Bible Study Guides – The Prayers of the Righteous

November 17, 2012 – November 23, 2012

Key Text

“Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.” James 5:10.

Study Help: Testimonies, vol. 3, 273–288; The Sanctified Life, 42–52.

Introduction

“The sincerity of our prayers can be proved only by the vigor of our endeavor to obey God’s commandments.” Counsels on Health, 504.

1 EXAMPLES FOR US

  • What can we learn from the prayers of godly men? Nehemiah 1:4–11; Daniel 9:3–5.

Note: “Nehemiah humbled himself before God, giving Him the glory due unto His name. Thus also did Daniel in Babylon. Let us study the prayers of these men. They teach us that we are to humble ourselves, but that we are never to obliterate the line of demarcation between God’s commandment-keeping people and those who have no respect for His law.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 3, 1136.

  • How did God open the way for Nehemiah’s work? Nehemiah 2:1–6.

Note: “He [Nehemiah] had a sacred trust to fulfill, in which he required help from the king; and he realized that much depended upon his presenting the matter in such a way as to win his approval and enlist his aid. ‘I prayed,’ he said, ‘to the God of heaven’ [Nehemiah 2:4]. In that brief prayer Nehemiah pressed into the presence of the King of kings and won to his side a power that can turn hearts as the rivers of waters are turned.” Prophets and Kings, 631.

“Nehemiah did not regard his duty as done when he had mourned and wept and prayed before the Lord. He did not only pray. He worked, mingling petition and endeavor.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 346.

2 ELIJAH

  • Why did Elijah’s prayer so effectively alter the course of nature? James 5:17.

Note: “Viewing this [Israel’s] apostasy from his mountain retreat, Elijah was overwhelmed with sorrow. In anguish of soul he besought God to arrest the once-favored people in their wicked course, to visit them with judgments, if need be, that they might be led to see in its true light their departure from Heaven. He longed to see them brought to repentance before they should go to such lengths in evil-doing as to provoke the Lord to destroy them utterly.

“Elijah’s prayer was answered. Oft-repeated appeals, remonstrances, and warnings had failed to bring Israel to repentance. The time had come when God must speak to them by means of judgments. Inasmuch as the worshipers of Baal claimed that the treasures of heaven, the dew and the rain, came not from Jehovah, but from the ruling forces of nature, and that it was through the creative energy of the sun that the earth was enriched and made to bring forth abundantly, the curse of God was to rest heavily upon the polluted land. The apostate tribes of Israel were to be shown the folly of trusting to the power of Baal for temporal blessings. Until they should turn to God with repentance, and acknowledge Him as the source of all blessing, there should fall upon the land neither dew nor rain.” Prophets and Kings, 120.

  • Relate Elijah’s experience at Mount Carmel. I Kings 18:17–45; James 5:18.

Note: “He [Elijah] reminds the people of their degeneracy, which has awakened the wrath of God against them, and then calls upon them to humble their hearts and turn to the God of their fathers, that His curse may be removed from them. …

“He then reverentially bows before the unseen God, raises his hands toward heaven, and offers a calm and simple prayer, unattended with violent gestures or contortions of the body. No shrieks resound over Carmel’s height. A solemn silence, which is oppressive to the priests of Baal, rests upon all. In his prayer, Elijah makes use of no extravagant expressions. He prays to Jehovah as though He were nigh, witnessing the whole scene, and hearing his sincere, fervent, yet simple prayer. Baal’s priests have screamed, and foamed, and leaped, and prayed, very long—from morning until near evening. Elijah’s prayer is very short, earnest, reverential, and sincere.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 284, 285.

3 GOD’S WISDOM IN ANSWERING

  • Why didn’t the rain come immediately after Elijah’s first prayer? Psalm 26:2.

Note: “Important lessons are presented to us in the experience of Elijah. When upon Mount Carmel he offered the prayer for rain, his faith was tested, but he persevered in making known his request unto God. Six times he prayed earnestly, and yet there was no sign that his petition was granted, but with strong faith he urged his plea to the throne of grace. Had he given up in discouragement at the sixth time, his prayer would not have been answered, but he persevered till the answer came. We have a God whose ear is not closed to our petitions; and if we prove His word, He will honor our faith. He wants us to have all our interests interwoven with His interests, and then He can safely bless us; for we shall not then take glory to self when the blessing is ours, but shall render all the praise to God. God does not always answer our prayers the first time we call upon Him; for should He do this, we might take it for granted that we had a right to all the blessings and favors He bestowed upon us. Instead of searching our hearts to see if any evil was entertained by us, any sin indulged, we should become careless, and fail to realize our dependence upon Him, and our need of His help.” The Review and Herald, June 9, 1891.

  • What were Isaiah’s concerns when he was called by God, and how was he strengthened by communion with the Almighty? Isaiah 6:5-7.

Note: “The prophet [Isaiah] was nerved for the work before him. The memory of this vision was carried with him throughout his long and arduous mission.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 751.

  • During the time Jonah was neglecting his duty to God, what serious warning must we heed from his experience? Jonah 1:1–12.

Note: “The prayers of the man [Jonah] who had turned aside from the path of duty brought no help.” Prophets and Kings, 267.

  • What does Jonah’s history also teach of God’s delight in the prayers of the penitent? Jonah 2:1–10; 3:4–10.

4 DANIEL

  • How important was prayer to the prophet Daniel? Daniel 6:4–10.

Note: “The decree goes forth from the king. Daniel is aware of all that has been done. … But he does not change his course in a single particular.” The Review and Herald, February 8, 1881.

“Have a set time, a special season for prayer at least three times a day. Morning, noon, and at night Daniel prayed to his God, notwithstanding the king’s decree, and the fearful den of lions. He was not ashamed or afraid to pray, but with his windows opened he prayed three times a day.” The Youth’s Instructor, October 1, 1855.

  • What can we learn from Daniel’s prayer for apostate Israel? Daniel 9:4–19.

Note: “The man of God was praying, not for a flight of happy feeling, but for a knowledge of the divine will. And he desired this knowledge, not merely for himself, but for his people. His great burden was for Israel, who were not, in the strictest sense, keeping the law of God. He acknowledges that all their misfortunes have come upon them in consequence of their transgressions of that holy law. … They had lost their peculiar, holy character as God’s chosen people. [Daniel 9:17 quoted.] Daniel’s heart turns with intense longing to the desolate sanctuary of God. He knows that its prosperity can be restored only as Israel shall repent of their transgressions of God’s law, and become humble, and faithful, and obedient.” The Review and Herald, February 8, 1881.

“Daniel’s heart was burdened for the people of God, for the city and temple that were laid waste. His deepest interest was for the honor of God and the prosperity of Israel. It was this that moved him to seek God with prayer and fasting and deep humiliation. Brethren in responsible positions in the Lord’s work for this time, have not we as great need to call upon God as had Daniel? I address those who believe that we are living in the very last period of this earth’s history. I entreat you to take upon your own souls a burden for our churches, our schools, and our institutions. That God who heard Daniel’s prayer will hear ours when we come to Him in contrition. Our necessities are as urgent, our difficulties are as great, and we need to have the same intensity of purpose, and in faith roll our burden upon the great Burden-bearer. There is need for hearts to be as deeply moved in our time as in the time when Daniel prayed.” Ibid., February 9, 1897.

5 IN THE LAODICEAN ERA

  • What should characterize our prayers today, and why? II Corinthians 6:2.

Note: “In the early stages of this work, there were but few friends of the cause. These servants of God wept and prayed for a clear understanding of the truth. They suffered privations and much self-denial, in order to spread a knowledge of it; and although as the result of much labor but few received the precious message, yet step by step they followed as God’s opening providence led the way. They did not study their own convenience or shrink at hardships. God, through these men, prepared the way, and the truth has been made very plain; yet some who have since embraced the truth have failed to take upon themselves the burden of the work.” The Review and Herald, February 12, 1880.

“God has loaded us with His benefits. Immortal blessings have been poured upon us in great measure. Messengers have been sent with warnings, reproofs, and entreaties. God’s servants have wept and prayed over the lukewarm state of the church. Some may arouse, but only to fall back into unconsciousness of their sin and peril. Passion, worldliness, malice, envy, pride, strife for supremacy, make our churches weak and powerless. … It is still thy day, O church of God, whom He has made the depositary of His law. But this day of trust and probation is fast drawing to a close. The sun is fast westering. … It is time to seek God earnestly, saying with Jacob, ‘I will not let thee go except thou bless me’ [Genesis 32:26]. It will be of no avail to make a spasmodic effort, only to fall back into spiritual lethargy and lukewarmness. The past, with the slighted mercies, the admonitions unheeded, the earthly passions uncorrected, the privileges unimproved, the soul temple filled with desecrated shrines—all is recorded in the books of heaven. But most solemn moments are still before you. Because of past neglect, the efforts you make must be the more earnest.” The Review and Herald, November 2, 1886.

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

1 How did Nehemiah win the favor of the king?

2 What should we learn from the prayers of the men discussed in this lesson?

3 Why was there a delay before the answer came?

4 Why did Daniel include himself in prayer for Israel?

5 What may be hindering our prayers from being heard?

© 2003 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.

The Disciples’ Message Forgotten

The foundation of the disciples’ message to the whole world was the opening of Christ’s ministry as our High Priest in the Holy Place of the sanctuary in heaven. This message was so powerful that in Acts 17:6 we are told that this message had “turned the world upside down.” Nobody had to go to the earthly sanctuary anymore to offer a sacrificial lamb. They could now go directly to Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary to confess their sins and Jesus would cover those sins with His blood. But by 1844 this message, that had turned the world upside down, was no longer remembered by the church.

What happened to the sanctuary message and why did it have to be restored? We will begin our search for the answer at the ascension of Jesus Christ.

In Revelation chapters 4 and 5 we are shown the throne room of the sanctuary in heaven in 31 A.D. These two chapters should not have a chapter division because they are about the same event. In Revelation 5:6 we get a picture of Jesus coming as a Lamb slain before the Father. We know that this is an accurate interpretation of this verse. The Desire of Ages, 830–835, is a description of this same event, and gives us more details.

When Jesus ascended 40 days after His crucifixion He went in before the Father as a Lamb slain. “He enters into the presence of His Father. He points to His wounded head, the pierced side, the marred feet; He lifts His hands, bearing the print of nails. He points to the tokens of His triumph; … Before the foundations of the earth were laid, the Father and the Son had united in a covenant to redeem man if he should be overcome by Satan. They had clasped Their hands in a solemn pledge that Christ should become the surety for the human race. This pledge Christ has fulfilled.”

Then Jesus was presented to John not as a Lamb slain, but as our High Priest in the Holy Place. John recorded a description of Jesus as our High Priest in the Holy Place of the sanctuary in heaven in Revelation chapter 1:12–16.

“And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.”

On the Day of Pentecost, God sent the Holy Spirit down to the 120 disciples that were assembled in a meeting. The Holy Spirit told them that the inauguration of Jesus as their High Priest had been completed in the sanctuary of the New Covenant in heaven. He then instructed them to go forth and tell the world that sanctuary is now open and waiting to receive their petitions. That was the message that the disciples were to take to the world during the early years of the apostolic church. After Christ’s death and resurrection, nobody had to go to the earthly sanctuary anymore to offer a sacrificial lamb. They could now go directly to Jesus in the Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary to confess their sins and Jesus said He would secure their pardon.

“The blood of Christ, pleaded in behalf of penitent believers, secured their pardon and acceptance with the Father.” The Great Controversy, 421.

This was the good news proclaimed by the apostolic church. Even the Gentiles later on recognized the power of this message because in Acts 17:6 we are told that this message had “turned the world upside down.” Such was the power of the message of Jesus’ ministry in the heavenly sanctuary.

Satan and the fallen angels saw the power of this message and they saw that this message was going to destroy their kingdom of rebellion. They had to do something to counteract this message. Satan and his angels set about to attack the Christian church and lead it into apostasy. All of the major writers of the New Testament tell about the apostasy that came into the Christian church. It became so bad that by A.D. 538, the papacy took control of the church. In Revelation 13:2 we are told that Satan gave him his power, authority and seat.

Immediately Satan set the Pope up as the head of the church in place of God. The Pope then claimed that he was the mediator between God and man. This was the work of the papacy throughout the Dark Ages. For 1260 years Satan continued his attack on the ministry of Jesus in the Holy Place of the sanctuary in heaven. Even at the present time the people in the Roman Catholic Church are taught to confess their sins to the priests.

The sanctuary message was lost because the people were directed to the priests for their salvation instead of Jesus Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. When the great Second Advent Movement began in the early 1840s, nobody knew about the sanctuary in heaven. They thought that the sanctuary was this earth. The papacy did away with the knowledge of Jesus Christ’s ministry in the sanctuary in heaven by instructing the people to confess their sins to the priests in the church on earth. “It set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host; it took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low.” Daniel 8:11, NIV.

The good news in Daniel 8:14 is that the sanctuary message would be restored to its rightful place. “And he said to me, for two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored.” NASB.

The restoration of this message has been fulfilled in the Second Advent Movement. In The Great Controversy, 409, we are told, “The scripture which above all others had been both the foundation and the central pillar of the advent faith was the declaration: ‘Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.’ Daniel 8:14.” The sanctuary message was to be restored and was to become the foundation and central pillar of the message to the world in the closing scenes of the great Second Advent Movement.

This restoration of this message is paramount because the heavenly sanctuary is the place where Jesus carries out the terms of the New Covenant. When Jesus moved from the Holy Place to the Most Holy Place in the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 to begin the investigative judgment, His faithful followers were thrilled to learn the truth and followed Him into the Most Holy Place. Christ’s disciples in the great Second Advent Movement will again take up the message as did the first disciples.

“The third angel closes his message thus: ‘Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus’ (Revelation 14:12). As he repeated these words, he pointed to the heavenly sanctuary. The minds of all who embrace this message are directed to the most holy place, where Jesus stands before the ark, making His final intercession for all those for whom mercy still lingers and for those who have ignorantly broken the law of God. This atonement is made for the righteous dead as well as for the righteous living. It includes all who died trusting in Christ, but who, not having received the light upon God’s commandments, had sinned ignorantly in transgressing its precepts.” Early Writings, 254.

During the latter rain this message will be at the heart of the call to “come out of her (Babylon).” It is through the ministry of Jesus in the Most Holy Place where they can be freed from sin as they come out of Babylon.

Daniel 8:14 truly is the foundation and pillar of the Advent faith. It is a prophecy fulfilled. The ministry of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary was a message forgotten during the Dark Ages. It has been restored according to the prophecy of Daniel 8:14 and we must keep it alive, never to be forgotten again.

Maurice Hoppe is Director of the Steps to Life Training Programs and a member of the Steps to Life Board. The Training Program for Ministers and Church Leaders is a correspondence course that prepares individuals to serve as a pastor or Bible worker. Preparing for the Final Conflict is a correspondence course for the laity. Both of these courses teach present truth that will be an anchor for the soul during the storm of opposition and persecution just ahead. He and his wife also have a correspondence course offered through Revelation Ministry. He can be contacted at: mauricehoppe@stepstolife.org.

A Defiled Sanctuary

The book of Revelation is written in sign language or symbolic language to show what must shortly take place (Revelation 1:1). “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring [also translated the remnant of her seed], who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17.

The dragon is a symbol of an angel that once was one of the leading angels of heaven who fell and has become what we call the Devil, or Satan, a fallen angel. Verse 9 says, “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.” So, “the dragon was angry with the woman” means Satan is angry with the church.

In the Bible, whole chapters have been written using a woman as a symbol; for example, Ezekiel 16 and 23. Jeremiah 6:2 says, “I have likened the daughter of Zion to a lovely and delicate woman.” Isaiah 51:16 tells us who Zion is: “And I have put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens, lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, ‘you are My people.’ ” Zion is God’s people and is represented by a lovely and delicate woman.

Paul uses the same terminology addressing the church of God in Corinth: “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 [pure] virgin to Christ. 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.” II Corinthians 11:2, 3.

In both the Old and New Testaments the church is likened to a woman. If the woman is pure, she represents a pure church, but if the woman becomes a prostitute or harlot, that woman is used to represent a corrupt church that is in apostasy. Revelation 17 and 18 describe a great prostitute that, in the last days, affects the whole world.

The woman of Revelation 12 is a pure woman; she is clothed with the sun, and she brings forth a male child that is to rule all nations (verse 5). This is a pure woman, a pure church, and refers to God’s people. “The dragon was enraged with the woman [God’s people in the last days], and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring [the last church], who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10.

In everyday English a translation of the symbols would read: “And the devil, or Satan, was enraged with the church, or with God’s people, and he went to make war, or try, to destroy the last church, God’s people, who keep the commandments of God and have the spirit of prophecy.”

Years ago, evangelists always said that to find God’s people in the last days, you would need to find a church that keeps all ten of the commandments. And secondly, it must have the gift of prophecy. These qualifications narrow down the choice. Many churches worship on a day different than what has been commanded, and people bow before representations of the virgin Mary holding baby Jesus and images of Jesus hanging on the cross. The commandments prohibit this action and eliminate those churches from being pure. (See Exodus 20:8–11.)

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is not the only church that advocates keeping all of the commandments, and there are also several other churches that claim to have the gift of prophecy.

Paul told the Thessalonian church to “prove all things.” I Thessalonians 5:21. This admonition should be applied in the search for the true church. There is one doctrine found in Daniel 8:14 that, as far as I know, is unique to Adventism. It says, “And he said to me, ‘For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.’ ”

Point #1 – Adventists have believed that this text refers to the time of the end, something that is going to happen in the last epochal period of earth’s history, because of what the angel told Daniel: “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end” and “for at the appointed time, the end shall be.” Verses 17 and 19.

Point #2 – The sanctuary is going to be cleansed after this period of time and in the time of the end.

Point #3 – The earthly sanctuary was a type of the real sanctuary in heaven. (See Hebrews 8.) Daniel 8:14 would have to be referring to the heavenly sanctuary, because there is no earthly sanctuary in the time of the end.

Point #4 – This verse would then mean, that in the time of the end the heavenly sanctuary is going to be cleansed. This seems incredible for some people to believe—that there would be something in heaven needing cleansing, but the Bible says that there is—the heavenly sanctuary.

Paul says, “Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens [the earthly sanctuary] should be purified [or cleansed] with these.” Hebrews 9:23. To what do “these” refer?

In chapters 8 and 9 we see that the earthly sanctuary was cleansed with the blood of animal sacrifices. Again, in chapter 10:1–4, Paul says that the blood of bulls and goats that was offered every year could not take away sins. The earthly sanctuary was cleansed with these animal sacrifices, “but the heavenly things themselves [the sanctuary in heaven, of which the earthly sanctuary was a type] with better sacrifices than these.” Hebrews 9:23. The “better” sacrifice refers to the sacrifice Christ made when He died on the cross. It says, in verse 24, “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies [that is, the earthly sanctuary] of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Paul is saying that the heavenly sanctuary has to be cleansed. But in order for something to be cleansed, it first had to have been defiled, for you don’t purify or cleanse something that is already clean. How is it there is defilement in heaven?

In Daniel 7:9, 10 is a description of the judgment. “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 wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheel a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand [that is a hundred million] stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.”

This portrays a judgment scene in heaven, with books. David gives insight into what is recorded in these books. “You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?” Psalm 56:8. God keeps account of all the events of our lives.

Malachi 3:16 says, “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name.” When God’s people meet together and speak together, God doesn’t just hear it, but He has it recorded in a book.

In Matthew 12:35, 36, it says, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”

God has a record of every word that we have ever spoken, the good words and also the idle words. God knows a lot more than just our words, though. The psalmist understood this very, very clearly. In Psalm 139:1–4, it says, “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up [He knows what time you go to bed and what time you get up]; You understand my thought afar off. [God understands your thought before you even think it. He knows what you are going to think tomorrow, what you have not even thought yet, and understands.] You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.” God knows our thoughts!

The Lord says, in Isaiah 66:18, “For I know their works and their thoughts.” In Jesus’ sermon on the mount, He explained that sin started in the mind; it was possible to commit adultery with a woman in your mind. Murder also starts in the mind; to hate is recorded as murder.

Detailed records of each life, every thought and act, is kept in the throne room of the heavenly sanctuary. Because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), those records have defiled God’s sanctuary. But in the end of time, the sanctuary is going to be cleansed. This will happen in two distinct ways. “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come [the latter rain] from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ [the Second Coming], Who was preached to you before, Whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:19–21.

Peter says that, in the time of the latter rain, there will be some people whose sins are going to be blotted out. The pollution of their record of sinful thoughts and actions will be gone forever.

The other way the sanctuary will be cleansed is to remove the names of those who remain unrepentant of their thoughts and actions; their names will be blotted out. Moses pled with the Lord for the children of Israel: “Yet now, if You will forgive their sin, but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.’ ” Exodus 32:32, 33. Moses understood that God had a book and that his name, as well as those of the children of Israel, was in there. He could not bear the thought that God would wipe out the nation because of their rebellion, and he consented to be lost, if he could not get the people saved.

The heavenly sanctuary is cleansed in two ways—either the sins are blotted out of the records, leaving the names of the repentant, or the whole record, including the names of the unrepentant, is removed. For 150 years, this is the way that Adventists have explained the cleansing of the sanctuary, but the teaching has not been made practical enough so people can understand it. All through the Bible, the sanctuary or God’s temple has always been a symbol and not just a building.

Ellen White describes the beginning of Christ’s ministry when He first cleansed the temple. She wrote that the sanctuary, the building that the Jews regarded with so much pride, was a symbol of what God wanted to do for every human being. (See The Desire of Ages, 161, 162.)

Paul said, “Do you not know that your body is the temple [sanctuary] of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price [and what a price!]; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” I Corinthians 6:19, 20. The Corinthian church had a problem with sexual immorality, and Paul wrote to them in this context. He said they could not do as they wished to please their bodies, for the body is supposed to be a temple for the Holy Spirit.

That being the case, and in the last days the temple is going to be cleansed, that would mean our body, our spirit and our mind is to be cleansed. Our thoughts, feelings, words and actions are all to be purified so the Holy Spirit can dwell in our mind. The Holy Spirit cannot dwell with sin, so a cleansing must take place. If we remain in sin we make our body and our mind a temple for the dwelling place for evil angels. “Satan takes the control of every mind that is not decidedly under the control of the Spirit of God.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 79.

Ellen White said that though it was manifested in a different way, the priests and the religious leaders in the time of Christ were just as much possessed of the devil as the demoniacs. The devil was in control. How is it in your life?

Paul told King Agrippa about his experience on the road to Damascus and the work the Lord told him to do, “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.” Acts 26:18.

The Corinthians did not know that in worshiping their idols and sacrificing to them they were, in fact, worshiping devils. Today, though they may not be aware, those who are living in sin are under the control of the devil. I John 3:8 says that everyone “who sins is of the devil.”

The cleansing of the temple has an even broader meaning than how it applies to each individual Christian.

In I Corinthians 3:16, 17, Paul says, “Do you [plural word meaning the church] not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him.” This sentence has a parallel construction, which should be translated with the same verb. Either it should read, “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will defile him” or “If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him.” I personally believe the second translation is the more correct one. This is one of the most powerful verses in the New Testament talking about health reform. “If you defile the temple of God, if you destroy it, God will destroy you.” Now he’s talking to the whole church. “If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”

The cleansing of the sanctuary does not just apply to individuals but it applies to the church as a whole. Some people think that the church is just going to get worse, and then, in some way, when Jesus comes, like pushing a magic button, it will all be cleansed and purified. I call that the “magic button theology,” but it is not found in the Bible.

As the disciples came down from the Mount of Transfiguration, they asked Jesus, “ ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.’ ” Matthew 17:10–12.

The Jewish people thought they could prove that Jesus could not be the Messiah, because the Scriptures taught that before the Messiah would come, Elijah the prophet had to come first. Jesus said Elijah has already come, and they didn’t know it. They were looking forward to something to happen in the future that had already been happening.

We are in the identical situation today. The average Adventist is looking forward to the purification of the church in the future, but it has already started and may be almost over. The Bible is very clear that God is going to have a church that has been cleansed and purified before He returns.

Look at Ephesians 5:25, 26. This passage refers literally to husbands and wives; however, Paul uses this relationship of husbands and wives simply as an illustration for the church. He says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.” Now notice that the cleansing of the church, the cleansing of the sanctuary and the purification of the church is all the same thing. It does not occur by a magic button when Jesus comes, but is a process like taking a bath, and it occurs through the word of God.

As the word of God is preached, and we find our life is not in harmony with it, we say, “Lord, change me so my life can be harmony with this book.” The Holy Spirit starts working on our mind and the cleansing process takes place. Verse 27 continues, “that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”

In Early Writings, 118, Ellen White told us which angel will purify the church. In Revelation 14:9 it says, “A third angel follows them … .” An understanding of the third angel’s message cleanses and purifies the church.

When Jesus returns, He is coming to receive His church. Many will be resurrected who were led by the Holy Spirit and lived up to the light they had, though it may have never been part of the church in this world. But among the people who are alive when Jesus comes again, that live through the time of trouble and will go up with Him, are the people who are in the church that has been cleansed and purified. They will be without any blemish or spot; they will be without fault and holy.

If you have never felt defiled, you had better start praying, for when the Holy Spirit starts working on a person’s mind, they know immediately their condition. One ray of light from the Holy Spirit and the degradation and defilement of the human soul is manifest. You never need to tell somebody that they are defiled, because they already know it, for that is the work of the Holy Spirit.

These texts mean that God is going to take a defiled people and cleanse them till there is no defilement, until they are pure and holy without a single blemish. The people that are taken to heaven will not be going as pardoned criminals but as though they had never sinned. All of their sins will be gone forever and blotted out, for they will be thoroughly cleansed. What a promise, what a thought, to be made clean by Jesus!

Don’t be deceived by the magic button theology, the idea that you can just keep sinning and when Jesus comes, all of a sudden, everything will be turned around, because that is not the way it works. That is not the way you take a bath. Paul said that, “He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.” This is not something that is to happen in the future, but now. The Jews did not recognize the Messiah, expecting Elijah to come first, and they missed him. Many of us are looking for something to happen in the future, when it is happening right in front of us, and we don’t recognize what’s going on. The church is being purified right now. The sanctuary is being cleansed now, and many will not realize it until it is all over, and probation is closed, and the plagues are falling. Then they will wake up and say, “We didn’t realize this, but now it’s too late.” (See Early Writings, 71.)

“Now is the day of salvation.” II Corinthians 6:2. Don’t put it off, waiting for a national Sunday law to be passed and for the other events to take place. There is no time to delay. The signal to get ready has been given. Make peace with your Saviour and be cleansed today. Plead with Him to reveal your darling sins, the ones you intend to give up one day, so you can lay them on the altar and be saved. Let them go and be cleansed by the Word.

Jesus said to the Jews, “If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” John 8:24. I have prayed about this verse many times; not that I will not have to die, but that by His grace I will never die in my sins. To die in sin is a risk that no one can afford to take.

Each person and every church is going through a purification process. Angels pass by any church that refuses to be purified and let that church go. They surround those who desire the cleansing and bring divine help, leaving those who refuse to be left to their own devises.

God is going to have a church. It will be without blemish and holy, a church where God’s love is manifest. We can all be a part of it if we will stop resisting the Holy Spirit and want to be clean.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Free Seventh-day Adventist Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

A Needed Cleansing

The literal translation of Daniel 8:14 is: “Unto evenings and mornings, two thousand three hundred, then shall the holy place [or the temple or the sanctuary] be cleansed [or restored to its rightful state, or made right].”

Historically, that is the way Seventh-day Adventists have explained this verse and though true, a deeper study of God’s word reveals even more.

Jesus cleansed the sanctuary twice, once at the beginning of His ministry and again at the close. The Jewish religion demanded perfect animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins, and businesses had been established in the temple court to sell animals for this purpose. There was much corruption in the court, and many of the offerings brought by the people were rejected and considered imperfect, forcing the people to buy from the traders. These could only be purchased with “temple shekels,” so moneychangers had set up tables for their trade and became rich due to their unfair transactions. Many of the poor who came to the temple with their offering were unable to purchase another offering when theirs was rejected. Jesus saw the distress of the poor, who thought that without the shedding of blood there would be no forgiveness and they would be lost.

John records that when Jesus entered and saw what was happening, He made a scourge out of cords, turned over the tables and, with the money rolling to the floor, He drove out the merchants with their sheep and oxen, saying to them, “Take these things out of here.” The merchants fled (John 2:15, 16) leaving only the poor and the children.

“With searching glance, Christ takes in the scene before Him as He stands upon the steps of the temple court. With prophetic eye He looks into futurity, and sees not only years, but centuries and ages. He sees how priests and rulers will turn the needy from their right, and forbid that the gospel shall be preached to the poor.” The Desire of Ages, 157.

Peter said, “Through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you.” II Peter 2:3 KJV. Jesus said, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” Luke 19:46.

In speaking those things, Jesus quoted from the Old Testament, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:7. Notice it said all people, not just the Jews. “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes?” Jeremiah 7:11.

When Jesus had cleansed the temple of the phonies and profiteers, the poor people came in. In the book, The Desire of Ages, we read that the cleansing of the temple is an illustration of the church.

The Lord said, “Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8. The sanctuary or temple was not only to be an illustration that God wants to dwell among His people but also what each person was supposed to be. “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For ‘the two,’ He says, ‘shall become one flesh.’ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” I Corinthians 6:15–19.

Paul says that your body is to be a temple. The same word for body is used for temple or sanctuary; these are interchangeable words. Your body is to be a temple, a sanctuary, for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus came to the temple, He said, “It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people, but you have made it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13).

The Holy Spirit could not work on people while they were in that place, for it was a noisy house of merchandise and Jesus called it a den of thieves. All of the commercialism, the buying and selling, had to be removed in order for it to become a temple again—it had to be cleansed.

Consider here what the apostle Paul is talking about on an individual level. He said, “Your body is to be a member of Christ.” Should I then take what is supposed to be a member of Christ and make it the body of a harlot? Let’s paraphrase it. Can the Holy Spirit dwell within me if I am living in sin?

The first thing that the Holy Spirit does, when coming to a person to address his mind, is convict of sin. The Bible says, “And when He [the Spirit of Truth] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” John 16:8. This is happening today. The Holy Spirit attempts to do this with every person in the world who has not committed the unpardonable sin. When the Holy Spirit decides that there is nothing more He can do for a person, they are in a very grievous situation, for by rejecting the Holy Spirit they reject the only means available to be convicted of sin and repent. They have then committed the unpardonable sin and are lost.

The devil knows this better than anyone and is busy trying to get your life so busy and noisy that you do not hear the still small voice. He has, it seems, a million ways to do this. Parents often experience talking to their small child when the child doesn’t hear because his mind is occupied with something else. The devil’s plan is to get your mind so occupied with things that may not necessarily be sinful; it could be making a living. He doesn’t care what it is as long as your mind is totally preoccupied so you cannot hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Remember, the first thing the Holy Spirit does is convict that person of sin, no matter who they are or of what faith, whether Adventist, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist. The Bible says that the true Light enlightens every man that was born into the world (John 1:9). It is the Holy Spirit that speaks to people convicting them of sin. Even in countries devoid of the knowledge of the true God there is some concept of right and wrong.

If you are willing to give up sin, the Holy Spirit will come into your heart, transform your life, and purify your heart to be His dwelling place. Ellen White talks about the fact that there are people who have never heard the name of Christ in heathen countries who will not perish because they were willing to listen and act on the promptings of the Holy Spirit. “In the depths of heathenism, men who have had no knowledge of the written law of God, who have never even heard the name of Christ, have been kind to His servants, protecting them at the risk of their own lives. Their acts show the working of a divine power. The Holy Spirit has implanted the grace of Christ in the heart of the savage, quickening his sympathies contrary to his nature, contrary to his education. The ‘Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world’ (John 1:9), is shining in his soul; and this light, if heeded, will guide his feet to the kingdom of God.” Ye Shall Receive Power, 157.

Paul said, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” I Corinthians 3:16–17. When talking about the sanctuary or the temple, the Bible is not just talking about individuals. God’s church is His sanctuary. The word temple means a dwelling place for a deity.

When I was a child, while my parents were missionaries in Burma, which is now called Myamar, it was interesting to visit, as tourists, a Buddhist pagoda. All shoes had to be removed before entering the temple and inside was a huge idol of Buddha. Buddhists reverently knelt down before it and worshiped the statue. The temple was a dwelling place for that deity.

For Christians, a temple of God is where the God of heaven dwells. It was God’s desire that every created being, from the highest angel of heaven down to man, be a temple where His Spirit could reside. But because of sin, man ceased to be a temple for God. The Holy Spirit cannot dwell in any heart that is living in sin. In order for the Spirit to dwell in the heart again, the temple must be cleansed.

The Christian church is a temple, a habitation, a dwelling place for God. “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God [the church], having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19–22.

The building here spoken about is a living building, one that, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple. Ellen White has a long discussion about this in The Acts of the Apostles, 595–600. She talks about this building that has been slowly ascending through the centuries—the Christian church. “Upon the foundation that Christ Himself had laid, the apostles built the church of God.” “Through the ages that have passed since the days of the apostles, the building of God’s temple has never ceased.” Ibid., 595, 598.

Daniel 8:14 says that the temple—the sanctuary—is going to be cleansed, made right, restored to its rightful state. Seventh-day Adventists teach that this began in 1844. There was a cleansing of the church in 1844, and the results were very disturbing. When the midnight cry was given, up to 100,000 people came out from all churches and became Adventists. At that time they did not have a clear understanding of Daniel 8:14, that judgment was to commence, and believed that the cleansing of the sanctuary would be the coming of Christ. God had His hand over their misunderstanding. When that cleansing was over, and because of their great disappointment, there were not very many people left.

Remember, when Jesus was here He cleansed the temple twice, once at the beginning and again at the close of His ministry. That is happening again. There was a cleansing of the temple in 1844 at the beginning of the Day of Judgment, and there is another cleansing of the temple at the end of the Day of Judgment.

So, when will the temple (God’s church) be cleansed? People believe that either the church will be cleansed when Jesus comes or at least right after He comes. That belief opens up the view that we will keep sinning and confessing and sinning and confessing until Jesus comes, after which, in an instant, He will change you into His image and cleanse you. Many Seventh-day Adventists are being taught this today.

However, it does not matter how many people believe something; if it is not in the Bible, you cannot depend on it, and that teaching is not in the Bible. In Revelation 22:11, 12, it says, “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.” That statement refers to the time before Jesus comes, for the next verse says, “And [connecting the sentence before] behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.” Notice, the cleansing does not happen when Jesus comes, but He comes to give the reward to those who are already cleansed. When Jesus comes, whoever is cleansed is going to stay cleansed and whoever is not cleansed is never going to be cleansed.

Some say that this refers to right at the end of time, but are we not now living at the end of time? Will time go on for another 100 or 200 years, or do you believe that time could close up really quickly? If we are, in fact, living at the end of time, shouldn’t the church be becoming better and better? But if I believe that I am approaching the end of time, should things in my church be getting worse and worse, and then expect Jesus to magically change it at some point? You cannot find that cleansing operation anywhere in the Bible.

Since the late 1950s the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been moving directly contrary to the counsel of the Spirit of Prophecy, but the popular belief is that there is no need to worry because the Lord is going to straighten it all out. Today, 60 years later, the same explanation is given, but how is this to be done?

The Jews taught that their church was to be cleansed and purified before the Messiah could come. That is one of the reasons they could not accept Jesus. The Bible teaches how the church is to be cleansed with an illustration that, at first reading, appears to apply to husbands and wives. Look at Ephesians 5:25–27: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”

Consider this illustration from the laundry. When your clothes get dirty, you take them to the laundry. Then they are put through the washing machine that is supposed to get the spots out, and the garments come out clean. Once the spots are out, the garments are ironed to remove the wrinkles, then they should be ready to put on again. The same is true with the church. It is God’s sanctuary, and it is to be cleansed to the point that it is holy and without blemish.

Daniel 8:14 says that after two thousand three hundred evenings or mornings or days, the sanctuary is going to be cleansed, restored to its rightful state, made right. For over 150 years Seventh-day Adventists have taught that this cleansing began in 1844.

The cleansing of the sanctuary and the purification of the church are one and the same thing. The sanctuary in heaven cannot be cleansed while the church on earth gets more and more defiled. That is impossible. Revelation 22:11, 12 says that the church on earth will be cleansed and purified by the close of probation, because after that time there can be no more cleansing. At that time it is declared to be either clean or unclean. It is either filthy or not filthy. It is either righteous or unrighteous. God is going to have a church, not just one individual here and there that is holy and without blemish, but a church.

The Jews were trapped into thinking the church would be purified in the future and the Messiah could not come until that happened. The church today could fall for the same deception, and Jesus will come while we are still waiting for the miracle cleansing to take place.

Consider just how much like the Jews we are. “Now as they came down from the mountain [the Mount of Transfiguration], Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.’ And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.’ ” Matthew 17:9–12.

The Jews had said that Jesus of Nazareth could not possibly be the Messiah. We know that, because of the Old Testament prophecy that says before the Messiah comes, Elijah has to come first (Malachi 4:5). We have sent representatives to ask John the Baptist, and he said that he was not Elijah. They thought they had a watertight proof, and thousands of people rejected the Messiah on the basis of that evidence that was proved to them from the Bible. By the way, the reason John the Baptist told them that he was not Elijah is because the question they asked him was, “Are you the man that dealt with Ahab and Jezebel?” John the Baptist was not the man who had dealt with Ahab and Jezebel, but was he Elijah the prophet? The angel said so to his father, Zechariah: “And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke 1:16, 17. Jesus also confirmed it: “For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ ” Matthew 11:10. What the Jews were looking to happen in the future had already happened. It was in the past.

This is one of the biggest dangers of conservative Seventh-day Adventists. The liberals do not even believe in the cleansing of the sanctuary, but the conservatives do and believe it to be in the future.

Ellen White wrote, “I saw that many were neglecting the preparation so needful and were looking to the time of ‘refreshing’ and the ‘latter rain’ to fit them to stand in the day of the Lord and to live in His sight. Oh, how many I saw in the time of trouble without a shelter! They had neglected the needful preparation; therefore they could not receive the refreshing that all must have to fit them to live in the sight of a holy God. Those who refuse to be hewed by the prophets and fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole truth, and who are willing to believe that their condition is far better than it really is, will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building. But there will be no time then to do it and no Mediator to plead their cause before the Father.” Early Writings, 71.

Throughout history, God’s people have had a very poor track record of recognizing when prophecy is fulfilled right in front of their eyes. Most did not recognize what was going on when Elijah was here. They did not recognize what was happening when Jeremiah said, if you will do what I tell you to do, the temple will not be destroyed and your city will not be destroyed.

God’s church at the time missed Elijah the prophet when he came. They missed the Messiah when He came. When the Messiah was crucified, even the disciples did not get it. In the book, The Desire of Ages, Ellen White names only two people, Nicodemus and Mary Magdalene, who understood what was happening when it happened. When Mary Magdalene saw Jesus hanging on the cross, she knew He was there because of her sins. Nicodemus understood because Jesus had told him that “the Son of man [would] be lifted up.” John 3:14. As he witnessed the crucifixion it came together in his mind though few others recognized it.

It is easy to understand prophecy when we look into the future and we can recognize when prophecy has been fulfilled in the past, but when prophecy is being fulfilled right in front of our eyes our track record is poor. This leaves us in a dangerous position for there is not going to be a future chance to change course. What the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us is important. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has been given the understanding on the cleansing of the sanctuary, and we are living in the time when it is happening—the sanctuary is being cleansed now, the church is being purified now.

The plan of salvation is not going to go on forever. Jesus said, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Matthew 24:44. He did not say, “get ready” but “be ready.” Individually we must be cleansed, and God is going to have a group of people, a church that is cleansed, purified and holy without blemish. Whoever is not cleansed will be removed. The angels are the reapers, and before the final judgment they will gather the tares together and bind them into bundles.

We are living at the end of the period of time that is predicted. There is no time to procrastinate. Do not hang on to your darling sins and say, “I’ll do it tomorrow. I’ll wait for the church triumphant.” When the church is triumphant it will be too late. The time to plead for the Holy Spirit to cleanse each heart of all its vileness, unholy thoughts, feelings and actions is now. We cannot make ourselves clean. Jesus is our high priest in the sanctuary in heaven, and He is in the business of cleansing each one who comes to Him with repentance.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Nebuchadnezzar and Pride

Bible Prophecy predicts in both the Old and New Testaments that a time is coming when there will be no more proud people living upon the earth. Right now we are a long way from such a condition and the question could be asked, How will such a wonderful condition be achieved?

Notice what it says in Malachi 4:1: “ ‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘that will leave them neither root nor branch.’ ”

Jesus talked about that time in His Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:5, Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” The Old Testament, of course, says that too. One of the problems that we have as human beings is that, if we are successful, if we believe that we are more beautiful than those around us, or if we think that we are more intelligent, or if we have more riches, or more power, it has a tendency to go to our heads and make us think that we are really somebody special.

It is pride that brings contention, and strife, and war. The Old Testament tells many stories of the problems that people had due to pride. One of the most famous of these is about a man who actually was called “the king of kings.” He did the work of God, even though he himself was an idolater. The Bible reveals that even idolaters, people that do not follow Him, end up accomplishing the Lord’s will in the earth. The books in the Major Prophets talk about how the heathen actually work out God’s will although they do not understand what they are doing.

God judged against Tyre, one of the more wicked cities of antiquity: “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, with chariots, and with horsemen, and an army and many people.’ ” Ezekiel 26:7. Notice, Nebuchadnezzar is called not only the king of Babylon, but in this text he is called the “king of kings.” In Ezekiel 28:7, the Lord refers to him and Babylon as the most terrible of the nations.

Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and had been very greatly impressed by the dream that had been given him by the Lord God of heaven.

“You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. 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. 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 2:31–35).

Daniel then gave the interpretation in verses 37–45: “You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold. 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. 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 mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings 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. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”

The king understood that this marvelous kingdom that he had built was not going to last forever, as he had thought. The time was going to come when it would be overturned. There would be other nations that would control the world and not Babylon.

Babylon, of course, is in the modern area of the world that today we call Iraq. Babylon was taken over by the Medes and the Persians. Since 1935, the modern name for Persia has been Iran. The Medo-Persian kingdom was also not going to last forever. It would cease to be a world power, and the kingdom of Greece would take its place, as you can read in the prophecy in Daniel 7 and 8. The kingdom of Greece would be divided and not last forever, either. It would be overtaken by a fourth kingdom, the kingdom of Rome, which would exist in two phases lasting until the very end of the world.

Nebuchadnezzar had been very impressed by his dream and Daniel’s interpretation that his kingdom was only temporary and would not last forever. Other kingdoms were to arise that would rule the world in his stead, but as time went on, Nebuchadnezzar became more and more prideful. He conquered not only Tyre, but also Egypt, and nation after nation bowed to his sway.

These victories added to his fame. He was considered to be the ruler of his age and as a result of his success, Nebuchadnezzar ended up turning from the path of humility, which is the only path to true greatness. He built up the city of Babylon until it became known as one of the seven wonders of the world. It became the chief glory of his kingdom. It was called the “golden city” and is referred to in the Bible as the praise of the whole earth (see Jeremiah 41:51). This recognition also increased his pride.

In an attempt to save his soul, the Lord God of heaven, in mercy to him, gave him another dream. In Daniel 4:4–6, it says, “I Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace. And I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts on my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore I issued a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.”

So Nebuchadnezzar brought in his “brain trust,” all the wise men of Babylon—the astrologers. Astrology being a very ancient branch of knowledge, Babylon had astrologers and soothsayers, or fortunetellers, referred to collectively in Scripture as Chaldeans. When he brought them in and told them his dream, he demanded that they tell him the meaning, but they could not. Starting in verse 8, he stated, “But at last Daniel came before me (his name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god; in him is the Spirit of the Holy God), and I told the dream before him, saying: ‘Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you, and no secret troubles you, explain to me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation.’ ”

Daniel, now standing before Nebuchadnezzar, then told him what he had dreamed. Verses 10–17 say, “These were the visions of my head while on my bed: I was looking, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew and became strong; its height reached to the heavens, and it could be seen to the ends of all the earth. Its leaves were lovely, its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it. The birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

“I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven. He cried aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get out from under it, and the birds from its branches. Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from that of a man, let him be given the heart of an animal, a beast. And let seven times pass over him. This decision is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men.’ ”

Then the king said to Daniel, “Then this dream, I King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its interpretation, since all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for the Spirit of the Holy God is in you.” When Daniel heard the dream, he knew immediately what it meant. The Bible indicates that because Daniel was troubled and astonished, he hesitated to say anything. It says in verse 19, “Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him.” He did not want to relate the meaning of the dream, but Nebuchadnezzar pressed him. “So the king spoke and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you.’”

So Daniel told the king what this dream meant in Daniel 4:19–26. As Daniel began to reveal to the king the meaning of the dream, he said, “My Lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies! The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth, whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and on whose branches the birds of the heaven had their habitation—it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth.

“And inasmuch as the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field; let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts of the field, till seven times [seven years] pass over him’; this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king. They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.

“And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, after you come to know that Heaven rules.”

After giving the king the awful interpretation of his dream, Daniel made a direct appeal to king Nebuchadnezzar: “Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity” (verse 27).

So, Daniel gave the interpretation. Even though the king then knew his destiny, he did not acknowledge the real ruler in the heavens. By means of this dream, God was trying to save his soul. Nebuchadnezzar thought about what Daniel had said, but because he was not converted and was not under the impressions of the Holy Spirit, the message that God sent through this dream did not have the effect that God intended.

The same is true with us today. If we are not converted, any message that God sends to us has little impact and any conviction that it might bring wears away after a time. The judgments of God that are threatened against wickedness do not bother us so much. There are a lot of people in the world like that today. However, the Bible says the time is coming when there will be no proud people left alive on the earth. Somehow, though, people do not comprehend the message. They don’t realize that they are headed toward eternal death if they keep living the way they are living.

The Bible says in Malachi 4:1, “ ‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘That will leave them neither root nor branch.’ ” All of the proud will burn up!

What happened to Nebuchadnezzar? Even though everything that was predicted came true, the judgment was postponed for a year to give him time to repent. “All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king 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)? He was proud of what he had done. He considered himself the ruler of the world and therefore the most important person in it. “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’ (verses 31, 32).”

In an instant, the reason that God had given him was taken away. The judgment that he thought was perfect, the wisdom and ability in which he had prided himself were all removed and he became an insane, raving maniac. He was driven from human society to live out in the field and eat grass like the animals. “That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws” (verse 33).

And he lived like a beast of the field with his reason removed for seven years. He was humbled in the sight of the world and before his own subjects. Then the Bible says that at the end of seven years, when he had been an astonishment to all of his subjects and humbled before all the world, “And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation.

“All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, no one can restrain his hand or say to Him, ‘What have you done?’ At the same time, my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me” (verses 34–36).

This is the last event that we have recorded in sacred Scripture concerning the life of a heathen, idolatrous king who finally, by a terrible judgment that was inflicted on him for seven years, became converted. At last he acknowledged that God really is the ruler, Who gives, for a temporary time, the kingdoms of this world to whomever He chooses, but their reign, their power are all temporary. It is the God of heaven that we need to adore and to Whom we need to surrender and obey. Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that in verse 37: “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the God of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to abase.”

There will not be any proud persons in the kingdom of heaven. If you want to have eternal life, you have to be willing to humble yourself and to surrender to the God of heaven and choose to follow Him and obey Him. True greatness is manifested with true humility. That’s why the greatest person who has ever lived in our world was the man Jesus Christ Who is described this way in Philippians 2:5–11: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

True greatness is manifested in true goodness and true humility. The time is coming when there will not be any proud people left on the earth alive. Where are you going to be? The decisions that you make day by day will determine your destiny.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Bible Study Guides – Four Successful Missionaries

November 21, 2015 – November 27, 2015

Key Text

“Now from among those [captives] of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.” Daniel 1:6 NKJV.

Study Help: Prophets and Kings, 479–490, 499–502, 510–513, 539–548.

Introduction

“Among the children of Israel who were carried captive to Babylon at the beginning of the seventy years’ captivity were Christian patriots.” A Call to Stand Apart, 52.

1 IN THE COURT OF BABYLON

  • What providential decision put King Nebuchadnezzar in contact with four Hebrew captives and, later, with their God? Daniel 1:3–5.
  • What were the names of the young men chosen for that purpose? Daniel 1:6. After being approved to take part in a three-year training course, how and why were their names changed? Verse 7.

Note: “The [Babylonish] king did not compel the Hebrew youth to renounce their faith in favor of idolatry, but he hoped to bring this about gradually. By giving them names significant of idolatry, by bringing them daily into close association with idolatrous customs, and under the influence of the seductive rites of heathen worship, he hoped to induce them to renounce the religion of their nation and to unite with the worship of the Babylonians.” Prophets and Kings, 481.

“When the enemy thrusts into our souls his subtle doubts and temptations, we are to close the door quickly, and dispel the influence of his suggestion, by repeating the Scripture.” The Review and Herald, August 7, 1888.

2 FAITHFULNESS ATTENDED WITH GOD’S BLESSINGS

  • How did God help those young Hebrews to be a shining light among the heathen during their difficult circumstances? Daniel 1:17.

Note: “In the land of their captivity these men [the children of Israel] were to carry out God’s purpose by giving to heathen nations the blessings that come through a knowledge of Jehovah. They were to be His representatives.” Prophets and Kings, 479.

  • What was their decision in view of the temptation surrounding them? James 1:12.

Note: “[Daniel 1:8 quoted.]

“In reaching this decision, the Hebrew youth did not act presumptuously but in firm reliance upon God. They did not choose to be singular, but they would be so rather than dishonor God. Should they compromise with wrong in this instance by yielding to the pressure of circumstances, their departure from principle would weaken their sense of right and their abhorrence of wrong. The first wrong step would lead to others, until, their connection with Heaven severed, they would be swept away by temptation.” Prophets and Kings, 483.

  • How did God bless their faithful efforts? Daniel 1:19.

Note: “For three years the Hebrew youth studied to acquire ‘the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans’ (Daniel 1:4). During this time they held fast their allegiance to God and depended constantly upon His power. With their habits of self-denial they united earnestness of purpose, diligence, and steadfastness. It was not pride or ambition that had brought them into the king’s court, into companionship with those who neither knew nor feared God; they were captives in a strange land, placed there by Infinite Wisdom. Separated from home influences and sacred associations, they sought to acquit themselves creditably, for the honor of their down-trodden people, and for the glory of Him Whose servants they were.” Prophets and Kings, 484.

3 DIVINE POWER COMBINED WITH HUMAN EFFORT

  • How and why did the Hebrew youth excel? Daniel 1:20.

Note: “At the court of Babylon were gathered representatives from all lands, men of the highest talent, men the most richly endowed with natural gifts, and possessed of the broadest culture that the world could bestow; yet among them all, the Hebrew youth were without a peer. In physical strength and beauty, in mental vigor and literary attainment, they stood unrivaled. The erect form, the firm, elastic step, the fair countenance, the undimmed senses, the untainted breath—all were so many certificates of good habits, insignia of the nobility with which nature honors those who are obedient to her laws.

“In acquiring the wisdom of the Babylonians, Daniel and his companions were far more successful than their fellow students; but their learning did not come by chance. They obtained their knowledge by the faithful use of their powers, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.” Prophets and Kings, 485, 486.

  • What did they realize—and what should be likewise considered by all who are called to represent true religion? II Timothy 2:15.

Note: “They [Daniel and his companions] realized that in order to stand as representatives of true religion amid the false religions of heathenism they must have clearness of intellect and must perfect a Christian character.” Prophets and Kings, 486.

  • What method of successful evangelism did Jesus teach—especially since the world around us looks for something holier in us than in themselves? Matthew 5:13–16.

Note: “While God was working in Daniel and his companions ‘to will and to do of His good pleasure,’ they were working out their own salvation (Philippians 2:13).” Prophets and Kings, 486.

4 NEBUCHADNEZZAR GIVES GLORY TO GOD

  • Soon after Daniel and his companions entered the service of the Babylonish king, what event offered Daniel an opportunity to testify in behalf of God? Daniel 2:1, 2.
  • In response to the revelation of the king’s dream through Daniel, how did Nebuchadnezzar acknowledge the God of heaven? Verse 47. What declaration did Nebuchadnezzar later make in response to the faithful witness that Daniel’s companions gave on the plain of Dura? Daniel 3:27–29.

Note: “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.” Prophets and Kings, 512.

  • In His mercy and patience with Nebuchadnezzar, how did God warn the monarch? Daniel 4:5, 10–16, 19–22. After explaining the king’s second dream, what appeal did Daniel make to him? Verse 27. What humbling experience led to Nebuchadnezzar’s full conversion? Verses 30–34, 37.

Note: “Under the rebuke of God the proud heart of Nebuchadnezzar was humbled.” The Review and Herald, September 8, 1896.

“The once proud monarch had become a humble child of God; the tyrannical, overbearing ruler, a wise and compassionate king. … Under the rebuke of Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords, Nebuchadnezzar had learned at last the lesson which all rulers need to learn—that true greatness consists in true goodness.” Prophets and Kings, 521.

5 THE LIGHT OF HEAVEN SHINES UPON KING DARIUS

  • How was the faith of Daniel tested when he was serving under Darius, whom he had already influenced for the truth? Explain the snare prepared for him. Daniel 6:1, 2, 5–9.
  • How did Daniel respond to the decree? Daniel 6:10–13.
  • How did King Darius feel when he realized he had been deceived by the very men who pretended to be concerned for the safety of his throne? Daniel 6:14, 18–23. How did the heathen king exalt the God of Daniel as the only true God? Verses 25, 26.

Note: “From the story of Daniel’s deliverance we may learn that in seasons of trial and gloom God’s children should be just what they were when their prospects were bright with hope and their surroundings all that they could desire. Daniel in the lions’ den was the same Daniel who stood before the king as chief among the ministers of state and as a prophet of the Most High. A man whose heart is stayed upon God will be the same in the hour of his greatest trial as he is in prosperity, when the light and favor of God and of man beam upon him. …

“Heaven is very near those who suffer for righteousness’ sake.” Prophets and Kings, 545.

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

1 Explain how subtle snares are placed before us and our youth today, just as they were in the case of the three Hebrews in Babylon.

2 What was the secret of the young men’s success?

3 When the unholy multitudes meet us, for what are many hoping?

4 What lesson taught to Nebuchadnezzar must be enshrined in every one of us—whether or not we are prominent people?

5 Give evidence of the Holy Spirit’s working in the heart of Darius.

© 2014 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, 5240 Hollins Road, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.

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

To order call 1-800-THE TRUTH or write to PO Box 782828, Wichita, Kansas 67278
If you would like to reprint or translate this book please contact Steps to Life for permission.

Click here to view other exciting posts on Bible Prophecy from Steps to Life.

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.

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

Click here to view other exciting posts on Bible Prophecy from Steps to Life.