jesus Himself, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth.” John 17:17. God’s Law is truth, and God’s Word is truth. The people who are living according to all of God’s Law and Word are God’s church. This is the first prerequisite in order to find God’s final church. We are not looking for some organization that dates back to antiquity, nor are we looking for a denomination with a particular name, we are looking for a group of people who teach and live the truth.

Present Truth

It is not just that God’s church is teaching and living the truth, but it must be teaching and living present truth. “Therefore I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know them, and are established in the present truth.” II Peter 1:12. God has present truth for different ages and times. Some truths are relevant to every person in every age and time. An example of such eternal truth is that salvation is found only through faith in the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ. This truth Abel expressed when he sacrificed the lamb and obtained a more excellent sacrifice than that of Cain. (Hebrews 11:4.) This is truth that all men in all ages must confess, to find forgiveness for their sins. Some truth, though, is present truth for a particular age or time. Such truth that is present truth to a particular time would be the message that in order to be saved from the coming deluge, you had to find safety in the ark. This message Noah preached with power, but it would be ridiculous to preach such a message now. However, it was present truth when Noah sounded the alarm. If a person was to be saved in Noah’s day, he had to accept the message of present truth and board the ark. If a person rejected this present truth message, he was lost. It was present truth. A life or death message relevant to that time.

God still has present truth for today, and God’s true church will be proclaiming present truth for this time. If an organization is simply preaching “pleasant truth,” it is not the church of the living God, for it is not heralding present truth. I am sure that there were a great many churches that were teaching “pleasant truth” in Noah’s day. There might not have been anything inherently wrong with their message. They might have lauded the benefits of being a good person. They might have preached our need to love each other and be kind to one another until they were blue in the face. All this would have been good, but if it wasn’t present truth, it would have been to no avail. It did not matter how outwardly “good” a person was. If he was not inside the ark when it began to rain, he was lost. So today there may be many “good” things that a church can talk about, but if it is not today’s present truth, preparing men and women for what is so soon to come, it is only “pleasant truth,” and that will never meet the need of the hour. Those who are only teaching “pleasant truth” are not a part of God’s last day church, which is the pillar and ground of the truth.

Does God have present truth for today? Indeed, He does. It is found in the heart of the book for the last days—Revelation. “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’ And another angel followed, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.’ Here is the patience of the saints: here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:6-12. God has a threefold message of present truth for His people in the last days of this earth’s history. It is a message solemn in its import, yet clear and pointed. A worldwide warning that goes to every man, woman and child upon the face of this earth. A message that will decide the destiny of all, depending upon their acceptance or rejection. The first of the three great warnings gives a call to worship the Creator God because the hour of His judgment has come. The second message that arrests the attention of all warns of the doom of Babylon and calls His people to flee from it. The third trumpet–like call warns all against worshiping the Beast by receiving his mark. As in Noah’s day, those who reject these last day pleas of repentance will have sealed their fate and will drink of the threatened judgments. These solemn appeals are present truth for the last days, and God’s final church will be sounding these warning notes. If an organization or denomination, no matter how high and flowery the claims may be, is not giving these last messages of mercy, it has divorced itself from God and is not God’s church. God’s true final church of the last days will be heralding these present truth messages to all world.

Two Identifying Marks

We have seen that the Bible clearly teaches several things about God’s true church. First of all, God’s church is built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, Himself. Any other foundation than this will crumble and fall, but the people who stand firm for the Lord Jesus are grounded on the true Rock. Secondly, God’s true church is not an organization or anything like that, but the people who follow the Lord Jesus wherever He leads them. Thirdly, God’s true church is the pillar and ground of the truth. Those who compose God’s church will believe and live the truth from the Word of God, which more specifically is God’s Law and His Word. Not only will the truth be the foundation of God’s true people, but they will be teaching present truth, and the present truth, particularly for our time, is the Three Angels’ Messages. With these points that have identified God’s church from antiquity, it is possible to identify God’s final church as well, but the Lord does not want anyone to mistake His final church. Notwithstanding all of the previous points looked at, God gives us two unmistakable identifying marks of His last day remnant people. With these two identifying marks, there is no excuse for not successfully arriving at the end of our search for the final church.

“And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. The rest of her offspring, or the remnant of God’s true church, has two distinguishing marks. They keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. Ten or twenty points are not needed to conclude our search for the final church, for these two marks narrow the parameters down to one, and only one, group of people on this earth. It is none other than the final church.

Keeps the Commandments of God

God’s last day people are going to keep the commandments of God. This should not surprise us, since we have already learned that His church is the pillar and ground of the truth, and that God’s Law is truth; but the Lord does not want us to mistake this important point. Keeping the commandments of God has marked God’s true people from the very beginning. “Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:5. Abraham, the father of the faithful and the patriarch of the old covenant church, kept God’s commandments. David, the greatest king of Israel, kept God’s commandments. “For the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes.” I Kings 11:34.

Jesus, our only Saviour and the founder of the Christian church, kept God’s commandments. “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” John 15:10. James, the chairman of the Christian church (See Acts 15:13), urged the necessity of keeping God’s Law. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.” James 2:10-12. John, the beloved and longest-lived disciple, taught the utmost importance of keeping God’s holy Law. “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” I John 2:3, 4. In the last book of the Bible, the book dedicated to teaching us how we need to live in the last days, three times it predicts that God’s last day church will be keeping God’s commandments. “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” 22:14. Without a doubt, from the beginning to the end, God’s true church keeps the commandments of God.

In order to be classified as keeping God’s commandments, we must be keeping all ten of the commandments. Frequently we have a desire to pick and choose. Sometimes there are some commandments that we can heartily agree, to which we say “amen”, but then there are others that seem so hard for us to understand. “Why is God so particular?” we question, and on and on the excuses go. We must remember that if we are going to be a part of God’s final church, we must keep all of the commandments. We cannot fall into the fatal trap of picking and choosing. I saw a sign on a church one time that read, “The Ten Commandments are not multiple choice.” How true this is. We have no right to pick and choose what we think is important and what is not. If we step onto this forbidden ground, we are following in the path of Cain, who thought he knew better than what God had said. We are following the pernicious example of the mother of our race in not thinking that God really means what He says. Imagine that! Poor, weak, finite mortals thinking that we know more than the Creator and Upholder of the universe. God’s Word is very clear—if we dare to set ourselves above the God of heaven by picking and choosing which commandments we will keep, we will be guilty of all. “ALL Your commandments are faithful… Psalms 119:86. And ALL Your commandments are truth… Psalms 119:151. For ALL Your commandments are righteous.” Ps. 119:172. All of God’s commandments are faithful, righteous and true. We cannot choose that some are better than others, for God says that they are all good. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14. Our whole duty is to fear God and keep His commandments, for EVERY single work will pass before the judgment bar of the Almighty. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.” James 2:10-12. God’s Word plainly declares that if we keep the whole law except for one, apparently small and minor point, we are lawbreakers and condemned by the law. Certainly no man, priest or bishop has the right to sanction the violation of even one of God’s Ten Commandment Laws. If we are going to be a part of God’s true church, we must be living in obedience to all of God’s Law. So, God’s final church will keep all of God’s commandments. Any organization that endorses the breaking of any of the commandments, has disqualified itself from being the final church. God’s true people keep all of God’s holy Law.

There is one commandment in particular which Bible prophecy has foretold that all the world would be breaking in the last days. This is the commandment that was going to be particularly attacked by the antichrist. God’s true people will not fall into the snare of the antichrist, though. They will keep all of God’s Law, especially the commandment that is rejected by most of the world. In Daniel 7:25, we are told exactly which commandment would be attacked by the antichrist and ignored by the world, “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law.” He was going to intentionally attempt to change times and law. Which commandment is it that deals with time? There is only one. As we study the ten commandments found in Exodus 20:3-17, one and one alone deals with time. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11. The only commandment that even remotely deals with time is the fourth commandment, the commandment that commands the observance of the Sabbath. The keeping of the Sabbath is more than what many people think, for the seventh-day Sabbath does not fall on Sunday as many people think, but on Saturday. This can readily be seen by looking up the days of the week in any large dictionary. “Saturday—the seventh day of the week, following Friday.” Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, 1996. “Sunday—so called because this day was anciently dedicated to the sun, or its worship. The first day of the week.” Webster’s Dictionary, 1929 edition. Not only is the seventh day on Saturday and not on Sunday, but there is no where in the entire Bible that indicates that there has ever been a change, or will ever be a change. This fact is known by many preachers, theologians and historians. Here is an example of one: “Let me address myself to my dear non-Catholic reader: You believe that the Bible alone is a safe guide in religious matter. You also believe that one of the fundamental duties enjoined upon you by your Christian faith is that of Sunday observance. But where does the Bible speak of such an obligation? I have read the Bible from the first verse of Genesis to the last verse of Revelation, and have found no reference to the duty of sanctifying the Sunday. The day mentioned in the Bible is not the Sunday, the first day of the week, but the Saturday, the last day of the week.” The Faith of Millions, Father O’Brian, 136, 137. There are many other ways that we can know which day is the seventh day, but for lack of space, we will not presently exhaust them. (If you would like more information on which day is the Sabbath, contact Steps to Life.) For our search, it is sufficient to note that God’s last day church is a commandment–keeping church and in order to be a commandment–keeping church, they must keep all of the commandments, including the Sabbath commandment. God’s final church is a Sabbathkeeping church.

The keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath has always been a sign marking God’s true people. God’s true church in the Garden of Eden before man fell, was keeping the Sabbath. “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Genesis 2:2, 3. To Israel, another name for God’s church, the keeping of the Sabbath was to be a perpetual sign. “Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” Exodus 31:16, 17. Jesus, our Creator, Redeemer, High Priest, and founder of the Christian church, kept God’s seventh-day Sabbath holy. “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.” Luke 4:16. It was our Saviour’s practice to go to the synagogue, or the church, every Sabbath day. God’s final church will definitely be following Jesus example. (See John 14:6; I Peter 2:21; Revelation 14:4.) The early church always kept God’s Sabbath day. “And when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath… And the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.” Acts 13:42, 44. The church that had to flee into the wilderness was keeping God’s holy Sabbath day. “On the contrary, they [the Waldenses] kept the Sabbath-day, observed the ordinance of baptism according to the primitive church, instructed their children in the articles of the Christian faith and the commandments of God.” Jones’s Church History, vol. 2, chap. 5, sec. 4. (taken from History of the Sabbath, J.N. Andrews, 416.) Furthermore, God’s Word states that God’s true people will continue to keep His Sabbath day. “There remains therefore a rest [the Greek word sabbatismos literally means “a keeping of a sabbath” The New Analytical Greek Lexicon, Wesley Perschbacher] for the people of God.” Hebrews 4:9. God’s true people continue to keep all of His commandments and so there remains a keeping of the Sabbath for them. Then prophecy has foretold that God’s final church will keep all of the commandments. “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. Finally, God’s ransomed church, will keep His holy Sabbath day in the earth made new once sin is completely obliterated and the great controversy is concluded. “‘For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,’ says the Lord, ‘So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,’ says the Lord.” Isaiah 66:22, 23. Keeping of God’s seventh-day Sabbath has always been the sign of His true church and it will continue to be so throughout all eternity.

A while ago I was engaged in a conversation with a minister who had for many years taught that it was permissable to break God’s Law, especially the Sabbath. However, he had recently studied deeper into the Bible and found that God’s true people would be keeping all of the Ten Commandments, including the Sabbath. He and I were then talking with another minister whom we thought was another Sabbathkeeping minister. To our great surprise, we found out that this man had given up the Sabbath and was now preaching for another Sabbathbreaking organization. We questioned further to see why such an unbiblical change was made. This minister did not have any good reasons for his switch, other than that his new church was so loving. He then made the statement that it was a good church; there was only one problem—it did not keep the Sabbath. I nearly fell out of my chair! That is no little problem! When a rich young man came to Jesus desiring to follow Him, Jesus set before him the conditions of discipleship. “Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not bear false witness,” “Do not defraud,” “Honor your father and your mother.”’ And he answered and said to Him, ‘Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.’ Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow me.’ And he was sad at this word, and went away grieved, for he had great possessions.” Mark 10:17-22. Here was a young man who had done everything right from when he was a child. Jesus said that there was only one thing that he lacked. Only one! Not ten or twenty, just one “little” thing, but that one “little” thing caused Him to reject Jesus. Even though this dear minister’s church only lacked one thing, not keeping the Sabbath, that is enough to bar it from being God’s true church, for lacking only that one thing means it is rejecting Jesus. God’s true, final church will NOT lack even one thing. God’s final church will keep all of God’s commandments, including the unpopular Sabbath commandment.

The Spirit of Prophecy

The first of the two identifying marks of God’s final church is that it will be a commandment–keeping, Sabbath–keeping church, but there is one more identifying mark that reveals God’s last day prophetic movement of destiny. “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. Not only will the final church keep all of the commandments, but they will have the testimony of Jesus. What is the testimony of Jesus? “And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10. The final church will have the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy. God will give the gift of prophecy to His last day people.

Some well meaning people have taken the position that after the Bible was written that there were to be no more prophets. This is a claim that needs well to be investigated, for Jesus predicted that many would be led astray by false prophets, and we certainly do not want to be among that group. Did God seal up the gifts of the Spirit after the last book of the Bible was written? Notice Peter’s words on this subject, “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.” Acts 2:16-18. Peter, quoting from the prophecy Joel, fully understood that God was going to continue to bestow the gift of prophecy, even to the last days. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-13. Paul tells us exactly how long God is going to continue giving the gifts of the Spirit to His church—until the church is perfected and ready to meet Jesus in the clouds of glory. None will deny that this has not yet occurred, and if this great event is still future, then God has promised to continue to give the gifts and particularly prophecy. The Lord has promised, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7. God will not do anything without first warning His true people through His messengers the prophets. Certainly as we are living in the time in which the Lord will work with greater might and power than ever before known, He would send an inspired messenger to help us be prepared for that great day, and we find that He has promised just that! “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” Malachi 4:5. Not only has God promised to continue sending prophets until the end; and not only is the gift of prophecy one of the two identifying marks of God’s last day church; but God has also promised an Elijah messenger with an Elijah message just before He comes with power and great glory to the righteous but dread and terror to the wicked. With the abundant evidence before us that God has promised to continue to send messengers, how can we test one who claims to come with a message from God?

We are explicitly warned by the beloved disciple, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” I John 4:1. If we accept anyone who claims to be a messenger from God, we are assuring to ourselves of deception. We must apply the Bible tests to ascertain whether a messenger is from God or not. What are these tests?

  1. Isaiah 8:20—a true prophet will uphold all of God’s Law,
  2. Matthew 7:15-20—a true prophet will bear good fruit both in his life and work,
  3. Jeremiah 28:9—the prophecies of a true prophet will come to pass,
  4. I John 4:1-3—a true prophet will always confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh
  5. I Corinthians 14:32—everything that a a true prophet teaches will be in accordance with the Bible,
  6. Numbers 12:6—a true prophet will have visions and dreams.

Not one false prophet can measure up to these simple Biblical tests and a true prophet will match each and every one. It is simply our part to apply the tests to see if we can find God’s last day messenger, which would identify God’s final church. “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good.” II Thessalonians 5:19-21.

Has anyone arisen that matches all of these Biblical tests? As I have searched for the final church and the spirit of prophecy within the final church, I have discovered that there is one who matches all the tests of a true prophet. This individual, whom I believe to be a last day messenger for the Lord, is Mrs. Ellen G. White. Some may question, can a woman be a true prophet? Women have been prophets from the very beginning of the church, why not at the end? Consider Miriam, Moses’ sister. (See Exodus 15:20.) Deborah was a prophetess of the Lord. (See Judges 4:4.) Anna, the prophetess who praised the Lord at Jesus’ dedication, served the Lord in the temple with prophesying for many long years. (See Luke 2:36.) Philip, the evangelist, had four virgin daughters who were prophets. (See Acts 21:9.) Obviously, being a woman does not exclude an individual from receiving the gift of prophecy.

Ellen White was called to the difficult prophetic office at age seventeen. Most expected her to die an early death due to a childhood accident, but she continued serving the Lord in her appointed lot for another seventy years. Born in Topsham, Maine in 1827, she was only able to finish the third grade, but went on to write more than any other woman in history. From her hand, which in her early years could hardly hold a pen steady, issued over twenty-five million words. She was, indeed, the weakest of the weak, but God worked mightily through this humble instrument. In all her many works, she always exalts Jesus and points His people back to the Word of God as their anchor and study. Through her life and ministry, thousands have been led to accept Christ and renew their commitment to Him. Peasants and kings, educators and unlearned alike have declared that they have read words that speak directly to their souls. As I have read a great number of her works, I have found nothing that contradicts the Bible, but only leads me to a greater and deeper love for the Word of God and its Author. As I have studied about her life and work, all that can be seen is good fruit springing forth abundantly. I have heard the voice of Jesus speaking to me through her writings; and after having applied the Biblical tests, I have come to the conclusion that she is, indeed, the Elijah messenger who was to come, and that her life and works constitute the “spirit of prophecy” referred to in Revelation. (For a much more thorough study into the tests of a prophet and her life and works, see the book Prophet of the End.)

The Remnant

As we have studied what constitutes a church and the identifying marks of God’s final church, there is only one conclusion that can be drawn. God’s church is not an organization or denomination, but those whose faith is founded in the Lord Jesus Christ and those who love, teach and practice present truth for this time, namely the Three Angels’ Messages of Revelation 14:6-12. If we are going to point to an ecclesiastical body as God’s church, we are looking in the wrong direction, for nowhere in God’s Word does it say that a name or organization reveals God’s last day people. It is the character that reveals the heart. It is the identifying marks that indicate whether a group of people are the final church or not. Then, God’s Word narrows down the search to two key marks—they love God and keep all of His commandments and they have

the spirit of prophecy. Putting all of these factors together, there is only one movement and group of people who can be identified as God’s final church. God’s final church is His Seventh-day Adventist believers. This is the only movement that keeps all ten of the commandments and has the spirit of prophecy in their midst.

This is not to say that the Seventh-day Adventist denomination is the infallible final church, for God’s church is not a denomination or organization. It is the people who believe and practice the precious truths heralded by the Seventh-day Adventist movement. Shortly before 1844, at the end of the 1260 year period in which the true church was forced to flee into the wilderness, a movement began, which God has promised is going through to glory. This movement was composed of men and women from all backgrounds and faiths who studied the prophecies and believed that Jesus’ Second Coming was at hand. As they proclaimed this precious message (found in Revelation 14:6, 7), the existing churches spurned and rejected this heaven–sent message. These advent believers (so called because the were looking for Jesus’ Second Advent) were cast from the churches that they loved. As they continued to study the Word of God, they discovered that not only was Jesus coming soon, but that He was also calling His people back to obedience to His Law, particularly the keeping of the fourth commandment, which was almost universally forgotten. Thus as they were looking for Jesus’ Second Advent and keeping Jesus’ seventh-day Sabbath, they took the name Seventh-day Adventists.

The devil never rests, though. “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. The devil was to wage the fiercest conflict against those who claimed to keep the commandments and have the testimony of Jesus. Sad to say, this very thing has taken place exactly as prophecy predicted. While Jesus walked the earth, the leaders of the professed people of God were in complete apostasy. Jesus said, speaking to these supposed spiritual leaders, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.” John 8:44. These high and educated leaders were actually children of the devil. Jesus’ most cutting rebukes were reserved for these false leaders. (see Matthew 23.) They went through all the outward forms of being God’s true church, but they were really sons of hell. (Matthew 23:15.) Jesus counseled the people regarding them, “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” Matthew 15:14. The people were not to follow these apostate leaders, and they were even to leave them alone. But sadly, most of the people believed their leaders and rejected Jesus. Instead of accepting Jesus’ Words of life, they clung to their desolate organization. (Matthew 23:38.) So today, the devil has myriads of those who claim to be Seventh-day Adventists caught in his net. Apostasy has well nigh taken over the organization that claims to be God’s final church, just as in Jesus’ day and during the time period when God’s church had to flee into the wilderness. Those who should be the spiritual guardians of the people are feeding the flock deadly poison that will lead to the loss of their souls, just as they did to many in Jesus’ day and during the time period of the church in the wilderness. Indeed, history is repeating itself, yet again. (Ecclesiastes 1:9.) If we desire to be shielded from these subtle snares, we must look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our eyes must be taken off of all men, organizations and denominations. Our only safety is in trusting our entire being, and hanging our whole souls on our Saviour.

Many faithful Seventh-day Adventists have been forced to separate from the error and apostasy that is being forced home upon the soul in many of the professedly Seventh-day Adventist churches today. This does not mean that these separated brethren are not a part of the final church. The Waldenses and the church in the wilderness were forced to do the same thing hundreds of years ago. Jesus and the apostles had to follow the same course. They had their own campmeetings (the Sermon on the Mount, for instance); they were forced to worship separately from the church of their fathers (the Lord’s Supper, for example); but even though they did not belong to an ecclesiastical organization, they were a part of God’s true church, for they met the identifying criteria. So today many are worshiping God according to the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy wherever they can. Sometimes in homes, rented halls or simple church buildings. Paul did the exact same thing. “And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there.”

Acts 16:13. When there was not a church that was teaching present truth and keeping the commandments of God, Paul worshiped God by the river, or wherever he could, with whomever was willing to follow all of God’s Word. Sometimes the faithful are forced to meet in a home, not because they want to, but because it is the only place that they can go to hear the truth. This is nothing new. It was done by many in the apostolic church (See Romans 16:5; I Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 1:2). God’s final church does not consist of an ecclesiastic order. It is not a towering organizational hierarchy. It is not a national denomination. It is the people who love God and keep all of His commandments, including the Sabbath, and who have, love and study the spirit of prophecy. This group of people may be small. They may have no money, buildings, schools, etc. There may not be a pastor or a beautiful choir; but these are not the things that we are to look for anyway. Do they have the truth? is the question. Are they living the truth? If they have this most precious commodity, they are the final church. You have found it! Your search is through!

Being One of the Remnant

When Noah’s orchestra of hammers filled the air, there was only one safe place to be. I am sure that there were many who thought that it would not matter if they helped Noah or not. I am sure that there were many churches towering throughout that great land. There can be no doubt that those grand structures had many more worldly inducements than did Noah’s small crew. There were probably many who thought it really didn’t matter if you were in Noah’s boat (church) or not, just as long as you were in a church. But in that day there was only one safe place to be. It did not matter how many towering steeples there were throughout the land, not one was tall enough to preserve even a solitary man. Those only escaped who had become a part of Noah’s little remnant and had entered that ark of safety. How I wish that thousands more understood that ancient flood. If there were, how many more would understand the peril that faces millions today. Just like in Noah’s day, there is only one place of safety on this earth. It is not a physical ark in the midst of dry land, but it is God’s final church.

Only those who become a part of God’s final church will receive deliverance in the end. “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord as said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.” Joel 2:32. It is only in Mount Zion and Jerusalem, or God’s true final people (Isaiah 51:16), that deliverance will be found. Many will long and pant for deliverance at that day, but they will be swept away. Why? Because they were unwilling to become a part of that small hated group; but no matter how small and hated this group may be in the world’s eyes, it is the apple of God’s eye. He will protect and shield His true people. Not an organization or denomination, but the people who follow the truth, keep the commandments and read and study the spirit of prophecy. Do you want to become a part of those people who will be delivered from this long earthly exile? Do you want to follow the Lord and become a part of His final church? The Lord is extending His loving call to you, what will your answer be? “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” John 10:16.

All emphasis the author’s, unless otherwise stated.
All texts from the New King James Version, unless otherwise noted.

Sources:

  • Truth Triumphant, B.G. Wilkinson, reprinted 1994 by TEACH Services
  • History of the Sabbath, by J. N. Andrews, reprinted 1998 by TEACH Services
  • Wharey’s Church History
  • His Mighty Love, Dr. Ralph Larson, 1995, TEACH Services
  • Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, 1996
  • Webster’s Dictionary, 1929 edition.
  • The Faith of Millions, Father O’Brian, 1974.
  • The New Analytical Greek Lexicon, Wesley Perschbacher, 1990, Hendrickson Publishers.

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When Religion Puts You in the Fire

by Michael C. Wells

When Religion Puts You in the FireHave you ever been under great pressure with a lot depending on your every move? Many people have to deal with this kind of pressure every day. Big business demands that individuals be prepared to make split second decisions that affect large amounts of money. Governments must make similar decisions that may affect the well- being of a whole society. Each one of these situations calls for composure and wise counsel. These are life and death matters, and the pressure is high.

However, can you imagine the pressure you would be under if your religion put you in the fire? You might say, “How could religion put me in the fire? I thought that religion was supposed to get me out of trouble?” Well, many people have been put “in the fire” because of their beliefs. Jesus said, “But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.” (Mark 13: 9.) This has happened time and time again. The early Christians were brutally murdered by the Romans in the 1st and 2nd centuries. Why was this? It was because they would not bow to Caesar and give homage to pagan idols. These are examples of persecution through the state-endorsed religion. State religion has always been a popular theme of governments. It is a way of controlling the masses under their rule. If you can control a person’s religion, you can mold his mind and how he thinks.

Jesus knew that persecution would take place under the auspices of state- endorsed religion and so He again warned us in Matthew 16: 2: “They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.” [Emphasis supplied.] Here we see not rulers and kings, presidents or statesmen persecuting God’s people, but actually those who claim to be God’s people. Astounding, is it not? Can you imagine your pastor, elder or deacon actually persecuting you because you believe something different than they do? Jesus said it will happen, and it has already happened many times in the past.

However, God does not allow us to have trials just to make us suffer. He knows that trials, patiently born, will help us to perfect Christian characters. It takes this testing and trying to ferret out the deep-seated flaws that, sometimes, are known to God alone. It can be a great struggle to overcome our sins, but God says that we can be victorious through the help He offers in the Holy Spirit.

The Golden Dream

Let us look at one example of a state- endorsed religion, which has some interesting parallels for today. It all began around 588 B. C., when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, destroyed Jerusalem and took captive the house of Judah, which is known to us today as the Jewish nation. It was his policy to take certain strong, intelligent young men and groom them to work in the administration of the government. So Nebuchadnezzar selected from the Jewish captives several young men who seemed to have quite a knack for facts and figures. He trained them and tutored them to be leaders. There were four young men who were not like the rest of his students. They were God fearing, humble gentlemen that loved the Lord with all their heart. Their names were Hanniah, Mishael, Azariah, and Daniel, and they were given the Babylonian names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego, and Belteshazzar. The Bible says that Daniel had determined not to defile himself with the meat and wine that God had told him he should not use. Daniel had made a study of the Scriptures to see what was acceptable to God, and honored Him in all that he did. So when Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, Daniel plead with the Lord that he might know and understand the dream. Because of his dedication, he was given an opportunity to serve God by revealing to King Nebuchadnezzar the meaning of his dream. In the dream, the King had seen an image with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet and toes of clay and iron mixed. (For more information on the dream, read our booklet, Why Hitler Lost.)

King Nebuchadnezzar was interested mainly in the head of gold, which Daniel told him represented his kingdom. Daniel told him, “You, O king, are a king of kings . . . you are this head of gold.” Daniel 2: 37, 38. (Babylon was known at that time as the city of gold. See Isaiah 14: 4.) You can imagine the pride that the king must have felt when he discovered that his kingdom was represented by the beautiful, gold head of the image, but he was not happy that the rest of the image was not also gold. He wanted his kingdom to last forever, but the different metals of the image illustrated that his kingdom would someday fall to another. This infuriated Nebuchadnezzar. He could not stand the thought of his beautiful golden city someday being taken over by another.

When the king had heard the interpretation of the dream, He realized the hand of God in it. He proclaimed to Daniel: “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” Verse 47. The king was so impressed that he showered Daniel with many gifts and promoted him to be “ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.”

It is not likely that Daniel made any friends among the wise men of the kingdom that day. To them, his promotion was an insult. “Imagine having a foreigner ruling over us,” they must have thought. To make things worse, “Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon . . .”

Conflict began to brew in the court of Babylon. The magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans were already jealous of Daniel for being exulted above them, and then these other Hebrews were also shown favoritism over them. At first, when Daniel explained the dream, the wise men were relieved to know that they had been saved from the king’s death decree (for the king had said that the wise men were to die if they could not interpret his dream), but now that the danger was over, petty rivalry and self- exultation proliferated in the minds of all. King Nebuchadnezzar was still reveling in the thoughts of the image that was in his dream. He was an idol worshipper and was greatly impressed with the magnificence of this image. His thoughts turned to building an empire and dynasty of gold. It was not enough that he was the head, he wanted to be the whole image. As he dwelt on this thought, he made the decision to make this a reality. He determined that his image would last forever. It would far excel the one in his dream. His image would represent Babylon in its entire splendor.

The king was so wrapped up in his fantasy of a golden image that he forgot about God and the prophecies that had been shown him. His thoughts were centered on his desire to establish his own power, to make Babylon a wonder of the world. The king’s counselors nurtured the king’s ego by reassigning the meaning of the prophecy so that it would favor the king. They rejected the prophecy as it stood and twisted the truth by misinterpreting and misapplying it to fit their needs.

The Stand Against Idolatry

The king ordered his treasure house to be opened and even emptied, if necessary, to build this entirely gold idol. This image was to be similar to the one in his dream, but even more imposing and quite exquisite. Never before had the Chaldeans built such a massive statue. This idol was to be threescore cubits in height and six cubits in width (approximately 90 feet tall and 18 feet wide). What a sculpture! It is no wonder that this idol, in the midst of an idol worshipping people, would receive praise and worship. The people had never seen anything like it before.

The king made a decree, that at the dedication of the image, all should come and bow down before it in order to show support and allegiance for their king and country. For the special occasion the king ordered the best musicians to perform. They had the horn, the flute, the harp, the lyre, and the psaltery all in a symphony of music. It was to be quite a celebration.

Why did the king go to this length? King Nebuchadnezzar wanted the worship of the people, yet he knew that there might be some resistance if he asked them to bow to him personally. But to show their support for their king and country by bowing down to a great masterpiece of sculpture and splendor, with music playing and emotions high, might actually work.

Always remember, if you give homage to an object, decree, or doctrine that an individual or power sets up, you are really bowing to that person’s or that power’s authority. Notice how God emphasizes this in the record in Daniel. “Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image, which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up . So the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up ; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up .” Daniel 3: 1– 3. The God of heaven wanted to make the point that this image was a representative of Nebuchadnezzar. It was the king that was to be exulted, and the Bible says only God is worthy of worship. It does not go unnoticed by God when man exults himself to be worshipped.

In order to ensure the worship of the people, a decree went forth that at the sound of the music all were to bow in unison to the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. When the day appointed finally came, a vast multitude was gathered on the plain of Dura, not just the noblemen of Babylon, but also present were the leading men from all of the countries which Nebuchadnezzar had conquered. Many of these people were of the house of Judah, as were Daniel’s three friends.

Along with the incentive of wonderful music, there was also a threat of reprisal if one did not obey the decree. Listen to what the coordinator of the event said to the people. “Then a herald cried aloud: ‘to you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the fiery furnace. ’” Daniel 3: 4– 6.

If you were given a choice of bowing to an image or being killed, what would you choose? Would you say, “Well I won’t really worship the image, but in order to save my life, I’ll fake it.” Or maybe you might reason. “I love the Lord, yet my family cannot do without me. How would they survive? So I will kneel down, but I will pray to the Lord as I am bowing down to this image.” Many people try to get around the issue by using this kind of reasoning. They feel that it does not matter if they compromise a little bit, because, they reason, “the Lord knows my heart.” I firmly agree that the Lord does know every heart, but I also know that no man knows his own heart. The Lord proclaims, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Jeremiah 17: 9. It is self- deception to believe that we can get around the commandments of God.

When the beautiful music began to play, the multitude bowed down to the image. This included Jews who were taken to Babylon in captivity. I am sure that they reasoned that they had no choice as slaves in Babylon but to do what they were told. Surely the Lord wanted them to survive! But God knew that not all would bow the knee to this idolatrous symbol of human power. In the midst of this apostasy of idol worship there were three who stood out. They did not bow down to the image but stood their ground for the Lord. The Chaldeans, who were in charge of the kingdom, went to Nebuchadnezzar and accused these three worthies of the Lord. “They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, ‘O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the gold image; and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image, which you have set up. ’” Daniel 3: 9– 12.

Nebuchadnezzar was furious, of course, but he decided to be fair and give them another chance. After all, he had put a lot of time and money into their training. They were valuable members of his cabinet. When Shadrach, Meshach, and AbedNego were brought before the king, Nebuchadnezzar asked them: “is it true . . . that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up?” The three worthies testified to the king of their allegiance to God and their faith in Him. The king, not wanting to lose these men, threatened them with the consequences of their disobedience. “Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace . . .” Daniel 3: 15.

The dye was cast, and the three Hebrews were given two options. They knew the king was serious. The easiest thing to do would be to relent and bow to the image. No one would blame them or condemn them since everyone else had done it, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego were loyal to the God of heaven. They had such a deep love for the Lord that they were determined to keep God’s commandments no matter what. Jesus spoke of this kind of love in John 14: 15 when He said, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.” When you really love someone, you will do everything to make him or her happy. You will show your loyalty to them in word, thought, and deed. Nothing will turn you from your love. This is the kind of love Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego had for the Lord. They would defy the king, yes, even in the face of death, and honor their commitment to God.

The king then made a statement that challenged the three Hebrews and challenged the power and majesty of God. He said, “And who is the God who will deliver you from my hands?” Daniel 3: 15. The Hebrews were ready for this challenge. They had been studying, praying, and preparing for just such an event. They had learned through the events of history, the disaster and dishonor that is attached to disobedience to God. This is why they had kept their minds and bodies under subjection to the God of heaven and His authority. They had not compromised their positions in any aspect of their lives, and they were ready now to answer the king’s challenge. They answered calmly, “If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O King, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Daniel 3: 17,18.

Faith and Persecution

Daniel’s three friends proclaimed to the king their assurance of the saving grace of their God. They knew of His unlimited power to overcome any obstacle in His path, yet they did not try to limit God or be presumptuous in their confidence in His ability to save them. They did, however, make it clear to the king that they would not do as he asked. Notice that their defiance was not against the authority of Nebuchadnezzar as their king. They did not revile him or say that they did not respect him. They were ever respectful and courteous to the king, but made it clear to him why they would not obey. “We do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego had taken a stand against apostasy, against those who would have them believe that strict obedience to God’s commandments is not warranted. They were willing to die, standing for the truth of God, rather than to live bowing to the authority of man. We, too, have this choice in our lives. Men are constantly trying to exult their ideas of proper worship over and above what God says. If we are to be found worthy, by the God of heaven, as these three Hebrews were, we must first know and then keep the commandments of God, loving not our lives to death.

King Nebuchadnezzar was not a happy man. He was so infuriated that he commanded that the fiery furnace be stoked up seven times hotter. As the fire was prepared, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego were bound by the kings’ mighty soldiers. The king then commanded that they be thrown into the furnace.

Have you ever built a bonfire that was so hot that you could not even get very close to it? Imagine a furnace that is at least ten times hotter than any bonfire you have experienced. You would be instantly killed if you got too close to the heat. As the king’s men threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego into the fire, it was so exceedingly hot, that the flames killed them, instantly.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego fell down in the fiery furnace bound from head to toe. There seemed to be no more hope for these three Hebrews. They were now in the fire where their religion had put them . God had not kept them from being placed there. Yet God was still with them. He has promised to be with us through life and even unto death. He has never promised that we would not have to go through the fire of persecution. In fact, the Apostle Paul writes: “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3: 12. However, our God is a God of “exceedingly great and precious promises,” (2 Peter 1: 4) that pertain to life and life everlasting. He will always be there to help us through the trials of life and the tribulations of this world.

As King Nebuchadnezzar watched the events unfolding before his eyes, he became astonished and amazed. He could not believe what he now saw in the fire. His soldiers, who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego into the fire, lay dead before the furnace, the breath sucked out of their lungs and their bodies burned from the intense heat. In the fire, however, he saw an astonishing sight. There, in the midst of the flames, walking free of their bonds, were the three worthies, and also another walking in the midst of the flames.

Through his connection with Daniel and his three friends, the king had learned much about their God and the promised Saviour who was to come for the salvation of all who give their lives freely to Him. As he peered into the furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar recognized the Saviour whom he had heard so much about. He hastily spoke to his counselors, those who were instrumental in accusing the three Hebrews, and asked them to clarify what had been done. “‘ Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? ’ They answered and said to the king, ‘True, O king. ’ ‘Look! ’ he answered, ‘I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. ’” Daniel 3: 24, 25.

The king recognized the hand of God at work and called out to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego to come from the midst of the fire. He called them the “servants of the Most High God.” The king, for the second time, had been put in contact with the King of the Universe. Again, he had been humbled and given an opportunity to see the power and goodness of God.

When the three men came out of the fiery furnace, all the counselors gathered around them and found not a hair singed, nor any smell of fire on them. It was as if they were never in the fire! “By the deliverance of His faithful servants, the Lord declared that He takes His stand with the oppressed, and rebukes all earthly powers that rebel against the authority of Heaven. The three Hebrews declared to the whole nation of Babylon their faith in Him whom they worshiped. They relied on God. In the hour of their trial they remembered the promise, ‘When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. ’ Isaiah 43: 2. And in a marvelous manner their faith in the living Word had been honored in the sight of all. The tidings of their wonderful deliverance were carried to many countries by the representatives of the different nations that had been invited by Nebuchadnezzar to the dedication. Through the faithfulness of His children, God was glorified in all the earth.” Prophets and Kings, 511, by Ellen G. White.

The Lord will not always keep us out of the fire, but He has promised to go with us in the fire. He will be our comfort and our strength. He will guide us and help us through the trials. He will loose our bindings and heal up our wounds as he did for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego.

A New Decree

All thoughts of the great golden image were forgotten. All the ceremony and pomp, which seems to always go along with religions of the State, was ignored as the people and the king were astonished at the turn of events. King Nebuchadnezzar, in humility and reverence, now made a new decree. “Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any God except their own God! Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this. ’” Daniel 3: 28, 29.

It was right for Nebuchadnezzar to confess his mistake before his people, but he had not yet learned the lesson that the Lord was trying to teach him. In making another decree, this time demanding the worship of the God of heaven, he had again become the religious conscience of his subjects. It was no better to demand the worship of the true God of heaven than it was to demand the worship of a golden image of a man. God gives to every man the freedom to worship Him if he chooses, or not to worship him if that is his choice. He does not force worship, but desires that it be from a free and willing heart. If God Himself would not force men to worship Him, why would men presume to do for God would not do Himself? No man, who understands God’s government, can dictate to another how to worship God. We should present the truths of the Word of God, but we should never legislate the worship of God in any way.

Legislating Worship

Speaking of the last days, which we are now living in, the Bible says: “ . . . and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time, and at that time your people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” (Daniel 12: 1,10.) A great persecution is coming upon the land, and we need to be ready to stand as Daniel’s three friends stood their trial. According to Bible prophecy, soon a decree will be issued to all of the earth by men who have twisted the Word of God to put forth certain laws that seem to be moral and righteous.

During the Dark Ages, thousands of people lost their lives because they would not submit to the authority of the state. The government ruled both church and state, and decreed how a person should worship and what they should believe. Many false doctrines were promoted in favor of a more widespread influence and the continual growth of the church. These same doctrines have filtered down through the ages and have played a big part in the molding and shaping of the churches today.

Through religion, men, in the last days, will again try to mold and shape the minds of the masses to submit to the false doctrines of men. An “image” will be created in the likeness of these false doctrines. An image does not have to be a statue as was the case in the days of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego; it can be a system that takes its ideas and doctrines from another system. Remember that an image is a likeness of something else. When you look in the mirror, you are not looking at yourself, but at an image of yourself. A photograph of you is not you, but an image of what you look like. So it is with an image of a system. It is not the system itself, but it is made in the likeness of the former system. In Revelation 13, we see two beast powers, one coming from the sea, and the other coming from the earth. All the world worships the first beast power (Revelation 13: 4), but the second beast creates an “image to the first beast” and “exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” Revelation 13: 12.

There are two ways to persuade people to do as you want then to do. You can force them or deceive them. This beast power will use both methods to entice all who dwell on the earth to receive the mark of the beast. He will also use miracles and signs to make the deception appear even more truthful and righteous. “He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” Revelation 13: 13– 15.

The Apostle Paul, speaking of the same power writes, “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” II Thessalonians 2: 9,10.

God is not the only one who can work miracles. Satan uses the senses to deceive people by playing on their emotions. Miracles have become very common these days. We hear about miraculous recoveries from disease, apparitions in the sky, and icons that bleed or cry. We hear of visions appearing on windows and secret messages being given to people by the dead. How do we know what is of God and what is not? The Bible says, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is not light in them.” Isaiah 8: 20. We must judge everything by the law of God and the counsel of His prophets. We cannot look to emotion or the excitement of our senses, but to the word of God.

This is very true today as we wade through the mess of truth mixed with error. As the “image” to the beast is set up, we will have to judge the truth, not by what we have been taught or by men’s words (even ministers), but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The deception of our time will be as strong as any time before. This image will be worshipped for one of two reasons, just as in the days of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego. Either we will believe the lie that has been put forth as the majority of the people of Babylon did, or we will submit the authority of governments for our livelihood, as did all those Jews who bowed to the golden image. We have a choice to make in our lives today. Will we stand firm for the truth of God’s word, will we reject the false teachings that are taking over the church today, will we love not our lives to death, or will we give in to the world and the image of the beast? Here is God’s warning for us today. “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.” Revelation 14: 9,10.

This is the experience of those who will reject the counsel that God is giving today. The image of the beast will appear to provide temporal security for a short span of time, but eternal death will result from following this image. And so God invites you to take your stand for him today, and His promise is, “Though you may be persecuted for My sake, though you may be killed because of your love for Me, I will go through the fire with you, comforting you as you go.” Our choices are clear. One will lead to eternal life with God, no more pain, sorrow, or sickness. The other will lead to everlasting destruction. What will your choice be?

All Bible references are taken from the New King James Bible unless otherwise indicated.

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The Battle of Armageddon

by Ellen G. White

Armageddon is the name given in Revelation 16 to the scene of the final conflict between the forces of evil and the forces of good. It is apparently derived from the Hebrew word for mountain and the word Megiddo, an ancient city near Mount Carmel and was the site of many battles in the history of Israel.

Much speculation concerning this battle by many authors, statesmen and others has occurred in the twentieth century. At the time of World War I many started talking about Armageddon. Many believed that World War I would be Armageddon and be a war to end all wars. But it did not turn out that way. World War II became an even worse tragedy. But World War II was not Armageddon either. Armageddon will be even worse than that. A well-known woman writer has described not only the battle of Armageddon in its physical sense, but also its spiritual ramifications which affect the destiny of all mankind. A brief synopsis which she wrote concerning the final outcome of the battle of Armageddon is below.

Death and Mourning

“Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.… In the cup, which she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.” Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, … saying, ‘Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.’” Revelation 18:5-10.

“The merchants of the earth,” that have “waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies,” “shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to naught.’” Revelation 18:11, 9, 10, 15-17. Such are the judgments that fall upon Babylon in the day of the visitation of God’s wrath. She has filled up the measure of her iniquity; her time has come; she is ripe for destruction. When the voice of God turns the captivity of His people, there is a terrible awakening of those who have lost all in the great conflict of life. While probation continued they were blinded by Satan’s deceptions, and they justified their course of sin. The rich prided themselves upon their superiority to those who were less favored; but they had obtained their riches by violation of the law of God. They had neglected to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to deal justly, and to love mercy. They had sought to exalt themselves and to obtain the homage of their fellow creatures. Now they are stripped of all that made them great and are left destitute and defenseless. They look with terror upon the destruction of the idols, which they preferred before their Maker. They have sold their souls for earthly riches and enjoyments, and have not sought to become rich toward God. The result is their lives are a failure; their pleasures are now turned to gall, their treasures to corruption. The gain of a lifetime is swept away in a moment. The rich bemoan the destruction of their grand houses, the scattering of their gold and silver. But their lamentations are silenced by the fear that they themselves are to perish with their idols. The wicked are filled with regret, not because of their sinful neglect of God and their fellow men, but because God has conquered. They lament that the result is what it is; but they do not repent of their wickedness. They would leave no means untried to conquer if they could. The world sees the very class whom they have mocked and derided, and desired to exterminate, pass unharmed through pestilence, tempest, and earthquake. He who is to the transgressors of His law a devouring fire, is to His people a safe pavilion. The minister who has sacrificed truth to gain the favor of men now discerns the character and influence of his teachings. It is apparent that the omniscient eye was following him as he stood in the desk, as he walked the streets, as he mingled with men in the various scenes of life. Every emotion of the soul, every line written, every word uttered, every act that led men to rest in a refuge of falsehood, has been scattering seed; and now, in the wretched, lost souls around him, he beholds the harvest. Saith the Lord: “They have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace;’ when there is no peace.” “With lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.” Jeremiah 8:11; Ezekiel 13:22. ”Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! …Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings.” “Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for your days for slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; … and the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.” Jeremiah 23:1, 2; 25:34, 35, margin. Ministers and people see that they have not sustained the right relation to God. They see that they have rebelled against the Author of all just and righteous law. The setting aside of the divine precepts gave rise to thousands of springs of evil, discord, hatred, iniquity, until the earth became one vast field of strife, one sink of corruption. This is the view that now appears to those who rejected truth and chose to cherish error. No language can express the longing which the disobedient and disloyal feel for that which they have lost forever—eternal life. Men whom the world has worshiped for their talents and eloquence now see these things in their true light. They realize what they have forfeited by transgression, and they fall at the feet of those whose fidelity they have despised and derided, and confess that God has loved them. The people see that they have been deluded. They accuse one another of having led them to destruction; but all unite in heaping their bitterest condemnation upon the ministers. Unfaithful pastors have prophesied smooth things; they have led their hearers to make void the law of God and to persecute those who would keep it holy. Now, in their despair, these teachers confess before the world their work of deception. The multitudes are filled with fury. ‘We are lost!’ they cry, ‘and you are the cause of our ruin;’ and they turn upon the false shepherds. The very ones that once admired them most will pronounce the most dreadful curses upon them. The very hands that once crowned them with laurels will be raised for their destruction. The swords which were to slay God’s people are now employed to destroy their enemies. Everywhere there is strife and bloodshed. “A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, He will plead with all flesh; He will give them that are wicked to the sword.” Jeremiah 25:31.

The Great Controversy

For six thousand years the great controversy has been in progress; the Son of God and His heavenly messengers have been in conflict with the power of the evil one, to warn, enlighten, and save the children of men. Now all have made their decisions; the wicked have fully united with Satan in his warfare against God. The time has come for God to vindicate the authority of His downtrodden law. Now the controversy is not alone with Satan, but with men. “The Lord hath a controversy with the nations;” “He will give them that are wicked to the sword.” The mark of deliverance has been set upon those “that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done.” Now the angel of death goes forth, represented in Ezekiel’s vision by the men with the slaughtering weapons, to whom the command is given: “Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” Says the prophet: “They began at the ancient men which were before the house.” Ezekiel 9:1-6. The work of destruction begins among those who have professed to be the spiritual guardians of the people. The false watchmen are the first to fall. There are none to pity or to spare. Men, women, maidens, and little children perish together. “The Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” Isaiah 26:21. “And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor.” Zechariah 14:12, 13. In the mad strife of their own fierce passions, and by the awful outpouring of God’s unmingled wrath, fall the wicked inhabitants of the earth—priests, rulers, and people, rich and poor, high and low. “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried.” Jeremiah 25:33.

Blotted Out

At the coming of Christ the wicked are blotted from the face of the whole earth—consumed with the spirit of His mouth and destroyed by the brightness of His glory. Christ takes His people to the City of God, and the earth is emptied of its inhabitants. “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” “The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.” “Because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned.” Isaiah 24:1, 3, 5, 6. The whole earth appears like a desolate wilderness. The ruins of cities and villages destroyed by the earthquake, uprooted trees, ragged rocks thrown out by the sea or torn out of the earth itself, are scattered over its surface, while vast caverns mark the spot where the mountains have been rent from their foundations.

Now the event takes place foreshadowed in the last solemn service of the Day of Atonement. When the ministration in the holy of holies had been completed, and the sins of Israel had been removed from the sanctuary by virtue of the blood of the sin offering, then the scapegoat was presented alive before the Lord; and in the presence of the congregation the high priest confessed over him “all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat.” Leviticus 16:21. In like manner, when the work of atonement in the heavenly sanctuary has been completed, then in the presence of God and heavenly angels and the hosts of the redeemed the sins of God’s people will be placed upon Satan; he will be declared guilty of all the evil which he has caused them to commit. And as the scapegoat was sent away into a land not inhabited, so Satan will be banished to the desolate earth, an uninhabited and dreary wilderness. The Revelator foretells the banishment of Satan and the condition of chaos and desolation to which the earth is to be reduced, and he declares that this condition will exist for a thousand years.

Bound For a Thousand Years

After presenting the scenes of the Lord’s Second Coming and the destruction of the wicked, the prophecy continues: “I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” Revelation 20:1-3. That the expression “bottomless pit” represents the earth in a state of confusion and darkness is evident from other scriptures. Concerning the condition of the earth “in the beginning,” the Bible record says that it “was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” Genesis 1:2. [THE HEBREW WORD HERE TRANSLATED “DEEP” IS RENDERED IN THE SEPTUAGINT (GREEK) TRANSLATION OF THE HEBREW OLD TESTAMENT BY THE SAME WORD RENDERED “BOTTOMLESS PIT” IN REVELATION 20:1-3.] Prophecy teaches that it will be brought back, partially at least, to this condition. Looking forward to the great day of God, the prophet Jeremiah declares: “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down.” Jeremiah 4:23-26. Here is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years. Limited to the earth, he will not have access to other worlds to tempt and annoy those who have never fallen. It is in this sense that he is bound: there are none remaining, upon whom he can exercise his power. He is wholly cut off from the work of deception and ruin which for so many centuries has been his sole delight. The prophet Isaiah, looking forward to the time of Satan’s overthrow, exclaims: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! …Thou hast said in thine heart, ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: . . . I will be like the Most High.’ Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, ‘Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?’” Isaiah 14:12-17. For six thousand years, Satan’s work of rebellion has “made the earth to tremble.” He had “made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof.” And he “opened not the house of his prisoners.” For six thousand years his prison house has received God’s people, and he would have held them captive forever; but Christ had broken his bonds and set the prisoners free. Even the wicked are now placed beyond the power of Satan, and alone with his evil angels he remains to realize the effect of the curse which sin has brought. “The kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, everyone in his own house [the grave]. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch..…Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people.” Isaiah 14:18-20

For a thousand years, Satan will wander to and fro in the desolate earth to behold the results of his rebellion against the law of God. During this time his sufferings are intense. Since his fall his life of unceasing activity has banished reflection; but he is now deprived of his power and left to contemplate the part which he has acted since first he rebelled against the government of heaven, and to look forward with trembling and terror to the dreadful future when he must suffer for all the evil that he has done and be punished for the sins that he has caused to be committed. To God’s people the captivity of Satan will bring gladness and rejoicing. Says the prophet: “It shall come to pass in the day that Jehovah shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and from the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon [here representing Satan], and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! …Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers; that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained.” Verses 3-6, R.V.

Judgment Meted Out

During the thousand years between the first and the second resurrection the judgment of the wicked takes place. The apostle Paul points to this judgment as an event that follows the Second Advent. “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.” 1 Corinthians 4:5. Daniel declares that when the Ancient of Days came, “judgment was given to the saints of the Most High.” Daniel 7:22. At this time the righteous reign as kings and priests unto God. John in the Revelation says: “I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.” “They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4, 6. It is at this time that, as foretold by Paul, “the saints shall judge the world.” 1 Corinthians 6:2. In union with Christ they judge the wicked, comparing their acts with the statute book, the Bible, and deciding every case according to the deeds done in the body. Then the portion which the wicked must suffer is meted out, according to their works; and it is recorded against their names in the book of death. Satan also and evil angels are judged by Christ and His people. Says Paul: “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” Verse 3. And Jude declares that “the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Jude 6.

Jesus Comes Again

At the close of the thousand years the second resurrection will take place. Then the wicked will be raised from the dead and appear before God for the execution of “the judgment written.” Thus the Revelator, after describing the resurrection of the righteous, says: “The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” Revelation 20:5. And Isaiah declares, concerning the wicked: “They shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.” Isaiah 24:22. At the close of the thousand years, Christ again returns to the earth. He is accompanied by the host of the redeemed and attended by a retinue of angels. As He descends in terrific majesty He bids the wicked dead arise to receive their doom. They come forth, a mighty host, numberless as the sands of the sea. What a contrast to those who were raised at the first resurrection! The righteous were clothed with immortal youth and beauty. The wicked bear the traces of disease and death. Every eye in that vast multitude is turned to behold the glory of the Son of God. With one voice the wicked hosts exclaim: “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!” It is not love to Jesus that inspires this utterance. The force of truth urges the words from unwilling lips. As the wicked went into their graves, so they come forth with the same enmity to Christ and the same spirit of rebellion. They are to have no new probation in which to remedy the defects of their past lives. Nothing would be gained by this. A lifetime of transgression has not softened their hearts. A second probation, were it given them, would be occupied as was the first, in evading the requirements of God and exciting rebellion against Him. Christ descends upon the Mount of Olives, whence, after His resurrection, He ascended, and where angels repeated the promise of His return. Says the prophet: “The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee.” “And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof, …and there shall be a very great valley.” “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one.” Zechariah 14:5, 4, 9.

The New Jerusalem

As the New Jerusalem, in its dazzling splendor, comes down out of heaven, it rests upon the place purified and made ready to receive it, and Christ, with His people and the angels, enters the Holy City. Now Satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for the supremacy. While deprived of his power and cut off from his work of deception, the prince of evil was miserable and dejected; but as the wicked dead are raised and he sees the vast multitudes upon his side, his hopes revive, and he determines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshal all the armies of the lost under his banner and through them endeavor to execute his plans. The wicked are Satan’s captives. In rejecting Christ they have accepted the rule of the rebel leader. They are ready to receive his suggestions and to do his bidding. Yet, true to his early cunning, he does not acknowledge himself to be Satan. He claims to be the prince who is the rightful owner of the world and whose inheritance has been unlawfully wrested from him. He represents himself to his deluded subjects as a redeemer, assuring them that his power has brought them forth from their graves and that he is about to rescue them from the most cruel tyranny. The presence of Christ having been removed, Satan works wonders to support his claims. He makes the weak strong and inspires all with his own spirit and energy. He proposes to lead them against the camp of the saints and to take possession of the City of God. With fiendish exultation he points to the unnumbered millions who have been raised from the dead and declares that as their leader he is well able to overthrow the city and regain his throne and his kingdom.

The Final Thrust

In that vast throng are multitudes of the long-lived race that existed before the Flood; men of lofty stature and giant intellect, who, yielding to the control of fallen angels, devoted all their skill and knowledge to the exaltation of themselves; men whose wonderful works of art led the world to idolize their genius, but whose cruelty and evil inventions, defiling the earth and defacing the image of God, caused Him to blot them from the face of His creation. There are kings and generals who conquered nations, valiant men who never lost a battle, proud, ambitious warriors whose approach made kingdoms tremble. In death these experienced no change. As they come up from the grave, they resume the current of their thoughts just where it ceased. They are actuated by the same desire to conquer that ruled them when they fell. Satan consults with his angels, and then with these kings and conquerors and mighty men. They look upon the strength and numbers on their side, and declare that the army within the city is small in comparison with theirs, and that it can be overcome. They lay their plans to take possession of the riches and glory of the New Jerusalem. All immediately begin to prepare for battle. Skillful artisans construct implements of war. Military leaders, famed for their success, marshal the throngs of warlike men into companies and divisions. At last the order to advance is given, and the countless host moves on—an army such as was never summoned by earthly conquerors, such as the combined forces of all ages since war began on earth could never equal. Satan, the mightiest of warriors, leads the van, and his angels unite their forces for this final struggle. Kings and warriors are in his train, and the multitudes follow in vast companies, each under its appointed leader. With military precision the serried ranks advance over the earth’s broken and uneven surface to the City of God.

The Brightness of His Presence

By command of Jesus, the gates of the New Jerusalem are closed, and the armies of Satan surround the city and make ready for the onset. Now Christ again appears to the view of His enemies. Far above the city, upon a foundation of burnished gold, is a throne, high and lifted up. Upon this throne sits the Son of God, and around Him are the subjects of His kingdom. The power and majesty of Christ no language can describe, no pen portray. The glory of the Eternal Father is enshrouding His Son. The brightness of His presence fills the City of God, and flows out beyond the gates, flooding the whole earth with its radiance.

Nearest the throne are those who were once zealous in the cause of Satan, but who, plucked as brands from the burning, have followed their Saviour with deep, intense devotion. Next are those who perfected Christian characters in the midst of falsehood and infidelity, those who honored the law of God when the Christian world declared it void, and the millions of all ages, who were martyred for their faith. And beyond is the “great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,…before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” Revelation 7:9. Their warfare is ended, their victory won. They have run the race and reached the prize. The palm branch in their hands is a symbol of their triumph, the white robe an emblem of the spotless righteousness of Christ which now is theirs. The redeemed raise a song of praise that echoes and re-echoes through the vaults of heaven: “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” Revelation 7:10. And angel and seraph unite their voices in adoration. As the redeemed have beheld the power and malignity of Satan, they have seen, as never before, that no power but that of Christ could have made them conquerors. In all that shining throng there are none to ascribe salvation to themselves, as if they had prevailed by their own power and goodness. Nothing is said of what they have done or suffered; but the burden of every song, the keynote of every anthem, is: “Salvation to our God and unto the Lamb.”

The Final Coronation

In the presence of the assembled inhabitants of earth and heaven the final coronation of the Son of God takes place. And now, invested with supreme majesty and power, the King of kings pronounces sentence upon the rebels against His government and executes justice upon those who have transgressed His law and oppressed His people. Says the prophet of God: “I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Revelation 20:11, 12. As soon as the books of record are opened, and the eye of Jesus looks upon the wicked, they are conscious of every sin which they have ever committed. They see just where their feet diverged from the path of purity and holiness, just how far pride and rebellion have carried them in the violation of the law of God. The seductive temptations which they encouraged by indulgence in sin, the blessings perverted, the messengers of God despised, the warnings rejected, the waves of mercy beaten back by the stubborn, unrepentant heart—all appear as if written in letters of fire.

Panoramic View

Above the throne is revealed the cross; and like a panoramic view appear the scenes of Adam’s temptation and fall, and the successive steps in the great plan of redemption. The Saviour’s lowly birth; His early life of simplicity and obedience; His baptism in Jordan; the fast and temptation in the wilderness; His public ministry, unfolding to men heaven’s most precious blessings; the days crowded with deeds of love and mercy, the nights of prayer and watching in the solitude of the mountains; the plottings of envy, hate, and malice which repaid His benefits; the awful, mysterious agony in Gethsemane beneath the crushing weight of the sins of the whole world; His betrayal into the hands of the murderous mob; the fearful events of that night of horror—the unresisting prisoner, forsaken by His best-loved disciples, rudely hurried through the streets of Jerusalem; the Son of God exultingly displayed before Annas, arraigned in the high priest’s palace, in the judgment hall of Pilate, before the cowardly and cruel Herod, mocked, insulted, tortured, and condemned to die—all are vividly portrayed. And now before the swaying multitude are revealed the final scenes—the patient Sufferer treading the path to Calvary; the Prince of heaven hanging upon the cross; the haughty priests and the jeering rabble deriding His expiring agony; the supernatural darkness; the heaving earth, the rent rocks, the open graves, marking the moment when the world’s Redeemer yielded up His life. The awful spectacle appears just as it was.

Satan, his angels, and his subjects have no power to turn from the picture of their own work. Each actor recalls the part which he performed. Herod, who slew the innocent children of Bethlehem that he might destroy the King of Israel; the base Herodias, upon whose guilty soul rests the blood of John the Baptist; the weak, timeserving Pilate; the mocking soldiers; the priests and rulers and the maddened throng who cried, “His blood be on us, and on our children!”—all behold the enormity of their guilt. They vainly seek to hide from the divine majesty of His countenance, outshining the glory of the sun, while the redeemed cast their crowns at the Saviour’s feet, exclaiming: “He died for me!”

Arraigned at the Bar of God

Amid the ransomed throng are the apostles of Christ, the heroic Paul, the ardent Peter, the loved and loving John, and their truehearted brethren, and with them the vast host of martyrs; while outside the walls, with every vile and abominable thing, are those by whom they were persecuted, imprisoned, and slain. There is Nero, that monster of cruelty and vice, beholding the joy and exaltation of those whom he once tortured, and in whose extremest anguish he found satanic delight. His mother is there to witness the result of her own work; to see how the evil stamp of character transmitted to her son, the passions encouraged and developed by her influence and example, have borne fruit in crimes that caused the world to shudder. There are papist priests and prelates who claimed to be Christ’s ambassadors, yet employed the rack, the dungeon, and the stake to control the consciences of His people. There are the proud pontiffs who exalted themselves above God and presumed to change the law of the Most High. Those pretended fathers of the church have an account to render to God from which they would fain be excused. Too late they are made to see that the Omniscient One is jealous of His law and that He will in no wise clear the guilty. They learn now that Christ identifies His interest with that of His suffering people; and they feel the force of His own words: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.” Matthew 25:40.

The whole wicked world stands arraigned at the bar of God on the charge of high treason against the government of heaven. They have none to plead their cause; they are without excuse; and the sentence of eternal death is pronounced against them. It is now evident to all that the wages of sin is not noble independence and eternal life, but slavery, ruin, and death. The wicked see what they have forfeited by their life of rebellion. The far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory was despised when offered them; but how desirable it now appears. “All this,” cries the lost soul, “I might have had; but I chose to put these things far from me. Oh, strange infatuation! I have exchanged peace, happiness, and honor for wretchedness, infamy, and despair.” All see that their exclusion from heaven is just. By their lives they have declared: “We will not have this Man [Jesus] to reign over us.” As if entranced, the wicked have looked upon the coronation of the Son of God. They see in His hands the tables of the divine law, the statutes which they have despised and transgressed. They witness the outburst of wonder, rapture, and adoration from the saved; and as the wave of melody sweeps over the multitudes without the city, all with one voice exclaim, “Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints” Revelation 15:3; and, falling prostrate, they worship the Prince of life.

The Arch-deceiver Unmasked

Satan seems paralyzed as he beholds the glory and majesty of Christ. He who was once a covering cherub remembers whence he has fallen. A shining seraph, “son of the morning;” how changed, how degraded! From the council where once he was honored, he is forever excluded. He sees another now standing near to the Father, veiling His glory. He has seen the crown placed upon the head of Christ by an angel of lofty stature and majestic presence, and he knows that the exalted position of this angel might have been his. Memory recalls the home of his innocence and purity, the peace and content that were his until he indulged in murmuring against God, and envy of Christ. His accusations, his rebellion, his deceptions to gain the sympathy and support of the angels, his stubborn persistence in making no effort for self-recovery when God would have granted him forgiveness—all come vividly before him. He reviews his work among men and its results—the enmity of man toward his fellow man, the terrible destruction of life, the rise and fall of kingdoms, the overturning of thrones, the long succession of tumults, conflicts, and revolutions. He recalls his constant efforts to oppose the work of Christ and to sink man lower and lower. He sees that his hellish plots have been powerless to destroy those who have put their trust in Jesus. As Satan looks upon his kingdom, the fruit of his toil, he sees only failure and ruin. He has led the multitudes to believe that the City of God would be an easy prey; but he knows that this is false. Again and again, in the progress of the great controversy, he has been defeated and compelled to yield. He knows too well the power and majesty of the Eternal. The aim of the great rebel has ever been to justify himself and to prove the divine government responsible for the rebellion. To this end he has bent all the power of his giant intellect. He has worked deliberately and systematically, and with marvelous success, leading vast multitudes to accept his version of the great controversy which has been so long in progress. For thousands of years this chief of conspiracy has palmed off falsehood for truth. But the time has now come when the rebellion is to be finally defeated and the history and character of Satan disclosed. In his last great effort to dethrone Christ, destroy His people, and take possession of the City of God, the archdeceiver has been fully unmasked. Those who have united with him see the total failure of his cause. Christ’s followers and the loyal angels behold the full extent of his machinations against the government of God. He is the object of universal abhorrence. Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for heaven. He has trained his powers to war against God; the purity, peace, and harmony of heaven would be to him supreme torture. His accusations against the mercy and justice of God are now silenced. The reproach which he has endeavored to cast upon Jehovah rests wholly upon himself. And now Satan bows down and confesses the justice of his sentence. “Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest.” Revelation 15:4. Every question of truth and error in the long-standing controversy has now been made plain. The results of rebellion, the fruits of setting aside the divine statutes, have been laid open to the view of all created intelligences. The working out of Satan’s rule in contrast with the government of God has been presented to the whole universe. Satan’s own works have condemned him. God’s wisdom, His justice, and His goodness stand fully vindicated. It is seen that all His dealings in the great controversy have been conducted with respect to the eternal good of His people and the good of all the worlds that He has created. “All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord; and Thy saints shall bless Thee.” Psalm 145:10.

The history of sin will stand to all eternity as a witness that with the existence of God’s law is bound up the happiness of all the beings He has created. With all the facts of the great controversy in view, the whole universe, both loyal and rebellious, with one accord declare: “Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints.” Before the universe has been clearly presented the great sacrifice made by the Father and the Son in man’s behalf. The hour has come when Christ occupies His rightful position and is glorified above principalities and powers and every name that is named. It was for the joy that was set before Him—that He might bring many sons unto glory—that He endured the cross and despised the shame. And inconceivably great as was the sorrow and the shame, yet greater is the joy and the glory. He looks upon the redeemed, renewed in His own image, every heart bearing the perfect impress of the divine, every face reflecting the likeness of their King. He beholds in them the result of the travail of His soul, and He is satisfied. Then, in a voice that reaches the assembled multitudes of the righteous and the wicked, He declares: “Behold the purchase of My blood! For these I suffered, for these I died, that they might dwell in My presence throughout eternal ages.” And the song of praise ascends from the white-robed ones about the throne: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.” Revelation 5:12.

Notwithstanding that Satan has been constrained to acknowledge God’s justice and to bow to the supremacy of Christ, his character remains unchanged. The spirit of rebellion, like a mighty torrent, again bursts forth. Filled with frenzy, he determines not to yield the great controversy. The time has come for a last desperate struggle against the King of heaven. He rushes into the midst of his subjects and endeavors to inspire them with his own fury and arouse them to instant battle. But of all the countless millions whom he has allured into rebellion, there are none now to acknowledge his supremacy. His power is at an end. The wicked are filled with the same hatred of God that inspires Satan; but they see that their case is hopeless, that they cannot prevail against Jehovah. Their rage is kindled against Satan and those who have been his agents in deception, and with the fury of demons they turn upon them. Saith the Lord: “Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit.” “I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire….I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee….I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee….Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.” Ezekiel 28:6–8, 16–19. “Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.” “The indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He hath utterly destroyed them, He hath delivered them to the slaughter.” “Upon the wicked He shall rain quick burning coals, fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.” Isaiah 9:5; 34:2; Psalm 11:6, margin.”

“Every form of evil is to spring into intense activity. Evil angels unite their powers with evil men, and as they have been in constant conflict and attained an experience in the best modes of deception and battle, and have been strengthening for centuries, they will not yield the last great final contest without a desperate struggle. All the world will be on one side or the other of the question. The battle of Armageddon will be fought, and that day must find none of us sleeping.The battle of Armageddon will be fought, and that day must find none of us sleeping. Wide awake we must be, as wise virgins having oil in our vessels with our lamps. The power of the Holy Ghost must be upon us and the Captain of the Lord’s host will stand at the head of the angels of heaven to direct the battle. Solemn events before us are yet to transpire. Trumpet after trumpet is to be sounded; vial after vial poured out one after another upon the inhabitants of the earth. Scenes of stupendous interest are right upon us and these things will be sure indications of the presence of Him who has directed in every aggressive movement, who has accompanied the march of His cause through all the ages, and who has graciously pledged Himself to be with His people in all their conflicts to the end of the world. He will vindicate His truth. He will cause it to triumph. He is ready to supply His faithful ones with motives and power of purpose, inspiring them with hope and courage and valor in increased activity as the time is at hand.”

The End of Sin

“Fire comes down from God out of heaven. The earth is broken up. The weapons concealed in its depths are drawn forth. Devouring flames burst from every yawning chasm. The very rocks are on fire. The day has come that shall burn as an oven. The elements melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein are burned up. Malachi 4:1; 2 Peter 3:10. The earth’s surface seems one molten mass—a vast, seething lake of fire. It is the time of the judgment and perdition of ungodly men—”the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.” Isaiah 34:8. The wicked receive their recompense in the earth. Proverbs 11:31. They “shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 4:1. Some are destroyed as in a moment, while others suffer many days. All are punished “according to their deeds.” The sins of the righteous having been transferred to Satan, he is made to suffer not only for his own rebellion, but for all the sins which he has caused God’s people to commit. His punishment is to be far greater than that of those whom he has deceived. After all have perished who fell by his deceptions, he is still to live and suffer on. In the cleansing flames the wicked are at last destroyed, root and branch—Satan the root, his followers the branches. The full penalty of the law has been visited; the demands of justice have been met; and heaven and earth, beholding, declare the righteousness of Jehovah.”

“Satan’s work of ruin is forever ended. For six thousand years he has wrought his will, filling the earth with woe and causing grief throughout the universe. The whole creation has groaned and travailed together in pain. Now God’s creatures are forever delivered from his presence and temptations. “The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they [the righteous] break forth into singing.” Isaiah 14:7. And a shout of praise and triumph ascends from the whole loyal universe. “The voice of a great multitude,” “as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings,” is heard, saying: “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” Revelation 19:6.”

Resources

  • Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 470–488.
  • Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, 286–287.
  • The Great Controversy, 673.

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Your Last Night on Earth

by Cody Francis

Your Last Night on EarthHave you ever stopped to consider that at some point in time you will have reached your last night on planet earth? This time will come for each and every person alive today. One day you will wake up for the last time. You might eat breakfast and walk out your front door, never more to do so again. You will work your last day. Drive your car for the last time. You will say the last words to your family. To everyone this will not happen at the same time, but to everyone it will happen. For absolutely everyone who is alive, as with everyone who has ever been alive, there will be a last night on earth. None know when that will be, but like it or not, your last night on earth is coming. For the last generation living on planet earth, the last night will come all at once, as a sudden, overwhelming surprise to the inhabitants of earth. Your last night on earth is coming sooner than many think? Are you prepared for your last night? Do you know what your last night will be like? Several illustrations that deserve our careful study of what that last night will be like, are found in the Bible.

Belshazzar’s Last Night

There are many examples of different individual’s last nights on planet earth, but perhaps the most graphic of the many last nights, is Belshazzar’s. Belshazzar grew up on Nebuchadnezzar’s knee. Nebuchadnezzar was Belshazzar’s grandfather, and like any doting grandfather he probably loved to tell his grandson the many unique experiences that he had gone through. There were the many war stories, the brave and courageous deeds that Nebuchadnezzar had accomplished along with his valiant army. There were the many great works that he had done for the building of the great city of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar had definitely built the city of Babylon to a height that it had never known before, and that it has never attained since. Not only were the stories of courage and magnificence told, but also the many strange occurrences that had taken place during Nebuchadnezzar’s long and prosperous reign. There was nothing more unusual than the events that surrounded some of the Hebrew captives that he had brought back from his raid on Jerusalem. They were different from all of the other captives. He had taken hundreds and thousands of the pride of the Hebrew nation back to the mighty fortress of Babylon, but there was something different about these few. He knew something was totally different as soon as they arrived. They refused to eat the food that he had graciously provided for them. He had given them everything that they could want. He brought them back to the capital city of the greatest empire of that time, and then put them through an intensive training program. He planned on making them, along with the other captives, the counselors and ministers of his government. He was paying all of the expenses of the greatest teachers in the world just so he could have the best cabinet possible. The captives should be forever grateful to him for the high honor that he had bestowed upon them, but not so with these strange Hebrew captives. When they came to the dinner table, they refused to eat the repast that he had so graciously provided. The king had the best nutritionists in the world, yet these four young men seemed to think that they knew more than the most learned men in the field of nutrition. Amazingly enough, they were right! It was more than could be accounted for by the learned men of the day, but it was still true. The dean of the school had given them permission to eat only vegetables and water. Imagine! How could anyone develop mentally and physically by only eating vegetables! But they did, and at the end of that short trial period, “their countenance appeared better and fatter in flesh that all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies.” Daniel 1:15. Here were a few young men who would rather die than eat of the delicious delicacies with which the king had spread his table. There were the finest and rarest meats from around the world on that table. There were the rich cakes and sweets that the best chefs in Babylon had baked. There were the exotic and intoxicating wines that all of Babylon lusted after. And here were a few men who refused to join in the feast! It was surprising that anyone would not want to gorge themselves with the fancy foods and drinks that tempted the palette, but here were men who were willing to die rather than eat the delicious food. Odd indeed; but since they had proved themselves in just a few days to be more healthy than the others, they were allowed to continue with their singular diet. Then, wonder of all wonders, at the end of the training they were far superior to all of their other colleagues. “Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.” Daniel 1:19, 20.

The odd and unexplainable circumstances did not stop with the unusual diet of these Hebrews, but each event became stranger and stranger. There was the remarkable dream that Nebuchadnezzar had. No doubt each time he heard the story of the dream, it puzzled little Belshazzar’s mind. The impression that had been left upon Grandfather Nebuchadnezzar was never afterward erased. It is not an everyday experience when the God of heaven sends you a dream and then blocks the remembrance of it from your mind. The importance and significance of the dream still weighed heavily upon the mind of Nebuchadnezzar, but in the morning, for some strange reason, he could not recall the dream. He knew that it had great importance, but he could not recall the details. He called his trusty counselors together and demanded that they divine for him both the dream and the interpretation. He was certain that if they could interpret dreams and omens, surely they would be able to tell the dream as well. He was wrong. Their response revealed their complete incapability. “The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, ‘There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magicians, astrologer, or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” Daniel 2:10, 11. This answer was not acceptable to the king and his hasty decree went forward that all of his wise men should be killed. “For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave a command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.” Daniel 2:12. Then those unusual Hebrews came to the forefront again. This time in an even more marked way than previously. “So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.” Daniel 2:16. Daniel went directly to the king and asked for a night that he might fast and pray to the God of heaven to reveal the dream. Sure enough, in the morning Daniel confidently stepped up to the king with an answer, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.” Daniel 2:27, 28. Then Daniel proceeded to relate the exact dream that Nebuchadnezzar had been given the previous night. As Daniel was explaining, the entire dream came back to Nebuchadnezzar and he knew that truly this God of heaven, whom Daniel talked about, had both given the dream and revealed it to his servant, Daniel. Not only did Daniel reveal the details of the dream that no one but the God of heaven could reveal, but he also gave the interpretation of this remarkable dream. How Nebuchadnezzar must have delighted in telling this unusual story to his wondering grandson, Belshazzar.

Then there was the great statue that Nebuchadnezzar had erected and commanded all peoples to bow down and worship. Perhaps one of the most dazzling and beautiful idols that had ever been made, stood there on the plain of Dura. No doubt, Nebuchadnezzar was proud of the dazzling, ninety-foot tall image that stood sparkling in the sunlight. Then he gave the command that all were to worship this great image. Once again the Hebrews stood in the limelight. When the masses of people on that large field prostrated themselves to the ground in worship of this beautiful image, there was three left standing. Who were they? None other than those stubborn Hebrews. The king was in a generous mood so he gave them a second chance, but they did not even take it. “If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Daniel 3:17, 18. Firm as a rock they stood to principle, just as they had done with their diet, but this was too much for the king. He could not allow them to get away with this. His entire kingdom would be in jeopardy if he allowed this insubordination. He would make a public example of them, little knowing that they would be a public example to him. Into the furnace they were thrown. No more would he have to worry about those pesky Hebrews; they were gone now. But wait! They were not gone. They were walking around in the fire as if it were a stroll in the park! This was truly stranger than was anything anyone on that plain had seen before. Never had men been cast into a kiln, which had been heated to a white-hot heat, with no affect. Even if Nebuchadnezzar did not believe in the God that they followed, there was no denying it now–they served a powerful God! Nebuchadnezzar was sure to relate how it affected his heart, and how he almost chose to follow the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, but alas, he turned away again. But God was not done with Nebuchadnezzar.

The most unusual thing of all was the judgment that rested upon Nebuchadnezzar himself. His grandfather might not only have told Belshazzar about this, but Belshazzar may even have witnessed it himself. God sent Nebuchadnezzar yet another dream in an attempt to wake him up to his spiritual condition, but Nebuchadnezzar still had not learned his lesson. Once again he called in his wise men, but they, of course, were completely unable to give an accurate interpretation of the dream. Finally Daniel came in. When the king related the dream to Daniel, he “was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him.” Daniel 4:19. This dream did not present the empires of the world through history. This dream did not flatter the king’s ambition and pride. This dream was a stern rebuke, and threatened judgment if the king did not repent. But Nebuchadnezzar did not repent. “All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon, and he spoke, saying, ‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?'” Daniel 4:28-30. Nebuchadnezzar prided himself in what he had done and gave none of the credit to God. As a result God took away his reason. “While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.’ That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like the oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.” Daniel 4:31-33. Nebuchadnezzar refused to repent despite the merciful warning that God had given to him, and the awful calamity threatened, fell upon him. He went insane and was driven from beautiful Babylon that he had built. He was given grass to eat and he wandered through the wilderness as a mad man. What a fate for the most powerful monarch in the world. But God had a plan. Nebuchadnezzar, instead of being angry or embarrassed over the humiliating state of affairs, praised God for His goodness. Nebuchadnezzar could truly say, “all things work together for good.” Romans 8:28. It was through this most humbling experience that God was able to reach down to him and save him. Nebuchadnezzar had a true conversion experience. No longer did he throw his subjects into the furnace for obeying the God of heaven, but he praised and extolled the God of heaven. “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice.” Daniel 4:37. Through this most humbling experience, Nebuchadnezzar learned to love and obey the God of heaven. As he told his grandson, Belshazzar, the terrible experience that he had gone through, we can be sure that he added warnings and cautions so that young Belshazzar would not follow the same dreadful path. Nebuchadnezzar had a true conversion experience, and as with everyone, who has had a true experience with the Lord, he longed for his friends and family to have this same experience so that they also might “taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalms 34:8. It is certain that Nebuchadnezzar told of this experience with tears and pleadings that his precious family would listen and take heed, but Belshazzar did not.

Belshazzar had heard the stories of God’s miraculous workings over and over again, until it had seemed like an idle tale, but he went his own way. He determined that he would have fun and enjoy life for a while. Perhaps he intended to get right with God later, but the world seemed to offer so much. His heart had no doubt been convicted as his grandfather pled for him to follow the God of heaven before it was too late. Belshazzar might even have said that he would. Belshazzar had the knowledge. Belshazzar had the personal acquaintance with God’s miracle working power. Belshazzar knew what he needed to do, but he did it not, and unbeknownst to him, his last night on earth was soon to overtake him unprepared. The Bible gives a full description of Belshazzar’s last night on earth, not as an amusing story to tickle our fancy, but as a lesson, a solemn warning that all should heed lest their last night on earth end the same way.

It began as one of the gayest rounds of merriment with which Belshazzar had ever dazzled himself. Belshazzar was fond of feasts and licentiousness and frequently gave himself over to such debasing merriment, but this was a special night. This was a special festival, and nothing was to be held back. As the Bible records, “Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand.” Daniel 5:1. The Persian army had surrounded the city of Babylon and were planning to attack, but what did that matter to Belshazzar. Let the Persians die under the hot sun while he feasted inside. He cared neither for the Persians nor for the God of heaven. He would throw contempt upon both by recklessly disregarding their presence. He had food for years, walls higher than the Persians could mount, and the great river Euphrates supplying the city with water. What need he to fear? He would throw a great feast in defiance of the God of heaven whom his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had served. He knew about the dream that an inferior kingdom would conquer Babylon, but he cast the convicting voice of conscience from his heart and gave himself fully over to feasting and revelry. He went even further in his blasphemy by bringing in the sacred vessels from the temple of Jerusalem. “While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his ancestor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. The drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.” Daniel 5:2-4. Belshazzar showed the ultimate contempt for the God of heaven by profaning his sacred things. He recklessly brought the sacred vessels and polluted them with wine and gaiety, and did not know that this was to be his last night. How many today are following the same course as Belshazzar. They profane God’s holy things–His holy Sabbath day, His holy time, His holy money. What a fearful fate will meet all who, like Belshazzar, despise what God has set apart as holy. But Belshazzar did not care! The more wine the better. The more dainties the better. The more entrancing music, the better. The more wives and concubines, the better. He had made his decision to live for the world, and the world he would live for. Moses chose the opposite. “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” Hebrews 11:25. Moses chose to leave the court life of excitement and vain pleasures. He chose to take his stand with God’s people even if he had to endure trials and obstacles, but not so with Belshazzar. Belshazzar went the opposite way. He threw his lot in with the passing pleasure of sin. How many today follow the same pernicious course. The things of this world have such a hold upon them that not even Samson can shake them loose; and unknowingly they are headed at breakneck speed for their last night on earth.

Belshazzar’s last night did not end as he had thought, though. His laughing was turned into mourning in a matter of seconds. “In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips loosened and his knees knocked against each other.” Daniel 5:5, 6. In the midst of the mirth, a bloodless hand appeared next to the wall. It began to write in letters that all could trace, but none could read. Although, the words were unknown to all in the room, an awful silence fell upon that once boisterous crowd. None knew what was written, but all sensed that it spelled their doom. They knew what they had done. They knew the events that were common knowledge to all in the realm of Daniel’s God. They remembered the insanity that struck Nebuchadnezzar, and all were sure that the mysterious words on the wall were not a message of peace and safety.

As Belshazzar thought back upon his life and the thousands of times that the Lord had convicted his heart of which way to go, and he refused, his knees began to knock with fright. The expression of empty excitement vanished from his face and one of guilty terror took its place. He knew that he was guilty of the most heinous crimes against his Maker and he was without a shield. He feared that the fate of his grandfather, who he knew so well, would likewise be his; but a worse fate than Nebuchadnezzar’s hung over his head. The wise men were called, but as they had failed two times before, again they were unable to produce. Then Daniel, now a very old man, was called in. Sure enough, Daniel could read the fateful words clear as day, but he began by reminding Belshazzar of the wicked, forgetful course that he had followed. Then Daniel zeroed in and pointed out the crux of the matter. “But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this.” Daniel 5:22. Belshazzar knew what he needed to do, but he did it not. He had heard of Daniel, knew his life and words, but he did not follow them. As a result of this awful neglect, he came to his last night on earth unprepared. The mournful denunciation and message was faithfully given. Belshazzar knew it to be true, and “that very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.” Daniel 5:30. It was Belshazzar’s last night on planet earth. So ended, in frivolous mirth, the life that might have been a mighty power for good in the world.

How is it with you, friend? Are you on the same course that Belshazzar took? There are thousands, even millions, who know what they need to do, but do it not. Like Belshazzar, they rush on through life, unsuccessfully trying to drown the voice of conviction and duty in the vain and empty pleasures of this world. It is still there! Conviction still seizes the soul now and then, but it is brushed aside. There are so many excuses in our world, but you can be lost with a good excuse. The Word of God warns us about making excuses, “so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:20. Every person is going to be without excuse. Every tongue will be stopped and every head hung low. There are more excuses now than a man can number. Every time that I think I have heard every excuse imaginable, then it is that I hear another one. It is not that people do not know what they need to do; it is that they, for one reason or another, do not want to do it. There is a cross involved in following our Lord all the way, but the cross only makes the crown more enjoyable. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” Mark 8:36. Millions today are making the worst investment decision of all time. They are purchasing stock in this old, warn out world, instead of placing their hearts and means in the Bank of Heaven. Are you making that mistake? The Lord will not judge you for what you honestly do not know, but for what you knew, and did not do. Are you doing as Belshazzar did? Is the handwriting on the wall staring you straight in the face? Are you rushing to your last night on earth unprepared?

There is only one thing to do in order to be ready for that great day–do what you know you need to do. The Lord is not asking you do to that which you do not know, but that which you do know. “For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.” II Corinthians 8:12. You are judged for the light that God has been pleased to give you and the use that you have made of that light. Are there new things that you have learned from God’s Word? Are you doing them? Perhaps you see the need to keep all of God’s Law. Maybe there are habits and practices that you desire to overcome. It could be that you know you need to be baptized, but have not made the decision yet. Whatever it is that the Lord is convicting you to do–do it! The Lord is looking for those who are willing to obey Him no matter what the cost or sacrifice. Are you willing to do what the Lord asks of you? God leads and guides us, as we are able to follow. He never asks us to do that which we cannot do. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13. If the Lord asks you to give up your job in order to follow Him, then He will give you the grace to endure. If it becomes necessary to leave friends and family behind, the Lord will amply supply the lack. Whatever the Lord asks of us, He also says, “My grace is sufficient for you.” II Corinthians 12:9. Friend, your last night on earth is coming, too. None know when it will be. It could be tomorrow. It could be tonight. Which path are you on? Will you join the lot of Belshazzar? Or will you do what you know you need to do?

Sodom’s Last Night

“Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day, he who is on the housetop, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” Luke 17:28-33. The last generation will all come to their last night on earth together. As a sudden, overwhelming surprise, it will break upon this world. Men and women will be engaged in their common ordinary pursuits. They will be buying and selling, building and tearing down. Planning for many more years to live out their dreams, but suddenly all their hopes, dreams and plans came to and end. It is their last night on earth.

So when Jesus comes the second time, it will be a sudden surprise to the inhabitants of the world. “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” I Thessalonians 5:2, 3. When Jesus comes back it is going to be an overwhelming surprise for the billions of inhabitants of our little world. It, of course, is not to be a surprise to the faithful, for in verse 4 we are told, “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.” Our last night on earth is not to be a surprise to the faithful, but tragically, many who think that they are prepared for their last night on earth are going to be surprised as was Sodom and Gomorrah, and find out, too late, that they have been duped. “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness!'” Matthew 7:22, 23. Just like Sodom, many are going to come right up to their last night on earth and find out, too late, that they are lost. Then the mournful words will be uttered, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!” Jeremiah 8:20. There will be no second chances then, for “now is the day of salvation.” II Corinthians 6:2. Probation’s door will close suddenly, unexpectedly, and those who have not made the choice to follow the Lord all the way, will have sealed their doom by completely rejecting Him.

Sodom’s last night does not just show us that our last night on earth will be sudden and unexpected, but it shows the perilous danger of getting caught up in the things of this world. Millions are so busy with the things of the world that they have no thoughts for the things of eternity. They do not do the “wicked” things of the world, as Belshazzar did, but they are consumed by the cares of this life. They ate. They drank. They bought. They sold. They planted. They built. There is nothing wrong with any of these things. Obviously, if a person does not eat, he will die of starvation. If a person does not drink he will dehydrate. The Lord is not saying that it is wrong to do all of these things, but we can become so absorbed with these things that we forget about doing what the Lord asks us to do. “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:34-36.

One of the many faults of the dwellers in Sodom and Gomorrah was that they were weighed down by the cares of this life. Are you weighed down by the cares of this life? How long has it been since you spent some quality time with just you and the Lord? Have you been praying and reading your Bible every day? Or are there so many tasks to do in a day that you rush from here to there, and by the end of the day you are so exhausted all that you can do is fall into bed? Remember that your last night is coming. Do you want to meet your Maker without having spent time with Him that day? Do you want the shadows of your last night to fall without praying to Him? The times in which we live tell that your last night is coming sooner that you think. It is almost here. Are you ready? Have you made your decision to follow Jesus no matter what the cost? Have you decided to follow and obey all that you know to be true? Brother, Sister, time is fleeting away. The longer you wait, the less time you have. Will you make the decision right now, before it is forever too late? Before your last night comes and goes without you being ready?

“Remember Lot’s wife.” Luke 17:32. It is a power packed three-word verse. Remember Lot’s wife. Lot’s wife came to her last night. She was warned that it was coming. She started to move out by faith, but then turned back and there she stood. She could go no more. With that one fatal longing look back, she sealed her destiny. Her last night came, and she stood still as a pillar of salt. Remember this. Remember her. Why? It will be the experience of millions. There are millions, and even billions, of people who profess Christianity. They claim to be Christians. They come out of the world to a certain extent, but they only come halfway. This was the tragic mistake of Lot’s wife. She heard the message to come out, and she hurried out, but that was not enough. She did not come all of the way out. Her heart was still back in Sodom, and her last night found her halfway between destruction and safety, and there she stayed. Do you remember Lot’s wife? Have you taken notice of what happened to her? Have you applied the lesson to your life? The Lord will accept no divided service. We are either completely for Him or totally against Him. “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.” Matthew 12:30. There is no neutrality. You are either totally on one side or the other. All who attempt to go halfway between, will end up as Lot’s wife–lost in the middle. There are many people whom I have met who seem to think that God is not that particular, and that it is all right if we mix a little of the world with the church. There could be nothing further from the truth. If one foot is in the world and one foot is in the church, you will be divided in two. “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62. If you think that you can go to church, study your Bible, and pray, but not keep all of God’s Law and His Word, you are sadly mistaken, just as Lot’s wife was sadly mistaken. She thought because she had come most of the way out of Sodom that everything was fine, but she is lost because she did not come all of the way out of Sodom.

So today, God is calling His people to come ALL of the way out of Babylon. If a person remains in Babylon, or does not come all of the way out of Babylon, he will be lost just as Lot’s wife was. “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” Revelation 18:4. Have you come all the way out of the Babylon? (Churches that continue to break one or more of the commandments of God’s Law.) God’s people in the last days are those who keep all of God’s Law no matter what the rest of the world does. They are described as, “those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. They are the ones who have right to the tree of life. “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14. They are the ones with whom the devil is enraged. “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. Are you willing to keep all of God’s Law no matter what the consequences may be? If not, Remember Lot’s wife. She went halfway, but not all the way, and as a result she is lost. Her last night found her halfway between the Lord and the world, with all its disobedience. Where will your last night find you? It will find billions at this halfway mark. Reader where are you? Please make the decision now to be fully on the Lord’s side, no matter what He asks of you.

The Last Night

There is, perhaps, no better illustration of the last night on earth than Noah’s day. “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24:37-39. Jesus tells us that as it was in Noah’s day, so it will be when the He returns the second time. Well, what was it like in Noah’s day?

The wickedness had grown to such a level that God’s pure eyes could no longer look upon the evil rampant in the world. “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” Genesis 6:5, 6. The thoughts of mankind were continually evil. They had no room for God; their minds were bent to wickedness. Today, man lives for around eighty years, but in those days man lived for eight hundred years! Imagine the wickedness that man could dream up with ten times the amount of time on his hands. Habits were formed and the characters were set, and then there were hundreds of years to reveal what was inside the heart, and unfortunately for most, it was evil continually. Does this sound anything like today? Is man’s heart mesmerized with wickedness through television, movies, novels, etc.? If you turn on the television today, there is hardly a show that does not show violence, adultery or some other sin. Indeed man’s heart is evil continually today, as it was then.

As the Lord looked down upon the earth, he saw man, the crowning act of His creative power, so debased that in His mercy He knew that He had to check the rapid growth of wickedness. He knew that the only way that He could save some of mankind was to put a limit on His forbearance and destroy those who refused to repent. “And the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.'” Genesis 6:3. The Lord gave mankind a probation of one hundred and twenty years to turn from their wicked ways. The Scripture records that His Spirit was to strive with man. How the Holy Spirit must have strove. If man did not turn around, he was headed for doom. His last night on earth was coming, and millions were unprepared. How many times men and women heard the voice of duty convicting them of the way they needed to walk, but they refused. The Lord pled and pled, but to no avail. Man was bent on evil, and he would not turn around. Do you hear the Spirit striving on your heart? Do you hear the voice of conscience convicting you of what you need to do? Today, the Lord is pleading with all flesh just as He did in Noah’s day, because once again the last night on earth is coming, and coming soon. Do you hear the still small voice saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it?” Isaiah 30:21. It is the voice of God’s Spirit striving with you. Will you listen? Will you heed that voice? Soon it will be too late. A myriad of people on this earth are refusing to follow today, just as in Noah’s day, and just like Noah’s day, the vast multitudes of planet earth will be lost.

God did not leave the world without a witness then, and He has not left the world without a witness now. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Genesis 6:8. There was a least one man in that wicked world whose ways were perfect before the God of heaven. To Noah was given one of the most difficult tasks ever given to a man. He was to stand unmoved for one hundred and twenty long years. God had given him the commission to build a boat for all who desired to be saved, and also to proclaim the message given him by God. “And did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of the eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly,” II Peter 2:5. Noah was not just to be a shipbuilder; his more difficult task was that of being a preacher of righteousness. Noah was to build a boat where all could see, and call all men to come into the boat to be saved. He had a present truth message, “Come into the ark of safety?” All who refused this present truth message would be swept away with the torrents so soon to engulf the world. Noah built and Noah preached. Year after year he swung the hammer and sounded the warning. God would have all who would come to repentance, be saved. “As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Ezekiel 33:11. The Lord did not want any to perish in the coming judgment, but in His mercy, He knew it was the only way to save mankind. So He sent a strong message to go to every inhabitant of the world, warning them of what was coming and the way to escape. So today the Lord loves His children and does not desire that any perish, but He knows that the last night is coming and so He sends a message of warning to all. A message that, if accepted, will be a savor of life unto life, but if rejected a savor of death unto death. This stern and startling message that is to be given to all the world today is found in Revelation 14:6-12. “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth–to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people–saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’ And another angel followed, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worship the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.’ Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

This last message of mercy is present truth for today, just as the message to come into the ark was present truth for Noah’s day. If we reject this message, we have rejected the only message that will bring salvation in the last days. Our last night on earth will be one of gloom. The Lord longs for all to be saved, but the choice is yours. That is why He has waited this long. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” II Peter 3:9. Is he waiting for you? Have you heeded this most important message? Are you in God’s ark of safety for the last days, or are you outside hoping to make it in someday? This last message is one that covers all the bases. It begins with the message that we are living in the very last days of this earth’s history, for God’s judgment has come. Since His judgment is here, it is paramount that we are living in obedience to all of the commandments and worshipping the Creator according to His will. If any will be saved they must come out of Babylon, the churches that continue to break God’s holy Law. Those who worship the beast power in any way will be lost. All who heed these messages will be saved, but those who refuse, as did the majority in Noah’s day, will find their last night filled with terror and darkness. God, in His love and mercy, gave the antediluvians a message of warning and so, today, the Lord has given us a message that our eternal destiny hinges upon. Which choice will you make? If you make no decision, you are already counted with the unbelievers, for to not make a decision at all, is to decide against. Will you heed this life and death message?

As I have thought of what Noah’s messages must have been like, I am certain that they were not like the popular sermons you hear in the churches of our land. His was a message distinct from all the other preachers. He had a message from heaven, and an intensity of desire that brought conviction to the hearers. A singular sight that certainly attracted a great deal of attention. With a hammer in one hand and the scrolls of the prophets in the other, he could give a message like thunder that brought his listeners to tears. No doubt he became the laughing stock of the world. Here was an old man spending all his wealth to build a mammoth boat on a hill. What good would a boat up there do? This poor man appeared to have gone insane, but he had a message from the Most High and he knew what he was doing. The scoffing and ridicule that he met must have been almost more than the old man could bear, but he faithfully went about his task whether his friends and colleagues would listen or not. He had a message from heaven, and nothing was going to hinder him from fulfilling his task. This message had to go to the entire world, to warn them of impending doom, and no doubt some accepted the message, but the vast majority would have no such thing. Surely, there were those in the crowds who were convicted that Noah’s message was heaven sent and decided to follow and obey. They had good intentions. They knew what they needed to do, but they thought that they would do it a little later. They had so much going on just then, they couldn’t give up their jobs and their families. When the time got a little closer, then they would heed the call. On they went, planning on heeding the message, desiring to heed the message, but never quite coming to the point of decision. “Later,” they thought, “when it gets more convenient, then I will follow.” But day followed day, and the days turned into weeks which gave way to months, and then year after year rolled on. Still with good intentions, they did not know that their last night was coming. Noah’s urgency began to increase, for he knew the time period was almost over. On they went, thousands, millions, planning on making their decision–later. Then the final signs began to take place. The dumb animals knew that there was no time to delay, but the poor deceived souls went on thinking they still had plenty of time. Finally the time came for Noah to give his last message, and oh, what a message that must have been. With every ounce of energy he had left, he gave that final warning, calling for all to make their decision before it was forever too late. He gave his final appeal. He called and called. He knew that this was the last chance. He knew that their last night on earth had nearly arrived and if they did not make their decision now, it would be forever too late, but none came forward. They had heard that call so many times that it just didn’t have the solemnity that it used to have. They had ignored the voice of conscience so long that there was no response. It barely affected them. “Later,” they still said, but it was too late. When Noah saw that there were none who would heed, he gathered together his family and entered the ark. Probably tears were in his eyes as he thought of his friends, his neighbors, his relatives who had refused the call, but Noah had done his part and he could do no more. The message had been given. He could not force them to be saved. “So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.” Genesis 7:16. As Noah and his sons and their wives were in the ark, that massive door swung shut and probation had closed. Those who were inside the ark were safe, but the millions around the door were lost. They probably beat on the door with all their might, but it would not open to them. They had their chance. They made their decision. They procrastinated until it was too late. Their destiny was set. Their fate was sealed.

Probation’s door is soon to close for you and for me. Are we ready? Have we made our decision? Are we living up to all that the Lord has commanded us to do? Soon the words will rumble through the courts above, “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” Revelation 22:11. As in Noah’s day, soon the door will be shut. Those who are standing fully on the Lord’s side will be pronounced righteous and holy still. All of the attacks of the enemy will no longer have any power over them, for they will be eternally secure, but it will not be so for those who procrastinated. Those who delayed making the decision to follow Jesus all the way will have an entirely different fate. They are unjust and filthy still. No more can they choose to follow the Lord, for they have delayed until it was too late. Which side will you be on? Your last night is coming. Probation’s door is soon to close. Is your title clear? Is your decision made? Have you decided to follow Jesus no matter what the cost? Have you decided to keep all of His commandments, regardless of what the world does? Brother, Sister, your decision will determine your destiny. There were hundreds of thousands in Noah’s day who were good people, who wanted to be saved, but who never left the valley of decision and thus were drowned in the deluge.

Your Last Night

With one gushing swipe, the last night on earth came to millions in Noah’s day, and so it will be again. As it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the coming of the Son of Man. Millions again will experience their last night on earth together, when Jesus returns to execute judgment on the disobedient. Your last night on earth is coming. Believe it or not, like it or not, it is still coming, and coming fast. It is the most solemn time in the history of our planet, for the world is soon to end, and the inhabitants know it not. You know it, what are you going to do about it? You must make a decision. It is the only logical thing to do. If you do it not, your last night might steal upon you as a mammoth surprise.

I was visiting a couple of ladies who had gone all the way through a prophecy seminar that we had held. They had heard the last message, but they hadn’t quite made a decision. They saw that it was true. They knew what the Bible said, but they had not taken the step of faith to fully follow the Lord no matter what. I longed for them to be saved and visited them again. That afternoon we visited and had a pleasant time. There were questions for which they wanted answers, and many other things were discussed. As it came time to go, I appealed to them again to give their hearts to the Lord and to follow Him no matter what. I appealed for them to be ready for their last night on earth. I knew that there were still problems that needed to be worked out, and so we set up Bible studies for the following week; but I still longed for them to make a decision that very afternoon to allow nothing to stand between them and eternity. When I returned the following week, one of the ladies had passed away. She had spent her last night on earth. When I made that appeal for them to be ready for Jesus’ Second Coming, neither I, nor they, knew that her last night was almost here. It was, perhaps, the final appeal that she heard. The last call to follow Jesus no matter what. What about you, friend? If your last night were to be tonight, would you be ready? Do not delay, for delay is from the devil. None of us know how long we have, but we do know that time is running out. Will you make your decision to follow Jesus all the way no matter what? Will you make the decision to follow His Word regardless of what He asks?

Two thousand years ago there was a man who delayed making his decision, and that delay cost him his eternal life. “Now he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, ‘Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.'” Acts 24:25. Felix was convicted of what he needed to do, but he procrastinated. He put it off. He thought that he still had many years to turn around. When it became a little easier, then he would follow Jesus. He had so much going on. He couldn’t give up his kingdom, his honor, his wealth, and his prestige right now. Maybe later. Maybe at a more convenient time, but that more convenient time never came. Felix is a lost man. Not because he never heard, but because he heard and waited. Because he knew what he needed to do, and did it not. He made the tragic mistake of delay. Friend, you cannot delay. Please do not put it off. The time is coming in which it will be too late, and all who want to make a decision will not be able to do so then. It will be forever too late. Their last night on earth will close, and the book of destiny will be shut, nevermore to be opened again. Where will you be? Will you make your decision now?

“Thus says the Lord God: ‘A disaster, a singular disaster; Behold, it has come! An end has come, the end has come!” Ezekiel 7:5, 6. Very soon these words will be said. They are still future right now, for probation’s seconds still linger, but that will not be forever. Imagine the terror of the millions who exclaim, “The end has come!” They knew it was coming. They knew that they needed to make a decision, but they put it off. Now they know that they are lost without an excuse. They know that they waited too long, and now there is no more time left. They are outside the ark awaiting fearful judgment and condemnation. The end is come, the end is come! The last night is here! Oh, where will you be? Will you be among those who cry in abject terror that the end is come and it is too late? Or will you be among those who have made the decision to follow their Lord no matter what the cost and now they are rewarded according to their works? (See Matthew 16:27.) There are two sides and no more. Those who praise the Lord that their last night has come and that eternity has begun, and those who slink in fear and self-condemnation for they know that “the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!” Jeremiah 8:20. Which side will you be on? It all depends upon the decision that you make now. If you wait until later, later may never come. What will your decision be? “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day who you will serve…, But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15.

All emphasis the authors unless otherwise stated.
All texts from the King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Sources:

  • The Great Controversy, Ellen G. White, 1911.
  • His Mighty Love, Dr. Ralph Larson, Teach Services, 1995.
  • Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Review & Herald Publishing Association, 1979.
  • Your Last Night on Earth, Joe Crews, published by Amazing Facts.
  • World-Wide Bible Lectures, Fordyce W. Detamore.

If you would like to reprint or translate this book please contact Steps to Life for permission.
Copyright ©1999 by Steps to Life

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Your Last Chance to be Saved

by Cody Francis

Your Last Chance to be SavedOur world keeps racing on. We have coined the term the “rat race” to describe our race of life. Everyone is busy and has so much to do. There is a living to make, a house to clean, meals to prepare, automobiles to maintain, children’s activities to attend, and on and on the list goes. We go through the routines scarcely thinking about anything other than how to make it through the day. So it was thousands of years ago. “Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be when the Son of Man is revealed.” Luke 17:28-30. When Sodom was destroyed, the focus of every mind was right here on the things of this earth–eating, drinking, buying, selling, etc. They were too busy to think of eternal realities and did not know that they were speeding toward their last chance to be saved. Their eternal destiny was soon to be forever decided. It was soon to be forever fixed in the unchangeable records of heaven. It is the same today. The prophecies of both Daniel and Revelation focus upon this most solemn time in this earth’s history–the time of judgment. The judgment has eternal consequences for every person that has ever lived upon this earth, yet rarely does this most important event even enter our minds. We rush on through life little realizing that, very soon, our eternal destiny will be forever decided. This fixing of every man, woman and child’s destiny is one of the most awesome and fearful events ever to occur. We cannot, with safety, overlook the importance and solemnity of this event, because it is our last chance to be saved. Thus, God’s Great Judgment Day is a topic that demands our attention and careful study.

The Hour of His Judgment

Revelation tells us of three last messages that are to go to the entire world. In these three messages is contained the last message of mercy to the perishing world. God, through these messages, is pleading to His people. These messages must not be overlooked, for if we overlook them, we are overlooking the loving God who is sending them to us. Our decision upon these messages will determine our eternal destiny. In the very first of these messages, the truth and importance of the judgment is forced home upon our minds. “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth–to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people–saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.'” Revelation 14:6, 7. This angel [or messenger, the Greek word angelos means “messenger”] has a most startling message that goes to the entire earth. He is not commissioned to take this message to one privileged part of the world, but it is his work to take this message to every inhabitant. God attaches such importance to this message that, He decrees that it must go to every corner of the earth, and the central point of this message is that the hour of God’s judgment has come. We are exhorted to worship the Creator specifically because His judgment has now come. Apparently, God’s judgment begins while the hubbub of life is still going on! The judgment has to be going on while the earth is still inhabited with nations, tribes, etc. for it would be futile to send a message if there was no one to send it to. Could it possibly be, then, that the great judgment day is now going on? Is it possible that the hour of God’s judgment has already begun?

“Because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:31. Paul was a deep student of prophecy and he knew that God had appointed a day for the judgment to begin. We know that we will not know when the Second Coming will occur, for Jesus said, “But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Matthew 24:36. We will not know the time for the Second Coming. We can rest assured that if anyone tries to tell us that they know when the Second Coming will be, they are a false prophet, for no one knows the day nor the hour of Jesus Second Coming. But we are told that there is a set day for the judgment to begin. God has furthermore promised, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants, the prophets.” Amos 3:7. Since there is an appointed day for the judgment to begin, and the Lord will do nothing without telling us through the prophets, and since a message goes to all the world saying that the judgment has come, we can conclude that God has revealed, somewhere, in the prophetic writings of the Bible when His Great Judgment Day will begin. It is only left for us, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, to dig deep and find out when and where it is.

Paul was very clear that there was going to be a time for the judgment, but at the same time he knew that it was not in his day. “Now, as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, ‘Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.'” Acts 24:25. As Paul was giving his defense before Felix [which turned into an appeal for Felix to give his heart to the Lord], a powerful part of his argument was the judgment to come. In Paul’s day, the judgment was still to come. This is repeated again and again throughout the Scriptures. “But the Lord shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment. He shall judge the world in righteousness, and He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.” “Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” Psalms 9:7, 8; Matthew 10:15. The Psalmist, Jesus, and Paul testify that the judgment was still in the future; but nearly two thousand years have transpired since then, is that still the case?

This is not the only information that we have about when the judgment will come. It is an unarguable fact, that the judgment had not occurred in David’s, Jesus’ or Paul’s day, but it must occur before Jesus comes again. “He who is unjust; let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.” Revelation 22:11, 12. The final decree of the judgment is here recorded. The solemn declaration that it is too late to change. Those who have followed in the course of sin will stay that way, and those who have chosen to follow Jesus, no matter what, will be pronounced righteous and holy still. But then, directly after this closing decree of the judgment is given, Jesus says that He is coming quickly. Jesus’ Second Coming occurs right after the judgment closes. Furthermore, Jesus says that His reward is with Him. If he is coming again and His reward is with Him, it must have already been decided in the judgment who was given the reward and what reward they were given. Without a doubt then, the judgment takes place BEFORE Jesus comes again. Thus not only was the judgment still future in the apostles day, but it must take place shortly before Jesus comes again. Could we be in this most solemn event right now?

The Judgment in Heaven

“I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; his garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The judgment was seated, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9, 10, margin. In verses 3 to 8, the successive rise and fall of the great empires of Bible prophecy is pictured, along with the rise of the anti-christ power in verse 8; then the next major event that Daniel sees happening is the judgment of God. This judgment does not occur on this earth, for the Son of Man is said to come to the Ancient of Days [the Father]. “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.” Daniel 7:13. This is a judgment that occurs in heaven with Jesus [the Son of Man] and the Father [the Ancient of Days] and all of the myriads of angels assisting and watching with intense interest. It does not take place here on this earth, but rather takes place in heaven. (Subpoenaed to the Trial of Life is the first booklet on the judgment in this series and thoroughly discusses why the judgment, what goes on in the judgment, who the players are in the judgment, the results of the judgment, etc. It may be helpful to read that booklet first.)

John likewise saw the judgment beginning in heaven. “The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth. Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple.” Revelation 11:18, 19. John saw when the time came for the dead to be judged, and notice that it is associated with the temple of God, which is in heaven. Once again, it is seen that this judgment takes place in heaven shortly before Jesus comes again the second time. (Revelation 22:11, 12.)

2300 Days

The book of Daniel is a progressive book; it is continually building upon the last vision. In Daniel 2, the rise and fall of the four successive empires is portrayed. Then in Daniel 7 the view is expanded to include the anti-christ and also the judgment. In Daniel 8 the scene becomes much fuller yet. Not only are the empires and the anti-christ foretold, but the climax of the vision zeroes in and pinpoints the judgment. “Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, ‘How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?’ And he said to me, ‘For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.'” Daniel 8:13, 14. In verses 3, 4 a ram is pictured, which represented Medo-Persia. (verse 20) The Medo-Persian empire lasted from around 538-331 BC. After that, in verses 5-8 there is shown a male goat which is none other than Greece, (verse 21) and Alexander the Great, its first king. The Grecian empire ruled from approximately 331-168 BC. In verses 9-11 is shown a little horn arising from one of the four winds, which history reveals to be the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire continued to rule from about 168 BC to AD 476. (For a much fuller description and history see Steps to Life’s booklet, Why Hitler Lost.) After that, by comparing II Thessalonians 2:3, 4; Daniel 7:25; Revelation 13:5-7 with verse 12 is seen the anti-christ power, or the papacy. The Papacy continued from AD 538-1798. (For a Scriptural documentation on the anti-christ power see Steps to Life’s booklet, Surviving the Great Tribulation.) After Daniel was shown these earthly powers that had trampled upon God’s people, who were persecuting those who were following God’s Word all of the way, he was shown two holy beings in conversation regarding these desolating powers to come to God’s people. The assurance was given that “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.” Daniel 8:14. Thus, sometime after 1798 a process was going to begin that was the means of delivering God’s people from the persecuting powers. What is this process? Daniel 7 the chapter that Daniel 8 was building upon, answers that question for us. “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, [the anti-christ power that has worn out the saints, verse 25] to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” Daniel 7:26, 27. It is the JUDGMENT that sits and takes away the powers that have persecuted God’s people, and gives the kingdom to God’s true people.

Just as Paul preached, and as John saw in heaven, there is a prophecy that tells us when the judgment begins. It is perhaps the focal point of the book of Daniel. “And he said to me, ‘For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.” Daniel 8:14. The time period here given is the longest prophetic time period given in the Bible. It covers a vast amount of time, for the angel Gabriel in explaining it says, “And the vision of the evening and morning which was told is true; therefore seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the future.” Daniel 8:26. The part of the vision of the two thousand three hundred days [literally “evenings and mornings”] is true, but it is for many days in the future. Two thousand three hundred days may not seem like such a long time to us. After all, it is only a little less than six and a half years, but there is something that we must always remember when studying Bible prophecy. The prophecies are given in symbols. Obviously, a ram and male goat do not make any sense to us unless we understand that they symbolically represent their respective nations. So, a day in Bible prophecy is a symbol that is used again and again. A day in Bible prophecy represents a year. “According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection.” Numbers 14:34. “I have laid on you a day for each year.” Ezekiel 4:6. The children of Israel were forced to wander in the wilderness for forty years. God did not just pick a number out of a hat. It was how long the spies were spying out Canaan, and because of their unbelief, they were required to wander for forty years. It was one day for a year. It was the same with Ezekiel. The Lord had him lay on his side a day for each year. Thus we see a principle that comes up again and again throughout Daniel and Revelation–a day in Bible prophecy equals a year. Then it isn’t so hard for us to understand why Gabriel said that the prophecy was for many days in the future. It was not just six and a half years; it was for two thousand three hundred years. A long prophecy that extends many days into the future!

The Explanation

As we notice in Daniel 8, all of the vision is explained in the latter part of the chapter. Not just are the symbols given, but in some instances, the empires themselves are given by name. Gabriel was explaining this vision in very straightforward terms, but then something happened. Gabriel began to explain the part of the vision referring to the two thousand three hundred years (verse 26), but Daniel could bear it no longer. “And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king’s business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.” Daniel 8:27. Daniel’s concern for this latter part of the vision was so great that when Gabriel began to explain it to him, he fainted. It then became useless for Gabriel to continue explaining the vision, since Daniel had fainted. You cannot explain something to someone who has fainted. The explanation of the twenty three hundred days/years was stopped. Then Daniel states that no one understood the vision. What part did they not understand? Did the ram confuse them? No, it was clearly explained to be Medo-Persia. Did the male goat astonish them? No, it was emphatically explained to be Greece. What part was causing the consternation? The only part of the vision that was not explained–the two thousand three hundred days/years.

As this was something that was terribly distressing to Daniel, he did what all Christians should do when they do not understand something. He studied God’s Word and sought the Lord earnestly in prayer. In Daniel 9:4-19 is recorded the beautiful prayer of repentance and confession for the sins of Daniel’s people. Then in answer to Daniel’s prayer, Gabriel returned (verse 21) saying, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:” Daniel 9:22, 23. Daniel was in great perplexity regarding the vision of the two thousand three hundred days/years, and so had he pled with the Lord for forgiveness and understanding. In answer to Daniel’s strong supplications, Gabriel returned with a message of comfort and hope that he was going to give him skill to understand the vision. Then he begins his explanation.

“Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;” Daniel 9:24, 25. Seventy weeks are “cut off” [the Hebrew word, chathak literally means “cut off”] for the Jewish people and for the earthly city of Jerusalem. How does seventy weeks being “cut off” explain the previous vision of the twenty-three hundred days/years? Gabriel is telling Daniel that the seventy weeks of prophetic time are cut out of the original twenty-three hundred days/years. Thus, if we can determine the starting date for the seventy prophetic weeks, we will also have the starting date for the twenty-three hundred days/years.

By looking at the seventy weeks, we see that there is indeed a clear starting point given. “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks” Daniel 9:25. It could not be stated clearer. When the decree is given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, this is when the time period of the seventy weeks is to begin, and consequently that is when the two thousand three hundred days/years would begin as well. It was when the decree was given to both restore and rebuild Jerusalem that this great time period, extending to the judgment, was to begin. As we turn to the pages of Scripture again, we see that there was indeed a decree given for the restoration and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. At the time the vision was given, Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple was in ruins and the land of Israel was basically uninhabited. But within a few years that would begin to change. When this change occurred the prophetic time periods were to begin.

By turning to the book of Ezra we see the actual decree recorded for future generations. God made sure that these time periods were recorded in His Word, because He knew we would need these decrees in order to understand the seventy week prophecy and the prophecy that gives the starting date for the great judgment day. “So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.” Ezra 6:14. Ezra records for us that there were actually three decrees given commanding to rebuild the broken down city of Jerusalem. Which of the decrees marks the starting time for these time periods? While there were three decrees, there was actually only one that fits the two prerequisites in Daniel 9–“to restore and rebuild.” The first two dealt with the rebuilding of the temple and the city, but there was only one that both restored and rebuilt Jerusalem. This is the last decree given by Artaxerxes. The entire decree is recorded in Ezra 7:12-26. In this decree is found encouragement for the Jews who desired to return to Jerusalem to do so (verse 13, 14.) There are provisions given for rebuilding of the temple (verse 19-22) and then there is the setting up of magistrates and judges to “judge all the people that are beyond the river” (verse 25, KJV) and the exemption of the workers at the temple from “tax, tribute, or custom.” (verse 24.) This decree, then, not only commands and provides for the rebuilding of the temple and Jerusalem, but it also restores, to a certain extent, the liberty and the self-government of the Jewish people. Thus, it is the only decree that matches the requirements given in Daniel 9, and the date that we must use for the reckoning of the prophecies. When was this decree given? Once again, the Bible is not silent on this, either. “And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.” Ezra 7:8. History bears out that the first year of Artaxerxes’ reign was in 464 BC, thus the seventh year would be 457 BC (464 – 7 = 457.) It was in the fifth month of the seventh year, or around the fall of 457 BC that Ezra came to Jerusalem and the decree was able to go into effect. By the study of the Bible and history, then, we have been able to arrive at the date that was given for the beginning of the prophecies–457 BC.

The Messiah’s Ministry and Death

It would be well for us to briefly review the seventy weeks of Daniel 9, before looking more in depth into the two thousand three hundred days/years. [A much fuller study to the seventy weeks is found in Steps to Life’s booklet, The Rapture and Israel’s Future]. The seventy weeks and the twenty three hundred days/years are inseparably connected. They both begin at the same starting date. They both deal with the sanctuary. (Daniel 8:14; 9:24.) One foretells the first phase of the plan of salvation, the other predicts the second and final phase. One prophesies of the Saviour’s earthly ministry, the other tells of the Saviour’s heavenly ministry. One happens on this earth and “seals up the vision and prophecy” (9:24) so we can be certain that the second, which happens in heaven, will occur.

In the explanation of the twenty three hundred days/years, Gabriel begins by telling Daniel that there are seventy weeks allotted to the Jewish people and to their city, Jerusalem. It was during these seventy weeks that they were to finish the end of sins, etc. Israel had been in rebellion against God from day one. The Lord had loved them and taken them as his own special people, but they were continuing to rebel against their loving God. Daniel was afraid that because of Israel’s continued rebellion and backsliding, the Lord would cast them away altogether. Daniel had pled that the Lord would hear and forgive Israel’s sins again. Gabriel, in answer to Daniel’s consternation regarding the twenty-three hundred days and his concern that God was going to disown his people, said that God was still going to give Israel another seventy weeks to repent and turn to Him. Seventy weeks is not a very long time–only 490 days [70 weeks x 7 days in a week = 490 days] or less than a year and a half to be exact, but we must remember the prophetic day for a year principle. (Numbers 14:34; Ezra 4:6.) Not 490 literal days, but 490 prophetic years. Thus God was going to bear with His rebellious people for another 490 years (Matthew 18:21, 22.) During this time, He was going to work for them in a way that He had not done before–He was going to send His own Son to call them to repentance.

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.” Daniel 9:25. There was going to be sixty-nine weeks until the Messiah was to come. Sixty-nine weeks would be 483 prophetic years [69 weeks x 7 days in a week = 483 days or prophetic years]. Reckoning from the starting point of 457 BC and adding 483 years, it brings us down to AD 27. [483 – 457 BC = AD 26; but then you must add one year to account for the absence of a zero year in the BC/AD time-line, so 26 + 1 = AD 27.] Sure enough, we find that exactly at the appointed time Jesus was baptized and anointed to His mission as the Messiah. [“Messiah” is a Hebrew word meaning “anointed one,” just as “Christ” is a Greek word meaning “anointed one.”] At Jesus’ baptism, He was anointed with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10: 37, 38.) His baptism occurred, as divinely predicted, in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar. (Luke 3:1-3, 21, 22.) The fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar was none other than AD 27. The Lord had revealed five hundred years earlier, to His prophet Daniel, the exact time of Jesus’ baptism.

The prophecy did not end with Jesus’ baptism, though. It predicted an even more important event. “And after sixty-two weeks [the seven weeks was how long it took to rebuild Jerusalem and after the rebuilding of Jerusalem, as brought to view in the last part of verse 25, it would only be another sixty-two weeks] Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;” Daniel 9:26. The Messiah was going to be cut off! Being cut off is a clear reference to His death. “He was cut off from the land of the living;” Isaiah 53:8. Sometime during the seventieth week the Messiah was to die for the sins of the people, but it zeroes in and gives us the exact time that He was to be “cut off.” “Then He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.” Daniel 9:27. In the middle of the week, a stop was put to sacrifice and offering. How did this happen? Jesus died on the cross as our spotless lamb of God and it is now futile to offer sacrifices, because He, the Great Sacrifice, has already been offered for us. “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure… then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first that He may establish the second.” Hebrews 10:5, 6, 9. When Jesus came and died on the cross for us, He took away the first covenant with all its animal sacrifices, and thus brought “an end to sacrifice and offering.” This occurred exactly in the middle of the week just as the Lord had foretold. One half of a week is three and a half days, which in prophecy would equate to three and a half years. By adding three and a half years to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, we come to the spring of AD 31, the exact time when Jesus offered up Himself for our sins. [Adding three years to the fall of AD 27 brings us to the fall of AD 30; and adding another half year takes us over into the spring of AD 31]. Prophecy was fulfilled to the very day.

At Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the “Most Holy,” Jesus were anointed to the priestly and mediatorial work that began then. (Daniel 9:24; Hebrews 1:8, 9; 7:28 KJV.) Thus, Daniel 9 had predicted, not only the life and ministry of the Son of God, but also the beginning of His work in heaven. Jesus began His intercessory work for His people, but then at the end of the seventieth week, in AD 34, when Stephen was stoned, He stood in judgment upon His unrepentant people. (Acts 7:56; Ezekiel 44:24) Israel had refused to repent and now the fearful consequences had come. Instead of receiving and accepting God’s own Son, they nailed Him to the cross. Instead of believing the messages of warning that the Lord sent through His apostles on the day of Pentecost and afterward, they stoned them. Probation had closed upon the nation of Israel and now the gospel began to go to the Gentiles. (Acts 8:4; 9:15; 10:28.) The seventy weeks had ended. The events that had been predicted five hundred years earlier happened to the very letter of what God had said. The “vision and the prophecy” was sealed up. (Daniel 9:24) The events that were to occur on this earth happened exactly as predicted, and it was certain that the previous vision of the two thousand three hundred days/years which was to occur in heaven would be fulfilled to the very letter as well.

When Does the Judgment Begin?

Having briefly investigated the seventy weeks, it is now important to go back to the two thousand three hundred days/years and see how the seventy weeks fit into the twenty-three hundred days/years. We have seen that the seventy weeks were “cut off” from the twenty-three hundred years, and consequently, the starting time for the seventy weeks would be the same starting time for the twenty-three hundred years. Having seen from history, and the Bible, that the starting date is 457 BC, all that we should need to do is calculate the time in order to discover when the judgment begins. Adding two thousand three hundred days to 457 BC brings us up to AD 1844. (2300 – 457 = 1843 + 1 year to account for the missing zero year = 1844) The same date is arrived at by adding the remaining 1810 years (2300 – 490 = 1810) to AD 34, the end of the seventy weeks that were cut off from the twenty-three hundred days. (1810 + 34 AD = 1844.) However you look at it, the only feasible date that the two thousand three hundred days/years could end is in 1844. There is no other starting date that can be found other than 457 BC. There is no other time period that the seventy weeks could have been “cut off” from, than the two thousand three hundred days/years. There is no other vision that Gabriel could have been explaining in Daniel 9, than the unexplained vision of Daniel 8, or the two thousand three hundred days/years. The two thousand three hundred days/years cannot be taken as literal days, for Daniel 9 is an explanation of Daniel 8. There is not even the remotest possibility of thinking that the seventy weeks are literal days. Would God give such an important prophecy as the twenty-three hundred days/years without giving a starting date? Would Gabriel say that the seventy weeks were “cut off” and then not have them be, in reality, cut off? Would the Lord send Gabriel to explain a vision that did not need to be explained? The repeated answer is a definitive NO! The only way that chapters eight and nine of Daniel make any sense is to understand that the two thousand three hundred days/years begin in 457 BC and end in 1844.

The question that we now have to consider is what happened in 1844, and why is to so important? We have already seen that it is talking specifically about the Judgment Day of God, but why does it say, “then the sanctuary shall be cleansed”? Daniel 8:14. What sanctuary was to be cleansed? There was no sanctuary existing on earth in 1844. Then where does this grand judgment, or cleansing, take place?

The Sanctuary

When God led the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, He directed that they make Him a sanctuary. “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8. This sanctuary was what the Israelites carried through the wilderness and then was set up in Shiloh. (Joshua 18:1) The sanctuary stayed here until David moved it to Jerusalem (II Samuel 6:17-18), but then Solomon built a permanent temple. (I Kings 6:1-14) Through the continued apostasy of the children of Israel that temple was finally destroyed by the Babylonians. (II Chronicles 36:18, 19) Then upon the return of the captives from their exile, they built another temple. (Ezra 6:14, 15.) But this temple too, as Jesus predicted, was destroyed, “Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2. In AD 70, the Roman General, Titus, came and totally destroyed and burned the city of Jerusalem, along with the temple. (Luke 21:20.) Not one stone of that massive structure was left standing upon another. Were any of these sanctuaries existing in 1844? No. The last temple had been destroyed for over 1700 years by 1844. Was God aware that this would happen? Of course. God predicts and controls the future. He knew that there would not be an earthly sanctuary standing in 1844, at the time when the sanctuary was to be cleansed. What, then, could He have in mind? How is this amazing prophecy fulfilled?

After Jesus death upon the cross, as we have already noted, the sacrifices had no value, for Jesus had done away with them by the offering of His body. The rituals and services of the temple also passed away as insignificant at that time. No longer was there any need for the earthly sanctuary service, for Jesus had come and done away with the types of the old covenant. (Colossians 2:14-17.) The earthly sanctuary was no longer needed. Because of the abolition of the earthly sanctuary services at the cross, there is another sanctuary brought to view in the New Testament. This is not the shadowy types of the good things to come (Hebrews 10:1) or a part of the first covenant which was faulty, growing old and ready to vanish, (Hebrews 8:7, 13) but this sanctuary was one “established on better promises.” (Hebrews 8:6.)

When the Lord commanded the children of Israel to build Him a sanctuary, He did not leave it up to them to decide what it looked like and how to design it. He gave them very specific instructions. “And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” Exodus 25:40. The Lord gave Moses a specific pattern and commanded that it be made exactly like the plan that he was shown. Why was it so important that Moses follow the details of this pattern? It was because this pattern was to act as a picture of the real sanctuary in heaven. The book of Hebrews elaborates on this at great length. “Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord erected, and not man…who serve the copy and the shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.'” Hebrews 8:1, 2, 5. Paul quotes from this same verse in Exodus, and makes the point that the earthly sanctuary was just a “copy and shadow of heavenly things.” The earthly sanctuary was a replica of what the real sanctuary in heaven looks like. This is the sanctuary that is established upon better promises. This is the “true tabernacle.” This is the sanctuary that the Lord built, and not man. This is true of no other sanctuary. The Lord directed in the building of the other sanctuaries, but it was men working as God gave them skill that built the earthly sanctuaries. But there was no man who laid a hand upon the sanctuary that is in heaven–it was the Lord alone who built this sanctuary. It is this sanctuary in heaven that Gabriel was speaking about when he said, “to anoint the Most Holy.” (Daniel 9:24). It is this sanctuary in heaven that Jesus ascended to and began His mediatorial work as our Great High Priest. (Hebrews 4:14-16; 6:20; 8:1) It is the heavenly sanctuary that all of the types and shadows of the earthly sanctuary were pointing forward to. “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but their His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place [the Greek word hagia literally means “holy places”] once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:11, 12. Clearly, Christ was anointed as our High Priest, not of this poor earthly sanctuary which was only a shadowy type, but he became a High Priest of the “greater and more perfect tabernacle,” that is the heavenly tabernacle or sanctuary. This tabernacle is not of this creation for it is in heaven and was constructed in heaven. Not only did He enter that heavenly sanctuary, but He entered it with His own blood. He is not mediating with the faulty blood of bulls and goats, but is ministering with His own precious blood. From these passages there is no doubt that there is indeed a sanctuary in heaven, and it is at this sanctuary where Christ is now ministering for our salvation. If we deny that there is a heavenly sanctuary, we are denying that Christ is our High Priest, for if there were no sanctuary there would be no High Priest. No, the Bible is full of evidence of our Saviour’s work as Great High Priest for our salvation. There is a sanctuary not made with hands in the heavens, and there is a High Priest ministering for us right now.

In the book of Hebrews, not only does it validate the truth of a heavenly sanctuary for us, but it also tells us how this sanctuary looks. “Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden alter of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.” Hebrews 9:1-5. A splendid description of the earthly sanctuary is given, attempting to show the dazzling glory and beauty that surrounds it, making sure to note that it was a part of the first covenant and not the heavenly, but the earthly sanctuary. Then, later on in the chapter he refers to this earthly sanctuary by another name, giving us a faint idea of what the heavenly sanctuary looks like. “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;” Hebrews 9:24. Jesus did not go into this earthly sanctuary of the first covenant, but into the sanctuary of the second covenant–the heavenly sanctuary. After giving a detailed description of the appearance of the earthly sanctuary, he gives the earthly sanctuary a most revealing name–“copies of the true.” Which sanctuary then is the true? Undoubtedly, the sanctuary in heaven. What was the earthly sanctuary? It was a copy, or a picture, of the true one in heaven. Thus, by looking at the earthly sanctuary with all of its furniture and ceremonies, we can get a glimpse of what the heavenly sanctuary looks like and what work will go on there. That is why the Lord was so specific that the pattern of the earthly sanctuary was followed exactly. If they did not follow the pattern exactly it would not be the perfect copy, or picture, of the true heavenly sanctuary of the new covenant. But they did follow the pattern God had given, so that we can now study the apartments, furniture, and ceremonies of the earthly sanctuary to learn of the heavenly sanctuary.

Revelation also reveals that there is a sanctuary in heaven. The articles of the heavenly sanctuary keep appearing again and again throughout Revelation. In fact, it appears so much that we can derive that the book of Revelation was actually given from the heavenly sanctuary itself. “Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,” Revelation 1:12. In the very first chapter this theme is introduced. John sees Jesus standing in the middle of seven golden lampstands. Where were these lampstands from? They were an article of furniture in the first apartment of the sanctuary. “Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. And he was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” Revelation 8:3. Now, John sees an angel ministering before the golden altar. Once again this golden altar was in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. A golden altar is again pictured in Revelation 9:13. “Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple.” Revelation 11:19. This time there is a difference. It is still an article of furniture from the sanctuary, but this time it is from the second apartment, or the Most Holy Place. It is the most sacred piece of the entire temple. It is the Ark of the Covenant in which the Ten Commandments were kept. Continuing on through the book of Revelation, voices coming from the temple are heard (Revelation 16:1, 17,) angels are seen coming from the temple (Revelation 14:15, 17; 15:6) and the temple is opened and filled with smoke. (Revelation 15:5, 8.) Definitely the temple, or the sanctuary in heaven, plays a prominent part in the last prophetic messages for God’s people. It can also be seen from Revelation that not only is there a sanctuary in heaven, but there is the furniture of the sanctuary, and there are the two apartments of the heavenly sanctuary just like there were the two apartments of the earthly sanctuary.

As we look in the New Testament and at the new covenant, the answer to our question about which sanctuary could be cleansed in 1844 is strikingly answered. There was no earthly sanctuary. They had all been destroyed for hundreds of years before 1844. But there was a heavenly sanctuary, and just as Daniel [in Daniel 7] had previously seen the judgment taking place in heaven, so in Daniel 8, he sees the judgment beginning in the sanctuary which is, undoubtedly, in heaven. We are coming close to being able to fit the puzzle pieces of the climatic twenty three hundred days/years prophecy together, but first, we need to look at one more thing. What was the cleansing of the sanctuary?

The Cleansing of the Sanctuary

The crux and the climax of the entire vision of Daniel 8 was the prophecy relating to the “cleansing of the sanctuary.” The “cleansing of the sanctuary” was simply another term for the most solemn of the yearly sacred assemblies known as the Day of Atonement. Speaking of the Day of Atonement, Moses records, “For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on linen clothes, the holy garments; then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the congregation.” Leviticus 16:30-33. It can be seen that on the Day of Atonement was when the final atonement was made for the sanctuary and for the children of Israel. The people were finally cleansed from all of their sins and an atonement, or cleansing, was made for the sanctuary.

By cleansing the sanctuary, the sins of the children of Israel were also cleansed. Throughout the year, when a man sinned he would bring a sacrifice to atone for his sin. He would slay the lamb with his own hand and the sacrifice was offered upon the altar. The priest then transferred the blood into the sanctuary. Day by day, the blood built up in the sanctuary, until the Day of Atonement. The blood was a record of all the sins that the children of Israel had committed, but it was on the Day of Atonement that the sanctuary was cleansed from the record of sin that had continually built up. Thus, not only did the Day of Atonement cleanse the record of sins from the sanctuary, but it also symbolically blotted out the people’s sins. The people were forgiven when they brought their lamb to be sacrificed, but the record was not blotted out. It was on this most solemn of all days that the sins were actually blotted out. It was a solemn day of judgment when the sins were blotted out as it is graphically described in the Bible. “And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For any person who is not afflicted of soul on that same day, he shall be cut off from his people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.” Leviticus 23:28-30. There was no doubt in the ancient Israelites mind. This was the most solemn day of judgment, and if he did not unite in soul searching he was cut off from the people of God. It was the most solemn and serious day of the entire year for the Jews. It was the time when destinies were decided and lives were fixed–it was their last chance to be saved.

On this solemn day the High Priest went alone into the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary, and it was there the final atonement was made. “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat.” Leviticus 16:15. This was the only time that the High Priest entered into the second apartment of the sanctuary. Every day the priests ministered about the first apartment, trimming the lamps, burning incense and transferring the blood of the sin offering to the sanctuary, but only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, did the High Priest alone minister in the Holy of Holies. In this second apartment was the Ark of the Covenant containing the Ten Commandment Law, and the mercy seat on top. The priest would then sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat and by so doing make an atonement for, and cleanse the sanctuary.

The Heavenly Sanctuary Cleansed

Some have questioned if the heavenly sanctuary really needs to be cleansed, but as we have already seen, the Bible explicitly answers this for us. “Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in presence of God for us;” Hebrews 9:23, 24, margin. There is no room for doubt, the heavenly sanctuary does indeed need to be cleansed. Paul says that it was necessary for the earthly sanctuary (the pattern of the things in heaven) to be cleansed with “the blood of goats and calves,” but the heavenly sanctuary will be cleansed with better sacrifices than that, even “with His own blood.” Hebrews 9:12. What is it that needs to be cleansed from the sanctuary above? What could possibly be impure in that world of perfection? Sin and sinners written in the books. So the judgment solves the problem of impurity in the heavenly sanctuary. Those who “add iniquity to their iniquity,… Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.” Psalms 69:27, 28. During the judgment, sin and sinners are blotted from the book of records, and thus the heavenly sanctuary is cleansed from the impurity that has symbolically been heaped upon it for centuries.

As everything in the old covenant was a “shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things,” Hebrews 10:1, so it is with the Day of Atonement. As the sinner brought his lamb and confessed his sins upon the head of the lamb, so we, under the new covenant, come to Christ accepting Him as our Lamb (John 1:29; I Peter 1:19) and confess our sins unto Him. (I John 1:9; Proverbs 28:13) He then forgives us on the merits of His sacrifice. (Romans 3:24-26.) But as in the earthly service, the record of the sins is still in heaven and it is not until the close of the judgment that the sins are completely blotted out. (Acts 3:19) The judgment determines whether the lives of God’s people match their profession. (see Steps to Life’s booklet, Subpoenaed to the Trial of Life.) Those who have loved their Lord enough to follow Him and keep His commandments will be retained in the book of life (John 14:15; I John 2:3, 4; Revelation 22:14) and their sins will be blotted out. Those who cling to their life of sin and lawlessness will have their names blotted from the book of life. (Exodus 32:32, 33; Revelation 3:5) Thus the sanctuary in heaven will be cleansed from sin–either the sin itself, or the sinners who cling to sin, will be blotted out.

By looking at the symbolic service of the old covenant, it is explicitly taught that the plan of salvation did not end at the sacrifice of the lamb. There was still a final atonement needing to be made, and so it is in the New Covenant as well. Jesus’ sacrifice upon the cross was all sufficient and was a complete sacrifice. He said, “It is finished,” and every word is true. God’s justice was fully vindicate and the devil was soundly defeated, but there was still more to the plan of salvation than just that. “It shall be imputed to us who believed in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offense, and was raised because of our justification.” Romans 4:24, 25. Jesus’ sacrifice upon the cross was for our offenses, or for our sins, and it perfectly paid the price, but there was more. He was raised for our justification. If it was completely over on the cross, everything would have been complete and there would have been no need for anything more, but the inspired record states that he was “raised because of our justification.” Our justification could not be accomplished without His resurrection. Something else needed to occur. That something else is His intercession at the right hand of God, and then the final cleansing of the sanctuary. (Romans 8:34, Acts 17:31) Because Jesus said, “It is finished,” does not mean that everything was completed, for it is recorded in Revelation that He will say the same thing at least two other times. “Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!'” “And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.” Revelation 16:17; 21:6. The atonement upon the cross was, without a doubt, complete and all-sufficient, but as in the typical service, there was still more. That is why Jesus ascended to heaven, and that is why Gabriel told Daniel that the sanctuary was still to be cleansed.

What Happened in 1844?

We have seen that the “sanctuary” was to be “cleansed,” and when we do the arithmetic, the only possible date that we can come up with is 1844. There was no earthly sanctuary at this time, but there was indeed a heavenly sanctuary to which Jesus ascended after His resurrection. What then occurred in 1844?

Because the “holy places” of the earthly sanctuary were merely “copies of the true,” (Hebrews 9:24) and there were two apartments, we can have no doubt that in the heavenly sanctuary there are, likewise, two apartments. Not only do we know that the heavenly sanctuary looks like the earthly one, but also the services of the earthly sanctuary represented what the services of the heavenly sanctuary would be like as well. “For if He [speaking of Jesus, the minister of the sanctuary of the new covenant] were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things,” Hebrews 9:3, 4. The priests of the old covenant ministered according to the “copy and shadow of heavenly things.” Their ministration was a representation of what would occur under the new covenant. As on the yearly Passover, the innocent lamb was slain, Jesus, the Lamb of God, was crucified for our sins on Calvary. The feast of weeks represented the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. Likewise the Day of Atonement pointed forward to the day of judgment that was to take place. In the earthly Day of Atonement, the High Priest went into the second apartment only once a year, and from this we can conclude that Jesus also will enter once into the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. As the Day of Atonement was when the sanctuary was cleansed in the typical service, once again, we can understand that when Jesus enters the second apartment in heaven it will be for the cleansing of the sanctuary. As the Day of Atonement was the day of judgment in the earthly service, we can be certain that when Jesus enters the second apartment to cleanse the sanctuary, it will be the day of judgment. What then happened in 1844? In fulfillment of the well verified prophecy of Daniel 8:14, Jesus entered into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to do the final work of atonement and to cleanse the sanctuary from the stain of sin that has, year by year, decade by decade built up. In fact, it was October 22, 1844 (the Day of Atonement was on October 22 in 1844), that the great judgment day began. It is the only legitimate understanding of the prophecies of both Daniel and Revelation.

There is even further evidence from Revelation that this is exactly what happened. John does not write of the exact time, but he certainly tells us about the time when Jesus will enter the most holy place. “Then the seventh angel sounded:… Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple.” Revelation 11:15, 19. At the sounding of the seventh angel, John writes that the temple in heaven was opened and he saw the Ark of the Covenant. The veil into the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary was lifted and John peered into the most holy place where the work of judgment began. The Ark of the Covenant was only kept in the second apartment and this is the only thing that John could have seen. As the second apartment was only entered on the Day of Atonement, or the cleansing of the sanctuary, this was the cleansing of the sanctuary that John saw beginning in 1844. As we compare scripture with scripture, there can be do doubt about it–Jesus entered into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 to cleanse the sanctuary and conclude the plan of salvation.

It is Done!

The judgment began in 1844 and has been going on ever since. We are living in the most grand and solemn time of this earth’s history. Right now is the time when the judgment is going on in the courts above. As the Day of Atonement was a time of soul searching and self-examination, so today we must always bear in mind that the great judgment day of God is going on right now. We may not be able to see it. We may not personally be called before God’s judgment bar, but it is going on none-the-less, and the results will be no less final. It is the last chance for the inhabitants of this world to be saved! Very soon the command will be issued, “It is done!” Revelation 16:17; 21:6. It will then be too late. If we are not following the Lord all the way at that time, we will be left outside the holy city. The final decree will be pronounced and we will be on the wrong side. “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” Revelation 22:11. All will one day be on one side or the other. We may be able to ride the fence now, but then we will be all for the Lord or all against Him. Indeed it is a fearful and solemn time to be alive, for it is our last chance to be saved, but for those who are following Jesus wherever He leads and doing whatever He asks, it is not fearful, it is not scary. It is the most joyous time for it means that very soon we will be with our Savior for the ceaseless ages of eternity. “Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past. For behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will also disclose her blood, and will no more cover her slain.” Isaiah 26:20, 21.

All emphasis the authors unless otherwise stated.
All texts from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Sources:

  • The Great Controversy, Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, 1911
  • God Predicts Your Future, John J. Grosboll, Steps to Life, 1994
  • Messiah in His Sanctuary, F.C. Gilbert, reprinted by Leaves of Autumn, 1991
  • Daniel and the Revelation, Uriah Smith, Southern Publishing Association, 1944
  • Subpoenaed to the Trial of Life, Cody Francis, Steps to Life, 1999

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Surviving the Great Tribulation

by Michael C. Wells

Surviving the Great TribulationIn recent years, one of the great movie themes coming out of Hollywood has been the destruction of the earth by nuclear warfare. Story after story has graced the screen to delight the public with half mutated humans and a world thrown into chaos. Everything from a brave new world where people have learned the lesson of cooperation, to a time of great tribulation, war, strife, and anarchy has been suggested as the destiny of this earth. Some of these stories have even taken themes from the Bible itself. Audiences have been given a distorted view of Bible prophecies from these Hollywood movies, so much so that the subject of end time events have been muddled under a facade of lies.

If this wasn’t bad enough, the Christian world have started their own version of “end time events.” Now we have Christian movies coming out that seem to portray the idea of a great tribulation that will follow an event called the rapture (See our post The Rapture and Israel’s Future). Of course, people don’t expect to get a fully truthful depiction of what will happen during the end times from Hollywood, but it does tend to mold their minds just as movies like the Ten Commandments or Noah Ark, and of course these movies are far from the truth of the Bible. They do, though, expect to receive a clear cut picture of end time events from religious television evangelists who claim to know what will happen, and then offer videos in “living Hollywood style color” to entice the people to believe their theories.

To be able to “see” what will happen, by way of an enactment by actors on video, helps to reinforce these ideas. It is said that people retain more by seeing and hearing than just by hearing. Television and the “big screen” directly implants these ideas into our mind, and they are immediately stored for future reference. Our minds do not even have to process the information. And what if that scenario that has been put forth on the screen was incorrect? Now it has been permanently burned into your memory. Through all these mediums, the idea of a great tribulation has taken many forms. A little Bible truth mixed up with a little fiction (lies) make for a great story, but gives misconceptions and leads to a greater misunderstanding of what the Bible really says.

Why all this confusion? Jesus said about the last days “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” Matthew 24:11,12. The truth is not well received by the majority because of their love for sin. These lies have been put forth by the adversary himself. When the Pharisees (religious leaders of Jesus’ day) were promoting the fiction and deceit of their day, Jesus said to them, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” John 8:44.

The Tribulation of Matthew 24

So how are we to find out the truth about the tribulation that Jesus talks about in Matthew 24? Is there any clear evidence that can show us the truth? Does the Bible give tangible scriptures that show what the tribulation is all about? The answer is a definite yes! And you can see it, follow it, and understand it without being a Greek scholar. We are going to investigate the tribulation, and who is behind it. We will look at how to survive this tribulation and be one of God’s people. Jesus gave us obvious instruction that, if followed, would produce a result that would bring eternal happiness.

Some obvious questions we should ask are; when will this tribulation occur? Who will be involved? Will it involve us and can we avoid it? Notice these statements that the Apostle Paul wrote in II Thessalonians 2: “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in the mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away (apostasy) comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called god or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

Paul points out that a great apostasy is to come upon the earth. The word apostasy is a Greek word, which means to “fall away” or “to turn back” from something. Paul was speaking of Christians who would “fall away” from true Bible doctrines and principles and be turned to the traditions of man. All this was to happen before the coming of the Lord Jesus. This “man of sin” was to be revealed and claim to be able to do what only God has the authority to do. Jesus speaks of this when He is giving insight to the disciples in Matthew 24. He says, “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” Matthew 24:15,16,21,22

At the time of this apostasy, a great tribulation will occur.  Notice that Jesus used two words that will help us understand this tribulation. First notice that He speaks of many days. So many that if they are not shortened, “not flesh would be saved.” Jesus also uses the word great, which mean “lengthy.” This is tribulation will be a great (lengthy) tribulation, over a long period of time. It will affect the people of God, and even cause great spiritual darkness to fall on the earth. For the “man of sin” will be revealed, and people will follow him thinking he is of God. “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you before hand.” Matthew 24:23-25. Jesus warns us when this tribulation will take place. He says it will happen during a time when this “man of sin” will claim to be Christ. He will exalt himself as god and claim to sit in the place of God. He will have signs and wonders that will surround him and his religion, and he will deceive many.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:15 that we must “understand” those things written by the prophet Daniel if we are to know the truth about this deceptive power and when to expect this great tribulation to come upon the earth. We must first study the book of Daniel and find out who this “man of sin” truly is. He is spoken about in many places. In Revelation 13, he is called the “beast” power and in Daniel 7, he is called the “little horn.” Let’s look at his identifying marks.

Marks of the “Little Horn”

In our book, The End of War and Injustice, we showed that in Daniel 7 four beasts arose from the sea. A beast in Bible prophecy represents a kingdom. We can even see that today. We characterize the United States as an eagle, and the Soviet Union as the bear. So it is in Bible prophecy. God used animals to depict certain nations. We saw that the lion represented Babylon, the bear, Medio-Persia, the leopard was Greece, and the dreadful and terrible beast was no other than Rome. Out of this fourth beast, the Roman Empire, ten horns sprouted. A horn in prophecy symbolizes a kingdom also. “The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom.” Daniel 7:24.

In the middle of these ten horns, a little horn comes up and plucks out three of the first horns by the roots. “I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.” Daniel 7:8. This little horn is a kingdom that has a man at its head who speaks “pompous” words. Remember that we saw that the man of sin was to exalt himself above all that is called God. In Revelation 13:5,6, this beast power speaks “great things and blasphemies against God.”

What are two ways that a man can blaspheme against God? Jesus was accused of just such a thing, so we have some criteria to look at to interpret the word blasphemy. In Matthew 9:1-8, Jesus heals a paralytic and more importantly He says to him, “Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you.” The scribes who stood around Jesus and heard and saw these things were astounded that a mere man would presume to claim to be able to forgive sin. It is recorded that the said, “And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, ‘This Man blasphemes.” So our first example of blasphemy is for a man to claim to be able to forgive sin. In Luke 5:17-26, we see the same story. Here the scribes and Pharisees blatantly say, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Of course, they were right. No one can forgive sin except God. They failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, as the Son of God, and that He had the ability to forgive sin.

The second example we have in regard to blasphemy is in John 8:54-59. Here Jesus makes a statement that even the Jews could figure out. They realized that He was claiming to be the Son of the God of heaven. “Jesus answered, ‘If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. and if I say, “I do not know Him,” I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.’ Then the Jews said to Him, ‘you are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’ Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” Jesus claimed to be the great I AM who brought the people out of Egypt, who gave the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. See Exodus 3:10-15. So to claim to be able to forgive sin and the exalt oneself as God are considered to be blaspheme according to the Bible.

We can see that this “little horn/beast power/ man of sin” will claim to be able to forgive sin, claim to be God on earth, and will be involved in religious matters. Notice that this little horn is different than the other horns. “. . . and another shall arise after them (the ten horns); he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue (pluck out by the roots) three kings.” Daniel 7:24. What shall he try to do? “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.” verse 25.

We see this same thing in Revelation 13:4-8, “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’ And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

Now let us look at some other scriptures that speak about this same power, then we will put it all together. In order to understand the great tribulation, we must first put together some prophecies out of the book of Revelation. Let us first look at some important texts. In Revelation 12 we see a woman dress in the sun, with a garland of twelve stars, and with her feet on the moon. She is giving birth to a child, who was to rule the nations with a rod of iron (Revelation 12:1,2,5). We also see a red dragon with seven heads and ten horns. This dragon tries to destroy the child and then becomes enraged with the woman and makes war with the remnant of her offspring (Revelation 12:3,4,17). We will also note another woman that is riding a beast having seven heads and ten horns. This woman is called a harlot (a defiled woman). She is also drunk with the blood of the saints and of the martyrs of Jesus (Revelation 17:1,3,6).

The Bible Interprets Itself

In the Bible, we let the scriptures interpret themselves. Many times when reading prophecy, the terms that are used are symbolic. We can read in Revelation 1:1 that Jesus, Himself, signified (put into symbols) this book. Let’s first interpret the term woman in the Bible. We can find many places that this terminology is used. In Jeremiah 6:2, speaking of the church of that day, the Lord says, “I have likened the daughter of Zion (the church) to a lovely and delicate woman.” So God describes His church, His true people as a lovely and delicate (pure and holy) woman. Paul says, “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” II Corinthians 11:2.

God’s people are called the bribe of Christ, His wife (Revelation 21:9; 19:7). This pure church is a mother. She gives birth to a child. Jesus was the child to whom the church gave birth. Remember that a church is nothing more than a body of believers. It represents the body of Christ. “And He (Jesus) is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” Colossians 1:18. In Old Testament times, the church was the Israelite’s. It was this church that God used to bring Jesus into the world as a man. So a woman represents a church in Bible prophecy. This pure woman in Revelation 12 has a garland of twelve stars on her head. Stars represent “angels” (which means messengers in the Greek). So this church has the twelve apostles as its charter members. This is not speaking of any denomination, but God’s true and faithful.

A Woman in Prophecy

If a pure woman signifies a pure church, then a harlot woman would have to represent a fallen or corrupt church. Notice that this harlot woman in Revelation 17 is “drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” This church is involved in the death of many of God’s people. It is a persecuting power that is call “Mystery, Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots” (verse 5). This church is a mother, too. If a church is called a “mother,” does it stand to reason that she would have offspring? Of course. She would be the mother of other corrupt churches that have taken her doctrines and belief for their own. Now a daughter has her own characteristics, but does she still carry some of her parents’ characteristics also? Most definitely! So it is with these daughter churches. They are not exactly the same as their mother church, but still carry some of the same doctrinal beliefs that she instilled in them.

Notice also that this harlot “sits on many waters.” Revelation 17:1. Water symbolizes people. “Then he said to me, ‘The water which you saw, where the harlot sits, are people, multitudes, nations, and tongues.” Revelation 17:15. This corrupt church does not enjoy the support of God, but takes for itself the support of the world. This church is also called a city. “And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.” Revelation 17:18. This harlot church is garbed in special clothing that identifies it. “The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication” (verse 4). So this church sits in the hub of society, is decked out in purple and scarlet and pomp, and she is called a great city.

The Dragon and the Harlot Woman

We also saw a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns in Revelation 12. This dragon symbolizes two entities. First and foremost, it represents Satan, that serpent of old. “So the great dragon was cast out of heaven, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:9. This dragon hated the pure woman of Revelation 12, and hated her child. “His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.” Verse 5. Although the devil is called the dragon, he had to use human agencies to do his dirty work. Who was it that tried to have Christ killed at his birth? Who was it that sent troops into Bethlehem? It was King Herod, who was the Roman authority figure over Judea. See Matthew 2:1,7,16. Who eventually killed Christ on the cross? It was the Roman governor Pilate. See Matthew 27:23-27. So the great red dragon also refers to the Roman power. Jesus’ parents had to take Him to Egypt to secure His life from the power of Rome (Mathew 2:13,14).

This great red dragon also has seven heads and ten horns. We noted earlier that the beast that the harlot woman sits on also has seven heads and ten horns. In Revelation 13:2, we read that the beast with seven heads and ten horns was a composite of beasts and that the “dragon gave him his authority.” So this dragon and beast come from the same source, which is Rome. In Revelation 17:9 it says, “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.” So the seven heads symbolizes seven mountains. We already saw that the harlot was situated where there were many “peoples and nations” and that she was also a city. Where is there a city that sits on seven mountains? “The Tiber (river) divides Rome into two parts, the section on the east bank constituting the oldest and most important part of the city. In this ancient section of the city are the famous ‘Seven Hills,’ which are now only relatively low elevations because of the gradual accumulation of rubbish in the valleys which separate them.” The American Peoples Encyclopedia, Vol. 16, pg. 903.

Rome is the city that sits on seven hills. It is the beast that the woman sits on. During the Dark Ages and Medieval times this constituted the actual city of Rome itself. Today the city that is spoken of here is the city within the city of Rome. The corrupt church sits on (in charge of ) the city, guides and controls this city, which is the Vatican. The Roman Catholic Church rules over the city of the Vatican. It controls its commerce, trade, political, and religious functions. This “beast” is religious as well as political. It is involved in worship (Revelation 13:4,8) and has great political authority (Revelation 13:5,7).

The “Little Horn” Arises

As we discovered earlier in this book, in Daniel 7, we  see this same persecuting power called the “little horn” as it arises from among the ten horns (kingdoms) of Europe. “The ten horns are ten kings (kingdoms) who shall arise from this kingdom (speaking of the fourth kingdom in verse 24,which is the Roman Empire). I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.” Daniel 7:25,8. This “little horn” or “beast” comes up in Europe among the divided Roman Empire. It is “different from the first ones (horns)” and “plucked out by the roots” three of these horns, or kingdoms.

As the Roman Catholic Church rose to power in the 4th and 5th centuries, it began to mold the minds of the people to its false worship if idols and festivals. In the 5th and 6th centuries, it played a major part in causing three kingdoms to be eradicated. The Heruli, the Ostrogoths, and the Vandals, who were Arian in power, rejected the authority of the papacy and was consequently “rooted out” or destroyed. The papacy arose as a religious and political power, and held sway over the Christian world for 1260 years. Before the papacy could have control over Rome, the Emperor hierarchy had to be removed. As long as it was there, the bishop of Rome could not have total control. Paul spoke of this in II Thessalonians 2:2,7 when he says, “And now you know what is restraining, that he (the man of sin/papacy) may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he (the Roman hierarchy of Emperors) who now restrains will do so until he (the Emperor) is taken out of the way.” In 330 AD, Constantine, Emperor of Rome, left Rome to establish his kingdom in Constantinople. He gave his authority the bishop of Rome, the pope. “The removal of the capital of the empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330 AD, left the western church practially free from imperial power, to develop its own form of organization. The Bishop of Rome (pope), in the seat of the Caesars, was now the greatest man in the west, and was soon forced to become the political as well as the spiritual head.” The Rise of the Medieval Church, pg. 168.

As the Roman church continued to gain spiritual influence over the people, it also gained in political power. But full authority was not granted for many years. In 533, Emperor Justinian gave full temporal power to the Church of Rome, yet the pope could not take control until these three tribes of “heretics” were removed from Rome. After the removal of the three kingdoms which were against the papacy, the pope took the throne of Rome in 538 AD. He became the supreme authority in Rome in not only religious matters but also in the political realm. Through his power, he held in check the kings of the nations of Europe. The Roman Catholic Church sent cardinals as advisers and mentors to the kings to “guide them in the way” of the Roman Church.

The “mystery of lawlessness” or the papacy was in its infancy in the days of Paul. He could see its formation and the dangers it presented. He saw that this was to cause a great “falling away” from the straight Bible truths and warned against it several times. There are four warnings, one very specifically speaking of the Roman Church. It is a prophecy of the latter times. “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times (our day) some will depart from the faith (true Biblical doctrine), giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrine of demons (the doctrines of men influenced by Satan), speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry (such as priest and nuns), and commanding to abstain from foods (for certain “holy days” such as Lent) which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” I Timothy 4:1-3.

Paul is worried for the Corithians as he sees this deceptive power creeping into the church. He writes, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted- you may well put up with it!” II Corinthians 11:3,4. Also see Galatians 1:6-9 and Colossians 2:8. Not only Paul, but also Peter warns of these same false doctrines worming its way into the Christian church. “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them (by praying to the “Virgin Mary” for salvation), and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.” II Peter 2:1-3.

Pompous Words

From 538 AD to 1798 AD, the papacy had dominion over the earth. Speaking of the papacy, Daniel writes, “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.” Daniel 7:25. This same description is given in Revelation. “And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue of forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.” Revelation 13:5-7.

Every pope has made the claim that he is infallible, can forgive sin, and the pope is called “God on earth,” which is obvious blaspheme. Here is a quote from The Catholic World, June 1871, pages 422,423, “All dogmatic decrees of the Pope, made with or without his general council, are infallible . . . Once made, no pope or council can reverse them . . . This is the Catholic principle, that the Church cannot err in faith.” “The Pope is infallible . . . (he) cannot err when, as Shepherd and Teacher of all Christians, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals, to be held by the whole church.” A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, pg. 16. You may remember that this current pope has been on record as supporting the theory of evolution. Does this now disprove the story of creation?

In this quote, the pope claims the position of God. “The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God, and vicar of God . . .” “The Pope is a it were God on earth, sole sovereign of the faithful of Christ, chief of kings, having plenitude of power, to whom has been entrusted be the omnipotent God direction not only of the earthly but also of the heavenly kingdom . . .” Prompta Bibliotheca, Vol. VI, pp. 25-29. Are we now to bow before the pope instead of the God of heaven? Can a mere man stand in the place of God? If you remember, this is exactly what caused Satan to fall from heaven. He wanted to become as God.

Tribulation

The little horn/beast power will also “persecute the saints” and they will be given into his hands for a time and times and half a time.” He was to “continue for forty-two months.” In Bible prophecy the term “time” stands for a year. In each year, there were 360 days in the Jewish Calendar. In Daniel 7:25, we find a total of three and a half years. By calculating out this by 360, we come up with 1260 days. By using the Bible definition for understanding time prophecies, we find a day represents a year. See Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6. Therefore, we are talking about a 1260-year period of time when the papacy will bring the Christian world under their submission. We can also see this same time prophecy in Revelation 13:5, when speaking of the forty-two months (which equals out to 1260 years). Notice that this tribulation is “great” not only because of persecution, but also because of the great length of time the people on the earth was to endure it.

For 1260 years (from 538 to 1798) the papacy was to wield its sword of persecution over all whom would not obey its authority. Christian people like the Albigenses and Waldenses were ruthlessly hunted down and murdered because they would not pledge their allegiance to the authority of the Roman Church and the pope. These people held to the belief that God’s people would honor Him by “keeping the commandments and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. ” ‘They shall prophecy a thousand two hundred and three-score days, clothed in sackcloth.’ During the greater part of this period, God’s witnesses remained in a state of obscurity. The papal power sought to hide from the people the word of truth, and set before them false witnesses to contradict its testimony. (See Appendix.) When the Bible was proscribed by religious and secular authority; when its testimony was perverted, and every effort made that men and demons could invent to turn the minds of the people from it; when those who dared proclaim its sacred truths were hunted, betrayed, tortured, buried in dungeon cells, martyred for their faith, or compelled to flee to mountain fastnesses, and to dens and caves of the earth–then the faithful witnesses prophesied in sackcloth. Yet they continued their testimony throughout the entire period of 1260 years. In the darkest times there were faithful men who loved God’s word and were jealous for His honor. To these loyal servants were given wisdom, power, and authority to declare His truth during the whole of this time.” Great Controversy, pg. 267.

During the Dark Ages and Middle Ages, it has been estimated that over 50,000,000 people were killed because they would not submit to the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. The papacy was in the business of subjugating the people. It tried to control how and when they worshiped. Over the next 1750 years, after the death of Christ, first the Roman Empire, then the Roman Church dictated whom, how, and when a person should worship. In 321 AD, Constantine created the first Sunday law of worship. This was not a Christian day of worship. Far from it! It was called the “Venerable Day of the Sun.” All who did not worship as the emperor dictated would be killed. This day of worship was then adopted into the Roman Catholic Church who, through persecution, initiated it into the Christian world. For centuries Christians fought against this change in God’s law. They died for their faith and continued to worship on the Sabbath in the face of certain death. Remember that in Daniel 7:25 it says, “he will think to change times and law.”

This time period of 1260 years is of eminent importance. It is so important to God that in Revelation 11-13, He speaks of it five times. It is also spoken of in Daniel 7. This is not just a short time period of persecution. This is quite lengthy. It is the same period of time Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:21,22, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” Notice that Jesus said that if these days of persecution were not shortened, none of His people would have been alive. This is how serious the persecution of these 1260 years became.

The massive martyrdom of God’s people and even those who were just suspected, as heretics were tortured, maimed, and killed. Many people were burned at the stake for their faith or spent their life in prison. In Revelation 6, this time period is documented. “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held” (verse 9). “Thousands were imprisoned and slain, but others sprang up to fill their places. And those who were martyred for their faith were secured to Christ and accounted of Him as conquerors. They had fought the good fight, and they were to receive the crown of glory when Christ should come. The sufferings, which they endured, brought Christians nearer to one another and to their Redeemer. Their living example and dying testimony were a constant witness for the truth; and where least expected, the subjects of Satan were leaving his service and enlisting under the banner of Christ.” Great Controversy, pg. 42.

These people were killed because they held fast to the word of God. They were those who went through the 1260 years of papal persecution. In Revelation 6:11, they are symbolically asking the Lord when their deaths will be avenged, and the Lord told them that another time of trouble was to come upon the earth before the end of time. “Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was complete” (verse 11).

We see that there will be another time of trouble that will result in the death of many people, but that this troubled time is not the “great tribulation” that is spoken of in Daniel 7, and Revelation 13:1-10. In Revelation 7:13,14, one of the elders tells John that this first group who are given the white robes are the one who came out of that great tribulation. “Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, ‘Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?’ And I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ So he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

In Matthew 24:22, the Lord promised that He would not allow His people to be totally exterminated by this persecuting power. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries when the Protestant movement went forth, God granted His people new light to bring them out of the papal darkness they have been in for over 1000 years. Vigilantly, Martin Luther, the great German reformer, using the Word of God, spiritually fought against the papacy and eventually proclaimed the pope and the Roman Church as antichrist. He protested against the evils of the Roman Catholic Church that he had been a part of for so many years. He saw the abuses, and the false ideology of this pagan religion wrapped in the garb of Christianity. He saw that the identifying marks in the Bible that spoke of the antichrist pointed right at the papal power.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, God opened a new haven for His people. He gave them a refuge from the persecuting power of the papacy in the form of the New World. America became the home for thousands who fled from the tyranny of Europe and the Roman Catholic Church to establish a country where religious freedom was a right and not a privilege. Here the papacy also tried to gain a foothold, but Catholicism was not welcome in the New World north of Mexico in the early years. In 1798, Berthier, general to Napoleon, marched into Italy and captured the pope. The general imprisoned the pope, who later died in prison. From 538 AD to 1798 AD, exactly 1260 years later, the papacy fell and the “Great Tribulation” ended.

“Deadly Wound” healed

It was said that the papacy would never be a power to reckon with again, but someone didn’t study the prophecies of the Bible. “And I saw one of his heads wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.” Revelation 13:3. In 1929, Mussolini, dictator of Italy, gave the papacy the land to build a city within the city of Rome. He also gave them back their temporal power to govern. The “deadly wound” was healed and the papacy began to gain power and dominion over the earth again.

In World War II, the papacy endorsed Hitler’s grab for power and supported him behind the scenes. Cardinal Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII, can be seen in photographs presenting Hitler with the backing of the Roman Catholic Church in the form of the concordat between the Vatican and the Nazi party. Hitler was Catholic after all and was pushing forward Roman Catholic ideals and policies. He made this statement: “I reject that book by Rosenberg. It was written by a Protestant. It is not a party book . . . as a Catholic I never feel comfortable in the evangelical church or its structures . . . as for the Jews, I am just carrying on with the same policy which the Catholic Church has adopted for fifteen hundred years, when it has regarded the Jews as dangerous and pushed them into ghettos, etc., because it knew what the Jews were like. I don’t put race above religion, but I do see the danger in the representatives of this race for church and state, and perhaps I am doing Christianity a great service.” The Nazi Persecution of the Churches by J.S. Conway, pp. 25,26,162.

It was the Church who systematically condemned Jews for years and did all in their power to put up divisions between Christians and Jews. Remember that it was the Roman government, with the help of the Jews, who crucified Christ on the cross, and they have tried to use to Jews as a scapegoat and separate themselves from anything “Jewish” ever since. Rome is still Rome. It does not change its policies, just its outward subterfuge. When a building is given a face-lift it does not change the inside operation. This is the same with Rome.

While supporting Hitler, they also were involved in hiding Jews so it could be said that they were immersed in “humanitarian” concerns. The papacy has always played both sides of the fence and has continued the practice today. In Eastern Europe, the papacy has stirred up religious conflicts in the Balkan States and Serbia, who happen to be Greek Orthodox and not Catholic. This “beast” of a power is reemerging again today as a player in world events. It is the only church that has a representative to the United Nations and sends ambassadors to other countries. This “harlot” church is again preparing for world domination through political agencies and puppet powers. It stays behind the scenes pulling the strings of nations and countries, political and religious organizations, and will soon be worshiped through the “image of the beast.”

The Great Tribulation lasted 1260 years, and was shortened as Christ predicted. The last few remaining years out of the 1260-year prophecy were relatively free from persecution. But Jesus did warn of a soon coming time of trouble for everyone who will live at the end of time. It will not be a lengthy tribulation as was the Great Tribulation. It will last just a short time. This time of trouble will happen shortly before the coming of Christ to redeem His people. “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book (of Life).” Daniel 12:1.

End Time Persecution

This will be the end time persecution which Jesus talks about in Revelation 13:11-18, and again we see the papacy emerging to be worshiped with a death decree hanging over everyone’s head who does not comply. “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”

We read in Revelation 6:11 that many will be martyred in this last conflict with the beast, yet many will stand for the truth of God’s word. Many who once scorned the Bible and the love of God will be turned from sin and become a mighty force for the truth of God. One Bible writer describes the events of the victory of God’s saints this way. “Nearest the throne are those who were once zealous in the cause of Satan, but who, plucked as brands from the burning, have followed their Saviour with deep, intense devotion. Next are those who perfected Christian characters in the midst of falsehood and infidelity, those who honored the law of God when the Christian world declared it void, and the millions, of all ages, who were martyred for their faith. And beyond is the ‘great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, . . . before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.’ Revelation 7:9. Their warfare is ended, their victory won. They have run the race and reached the prize. The palm branch in their hands is a symbol of their triumph, the white robe an emblem of the spotless righteousness of Christ which now is theirs.” The Great Controversy, pg. 665.

There are serious times ahead of us whether we stand for God, or take the mark of the beast. One may cause our physical death, but we will receive the gift of eternal life. The other will give us momentary peace, but will eventually cause us great pain and eternal death. If we are to survive the coming time of trouble, we must take lessons from those who weathered the 1260 years of the Great Tribulation. They remained strong in the Lord, not giving heed to the devil, his doctrines, his enticements, or his earthly agents. They are those who are spoken of in Revelation 12:11. “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

We can have this same experience if we put our trust in God above. We, too, can overcome and be counted as one of God’s true and faithful. Are you willing to give your heart to the One who gave all for you? Are you willing to lay your life on the line for Jesus? He gives this promise to all who will follow Him. “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” Psalm 91:15,16.

Appendix:

The Biblical Identifying Marks of Antichrist

  1. The little horn is Antichrist: “speaks great words against the Most High.” Daniel 7:25
  2. The Antichrist arises among the 10 horns, the 10 divisions of the Roman empire Daniel 7:8 The Antichrist
  3. In the process of arising, uproots 3 of the original horns (the 3 who were uprooted were the kingdoms of Odoacer, or Heruli, (A.D. 493) the Ostrogoths (A.D. 538) and the Vandals (A.D. 534)
  4. At the beginning of his time of civil power he was a little horn–smaller than the others.
  5. This Antichrist power has a human leader, “were eyes like the eyes of a man.” Daniel 7:8
  6. This Antichrist power makes great claims. Daniel 7:8; 25
  7. This power became greater than any of the other horns or kingdoms of Europe. Daniel 7:20
  8. This antichrist power persecuted the saints and overcame or destroyed them. Daniel 7:21, 25 (see also Revelation 13:7)
  9. The little horn power would come into power after the first 10 horns had already divided up the Roman Empire (which occurred from A.D. 351 to A.D. 476).
  10. This antichrist power would attempt to change times and laws (Daniel 7:25). He would teach people to break God’s law by saying that the original law had been changed (by himself).
  11. This antichrist power would continue to exist until the court of God’s judgement would execute sentence against it and consume and destroy it. Daniel 7:26
  12. This same antichrist power is spoken of in II Thessalonians 2 and we know again that it is antichrist because it says, “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God; or that is worshiped so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” II Thessalonians 2:4
  13. This power is called the man of sin (breaking the law I John 3:4) and the son of destruction and the lawless one, so it is a power that teaches people to break God’s law and breaks the law himself. II Thessalonians 2:3, 8
  14. This power exalts itself above all that is called God or that is worshiped. II Thessalonians 2:4
  15. He considers himself to be as God: “he sits as God.” II Thessalonians 2:4
  16. He sits “in the temple of God” or in other words, the antichrist would arise out of the apostolic Christian church because the church is the temple of God (see Ephesians 2:11-22 and I Corinthians 3:16, 17.) (It has been forgotten by most, but the early Christians knew that the antichrist would arise out of the church.)
  17. The antichrist has its roots in the apostolic church because in speaking of the antichrist power Paul says, “the mystery of lawlessness does already work.” II Thessalonians 2:7. So, the roots of the antichrist power were present and working already in the days of the apostles.
  18. When the Roman Caesar was taken out of the way, then the antichrist power, who had its roots back in the days of the apostles, was to be manifested openly: “he who now restrains (the Roman Caesar who was worshiped as a God and would not allow another to be worshiped, even killing Christians for worshipping another Lord) will do so until He is taken out of the way (A.D. 330-476) and then the lawless one (the antichrist) will be revealed.
  19. When the Lord comes, the Lord will consume the antichrist power with the breath of His mouth and will destroy the antichrist power with the brightness of His coming. II Thessalonians 2:8. The antichrist power will not continue for 3 ½ years or 7 years beyond the coming of the Lord as many people think. Rather, when the Lord comes the antichrist power (which has been in existence since the days of the apostles and became openly manifested to the world after the demise of the Roman Empire) will be destroyed.
  20. Since the antichrist power has its roots in the days of the apostles (see above) and since it will not be destroyed until the Lord comes (II Thessalonians 2:8) and since the Lord has not returned yet, we know that the antichrist power must be in the world today.
  21. The antichrist power will work with all manner of power, signs, and lying wonders. (II Thessalonians 2:9) There will be many miracles and therefore we cannot depend on miracles for evidence of anything in the realm of religion or faith.
  22. The antichrist will develop as a consequence of a great apostasy in the Christian church. II Thessalonians 2:3
  23. The day of the Lord will not come until the antichrist power has arisen first as a result of the great apostasy. II Thessalonians 2:1-3
  24. The beast power in Revelation 13:1-10 is the antichrist power, because it says concerning this power in verse 6, “he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.” Revelation 13:6
  25. The antichrist power received his throne (seat of government), power, and great authority from the dragon. The dragon represents primarily the devil, but secondarily the Pagan Roman empire. (see Revelation 12:1-5)
  26. The antichrist power has to do with religion because people worship it. Revelation 13:4
  27. The antichrist power has elements from Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and the pagan Roman Empire within it. Revelation 13:2. The common denominator of all these ancient powers was that none of them allowed religious liberty to their subjects. (See Daniel 3, 6, and the history of the Jews under the Ptolemies and Seleucid kings and the history of the Maccabees and the history of the early Christian church.) In addition to intolerance, all of these powers have in common, the worship of men and other creatures, see Romans 1; Daniel 3, Daniel 6 etc.
  28. The antichrist power arose from the sea. (Revelation 17:15) In other words, in a populated area of the world.
  29. This antichrist power obviously has kingly power, because his horns have crowns on them. Revelation 13:1
  30. The Antichrist power receives a deadly wound, and it appears that it will not survive. Revelation 13:3
  31. The deadly wound to the antichrist power is healed. Revelation 13:3
  32. After the deadly wound is healed, all the world will marvel and follow after the antichrist power. Revelation 13:3
  33. The antichrist power will appear so powerful during this time, that it will be thought that nobody can resist or make war with the antichrist power. Revelation 13:4
  34. The antichrist power has a blasphemous name. Revelation 13:1. The name that this power has which is blasphemous is the name of Christ. Although it is a power that is against Christ, it bears the name of Christ. The word “antichrist” means somebody or something who stands in the place of Christ, the Latin word which is equivalent to the Greek word “anti” is the word “vicar.” That which is blasphemous about the name is the fact that it claims to be of Christ, when actually this power is fighting Christ in the person of His saints and representatives. By bearing the name of Christ and acting out the policy of the dragon, this power does blasphemy to its name.
  35. The antichrist power is given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. Revelation 13:5
  36. This antichrist power was given authority to continue for 42 months. Revelation 13:5. Or in other words, 1260 prophetic days or 1260 literal years.
  37. This power blasphemes four things: God, God’s name, God’s sanctuary or temple, and those who dwell in heaven. Revelation 13:6
  38. The antichrist would be given authority over every tribe, language, and nation. Or in other words, it would be both a world power and a super-power because it would have authority over all nations and languages. Revelation 13:7
  39. All who dwell on the earth who are not saved, will worship this power. Revelation 13:8
  40. This antichrist power, who leads the saints into captivity and martyrdom, will itself be led into captivity and to the sword. Revelation 13:10
  41. The antichrist has a number and it is the number of a man, and that number is 666. Revelation 13:18
  42. The antichrist power has an identifying mark. Revelation 13:15-17, Revelation 14:9-11. This identifying mark is His attempt to change times and laws (Daniel 7:25). This mark is to be enforced on all the world by an oppressive law that will not allow any man to buy or sell unless he has either the mark of the beast or worships his image or has the name of the beast. The people at the grocery store will be able to tell whether you have the mark of the antichrist or not.
  43. In the last generation anybody who worships this antichrist power will lose eternal life and be cast into hell-fire. Revelation 14:9-11
  44. In the last days, an image of the antichrist power is formed by the two-horned beast (something that looks just like the antichrist,) and this image will cooperate with the antichrist, and all the world will be commanded to worship it. Revelation 13: 12-17
  45. Those who do not receive the mark of the beast or worship his image or receive his mark are described as those who “keep the commandments of God” and “the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12; Revelation 20:4; Revelation 15:2. So we know that receiving the mark of the beast involves breaking the commandments of God and not keeping the faith of Jesus, and we know that the commandment that is broken as a mark of the beast’s authority, is the commandment concerning time. (Daniel 7:25)

Sources:

  • J.T.C., Smokescreens
  • White, E.G., Great Controversy
  • J.S. Conway, The Nazi Persecution of the Churches pp. 25,26,162
  • Prompta Bibliotheca, Vol. VI, pp. 25-29.
  • The Catholic World, June 1871, pages 422,423
  • A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, pg. 16
  • The American Peoples Encyclopedia, Vol. 16, pg. 903.
  • Wells, Michael C., The End of War and Injustice
  • Wilkinson, B.G., Truth Triumphant
  • The Rise of the Medieval Church, pg. 168

All Bible references are taken from the New King James Bible unless otherwise indicated.

If you would like to reprint or translate this book, please contact Steps to Life for permission.

Copyright ©1999 by Steps to Life

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Why Hitler Lost

by Michael C. Wells

Why Hitler LostIt was April 16, 1945. Zhukov, the Russian commander, launched his final attack on Berlin. The Allied troops, that had been bombing Berlin, were closing in on

the city. The Americans informed Stalin that the city was theirs to overrun while they liberated the concentration camps. On the 25 th of April, Soviet and American troops met at Torgau on the Elbe. The Soviets had surrounded Berlin and were pounding. the German forces. No mercy was shown by the Soviet troops, and German soldiers hastened to surrender to the American army for fear of being slaughtered by the Russians. The city was falling. All hope for a greater Germany was literally laid waste before their eyes. They had been promised a new, more powerful Germany and a united Europe under Hitler’s rule. Now all they could see was destruction, death, and anguish.

So demoralized was Hitler, that on April 30, 1945, he committed suicide in his own bunker. He had cherished great plans of kingly authority and unlimited power. He had seen early success and a unity of the German people. Everything seemed to be going his way, and then all of a sudden things began to change. What had happened? Why did Hitler lose the war? He had resources, manpower, loyalty, money, and power, to perform any task, yet he failed to unite Europe, with Germany as its leading state.

When Hitler first started his campaign, he worked so subtly that some European nations turned the other cheek and even signed peace accords with Germany. Russia was one of these countries. On September 1, 1939, when Germany attacked Poland, the Soviet Union had already signed the 10- year Nazi- Soviet Pact of nonaggression, a month before. A secret protocol had given up Poland and the Baltic States for division between Germany and the U.S.S.R. We can see the ramifications of this policy even today. Division and war have ever been constant in these regions.

Europe was in turmoil and nothing seemed to stop this killing machine of SovietNazi aggression. Hitler, though, had grander plans than just the occupation of a few little countries. He aspired to be Emperor of Europe. He, like many before him, wanted to see the unification of Europe. He quickly moved against Denmark and Norway, where he would find great wealth in ore, foods such as fish and dairy products, and an Atlantic harbor for his ships and submarines.

The Nazi machine continued to roll forward soundly defeating Great Britain and France at every turn. As the Allied troops tried to stop his advance, Hitler was way ahead of them in strategy and pure guile. On May 10, 1940, Germany pushed its Blitzkrieg through the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. With no real defense, they fell quickly and by the 28 th of May, they laid down their arms and surrendered unconditionally.

The Nazi War- Machine

Throughout the 1930s in Europe and America, the Great Depression had taken its toll. Americans did not want to enter into another European war, especially not since they were just starting to recover from the depression that had affected the

country so terribly. Europe, too, was trying to recover from a similar depression, and was unprepared for such an aggressive attack by a country that most thought could not rise up again after World War I. Yet, Hitler had rallied the people of Germany with nationalism and anti- Semitism. Everything from the poor economy to liberalism was blamed on the Jewish people.

One of the most interesting facts of Hitler’s rise to power and continued success is seen when we look at who backed him in his efforts. In photos during this time, Cardinal Pacelli (later to become Pope Pius XII) is seen presenting Hitler with a concordat between the Vatican and the Nazi party. Outdoor masses were held in Munich, in 1937, to bless the Nazi Party and the Fuhrer.

An Invincible Force?

Many times, Hitler tried to play down his aggressive tendencies and put the League of Nations at ease. But like a lion, who is lying in the sun, taking in the rays of a hot summer day, it is still aware of the prey around it. When you least expect it, he is up and attacking his prey, crushing it between his powerful jaws.

Hitler was like a sleeping lion. He came out with vengeance and used the Blitzkrieg to demoralize the countries he subjugated. With every defeat of the Allied armies, Hitler became stronger and looked more invincible than before.

The collapse of France was a major victory for Germany. England and France were the only major countries fighting against the Nazi killing machine. France was thought to have an unbeatable army, yet on May 16, 1940, Germany sent in its mechanized forces, surprising the Allies by attacking through the wooded Ardennes rather than the Belgian plain, and drove the British Expeditionary Force from the continent. On June 14, the Germans entered Paris, unopposed, and forced France to sign an Armistice on the 22 nd of June, 1940. When France fell to Germany, neutral Italy attacked southern France and declared war on the Allied troops. Again Hitler received help: this time in the form of troops from Italy. With Mussolini now on the side of Hitler, most of western Europe defeated, and part of eastern Europe in disarray, Hitler’s dream of being the ruler of Europe seemed as though it was about to become a reality.

The Nazi Fuhrer lost no time in establishing his new world order in Europe. His policy consisted of terror, forced labor, and concentration camps. Hitler was well on his way to realizing his dream. In order to fulfill his dream of an Aryan nation, Hitler started persecuting many different racial groups. While the persecution of the Jews had much to do with their religion, the persecution of groups like the Slays, gypsies, and blacks was based on not only religious views but on racial hatred. Hitler hated these ‘impure” breeds of people who had contaminated his precious Aryan Germany. He set up concentration camps and eliminated whole groups of people. He was determined to purge Germany of all whom he concluded were the cause of Germany’s failure to become a great nation in World War I.

With the subjugation of most of Europe complete, Hitler turned His attention towards North Africa. Through Mussolini, an invasion of Libya and Egypt were attempted, but the Italian troops are surprised by British troops, and Hitler had to come to Mussolini’s aid. While Mussolini was making his attempt at North Africa,

Hitler had decided that the alliance between Germany and the U.S.S.R. had outlived its usefulness. This pact was only a temporary arrangement, in Hitler’s eyes, until he had used the Soviets to fulfill his purpose. Now with a large measure of success behind him, Hitler plans for the invasion of the U.S.S.R.

In 1941, Hitler ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union. He pushed hard into Russia and within a few days, the Nazi machine had advanced 400 miles. Major losses were accrued by the Russian forces. The Germans had captured over 300,000 prisoners in no more than 18 days. Within the first 48 hours, Soviet forces had lost over 2000 planes and, by the middle of the month, the German army was only200 miles from Moscow.

Predictions And Defiance

Many people in 1940— 1941 were sure that Hitler was unstoppable. There was speculation that Hitler would overrun all of Europe. The German people as a whole were behind him, and many of the European nations, who had not been attacked, claimed the status of neutrality. Everyone was afraid that if they opposed Hitler he would turn his forces upon them. Countries such as Sweden and Switzerland worked secretly with the Germans through economics and by allowing passage rights through their countries to ease Hitler’s attacks on other nations. America would only involve itself in supplying arms and munitions to the Allies, and was determined to avoid full- scale involvement in this solely European war. Many were looking for the sure demise of divided Europe and the establishment of a new unified Europe with Hitler at the head.

Yet, there were some that were predicting that Hitler would not succeed, and would meet his demise. These predictions were made at the height of Hitler’s power and seemed to fly in the face of common sense. Arthur S. Maxwell, editor of The Signs of the Times, continued to predict Hitler’s defeat right at the time of the fall of France. His editorials were cutting and direct.

How did he know Hitler would be defeated? Mr. Maxwell was an avid Bible student and predicted the downfall of Hitler and the failed unification of Europe, through the study of the prophecies of Daniel 2. Amazing, you might say! How could anyone, through the study of the book of Daniel be able to predict, at the height of Hitler’s career, that he would be utterly defeated? What was the key to understanding this truth, and why did not anyone else come to these same conclusions?

Hitler made a statement in March, 1941, that was in open defiance to God. Speaking to the German people, he said, “See my people? We do not need anything from God! We do not ask anything from Him except that He may let us alone. We want to fight our own war, with our own guns, without God. We want to gain our victory without the help of God.” This was quite a bold statement! Hitler believed in the arm of flesh and not in the arm of God. His philosophy was based on selfishness and self- righteousness. He thought his power sufficient to overcome any odds, and, in 1941, it looked like he would see his dreams fulfilled. But Hitler had failed to read the Bible and study the prophecies that would affect his success.

After the German invasion of the U.S.S.R., the structure of the Allied forces had shifted. Churchill, the new Prime Minister of Great Britain, promised Stalin economic and technical assistance against the Axis powers. This offer was accepted by Moscow, and Stalin signed a mutual- aid pact with London in July of 1941. While the British and Russians were coming together to battle Hitler’s Nazi regime, the United States was busy changing its home policy about this European war. President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill came together to form what was called the Atlantic Charter, which the U.S.S.R. and fourteen other non- Axis countries endorsed. The Atlantic Charter was designed as a counter thrust to a possible new Hitler offensive as well as a statement of postwar aims. Hitler did not know it yet, but the God of heaven was about to throw a “monkey wrench” into his plans of world conquest.

December 7, 1941, was a fateful day, the consequences of which became a determining factor in the downfall of Hitler. Early in the morning of that lazy Sunday, Japanese fighter- bombers, from an aircraft carrier far out at sea, wreaked havoc on a small Hawaiian island. The objective was to destroy the American fleet of ships at Pearl Harbor in one stroke. Little did Hitler realize that when his ally, Japan, attacked the United States it would lead to his ultimate defeat. Hitler was secure in the knowledge that this was a European war that the United States did not want to be involved in, and he was not planning to confront American servicemen and armament in Europe.

Hitler did not realize that the greatest Protestant nation on the earth was about to alter the policies and directives, which he had laid out in his new world order. America now became busy putting two forces together, one for Europe and one for Asian contingency.

Never think that God is not in control over the affairs of men. His all- knowing eye is upon each one of His people. We cannot always understand the workings of God, but never doubt that He is working for the best interest of His people. By bringing the United States into the war, God was showing His disdain for the policies that Hitler was pushing forward.

The battle was still being lost, as a whole, for the Allied armies even with the insurgence of the American army. As Hitler’s tanks plowed through Northern Africa and Eastern Europe, the German bombers were trying to level London. The Germans had used their time well in establishing fortified bases of operations. Planning for invasion by Allied troops, Hitler had beachheads mined, covered with barb wire, and protected by pillboxes and artillery guns. Several times Allied troops were cut off from advancements or literally backed into the sea. Hundreds of thousands died on those beaches, yet the Allies kept coming back for more. Hitler was confident that his strategies were sound and his positions were secure; yet back in America, Arthur Maxwell was still predicting the eventual defeat of Hitler. What was it that he knew that most people did not? In order to explain Mr. Maxwell’s certainty of Hitler’s defeat, we will have to go back into the prophecies of Daniel and read how this prophecy unfolds.

A King Dreams of Empires

In Daniel chapter 2, we read the story of King Nebuchadnezzar and the dream that fascinated him so much that he was determined to discover its meaning. Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon, the Emperor of the known world, the head of the most powerful nation on the face of the earth, at that time. He was accustomed to getting his way and did not like to be played for a fool. So, when he had his dream, he called all of his wizards, magicians, sorcerers, and Chaldeans (the elite of his counselors) to explain his dream. However, these professed “revealers of the future” had a problem. The king could not remember the dream, and it plagued him because he knew it was important to understand.

I am sure you have had a dream that you wanted to remember, but it just slipped away from you as you awoke. This was what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar, and much to the dismay of his counselors, the king demanded that they tell him the dream, on penalty of death if they failed. Of course, none of these spiritualists could interpret a dream of unknown content. They had been ‘playing” the king for years with their tricks and spiritualism and had no real knowledge of the future. Only God knows the future, for He says, “Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.” Isaiah 46: 9, 10.

Daniel was being trained to be one of the elite in the kingdom, and because of this, his head was also to roll if the dream was not made known.

Daniel, of course, did not know any more than the rest of the counselors, but he was not a pagan idol worshipper like the Babylonians. He was a Jew who had faith in the God of heaven. He had determined in his heart to honor God above all else. And so, when Daniel went to the Lord in prayer and asked to be shown the dream, it was granted him to present it to the king as a witness of future events.

You see, the God of heaven had sent this dream to a pagan king for the same reason he sends the Holy Spirit to convict our hearts. He was trying to bring this king to repentance, and He knew He had quite a work to do. Through this dream, the Lord was attempting to awaken King Nebuchadnezzar out of his spiritual slumber.

As Daniel presents the dream and the interpretation to Nebuchadnezzar, he first makes known to the king from where it came. “Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, ‘The secret, which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these:

As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.”

Daniel 2: 27— 30. Notice that Daniel takes no credit, but points to the magnificence of God. Daniel continues by telling the king that he has been shown a great image of awesome splendor. “This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay” Verses 32,33. What an image! The king knew immediately that this is exactly what he saw. As he was thrilled with the realization that Daniel actually knew his dream, Daniel continues: “You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Verses 34,35.

Being an idol- worshipping king, Nebuchadnezzar was quite impressed with this image in its magnificent splendor, but was dismayed at the destruction of such a beautiful piece of workmanship. To think that this image of precious metals would be crushed by a huge stone was at the very least distressing. Then Daniel tells the king “You, O king,. . . you are this head of gold” (verses 37,38). This delighted the king that this golden head represented him, but Daniel was not done yet. “But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.” Verses 39,40.

King Nebuchadnezzar was the ruler of the Babylonian Empire. The head of gold represented him. Yet, the king found that his kingdom was to be replaced by one inferior to his. This was unsettling to this pagan king that prided himself on his city of gold. As a matter of history, not too long after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, his kingdom did fall to the Persian Empire, which in turn fell to Alexander the Great (Greece), and, as God predicted, the fourth kingdom as strong as iron, crushed all others before it. We know from history that this world kingdom was the Roman Empire. Rome has always been called the iron monarchy, and it did beat down its adversaries showing no mercy to its enemies. By the time Rome was at the height of its power, all of Europe was under its control.

Europe – Forever Divided?

But notice what else was in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. “Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.” Verses 41 – 43.

God had predicted the downfall and division of Rome. In 476 A. D., Rome began its long descent into a divided Europe. Out of the Roman Empire emerged ten kingdoms, which are represented by the ten toes of the image. We can still see most

of them today in such countries as England, France, Spain, Germany, Portugal, etc. These European nations have fulfilled this prophecy to the letter, as it was predicted that they would “mingle with the seed of men, but they will not adhere to one another.” In order to bring peace and unity in Europe, arranged marriages among the ruling families were common during the Middle Ages. The thought being that if all of the royalty were related to one another, no one would fight against their own flesh and blood. Unfortunately, greed and sinful desires have always been stronger than blood. So although these kingdoms “mingle with the seed of men,” God said, “they will not adhere to one another.” In other words, these kingdoms of the late Roman Empire, which is now called Europe, will never become one empire again.

Humanistic mankind loves to try to prove God wrong, but the Lord has never been proven wrong. Why? Hebrews 6: 18 says, “that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”

Throughout the past centuries, men have tried to reunite Europe. In the eighth century, Charlemagne, proclaimed heir to the Roman Empire, tried to reunite Europe into one empire. In the sixteenth century, Charles V tried the same thing, and again in the nineteenth century, Napoleon made a valiant effort to unite Europe again. Napoleon proclaimed to the people “I wanted to found a European system, a European code of law, a European court of appeals.” Yet, God said, “They will not adhere.” When God gives a vision, no man can change it. The Lord of heaven predicted only four world empires and the continued separation of Europe. Nothing could change that and nothing will change it.

War after war has been waged in Europe to bring unity into this continent. Even today, we see nation fighting against nation, kingdom against kingdom just as Jesus predicted in Matthew 24.

Notice here in Daniel 2: 42,43, that the ten toes would be a mixture of strong and weak countries. If you look at Europe, you will see just how true this prediction is today. Europe is a very diversified continent with wealthy countries, struggling democracies and socialist states. Because of the different cultures, religions, and political agendas, it is not hard to imagine why Europe is so divided. God knew of these problems and wrote in the prophecies of Daniel for all to know. Europe will never unite!

In 1939, Hitler thought he could change the structure of Europe. As his bombers dropped bombs on England, and his tanks rolled through France, he entertained ideas of grandeur. As his German scientist worked on the V2 rocket in the later years of the war, Hitler still held out hope for a greater Germany, but even he could not change what God saw in the future for Europe. Hitler had marked success for quite a few years, but on April 30,1945, Hitler saw that his dreams of a united Europe had failed and he took his own life. Seven days later the German army formally gave an unconditional surrender. Hitler’s Third Reich had come to an end.

If Hitler had understood the prophecies of Daniel he would have been forewarned of his eventual defeat. However, like most people of today, he had no interest in

what God had to say and paid the price for rejecting the knowledge of life that God gives to every person who will search for His will in their lives. Hitler did not lose the war because of the entrance of the American army into the war, or because of the stiff opposition that the U. S. S. R. gave to the invasion of their country or because of bad strategy on his part, but because the God of heaven, King of Kings, Majesty of the Universe, the one who declares the beginning from the end, said Europe would never unite again.

The More Sure Word of Prophecy

Why was Arthur Maxwell so convinced that this prophecy was true and would work out just as he said? We can read his assurance in Daniel 2: 45: “. . . the dream is certain, and the interpretation is sure.” God gave that assurance to him through these two words. If God says it, we can be sure of it, for God cannot tell a lie. God’s word is always certain and sure, and it cannot be changed by erring, sinful men. Today again we see men trying to unite Europe into one nation. Again we see some marked success, but again, men are trying to go directly against the knowledge of God. They are trying to establish a union that does not have the blessing of heaven.

Did you know that the Lord even predicted that this would happen in the last days? Look at what He says will happen in the last days of these kingdoms, when they try to unite themselves into one body. “You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Daniel 2: 34,3 5.

Here we see a stone destroying the image and crushing it into dust. We can find out what this stone is by looking at Bible definitions. The Bible always interprets itself As Jesus tells a story to the chief priests and people, in Matthew 21: 33— 44, we gain understanding into this prophecy by studying another prophecy. Here in Matthew 21 :42, Jesus refers to Himself as the, “Stone which the builders [Jews] rejected.” Then He gives us more insight into this stone and image of Daniel when He says, “And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” Verse 44. If our pride and selfishness is broken on the Chief Cornerstone (Jesus), our willfullness and self- exultation will be broken. But if we do not submit to Him, when He comes, He will crush us into powder. We shall be destroyed by the brightness of His coming. (See 2 Thessalonians 1: 7— 9; 2: 8.) “And in the days of these kings (kingdoms) the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Daniel 2: 44.

The God of heaven is ever interested in the events of human history. One inspired writer expresses this thought this way: “In the annals of human history, the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as if dependent on the will and prowess of man; the shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, above, behind, and through all the play and counter- play of human interest and power and passions, the agencies of the All-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will.” Prophets and Kings, p.499, by Ellen G. White.

The facts of Hitler’s defeat are clear. With overpowering forces, armament, and resources, he went forth to conquer the world. He systematically brought country after country to its knees, but the fact remains that he was doomed to failure. The God of heaven knows the beginning from the end. He can see down the streams of time and knows how to fulfill His purposes.

We are on the verge of the last and final battle to take place on this earth. We see the countries of Europe hastening to bring Europe back to the greatness it had during the days of the Roman Empire. As the great men of the world, labor to reunite Europe once again, the prophecies of Daniel ring louder and louder in our ears. In these last days, when men once again try to go against God, He will come back and destroy the kingdoms of this earth. “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.” Revelation 11: 15,18.

Men do not realize that they are fighting against the God of heaven. They are blinded to the truth of what is happening in the world today. But God has given a warning to every man, woman, and child. “Fear (respect) God and give glory to Him.” Revelation 14: 7. All He asks of you and me today is to obey and honor Him, and if we do, He has promised to protect us and be our God. He is ever trying to work out His plan in our lives, using every means possible to encourage, guide and instruct us in the paths of righteousness.

As earth’s history comes to a close and time grows short, He is saying to each of us, “Behold I stand at the door and knock If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3: 20. Do you hear Him knocking?

As the nations become angrier and war becomes more common place, will you follow the world of Hitlers and Napoleons, or will you serve the God of heaven who has sacrificed His only Son for you? It is a life and death decision that we must make today. I leave you with one question. Who will you follow today?

Sources:

  • Conway, J. S., The Nazi Persecution of the Churches.
  • J. T. C., Smokescreens. Grolier 1997 Multimedia Encyclopedia
  • Maxwell, Arthur S., The Signs of the Times.
  • White, E. G., Prophets and Kings.

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The Two Marks

by Cody Francis

The Two MarksThe mark of the beast—it strikes terror into the hearts of all who hear it, and rightly so. The most fearful warning in all of the Bible is given against receiving the mark of the beast, but did you know that the mark of the beast is not the only mark recorded in Revelation? There are actually two marks, and your destiny hinges upon which mark you receive. There is so much said about the mark of the beast, but the more important of the two marks is God’s mark—the seal of the Living God. Do you know the difference between these two marks? Do you know which one you will have? Do you know how you can be certain to have God’s mark and not the beast’s mark? The only way that you will be able to know the answers to these most important questions is through the Word of God. What does the Bible say about this life and death question, the two marks?

There have always been two marks in the Word of God—a mark upon the righteous and a mark upon the disobedient. The concept of two marks goes all the way back to Cain and Abel. When Cain became angry and slew Abel, the Lord put a mark upon him. This mark was not a desirable mark, but it was still a mark that was put upon rebellious Cain. “And the Lord said to him, ‘Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.’ And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.” Genesis 4:15. Just a few years outside of the Garden of Eden, a mark is placed upon disobedient Cain. This was not God’s mark, marking one of His faithful and true children, but this was the mark of a murderer. It was a mark of transgression against God’s law. The idea of a mark is not something new to the book of Revelation; it starts in Genesis and continues throughout the entire Bible.

A mark upon both the righteous and the wicked and the fate of each is clearly portrayed in the story of the exodus from Egypt. This account of the children of Israel being delivered from Egypt is the very story that the latter scenes of Revelation are based upon. There are the two groups of people—those who were following and obeying God and those who were following the customs and traditions of men. The children of Israel had a sign or mark of deliverance upon their houses, so that the angel of death would pass by. “For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.” Exodus 12:23. Thus it was for the people of God. For those who followed and obeyed the directions of the Lord, they were preserved from the destroying angel. But it was only those who had God’s mark of deliverance that were saved. If there were any of the children of Israel who did not have God’s mark, they were not protected, but rather their firstborn perished with the disobedient. The Egyptians also had a mark, but this mark did not save them, it marked their destruction. “And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock.” Exodus 12:29. It was a mark of death. Why did they have this mark of death? It was because they did not receive God’s mark of deliverance. All who refuse or neglect God’s mark of protection will receive the mark of death as the Egyptians did. It was not that the Egyptians did not know. They knew. Moses and Aaron had faithfully warned Pharaoh and the news had trickled down the to the ear of the lowliest servant. There were even those who had joined the Israelites and had been preserved, and these individuals became a part of the “mixed multitude.” Exodus 12:38. There were two marks then, and there are two marks now.

As marks are a symbol that is used throughout the Scriptures, it becomes the climax and the focal point of the book of Revelation. Just as in the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt there were two marks, so in the final deliverance of God’s people from this wicked world there will be two distinct marks. There will be the mark of disobedience that the Egyptians had, and there will be the mark of deliverance that God’s true people will have. “Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.’” Revelation 14:9, 10. The same mark of disobedience that both Cain and the Egyptians received, in the last days is called “the mark of the beast,” and the results will be the same as in Egypt. In Egypt, it was death to the firstborn, in the last scenes of this earth’s history it will be death to all who receive this dreadful mark. The mark of the beast is not the only mark; there is the seal of the living God. “Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.’” Revelation 7:2, 3. Those who receive the mark of the beast receive the most awful judgments ever threatened upon mankind, but those who have the seal of the living God are miraculously preserved from the terrible judgments that devastate this world. “They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” Revelation 9:4. If you did not understand the difference between God’s seal of protection and the devil’s mark of destruction during the plagues of Egypt, you would have received the mark of destruction and been lost. So today, if we do not understand this most important topic of the two marks, we will inevitably be lost. The world is going to be brought to a choice just as the country of Egypt was brought to a choice. Who will you serve? Then only the country of Egypt was affected, but today it will be the whole world. (See Revelation 13:3.) Everyone will be brought to a choice—which mark will you receive? There are only two; it will be one or the other.

God’s Mark

It is important to note that marks are usually symbolic. “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.” Psalm 37:37. The Lord had given direction to mark the perfect man. This mark was not a literal brand that he received, but a mark of character. Marks are usually symbolic, and this is certainly true with God’s mark. It is a mark of character, a mark of the heart. The Lord looks deeper than man does. Man is always looking to externals, but God does not look at the external appearances, God’s eyes pierce into the very depths and intents of the heart and soul. “And the Lord said to him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.’” Ezekiel 9:4. The Lord commands one of the angels to put a mark upon the men who are sighing and crying for the abominations. This mark is put on by an angel, not by a man. This mark is read by angels, not by men. This mark is marking “the perfect man.” It is a mark of character; not a literal brand burned into the forehead. God’s mark of deliverance is a symbolic mark.

“Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always…. Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess… And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul… Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” Deuteronomy 11:1, 8, 13, 18. The Lord says exactly what His sign or mark is. It is obedience to God’s Ten Commandments. Clearly not a literal mark, but a mark of character. Just like David said, “mark the perfect man” (See Psalm 37:37) so he also says, “The law of the Lord is perfect,” Psalm 19:7. James also agrees calling the Ten Commandments, “the perfect law of liberty.” James 1:25; 2:11. In order to be marked as a perfect man, you must be keeping that perfect law of liberty, or the Ten Commandments. It is obedience to this holy law that is a sign on our hands and upon our foreheads that we are God’s people. God looks deeper than mere external ornaments; He looks into the heart to see if a person is living in obedience to the holy Ten-Commandment law. If an individual is obeying the law of liberty, God knows that He can trust him, and so He puts his mark or seal upon him. “It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.” Exodus 13:9. Even in the children of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, they knew that the mark of deliverance was obedience to God’s Ten-Commandment law.

God’s mark of deliverance is obedience to His Law. It is a sign upon the hand and on the forehead. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day took this completely literal. They tied portions of the law around their head and on their hands so that they would have that actual sign, but Jesus rebuked them for relying upon the external requirements and not allowing the real meaning to occur. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:27, 28. Jesus sternly rebuked those who fulfilled the letter of the law, but not the spirit. They hung God’s mark on the outside, but inside they were not keeping it. Jesus said that even though they hung these portions of the law upon them, they were lawless. Simply hanging the sign on the outside is not God’s true mark. God’s true mark is having His law in our forehead and in our hand. The forehead is where our thought process occurs. God wants His law, not on the outside, but inside our forehead. He wants His law in our thoughts and in our minds. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly… but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:1, 2. Those who have God’s mark in their foreheads are the ones who think upon God’s law. By having God’s mark on the hand is represented actually doing God’s Law. With our hands we work and do all of our actions. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,” Ecclesiastes 9:10. So those who not just think about the Law, but who do it, are the ones who receive God’s true mark of deliverance. “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14. Those who think and meditate upon God’s Law with their minds and who do His commandments with their hands have God’s mark of deliverance.

Obedience to God’s holy Law is what has continually distinguished between the children of God and the children of this world. With Cain and Abel this difference is seen, and prophecy teaches that it will be the distinguishing mark in the future, as well. Abel obeyed the Lord by following His directions, while Cain did what he wanted and not what God had said. As a result of Cain’s disobedience, the Lord said, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.” Genesis 4:7. Cain disobeyed and his children followed his lawless example. Thus, there were the descendants of Cain and the descendants of Seth, those who disobeyed and those who obeyed. The distinguishing mark continues through Abraham’s time. “Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:5. Abraham obeyed God’s commandments and was honored for His obedience. Through all time, obedience to God’s Law has been the mark that divides God’s true people from His disloyal subjects. Especially in our time, at the close of this earth’s history, God’s Law becomes a distinguishing mark. “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. The very last remnant of God’s people is described again as obedient to the commandments. Clear to the close of time this mark of obedience is in affect. Obedience to God’s commandments is a line of demarcation distinguishing between those who are truly following Jesus and those who are not.

God’s Sign or Seal

Obedience to God’s Holy Law is what has marked God’s people from the very beginning, but there is a special part of God’s Law that is designated as His special sign or seal of obedience. It is this seal that God’s last day people receive. “After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.’ And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:” Revelation 7:1-4. The children of Israel represent God’s faithful people in the last days just as they have represented God’s faithful people from the beginning of time. (Romans 2:28, 29; Galatians 3:7, 9, 14, 26-29; Ephesians 2:12-16; James 1:1) Simply stated, the one hundred and forty-four thousand are God’s faithful people at the end of time. (For more information see Steps to Life’s booklet, The Rapture and Israel’s Future.) They receive the seal of the living God in their foreheads. While obedience to the commandments is the mark that distinguishes God’s faithful people, what is the special seal? The Bible does say that there is a seal within the Ten Commandments. “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.” Isaiah 8:16.

A seal was something that was very common to all of the Biblical writers, for it was something that was repeatedly used in ancient times. In order for a king to make a law, he would have the law written and then put his seal upon the Law so that all would know that he had indeed signed it into law. It was like putting his signature or fingerprint upon it. When his subjects saw the seal, all knew that they had to obey it and that it was an authentic seal. Frequently this seal was a signet ring or a cylinder. “‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off;’” Jeremiah 22:24, margin. In order to be an authentic seal, it needed to have three essential elements—name, title and dominion. An example of a seal is found in Daniel 4:1, “Nebuchadnezzar, the king, to all peoples, nations and languages that dwell in all the earth:” Nebuchadnezzar is writing an official decree to his subjects and he begins it with his seal. It has his name—“Nebuchadnezzar.” It contains his title—“the king.” It has his dominion—“all peoples, nations, and languages.” Nebuchadnezzar was the king of the entire world. Thus when people read the official document they would see Nebuchadnezzar’s seal containing his name, title and dominion. They would know that this was something that they needed to heed. Another example of a seal is given in Ezra 7:12, 13, 21, “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of heaven: Perfect peace, and so forth. I issue a decree that all those of the people of Israel and the priests and Levites in my realm, who volunteer to go up to Jerusalem may go with you…. And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, do issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the region beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, let it be done diligently.” Once again the three essential elements to a seal are seen—Artaxerxes, king of kings, and people of Israel and those beyond the River. This was a specialized law that only applied to the children of Israel and to those beyond the river, but it shows again the three essential parts to any seal—the name, title, and dominion.

God as the true king and ruler of this world also has a seal. This seal can be seen several places in the Bible, so that we can know that God has put His official seal upon His Holy Word. The first place that this seal appears is the very first verse in the Bible. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1. Notice that there are the three essential elements in this verse. The Lord’s name—“God.” His title—“created.” He is the creator and that is why He has the right to give us a Book of Directions, the Bible. His dominion—“heavens and the earth.” In the very first verse in the Bible, God stamps His seal upon it, by giving His name, title and dominion. The very first verse of the Bible contains the seal of God, showing that the entire Bible is His Word to us. God’s seal is also in the last book of the Bible. “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’” Revelation 14:6, 7. God records the last worldwide messages that are to go to the entire world, and in the midst of it He stamps His seal. His name—God. His title—Creator, for he made heaven and earth. His dominion—heaven and earth and sea. This last message that is to go to all the world bears God’s stamp and seal showing that it is His message.

“Seal the law among my disciples.” Isaiah 8:16. There are several places where God’s seal is seen, but the focal point must be in the law, for His Law must be sealed. While the entire Bible is God’s Book, the Law is the most official document ever given and to be valid must contain His seal. If the seal was broken or missing on an earthly king’s law, it was known that the law did not need to be honored, for it was a counterfeit. So if the seal is taken out of God’s Law then the entire Law becomes void. What is the seal in the Law? “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11. There is only one commandment in the entire Law that contains the essential elements to a seal. It is the Sabbath commandment. In verse 10, is found the Lord’s name—the Lord your God. In verse 11, is seen the Lord’s title—the Creator, for he made the heaven and the earth. In the same verse is also seen the Lord’s dominion—the heavens and the earth and the sea. The fourth commandment is the only commandment that contains God’s seal. It is the fourth commandment that binds up the testimony and seals the Law. (See Isaiah 8:16.) The seventh day Sabbath is the seal of the Living God.

“Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.” Ezekiel 20:20. The Lord has said that the Sabbath is the sign between God and His people. It is the sign that clearly distinguishes them from the world, but more than this is meant by this verse. Sign and seal are synonymous terms is the Scriptures. The very fact that the seal was frequently applied with a signet (signing) ring testifies to this fact. There is a verse showing this without a doubt, “and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised,” Romans 4:11. The sign of circumcision was the seal of righteousness by faith. Sign and seal are used interchangeably. Thus, when the Lord says that the Sabbath is a sign, He is saying that the Sabbath is His seal! “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is sign [seal] between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you…. It is a sign [seal] between Me and the children of Israel [God’s people throughout all time, Hebrews 4:9] forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” “Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign [seal] between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” Exodus 31:13, 17; Ezekiel 20:12. The seventh day Sabbath is the seal of the Living God!

While obedience to the entire Law is a distinguishing mark between the people of God and children of the devil, the Sabbath commandment is the specially designated sign, or seal, that marks them as His people. While the entire world is willfully violating the fourth commandment of keeping holy the seventh day as the Sabbath, God will have a people who receive His seal in their foreheads. (Revelation 7:3.) He will have a people who will keep the Sabbath no matter what the rest of the world is doing. Prophecy has predicted that almost the entire world would bow down and worship the beast in the last days. “I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.” Revelation 13:3. But God’s people will stand up against the prevailing tide of lawlessness just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego did twenty-five hundred years ago. They will “call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words.” Isaiah 58:13. Although the entire world is breaking the Sabbath by worshipping on the first day of the week (Sunday) instead of the seventh day of the week (Saturday), they will hold fast to “the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. Because they keep holy God’s seventh day Sabbath and refuse to break God’s Holy Law, they are sealed by the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 4:30.) They have the seal of God (the keeping of the seventh day Sabbath) and are preserved from the threatened judgments. The Devil’s Mark

The devil attempts to counterfeit everything that God has done. There are numerous examples of this and many pages could be written on this topic; but it is sufficient to say that he is “a liar and the father of it.” John 8:44. He is the biggest copycat the world has ever known, and he has counterfeited God’s true mark, as well. He has set up a mark that is as close to the true as possible, but is just far enough off to deceive millions into being lost. “Then a third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.’ Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:9-12. The devil’s mark is referred to throughout the book of Revelation as the “mark of the beast.” As we have previously noted, God’s mark is a mark of character and not a literal brand. It only makes sense that the mark of the beast would be the same. “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” I Samuel 16:7. Man always looks to the outside. The nicest house, the nicest car, the nicest clothes, but forgets the inward adornment of the heart. It is the same way with the mark of the beast. Man thinks of a brand, a computer chip, a credit card, but these are outward appearances. God does not look at the outward appearance. God’s mark is not an outward sign or seal; it is a decision of the heart and mind. Since the devil has counterfeited God’s mark, he has not counterfeited it as an outward sign, but as a decision of the heart. (The devil may use some of these outward signs, but it is not the Biblical mark of the beast.)

There is another way that we know for sure that the mark of the beast cannot be some outward sign. We know that whoever receives the mark of the beast will be lost—bar none. There are no exceptions to the Loud Cry of the Third Angel. This has led many mothers to ask me a question, “What if my child is too young to understand and they are forced to receive the mark of the beast?” This would indeed be a problem if the mark of the beast were an outward sign. A person could be physically forced to receive a sign that they did not want, and then would be arbitrarily lost. Does that sound like a God of love and mercy to you? Absolutely not! But the mark of the beast is not an external sign that someone can be forced to receive. It is a decision of the heart, just like the mark of God is a decision of the heart. No one can force another person to make a decision. They may coerce, but they cannot force you, or anyone else, to make a choice. God gives all a choice. The mark of the beast, like every other sin, is a choice. (I John 3:4; James 4:17.) It is a decision that each person must make; it is not a brand, computer chip, or a card.

The Beast’s Mark

Some individuals have mistakenly gotten the idea that the mark of the beast is 666. It is true that 666 is the number of the beast (see Revelation 13:18), but the number and the mark are not synonymous. “And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over the mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” Revelation 15:2. There are four distinct things that the people of God are going to be victorious over, the beast, his image, his mark, and his number. Obviously, from this verse we can see that the mark and the number are two different things. What we are concerned with is his mark. What is it and how can it be avoided?

There are three basic descriptions of the beast power. They are found in Revelation 13, II Thessalonians 2, and Daniel 7. A different aspect of this power is given in each of these passages, but they are similar enough to know that it is the same power that is being described. There is one mark that is continuous through all three. It is the most blasphemous and presumptuous mark of all. This continuous thread is that the beast power is lawless. “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.” Daniel 7:25. Under the symbol of the little horn, the beast power is described. There are over ten points in this chapter alone that conclusively identify who this power is, but the most blasphemous of all is that he intends to change times and law. This power exalts himself so much above God that he intentionally claims to change God’s holy Law. Of course, he could not really change God’s Law for the Bible says, “I am the Lord, I do not change;” Malachi 3:6. God’s Law cannot really be changed for it is a transcript of God’s very own character, and He does not change. Jesus said, “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.” Luke 16:17. It would be more likely that both heaven and earth would melt away than for the smallest part of God’s Law to be done away with, but this is exactly what this bold and blasphemous Little Horn does. He is indeed a lawless power. Notice that in Revelation this power is guilty of breaking the first commandment, “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’” Revelation 13:4. The beast is worshiped as God; thus, breaking not only the first, but the second commandment as well. He puts himself in the place of God and sets himself up as an idol to be worshiped. His ruthless violation of God’s law does not stop here, though. “Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue and nation.” Revelation 13:6, 7. He breaks the third commandment by blaspheming God’s name and is guilty of breaking the sixth commandment by making war with God’s true people. Truly this is a lawless power. The mark of the beast is most clearly described by Paul, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition… For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,” II Thessalonians. 2:3, 7-9. Three times in this passage the beast power is referred to as the lawless one. The beast not only breaks the law himself, but he intentionally changes God’s law and leads others to break God’s holy law. He is called the “man of sin.” “Sin is the transgression of the law.” I John 3:4, KJV. He is the man of lawlessness. Wherever the beast is described his specific mark is breaking God’s law. Throughout scripture the mark of the beast is disobedience to God’s holy law.

God’s mark is obedience to His law and the beast’s mark is disobedience to God’s law. They are not literal brands or computer chips that people receive, but rather a decision of who you are going to obey that is the identifying mark as to which side you are on. Those who follow the beast are described as lawless and those who refuse the mark of the beast are described as commandment keepers. “Then a Third Angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God…’ Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:9, 10, 12. Here two groups of people are described, as is frequently done in Revelation. One group receives the mark of the beast. The other group keeps the commandments of God. Those who do not receive the mark of the beast are the ones who have been obedient to all of God’s commandments. Those who receive the mark of the beast are those who have broken the commandments. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.’ Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:21-23. Jesus here describes those who are deceived into following the beast power. They think that they are saved. They have done all of these miraculous signs, but they are still lost. Why? Because they followed the lawless beast power. They have broken God’s law, thinking that it was unimportant and done away with, and now when they come face to face with their Maker; they realize too late that they have received the mark of the beast and are lost. The mark of the beast is much more deceptive than what many people think. It is simply breaking God’s Law.

The Bible zeros in even further and pinpoints the commandment that those who receive the mark of the beast are breaking. “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law.” Daniel 7:25. Prophecy states that this power will intentionally change times and law. There is only one commandment in the Ten Commandments that deals with time. That one commandment is the fourth commandment, the Sabbath commandment. It specifically states which day is the Sabbath, the seventh day. You can search every word in all other nine commandments and not find another word mentioning time. The only commandment that could possibly fit the description of times and law is the Sabbath commandment. Has some despotic power presumptuously changed the Sabbath commandment? Prophecy is fulfilled! Have you ever wondered why the entire world is worshipping on Sunday, the first day of the week, when the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, is the day mentioned in the Bible? It seems strange doesn’t it? Why would the entire world be going directly contrary to God’s Ten Commandment Law? The answer is because some power has attempted to tamper with God’s Holy Law There is a power that claims that it was the one responsible for this most blasphemous act of attempting to change God’s Law. “Question: Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept? Answer: Had she not had such power she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority.” An Abridgement of Christian Doctrine, 58. Ages ago, the early church leaders thought that it would be advantageous to the growth of the church to mix some pagan ideas with Christianity. The supposed change of the Sabbath is one of the reminders of that great apostasy. “The sun was a foremost god with heathendom… hence the church… would seem to have said, ‘Keep that old pagan name. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified,’ and thus, the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus.” The Catholic World (March 1984), 809. Sunday came straight from paganism and is a blatant violation of God’s Law. Nowhere in the Bible does it call the first day of the week a day of worship, assembly or any such thing. It is totally based upon the authority of the beast power that this change was instituted. Not only did this power do just what prophecy predicted, but it also claims this change in God’s law as the mark of its authority, just as prophecy predicted as well. “Sunday is our mark of authority… The church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of this fact.” Catholic Record, September 1, 1923. The Bible clearly teaches that lawlessness is the identifying mark of the beast, and then it goes even further to state that it is violation of the fourth commandment that is its specific mark. Then the power that presumptuously attempted to change God’s Law claims this change as the mark of its authority as well. Surely the Bible and history both testify that exalting Sunday above the Sabbath is the mark of the beast! “I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.” Revelation 13:3. Nineteen hundred years ago, the Lord told us through prophecy that the entire world would worship the beast, and sure enough, that is exactly what is happening. “The Bible says, ‘Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.’ The Catholic Church says, “No! By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day, and command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And, lo! The entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church.” Priest Thomas Enright, CSSR, President of Redemptorist College, Kansas City, MO, in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 22, 1884.

Twenty-five hundred years ago prophecy foretold that a power that would arise and attempt to change the part of God’s law dealing with time, and it has happened exactly as God’s Word predicted. Not only does the Word of God teach that this power was going to change the Sabbath commandment, but it also pinpoints this as the mark of the beast. Then this power comes along, changes the Sabbath commandment from the seventh day to the first day, and claims that this is the specific mark of their authority! This power itself testifies that honoring the first day of the week above the seventh day of the week is the mark of the beast! God’s Word and history are too plain to be misunderstood. The mark of the beast is breaking the Sabbath and keeping Sunday when it is enforced by law to do so. “And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,” Revelation 13:16. When this decree is given, all of the world will be brought to the decision of whom they will serve. When a person, knowing that there is absolutely no scriptural authority for keeping the first day, goes along with this decree to keep holy the first day of the week and break the Sabbath, he has chosen to follow and obey the beast above the God of heaven. He has rejected the seal of God (Sabbathkeeping) and has made the choice to receive the mark of the beast. These scenes are just around the corner.

It may seem like such a minute point. Someone may think, “It is only a day.” Yes, it is only a day, but it’s the decision behind the day. Eve convinced herself that it was only a tree and it wouldn’t really matter if she ate of the forbidden fruit. “After all,” she may have thought, “it is just like any other tree. There are thousands of trees, surely this one is no different from any of the others. God is not that particular. God loves me.” The tree of knowledge of good and evil was just like all the other trees and it was only a tree, but it was the choice behind the tree. Eve chose to disbelieve God and believe the serpent. Eve obeyed the serpent instead of God, and paradise was lost. It is the same way with the Sabbath day. Oh, it may seem like such a mute point. It may not seem that important, but it is the difference between serving God or the beast. God says to keep holy the seventh day; the beast says to keep the first day. Who are you going to serve? Who are you going to love? Who are you going to obey? “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?” Romans 6:16. If we obey the beast’s laws we become his slaves, but if we obey the laws of our loving God we become his servants. Whose servant will you be?

The Consequences

There are only two marks, it is only two days, it is only a choice, but the consequences are eternal. Those who choose to receive the seal of God will be safely hidden under God’s wing of protection, but for those who go along with the rest of the world and receive the mark of the beast; it will be the most dreadful scourge ever to fall upon mankind.

Those who receive the seal of God are protected from the terrible disasters that fall upon the earth. “They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” Revelation 9:4. The judgments fall not upon those who have the seal of God, but upon those who have rejected it and received the mark of the beast. “Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your habitation, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;” Psalm 91:9, 10. Those who have followed the Lord, no matter what the cost, are now protected from the horrendous disasters falling all around them. They can see it with their eyes, but it cannot come any closer than that because the Lord’s protecting hedge is about them. “Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past.” Isaiah 26:20. Those who have received the seal of the Living God are safely hidden in God’s chambers. His sheltering wings are over them, and no evil shall befall them. It requires a sacrifice to keep holy God’s Sabbath day because the entire world is doing something different, but it is worth it in the end. There is a cross to lift (Matthew 16:24), but the eternal consequences well repay the burden that must be borne. Those who honor the Lord by loving and obeying Him, will be honored by the Lord by being preserved from the terrible judgments so soon to fall. (I Samuel 2:30.)

As there are two marks, there are likewise two consequences. The vast majority of the world will receive the mark of the beast (See Revelation 13:8), but those who receive this mark of apostasy will also receive of the dreadful consequences. Those who receive the mark of the beast do not have a heavy cross to lift. They go along with the rest of the world. They do not have to be different from the rest of the world. They are not boycotted by the ban “that no one may buy or sell” (See Revelation 13:17) for they have the mark of the beast. They can buy and sell all that they desire. They do not have to worry about losing their life because they have the mark of the beast and have no fear of death by man. Although it appears like the easy way, it is the hardest way imaginable. (See Proverbs 13:15.) They may have all the things that this world has to offer, but they have lost the most valuable possession in the whole world—God’s presence. (See Exodus 33:14, 15.) They have forfeited God’s loving protection and he can do no more. The words that Jesus wept over Jerusalem so many years ago apply with even greater force to the entire world who have chosen the Beast’s mark instead of God’s. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Matthew 23:37. The world has rejected the last pleas of God’s Spirit and there is nothing more that our loving Lord can do. He has pled and called year after year, “Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?” Ezekiel 33:11. The Lord has waited year after year, until there is no more hope. He has borne as long as He possibly can, but the vast majority has chosen to go along with the world instead of their Creator. Now the only thing that God can do is pour out His dreadful judgments upon the despisers of His grace.

God is a God of love. All that He does is because He loves His children, but He is also a God of justice. “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;” Psalm 89:14. God bears long, but there is a limit to His forbearance. Justice must also be done. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7. If a person persists in following his own course and receiving the mark of the beast, he must reap the judgments of a just God. “Then a Third Angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation.” Revelation 14:9, 10. All who obey the Beast instead of God; will receive of the wrath of God; but what is the wrath of God? “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.” Revelation 15:1. The terrible judgments that are poured on those who receive the mark of the beast are none other than the seven last plagues. God’s wrath is complete in these dreadful seven last plagues. The consequences for receiving the seal of God is protection from the final judgments, but the consequences of accepting the mark of the beast is to experience the outpouring of the seven last plagues.

“Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God upon the earth.’ So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image.” Revelation 16:1, 2. When the plagues begin to be poured on those who have received the mark of the beast, the consequences of obeying man instead of God begin to be felt. Those who have the mark of the beast receive a terrible sore, but those who have the seal of God do not have one sore on their bodies. Which side would you rather be on then? Probably it will be as when Job was smitten with painful boils. The pain was so great that he said, “Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?” Job 3:11. But the terrible sores are just the beginning; it gets much worse. Under the second and third plagues the oceans and fresh waters become as the blood of a dead man. “For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” Revelation 16:6. Imagine having only blood to drink! The wicked have slain some of God’s true followers and now the Lord gives them their reward of blood to drink. Indeed “the way of transgressors is hard.” Proverbs 13:15, KJV. But for those who have chosen to follow and obey the Lord no matter what, the promise is “Bread will be given him, his water will be sure.” Isaiah 33:16. Then, while men are still dying from thirst, the Lord turns the sun on double high and scorches those who have followed the traditions of man. “Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire.” Revelation 16:8. By exalting Sunday above the true Sabbath of God, the world has been worshipping the sun, and now the Lord smites them with the god of their choosing. God’s faithful people can, in calm faith, claim the promises in the Word of God. “For over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.” Isaiah 4:5, 6. Under the fifth plague, the Lord turns off the scorching sun and sends painful darkness on the seat of the beast, but still there is no repentance for “the day of salvation” has passed. (II Corinthians 6:2.) In the sixth plague, the Euphrates is dried up and Armageddon is prepared for, but then the seventh and final plague brings an end to the terrible judgments of God and he finally delivers His people. “Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’ And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, every hailstone about the weight of a talent. And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceeding great.” Revelation 16:17-21. The destruction wrought by this final plague is indescribable. The sky unleashes its fury, the greatest earthquake ever to occur shakes this planet to pieces, and hail weighing from sixty to seventy pounds pelts the surface of the earth. It is the last plague, for at the end of this plague there is nothing left. It is as if the earth is turned upside down (See Isaiah 24:1, KJV) and every wall falls to the ground (Ezekiel 38:20.) The destruction wrought upon the wicked and all their habitations under the seventh plague leaves the earth without form and void. (Jeremiah 4:23.) Although the terrible destruction is terrifying to those who have received the mark of the beast, the worst is when they see their Creator coming with great power and glory. “Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” Revelation 6:14-17.

Two Marks, Two Choices

In the final generation there are only two marks, only two choices, and only two consequences. We must decide whom we are going to obey. Will we obey the God of heaven or the traditions and customs of the men? Our destiny depends upon the choice that we make. The most terrible judgments known to man will be poured upon those who chose to obey man instead of God. It will be worse than the holocaust. It will be worse than World War I and World War II combined. It will make all the terrible atrocities of this world pale in insignificance. It is the “just due” of those who have despised the Word and mercy of God. Which side will you be on? Which choice will you make? The mournful words are forced from the lips of the lost during the seventh plague, “Who is able to stand?” There is only one group who is able to stand in that day. It is those who have received the seal of the Living God. Those who love the Lord enough to keep His commandments instead of the traditions of man. Those who will stand for the Word of God though the heavens fall. Those who will not follow a crowd to do evil. (See Exodus 23:2.) Those who keep holy the seventh day Sabbath of the Lord our God instead of the pagan Sunday of the beast. It doesn’t seem like such a big thing now, but think of the day when that mournful cry is forced from the lips of the lost. How they will wish that they had yielded to the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit, but now it is too late. They have made their decision. They have made their choice. They have received their mark. They are lost. There are just two marks, just two days, just two choices, and just two destinies. Which mark will you chose?

All emphasis the authors unless otherwise stated.
All texts from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Sources:

  • An Abridgement of Christian Doctrine, page 58.
  • The Beast’s Mark, Michael Wells, Steps to Life, 1999.
  • The Catholic Record, London, Ontario, Canada, September 1, 1923.
  • The Catholic World (March 1984), page 809.
  • Priest Thomas Enright, CSSR, President of Redemptorist College, Kansas City, MO, in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 22, 1884, and The American Sentinel, a New York Roman Catholic Journal in June 1893, page 173.
  • Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary, “Seal,” pg. 997, 998, Review & Herald Publishing Association, 1979.

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The Rapture and Israels Future

by Michael C. Wells

The Rapture and Israel's FutureAt the end of World War II, the community of nations was appalled at the genocide that had occurred during the war. Approximately six million Jews had been exterminated during Hitler’s reign of terror. This caused the United Nations to issue a resolution calling for the resettling of the Jewish people back to Palestine. At this time, the British controlled this territory, and were willing to give it to the new Jewish nation. In 1948, the new state of Israel was formed and speculation of fulfilled prophecy went rampant through the Christian community.

It was widely believed that when Israel became a nation again, the rapture and Second Coming of Jesus would soon follow. Was this new floundering nation, called Israel, truly the fulfillment of Bible prophecy? And if so, what is delaying Jesus from coming to get His people? After all, it has been over fifty years since the Jewish nation was set up. We can also ask the question, How will Jesus come back? Will the righteous be secretly raptured away or will the Second Coming be an event of which all are aware.

In this book, we are going to take a trip through Bible prophecy to find the answers to all these questions and many more. We will investigate Bible truth and discard speculation. How important is it that we do this? The Apostle Paul wrote that if we do not seek the truth and hold to it, God will allow us to believe lies, because we did not love the truth. (II Thessalonians 2: 11, 12.) Since none of us would like to be found in this condition, do you think it wise to investigate God’s truth? Jesus said this about the Word of God; “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” John 17: 17. By knowing the truth of God’s Word, we can be sanctified, or set apart from the rest of the world and their false ideas.

Did you know that over one quarter of the Bible speaks of future events? One of the most prominent prophecies is the Second Coming of Christ. Directly or indirectly it is mentioned in 1845 texts in the Old and New Testaments. In the New Testament, it is mentioned 318 times and is the main theme in seventeen Old Testament books. (See Rapture! Is it for Real?, by Ralph Blodgett.) Obviously, this is a very important topic. The Lord gave us all of this information so that we could study and find out about this momentous event.

With so much information, why are there so many different theories about Christ’s second coming? Paul said, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” II Timothy 4: 3,4. Instead of studying out these prophecies, scripture by scripture, people find it much easier to listen and just believe the teachers of today. In Acts 17, we find a group of people who are commended for their actions. Instead of just listening to what Paul said and accepting it as the truth, they “searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” We are told that we must actively search the Word of God to find the truth. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” II Timothy 2: 14.

The Rapture Theory

One of the principal beliefs of today is the rapture. There are at least five major views about the rapture, but all have some things in common. All believe that Jesus will come to gather His people in the clouds. All believe that this gathering will be a secret (those who are not raptured will not be aware of it until after it has taken place). All believe that the rapture and Second Coming are two different events, and all believe that after the rapture, Jesus will come again and set up a 1000 year millennium of peace on the earth. At this point, the views start to differ.

Some believe that between the rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus there will be a seven- year period of tribulation. Others believe that it will only be three and a half years. The partial rapture theory contends that there will be multiple “raptures.” Most believe that the rapture will take place before the tribulation. Yet others grapple with the idea that they might have to go through some of the tribulation, while others believe they will experience it all. The most widely believed theory on the rapture is this: After the saints have been mysteriously “snatched” away, the Holy Spirit withdraws His influence and the wickedness of man turns the world into chaos. At this time the antichrist appears and causes the great tribulation. He forces people to take his mark and for seven, three and a half, or ten years (depending on which theory you want to believe) he reigns terror on the earth. During this time, Israel will be converted and at the end of this time, Jesus will return with His saints and rescue all who have turned to Him during this time of trouble, and He will then establish a “Millennial Kingdom” of 1000 years.

What we all want to know is the answer to this simple question. What does the Bible really say about the rapture and Second Coming of Christ? How will it all happen? We do not have to guess. God has given ample evidence of the events to happen. We can know exactly what will occur, but we cannot know exactly when it will occur. We can know by the signs of the times that His coming is near, “but of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Matthew 24: 36. God has given us this knowledge through His Word so that we can be “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2: 13.

The Rapture and Bible Prophecy

In order to understand this subject, we first need to know where the rapture theory came from. The origins of this theory are rooted in the prophecies of Daniel 9, and so we will begin with an in- depth study of that prophecy.

We first notice that this prophecy is a portion of the 2300- day prophecy that Daniel was given in chapter eight. Daniel is desperately trying to understand the vision given him, but he proclaims in Daniel 8: 27, “And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king’s business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.” For sometime he plead with the Lord to understand this vision, and, one day, as he was confessing his sins and the sins of Israel, he is sent an answer through the angel, Gabriel. Gabriel showed that the 2300- day prophecy and the seventy week prophecy for Israel started at the same time. Gabriel said, “At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision [of the 2300 days]: Seventy weeks are determined [or in literal Hebrew, “cut off” from the 2300 days] for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.” Daniel 9: 23,24. Seventy weeks are given here, not sixty- nine or sixty- eight, but seventy. This is one complete time frame. It cannot be divided.

Prophetic Time

Notice that this period of time is set aside for the people of Daniel and his holy city. Daniel was a Jew, so this prophecy is specifically about the Jewish people and their holy city Jerusalem. In Daniel 9: 25, we are told when this prophecy will begin. “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.” The command to “restore and build Jerusalem” is the beginning point of this time prophecy. Let’s first look at what is called “prophetic time.”

When the Israelites rebelled against God in the wilderness, he sentenced them to wander in the wilderness for as many days as they had taken to investigate the land of Canaan. He then used this as a rule for prophetic timekeeping. “After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know My breach of promise [rejection].” Numbers 14: 34 KJV. The Israelite spies had investigated the land of Canaan for forty days and now each of those days was counted as a year. They were to wander the wilderness for forty years. We can see this same principle applied in Ezekiel 4: 6. So in Bible prophecy, a day equals one year.

1 See Ezra 1: 1- 4 2 2 See Ezra 6: 1- 12 3 3 According to the cuneiform tablets from Ur of the Chaldees and a papyrus discovered at Elephantine, Artaxerxes succeeded Xerxes to the throne in December, 465 B. C.. His “ascension year” according to the Jewish reckoning would be from December, 465 B. C., to the next Jewish new year in the fall of 464 B. C.. The decree was given in his seventh year which would bring the date from the fall of 458 to the fall of 457 B. C., the date of this important decree recorded in Ezra 7: 1- 26.

In Daniel 9, a seventy- week time period is given. In order to determine for how many years this vision will be applied, the weeks must be calculated in days. Seven days to a week multiplied by seventy equals 490 days. A day for a year brings the figure to 490 years. Now that we have the length of time, all we have to do is find the beginning date of the prophecy. Here are some key words that we must look at to determine the proper date. “Know therefore and understand , that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem . . . .” First, we must find the command that not only causes Jerusalem to be rebuilt but also institutes the restoration of civil and religious authority for Jerusalem. Both must take place in order for it to be the correct beginning date for this prophecy.

The events that lead to the re- building and restoration of Jerusalem are described in the book of Ezra. Three decrees were given, and are recorded in this book, but only one decreed both the rebuilding and the restoration of the city and thus meets the criteria given in this prophecy. The three decrees came from Cyrus, Darius, and Artexerxes. Although Cyrus gave his decree in 537 B. C. 1 , there was no restoration of power to the government of Israel. The second decree by Darius in 520 B. C. 2 saw the construction of the temple, but again, Jerusalem was not “restored.” It was not until the third decree that Jerusalem saw the full fulfillment of these commands. In 457 B. C. 3 , King Artaxerxes gave the final command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. The temple was built and the articles of the temple were restored to it. “Magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the region” (Ezra 7: 25) were again set up in Israel. The Jews were once again given civil and religious power and able to execute judgement on those who broke the law. (See Ezra 7: 26.)

The Anointed One

This time period had paramount importance in the events of history. What was prophesied to happen at this time would change the course of history for the entire world. In Daniel 9: 25, we see that the first sixty- nine weeks (483 days/ years) were to continue “until Messiah the Prince.” Figuring from 457 B. C., 483 years would bring us to the year 27 A. D. (accounting for the fact that there was no zero year between B. C. and A. D.). What significant event happened that year? Through historical records we can find that this year coincides with the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar of which it says in Luke 3: 21,22, “Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased. ’” The baptism of Jesus marked the beginning of His ministry, and the Father’s acceptance of Him as the “anointed one” or Messiah. Peter confirms this when he preached on “how God anointed [confirmed Him as Messiah] Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Acts 10: 38.

Jesus is Messiah the Prince. He is the “Prince of Life” and the “Prince of the kings of the earth,” a “Prince and Saviour” and “Prince of Peace.” Acts 3: 15; Revelation 1: 5; Acts 5: 31; Isaiah 9: 6. As we look back in Daniel 9: 26, we see that after the seven weeks and sixty two weeks (483 years), “Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself.” (The term “cut off” means “to sever or to die.” (See Isaiah 58: 3.) Jesus became our Sacrifice. He died for the sins of the whole world. Paul confirms this when he states; “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” I Corinthians 15: 3.

When did this event happen? According to the scriptures, it happened in the middle of the seventieth week. “Then He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.” Daniel 9: 27. Jesus brought an end to animal sacrifices which became meaningless. He had become the ultimate sacrifice. “But this Man [Jesus], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. Now where there is remission of these [sins], there is no longer an offering for sin.” Hebrews 10: 12,18. In the middle of this last week (seven years) of the prophecy, Jesus fulfilled His commission. Jesus was baptized in the fall of 27 A. D. and was crucified in the spring of 31 A. D, exactly three and a half years into the last week of this prophecy.

It is the last week, or seven years, of this prophecy that the supporters of the rapture theory place far into the future. They attribute the events of this last week to the antichrist and seven years of tribulation. They say that it is the antichrist that makes a covenant with many for one week! But wait a minute. How could such a thing be? Didn’t we see earlier that this vision was one continual prophecy, and there could be no separation of time? And what would we do with this last seven years if it did not apply to Jesus and His sacrifice? Did or will the antichrist die for anyone? How could this possibly apply to him? Is it not an abomination to apply this wonderful prophecy that predicts the first coming and suffering of our Lord and Saviour to the antichrist?

One Final Chance

Yet some might ask, “How did Jesus fulfill the last three and a half years of this prophecy if He went to heaven?” We are told that He would “confirm a covenant with many [the Jews] for one week [seven years].” Yet, He died, rose and ascended to heaven before the end of the last week. Let us see how He accomplished this. Before leaving for heaven permanently, Jesus spent forty days with His disciples giving them instructions. He helped them to understand the Scriptures and showed what they said about His suffering and what must take place afterward. “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem .” Luke 24: 46,47. He then gave them the great commission. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28: 19,20.

Jesus gave His disciples the authority to finish the covenant to the Jews. He told His disciples to begin in Jerusalem and finish the work and complete the prophecy. They tirelessly worked for their people for the next three and a half years. In 34 A. D., the martyrdom of Stephen and the persecution of the church ended this time period. (See Acts 6– 8.) The new Christian church was scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, then to the world. “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” Acts 8: 4. The time for the Jews “to finish the transgression,” put away sin, and humble themselves before God had past. The seventy- week prophecy of Daniel had come to a close. As a nation, God had turned His back on them as they had continually done to Him. Jesus prophesied about this in Matthew 21: 43. “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.”

The prophecy of Daniel 9 is so complete, that it even foretells the destruction of Jerusalem. In verse 26, it tells how the “people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This obviously is not speaking of the coming of the Messiah, for the prophecy has already spoken of His coming and suffering. This is speaking of the one who would destroy Jerusalem and the temple. History describes the terror that was wrought in Jerusalem, in 70 A. D., when Titus, the Roman commander attacked the city, killing thousands and not leaving “one stone on another” in the magnificent temple. The end of Jerusalem was “with a flood.” Great desolation was administered to the people of Israel “till the end of the war.” Jesus prophesied about this when He wept over Jerusalem. He said, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that makes for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Luke 19: 42– 44.

A Secret Rapture?

So when will the rapture happen and doesn’t the Bible speak of a tribulation? The word “rapture” will not be found in your Bible. It is a term, which simply means, “to be caught up.” When you are excited about a project that you are doing, you might say that your spirit is “raptured.” Scientists who wait for years for spacecraft to get to other planets in our solar system (such as Voyager I and II) are “raptured” with excitement when the event occurs. They are “caught up” in the excitement of the moment. This term has been applied to our deliverance from this world when we will be “caught up” to Jesus in the clouds. I Thessalonians 4: 17 says, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

This text is often used as a proof text for a secret rapture. Let’s look carefully at this scripture, and the ones that proceed it, to see if the Bible supports this view of how the Second Coming will occur. In I Thessalonians 4: 16 we read, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” Does this verse describe a silent or secret event? Jesus will come with a shout , and will speak with the authority and power of an archangel. He will come with the blowing of the trumpet of God. No one should miss this occurrence. In fact, the Apostle John writes straight from the revelation of Jesus, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him. . . .” Revelation 1: 7. How can this be a secret coming when “every eye will see Him”?

Also notice that not one of God’s faithful people will be left behind. “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.” Mark 13: 26,27. Every eye will see Him, and He will come with great power. Those who are not ready for the King of kings to come will watch the great coming of Christ and will see this “rapture” of His people floating up to meet Him in the air. What an event! Wouldn’t you like to be one of those who meet Jesus in the air? You can be a part of this exciting event. Whether dead or alive at Jesus’ coming, if we are one of His, we will be lifted up to be with Him at the wonderful resurrection of His elect. The dead will be given new glorious, uncorrupted, physical bodies and be caught up to Jesus, and we who are alive will be given the same and will meet them in the air.

You see, the resurrection, rapture and Second Coming of Christ are all the same event. Listen to what Paul said: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep [died]. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming . Then comes the end , when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.” “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” I Corinthians 15: 20– 24,51,53.

With Flaming Fire

We should also notice some of the events that will transpire when Jesus comes to “rapture” His people. “Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation [affliction] those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels , in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.” II Thess.1: 6– 10.

On the day He comes in the clouds to “catch up” His people to Himself, Jesus will, with flaming fire, destroy all who are not His true people. It will be on that Day that His people are delivered from this earth that He will destroy the earth with fire. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night [not secretly or silently, but unsuspectingly], in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” II Peter 3: 10.

Jesus tells us that His coming will be as it was in the days of Noah. Now how was it in the days of Noah? Were some people rescued in the ark and some went on living on the earth after the great flood? “Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth . The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man . All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive .” Gen. 7: 17– 23.

Second Chance to be Saved?

Nothing was left alive when the flood came upon the earth. All died. Only those who were in the ark were saved. There was no second chance. Once the door was shut by the Lord Himself (see Genesis 7: 16), no one could reopen it to get in. Their time was up. They had rejected their opportunity to be saved from the waters, and now it was forever too late. And so it will be in that great day when Jesus comes to receive His people to Himself. “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24: 37– 39. The antediluvian world was not prepared for the great event of which they had been warned repeatedly for 120 years. How long have we been warned about the soon coming of Jesus? Have we become complacent about studying our Bibles to find out how Jesus will come?

Some Taken, Others Left

You might be asking, “What about the passages that talk about some being taken and some being left behind? Doesn’t that indicate that there are some who will still be alive on the earth after Jesus comes for His people? And what about all the Israelites who are supposed to be converted after the secret rapture? Won’t there be 144,000 Jews saved?” Let’s first look at those passages that seem to suggest a “second chance.” We will first look in Matthew 24: 40,41, which is speaking of the coming of Jesus, “Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.” This seems to suggest that some will be left wondering where the others went, yet that is not what it says. Look further on to the next few scriptures. “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.” vs. 42– 44.

Jesus is giving a command for us to watch. “Pay attention to the prophecies and get a clear understanding of what will actually occur at My coming,” He urges. If you knew that a thief was coming, would you still sleep soundly, or would you be watching for his invasion into your home? “Therefore you also be ready,” Jesus exclaims. There is not a “second chance” to save your home from a thief once he has robbed you, and there will not be second chance when Jesus comes for His people. What, then, does it mean when it says “one will be taken and one will be left?”

The question really is how will they be left? Look how Luke records this same event. “I tell you, in that night there will be two men [people] in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.” Luke 17: 34– 36. Jesus has told His disciples that some would be taken and some would be left, and they were confused, too. So they asked Jesus to explain what He meant. “And they answered and said to Him, ‘Where, Lord? ’ So He said to them, ‘Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. ’” Luke 17: 37.

Where will these people be left? When you see the birds flying over them, you will find them. How will they be left? Dead! They will become the supper of the birds. They will be left, but they won’t be saying, “Oh, I missed the rapture, now I will turn my life over to Christ so I can go with Him when He comes again.” No. They will be saying to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand.” Revelation 6: 16,17.

Two Great Suppers

There are two great suppers spoken about in the Bible. They are both found in the book of Revelation. The one you and I want to be part of is the marriage supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19: 9 says, “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” But the other supper is for the eagles and the vultures. John said, “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, ‘Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great. ’” Revelation 19: 17,18. Here we are given a choice to have supper with our Lord and Saviour, or to be the supper for the birds. Jesus is giving us that call right now. “Behold,” He says, “I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3: 20, KJV.

Rejected!

As we noticed earlier in this book, when the Jews rejected Christ as the Messiah, they gave up their position as God’s chosen people. God does not force anyone to accept Him and obey Him, yet there are always consequences if we do not. After their captivity into Babylon, Israel as a nation was given 490 years to see the gravity of their continued rejection of God and His laws. The prophecy of Daniel 9 was their last chance, as a nation, to be the people to carry forth His righteousness. When, at the end of this time, Israel had crucified Christ and then persecuted His church, God took away their “most favored nation” status. Paul writes, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” Romans 2: 28, 29.

God wants us all to be Jews in the heart. Spiritual Jews. A spiritual Jew is one who loves the Lord with all his heart, mind, and soul. He is one who keeps God’s commandments out of love for God, not because of the consequences if he does not. He shows that he is one of God’s children by his actions, not by his birthright. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs— heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” Romans 8: 14,16,17. The Holy Spirit in our lives proves that we are truly God’s people, spiritual Jews, and that we will be claimed as the children of Israel (children of God).

Only those who are God’s in the Spirit will be considered part of Israel. Those who were part of literal Israel have been severed from the true Vine and must be grafted back on by obedience to His word. This is the only way any of us can be part of the true Israel, that Israel which will inherit the kingdom of God. No one who is just a literal Jew has rights to the kingdom unless, like everyone else, he becomes a spiritual Jew, also. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed , and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3: 26– 29.

No Place in Prophecy

Physical Israel, in Palestine, has no special part in last day prophecy. They gave up their right to be God’s chosen nation. In Ezekiel 36 is found a prophecy about spiritual Israel, not physical Israel. (This does not refer to a nation who has rejected the Saviour of the world.) First God says He will gather them from among nations. This is exactly what He will do when He comes to redeem His people at His Coming. Notice that He says “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgements, and do them.” Ezekiel 36: 25– 27.

The Israelis of today do not fit this prophecy. Yes, they have gathered themselves out of other nations, but have their hearts been made clean? Have they started worshipping the Saviour who gave His life for them? Do they today walk in His judgements and keep the commandments of God, or do they still hang on to the “traditions of their fathers?” Jesus reproved the religious leaders of His day for this very thing. (See Mark 7: 6– 13.) In Ezekiel 38: 8,11,14, the Lord says “in the latter days” Israel will live in peace and safety, “having neither bars nor gates, and will not be plundered nor will any go against them,” yet as we look at modern Israel today, we find strife and contention between Israel and many of the nations around her. We do not see peace in the land of Israel or a people living in safety. Obviously, this prophecy is not speaking of the modern day Israel of today but of Spiritual Israel who God is preparing for Himself when He comes in the clouds of heaven.

Will there be many literal Jews in the kingdom of heaven? Certainly, yes! Will there be a time after the rapture/ Second Coming for them to be saved? No! Who are these 144,000 “Israelites” in Revelation 7? Verse 4 gives the answer. “And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed.” These were those who had become “spiritual Jews” in Christ. These are the ones who, in faith, looked to Jesus for their strength, not to any genealogy. Also notice that the tribes listed in Revelation 7 are not even the original tribes. (See Genesis 49.)

These twelve tribes represent the whole of spiritual Israel. They are those who will go through a time of trouble such as no man has ever seen. They represent the last of God’s people who will be left alive at the Second Coming of Jesus. They will be virgins in their faith, for they will know the Lord and their doctrines will be as pure as a virgin before she is wed. They will be those who “follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” They will stand for truth and righteousness and have a love for the Lord, which will have no boundaries. Their eyes will be fixed upon His goodness and in their mouths no lies, no hatred, no deceit, and no guile will be found. They will portray the character of Jesus perfectly with love, sympathy, kindness, and pity for all they meet. They will not think more of themselves than others, but will work tirelessly for all they encounter. And these last spiritual Jews, these representatives of God’s true Israel will sing a song that no one else can sing, for only they have gone through the special experience which has prepared them to sing it. (See Revelation 14: 1– 5.)

Earth’s Final Generation

God’s people in the last days are truly blessed among all generations, for they will be the ultimate witnesses for God and His Son. They will suffer for Jesus as He suffered (I Peter 2: 21) and will lay their lives on the line for Him. (Revelation 12: 11.) Those who are still alive at His Coming will see the glory of His appearance, and those who have died for His namesake will be honored to be first to meet Him in the sky. He will appear as He left. In a cloud, He will be found. The angels asked the disciples why they stared at the sky when Jesus floated away into a cloud. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven, this same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” Acts 1: 11. Jesus points out in three of the four gospels that He will appear in the clouds . He will not touch this earth when He is revealed to receive His people. Every eye will see Him, and those who are not ready will mourn for they know that they are lost. (Revelation 1: 7.)

Two Great Harvests

The great harvest is about to take place. The book of Revelation speaks of this in chapter 14. Here again, we see Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven. “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to Him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” Revelation 14: 14– 20, KJV.

As we look at the harvest time of the earth, when Jesus will come to claim all who are His, we see that there are two harvests. In the first, Christ uses His sickle to harvest His precious elect. This is the redemption of God’s people. They are gathered to Him who sits on the cloud, to be with Him forever. (John 14: 2 ,3.) But the other harvest is with fire. This harvest will see the destruction of all that are on the earth. This harvest is the gathering of the tares who are bundled together for burning (See the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13: 24– 30), for this angel has power over fire.

As we meet Christ in the air, we are transported to heaven (John 14: 2,3) to reign with Him as priests and kings for one thousand years. (Revelation 20: 4.) During this time, the earth is laid waste from the consuming fire that proceeds from the Lord at His Coming. It is not until after the thousand years have expired that Jesus brings His people back and executes the final judgement upon the wicked. It is then that the earth will be renewed to a glory that has not been seen since the fall of Adam.

Will You Be Disappointed?

Our time grows short on this earth. Jesus said that we could see the time of His Coming by looking at the signs of the times. Many will be disappointed at the Coming of Christ, because they have placed their hopes in men rather than God. Some will sincerely believe that they are firmly in God’s hand while living out a life not congruent with His law. Many will believe that they have plenty of time to get ready, because they trust in a false theory that teaches two chances for salvation. But the truth of God’s Word is clear. When Jesus comes for His people, His true Israel, He will come with power and authority. He will receive all His people, both dead and alive, and they will meet Him in the clouds of heaven. He will cleanse the earth with fire from the brightness of His coming (II Thessalonians 2: 8), and “by fire and by His sword the Lord will judge all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many.” Isaiah 66: 16.

We must today seek out God’s truth if we are to be prepared for His soon coming. He says, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29: 13. With the “winds of doctrines” that are ever flying about, we must set our hearts and minds on His truth. Paul gives us warning when he said, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” Colossians 2: 8. What we believe has a vast impact on how we follow Christ. It becomes imperative that we know His truth so that we will not be deceived with the rest of the world. (Revelation 12: 9.) Jesus said before He comes back, truth will lie so close to error that, if possible, even the very elect will be deceived. (Matthew 24: 24.) Our only safety is to receive a love for His truth and daily seek for it as hidden treasure. As we examine ourselves to see whether we are truly in the faith, we must ask ourselves this question. When Jesus calls His saints to Himself, will I be found among them?

Source:

  • Blodgett, Ralph H., Rapture! Is it for Real?
  • All Bible references are taken from the New King James Bible unless otherwise indicated.

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The End of War and Injustice

By Michael C. Wells

The End of War and InjusticeThroughout history, one of the prominent activities of nations has been conquest and war. Men have desired power over their fellow men since Cain, the first son of Adam, slew his brother, out of jealousy. He desired the blessing that his brother received from God, but was not willing to follow the conditions of obedience and humility that God required. His selfishness caused him to hate his brother and eventually to kill him. One day, he, and all who treat others unjustly, will face the judgment of God, Who will set up His court to try all that have dwelt on the earth.

A grand judgment is being held as you read this book. The magnificence of this court is only surpassed by the glory and majesty of the Judge. Daniel records this in Daniel 7: 9,10. “I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him, a thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.” This judgment will put an end to all the injustice man has done to his fellow man. Why, then, did God allow these things to take place in the beginning? Where did this controversy start, and why is there so much injustice and war in the world today? These are legitimate questions. The Bible tells us all about the origin of the greatest war ever fought anywhere.

The Origin of Suffering

It all began before the earth was created. In the heavenly courts, next to the throne of God, stood an angel who possessed great beauty and wisdom. He was a leader of angels and the “covering cherub.” He stood with his wings spread over the heavenly throne where the Lord God sat. Ezekiel 28: 14 describes him this way: “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of the fiery stones.” The God of heaven had established this angel in a position of great honor in His kingdom. He had created him to be one of the leading angels in heaven. God had created him for service and praise. “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created . . .” verses 12, 15. This angel’s name was Lucifer. Not only was he intelligent and beautiful, but he could sing like no other.

Unfortunately, terrible changes started to occur in Lucifer. He became dissatisfied with his position. As the covering cherub, Lucifer could go no higher. He stood next to God, but he was not satisfied. He wanted to be part of the inner circle. He wanted to become “as God,” to be part of the counsel with Christ. Lucifer became jealous of Christ and the relationship He had with the Father and believed that he was just as qualified to give counsel as Christ. His dissatisfaction led him to murmur about his misfortune to some of his fellow angels, causing them to doubt God’s fairness. It is inconceivable that a created being, like Lucifer, would exalt himself above his Creator, yet that is exactly what he tried to do.

Isaiah 14: 12– 14 describes this sad event. “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. ’”

Using the King of Tyre to represent Lucifer, Ezekiel writes of his fall: “Because your heart is lifted up, and you say, ‘I am a God, I sit in the seat of gods, in the midst of the seas, ’ yet you are a man, and not a God, though you set your heart as the heart of a God . . . there is no secret that can be hidden from you! With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself, and gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; by your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up. . . . You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you.” Ezekiel 28: 2– 5,15– 17.

The first war did not start here on planet Earth, as many people believe, but originated in heaven. As Lucifer (now called Satan, which means deceiver and accuser) rallied his angels to battle for his so called “rights,” Michael (which means “one who is like God,” or another name for Christ), and His angels fought against this once glorious angel. “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and His angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12: 7– 9.

Satan’s Plan for Our Earth

Satan lost the first battle and was cast out of heaven to the earth. His mission ever since has been to turn the people of this earth against the God of heaven, by convincing them, with his deceitful lies, that God is unjust and unfair. In Revelation it is written, “therefore rejoice, O heaven, and you who dwell in them!” But to the earth, John the Revelator warns, “woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Revelation 12: 12. If mankind had heeded the warning God gave to them in the beginning, if they had recognized the immense fairness of God, and how His truth brings happiness, they would never have fallen to the deceit of Satan. Yet, even to this day, mankind has a hard time believing God and His infinite wisdom.

Rebellion spread across the earth as Satan went forth to deceive the nations. He encouraged pride in the hearts of men and caused them to covet wealth and power. God’s people were even snared in the traps of Satan as he used lust to cause the downfall of the sons of God. We can read in Genesis 6 how the sons of God looked upon the beauty of the daughters of Cain and took them as wives. No doubt they thought they could convert them to God’s way, yet just the opposite happened. Soon God’s people were becoming as corrupt as the descendants of Cain. The “thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6: 5. They became so wicked that God decided that the only way to purify the earth was to destroy it with water. God started over with mankind, but found again that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Jeremiah 17: 9.

The result of the first sin in heaven was the spread of greed, pride and selfishness. This resulted in war, poverty and the suppression of people. Kings were set who ruled without mercy or compassion. Misery became the handmaiden of injustice, and poverty the result of war.

Maybe you wonder why God allowed such things to take place? Why didn’t God just wipe Satan from existence? We can turn that question around and look at it from a different perspective. Why doesn’t God just wipe us out of existence as soon as we sin? God made provision for the sinner through Christ, His Son. It is written that He was “slain from the foundations of the world.” (Revelation 13: 8.) He made that same provision for Satan. God could have stopped him anytime, but that would have given weight to the allegations of the adversary. Satan was alleging that the God of heaven was unfair, a dictator who set up unjust laws that need not be followed. If God had disposed of the devil immediately, the angels of heaven would not have followed God out of love and admiration, but out of fear of the penalty of disobedience. He had to let sin come to full fruition before the entire universe could see where Satan’s doctrine would lead, and the true nature of sin. Satan could have turned from his course, back toward God and forgiveness, but instead he turned his heart inward and rejected the counsel of the Holy Spirit to repent and be forgiven. Now the last stronghold of sympathy for Satan is confined to this earth. Except for the inhabitants of our earth, the whole universe has seen his true character.

Satan set himself on a path to bring pain and suffering to all mankind. He used wars of his own creation, in which he controlled all sides, in order to fulfill his mission— the greatest amount of suffering for the greatest number. He is out to destroy you and me by deception and enticement into sin. When he had accomplished the seduction of Eve in the garden, and Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, because they rejected God’s law of love, Satan devoted his life to bringing misery and hatred to all of their off- spring.

God Reveals His Plan

God, on the other hand, had a plan to bring Satan and sin to an end. He saw far into the future and developed a plan to bring salvation to everyone who would receive the free gift He was to offer. He saw the rise and fall of nations, and the course that each man would take. He gives us free choice to live as we want, but He is ever at hand to guide and lead if we will submit to His will. He wants to bring happiness and peace to those who will allow Him to work in their lives.

Since God knows the end from the beginning, He sent a prophecy to His servant Daniel, to explain His ultimate plan. In Daniel 7, we see four beasts coming out of the sea, one like a lion, one like a bear, another like a leopard, and the last, a beast too hideous for Daniel to describe.

As we begin to study this prophecy, we must remember that prophecy is given in signs and symbols. Revelation 1: 1 says, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.”

Notice that these beasts come from the sea. Since many terms are symbolic, we must look for the meaning of each symbol in the Bible, for the Bible interprets itself. What does water represent in Bible prophecy? Revelation 17: 15 says, “Then he said to me, ‘The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are people, multitudes, nations, and tongues.” Here we see that water represents many nations and languages that have come together, a continent of many different countries with multitudes of people. So then, these beasts were to arise from an already populated area.

These beasts represent kingdoms according to Daniel 7: 23. “Thus he said, ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces. ’”

In Daniel 2, we see the same kingdoms depicted in the dream, of the image, of King Nebuchadnezzar. Just as Babylon was symbolized by the head of gold, so this first beast, a lion, also represents Babylon. (If you research the history of Babylon, you will find that this symbol is very appropriate, for they often used lions to represent themselves.) The second beast that came from this same region, and that conquered Babylon, was Medo- Persia. It is represented by a bear, because of its slow, but powerful, army. It crushed Babylon, in 539 BC, when Belshazzar, then Emperor of Babylon, defied and mocked the God of heaven. God sent a prophecy, the handwriting on the wall, to show him his soon coming demise. That very night Belshazzar was slain and Darius the Mede became conqueror of the most powerful kingdom in the known world. In Daniel 7: 5, we see that the bear is lifted up on one side. This represents the predominant authority of the Persian part of the alliance over the Medes. The Persian Empire went forward and conquered all the territory of Babylon, including Lydia and Egypt. The three ribs, in the mouth of the bear, depict these three territories.

God continued His prophecy of war and conquest in verse 6. Daniel saw that another great warrior was to arise from this region who would conquer so quickly that he was represented as a leopard. A leopard is known for its sleekness and speed as well as its great agility and strength in the attack. This describes the conqueror of the Persian Empire to the letter. Almost everyone has heard of Alexander the Great. At age 33, Alexander had conquered not only the territory that Persia had obtained but had also expanded his territory into Europe. His kingdom was divided when, after a successful campaign, he indulged too heavily in alcohol, at a wedding, and died. His kingdom was divided into four sections and became weak after a time. The four heads represent the four kingdoms of divided Greece.

The Dreadful and Terrible Beast

After the Grecian Empire, God shows Daniel a kingdom so vicious, so terrifying, so malevolent, that no beast could adequately describe it. The fourth beast was a “dreadful and terrible” beast, “exceedingly strong.” “It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.” Daniel 7: 7. As we look at history, it is not hard to figure out what kingdom enslaved Greece and the rest of the world. It brought in what we call the “Iron Age.” It was the Roman Empire.

Rome did indeed trample the known world into residue under its feet. Rome built roads all over the empire so that its armies could move more freely and quickly. It devoured and fed on the spoils of other nations, and it became the master of the world. From 168 BC to 476 AD Rome held the world in the palm of its hand. It became wealthy from the tribute that it received from other nations.

Rome was originally set up as a republic, with a senate and court system similar to ours in the United States, but eventually it became a dictatorship. The freedoms of the Roman citizens were taken away gradually until only a word of condemnation could cause one the loss of his life. Greed took hold of the empire and it became the most brutal and cruel monarchy the world has ever known, even to this day.

Rome is known for the development of methods of torture. The cross was one of its crowning achievements. Men could remain alive for days under this form of excruciating torture. During Nero’s reign, Christians were made into living candles and set on fire to give light for the arena. People were slaughtered by the sword and by animals, for the enjoyment of the people. Barbarism knew no limits.

When Rome began to fall in 351 A. D., the kingdom was eventually divided into ten kingdoms. The ten horns of this beast represented ten tribes or kingdoms. These kingdoms became what we know today as Europe. They were the Franks (France), Anglo- Saxons (England), Alemanni (Germany), Suevi (Portugal), Visigoths (Spain), Burgundians (Southern France), Lombards (Switzerland), Ostrogoths (the area of Greece and also moved to conquer Italy), Heruli (Italy), and the Vandels (Northern Africa).

In Daniel 7: 8, 20, 24, we see a little horn (kingdom) who destroys three of the original kingdoms. This was done when the Heruli, Ostrogoths, and the Vandels were eliminated. This little horn power was to speak “great words against the Most High” and “persecute the saints of the Most High.” Daniel 7: 25. This is a religious power that will try to bring the whole world under its authority, dictating religious values and worship under penalty of death! (See Revelation 13: 4– 8,15.) This power has been around for many centuries, and is emerging again, not only as a religious power, but with quite a lot of political leverage, also.

We can see by looking at identifying marks of the little horn in Daniel 7 and the beast in Revelation 13 that these are the same power. We already notice that in Daniel 7: 25, the little horn speaks pompous (blasphemous) words against the Most High. In Revelation 13: 6, we see the beast also has a mouth that speaks blasphemy. Both the little horn and the beast also persecute the saints (Daniel 7: 25; Revelation 13: 7) and both continue for 1260 years.

In Bible prophecy, a day equals a year. (See Numbers 14: 34 and Ezekiel 4: 6.) When the Bible speaks of a time (one year), times (two years), and half a time (half a year) it is speaking of three and a half years. In the Bible times a year was 360 days. So by using this criteria, we can multiply 3 ½ by 360 and we get 1260 days. A day for a year brings us to 1260 years. In Revelation 13: 5, we have 42 months. By using this same rule and multiplying 42 by 360, the answer again is 1260. So in both Daniel and Revelation we can find several identifying marks that show that this is the same power.

It is the grievous sins of this power that will bring great judgment on its head. It has a blasphemous name on its head (Revelation 13: 1). The Bible definition for blasphemy is to claim to forgive sin, and to claim to be equal with or to be God. Jesus made these claims (which was His right as Sovereign of the universe) in Mark 2: 7 and John 8: 58, but for a earthly power or man to make such a claim will bring great judgment to him. We already saw that he would persecute (kill) the saints (God’s people), and that he would cause the world to “marvel and follow the beast.” “So they worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying ‘Who is like the Beast? Who is able to make war with him? ’” Revelation 13: 3,4. Can you imagine God not judging such a power with the ultimate sentence? “God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; the lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies.” Naham 1: 2.

How Will You Be Judged?

God is sitting up a judgment and declares that this message should be proclaimed to all the world. “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come and worship Him who made heaven and the earth, the sea and springs of waters.” Revelation 14: 7. In Daniel 7: 26, we see that when the court is seated, this little horn power (or beast power as described in Revelation 13) will have its dominion taken away and will be consumed and destroyed forever. All who have followed this false religious power will pay the price with him. This little horn (or anti- christ) is the earthly agent of Satan who comes with the power of Satan, yet God is setting up a judgment that will bring him to utter ruin. How do we avoid this condemnation and the destruction that will follow? What exactly will be the evidence presented in this judgment, for or against us? It will be the very thoughts we have thought, the deeds we have done, and God will judge our hearts.

God Himself is the judge, not any human being. We are never to judge the motives of a person. This is left to God alone. Paul writes about this very subject: “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts . Then one’s praise will come from God.” “But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother. For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” I Corinthian 4: 5; Romans 14: 10. When we judge our brother, we are actually judging ourselves. “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment.” “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 12: 36; 7: 1– 3,5.

Judgment of the motives belongs to God. We cannot read the heart as God does. We may think that the people around us have rejected God and His counsel, yet, only God truly knows the heart of another. We are here to give encouragement and support to those who are suffering under the attacks of Satan. “Your words are to soothe, not harass. Let your hearts be filled with love for souls. With a deep, tender interest, work for those around you. If you see one making a mistake, go to him in the way Christ has pointed out in His Word, and see if you cannot talk the matter over with Christlike tenderness. Pray with him, and believe that the Saviour will show the way out of the difficulty.” Evangelism, 637, by Ellen G. White.

Yet this does not discount the fact that you and I will one day be judged by the God of heaven. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” II Corinthians 5: 10. This judgment will take place in the heavenly courts, as we read in Daniel 7: 9,10. As the angels gather around, the books are brought out (the Book of Remembrance and the Book of Life) and the Ancient of Days is seated along with the rest of the court.

The Law of Liberty

God’s court of justice is a court of law. The government of God is based around a system of immutable laws that govern the conduct of each person in His kingdom. These laws cannot be changed. They are perpetual; they do not end. These same laws will be the standard by which we will be judged in the judgment. This is called the law of liberty. This does not mean we have liberty to break God’s law, but that we are freed, or given liberty, from sin when we keep God’s law. In James 2: 8– 12, we are shown that this law of liberty spoken of is none other than the Ten Commandments. God says through James: “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he is guilty of all. . . . So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.”

God is ever so fair in His judgments. That is why only He can be our Judge. “There is one Lawgiver and Judge, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?” James 4: 12 NAB. Jesus warns us not to fear man, for what can man do to us if we are the Lord’s? “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10: 28. Only the Lord has power over our eternal destiny. Only He can give us eternal life or eternal death. The price for sin, which is death, must be paid either by ourselves or by the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross. Jesus will stand up as the Defense Attorney for all those who have been faithful. He will bring His blood before the Father as the price that was paid for the sins of each person who has given himself or herself fully to Him.

This, then, will be the theme of the judgment. Have our sins been covered with the blood of Jesus? Have we allowed Him to take our lives and shape them? Are we overcoming sin by the blood of the Lamb of God? “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Romans 6: 23; I John 1: 7.

Man has a duty to perform before the judgment closes. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring ever work into the judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12: 13,14. Jesus will bring every work into judgment, whether good or bad. The kingdoms, we read about in Daniel 7, will all be judged by the standard of the Royal Law, the Ten Commandments.

The wicked will receive their just reward from heaven. As we read in Revelation 20: 12,13, “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works .” The cases of each person will be brought before God’s throne and all will receive their sentence. The ungodly will pay with their lives for the misdeeds that they participated in on this earth. “Then Death and Hades [the grave] were cast into the lake of fire, this is the second [and final] death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20: 15.

God shows Daniel that when the little horn, the religious power which thinks “to change times and law,” puts forth its power to persecute God’s people for the last time, God will bring it to its knees. Judgment will be executed against the wicked and the righteous will be delivered by the power of the Lamb from the hands of injustice and persecution. Jesus will stand up and gather His people to Himself.

More Than a Profession

Obviously, Jesus will not defend those who do not love Him and follow Him, but what about those who claim to be His people? Jesus warned us that not all who claim to be His people will be saved. Look at what He says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, ’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your Name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your Name? ’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Matthew 7: 21– 23.

In the judgment, it is not enough to invoke the name of Jesus, we must do His will and obey His commandments. Satan’s agents will use “power, signs, and lying wonders,” but Jesus says that this is not a sign that we are His people. The only true test of fellowship with Him, the only standard to be used in the judgment, will be whether we keep His commandments out of a true love for Him. Those who do not will be told, “Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

With our cases soon to come up for judgment, how are we to prepare? Paul says, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you?— unless you are disqualified.” II Corinthians 13: 5. Every one of us must give an account of ourselves to God at the day of final judgment. God has been keeping a record of each person’s life. This information will be used in the judgment to see whether we truly are one of God’s people. Our recorded life will be put into contrast with God’s law. It will not only show those things we have done in the body, but also if we have let Jesus cover our sins with His blood. It will show whether we have overcome sin in our lives through the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

Those who have overcome will have their sins blotted from the books. Those who have not overcome, who only have a profession of faith and not the corresponding works, will be blotted out of the Book of Life. “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness, which he has done, shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.” “And the Lord said to Moses, whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.” “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.” “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” Ezekiel 18: 24; Exodus 32: 33; Ezekiel 18: 21,22; Revelation 3: 5.

Salvation is a free gift, yet we cannot receive it unless we come to Jesus, as He requires, not as we think is appropriate. God makes the rules, not us. He requires the combination of faith and works to prove we are truly His people. Have you given everything over to Him? Are you holding back part of your heart that is reserved for sin? Sin is the transgression [breaking] of God’s law. (I John 3: 4.) If we have not given all to the Lord, our whole heart, mind, and soul, we have given nothing at all. We cannot be partially God’s and partially of the world. We cannot let our ideas and desires dictate to us the path we will follow, for that path will lead to destruction. God is bringing an end to war and injustice, and the case of each human being alive today will very soon be brought to final judgment. Will you give all to Jesus today? Will you submit to His authority and work with His grace to transform your life? Will Jesus say to you in the judgment, “Well done faithful servant,” or will He say, “Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness”? The court is being seated and the Ancient of Days is ready to look through the books to see who will be called by His Name. Where will you be found?

Sources:

  • Grosboll, John, God Predicts Your Future.
  • Popovic, John, Alexander the Great— From history to eternity.
  • White, E. G., Patriarchs and Prophets.
  • White, E. G., Evangelism.

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