The Book of Daniel - Number Fifty-One

That “certain saint which spake” in Daniel chapter eight, verses thirteen and fourteen is Christ as Palmoni. In the book of Revelation, Christ is identified as Alpha and Omega, which among other wonderful truths, identifies Christ as the Wonderful Linguist, and together the books of Daniel and Revelation represent Christ as the Master of time and language. It is beyond human ability to understand the significance and depth of what it means that Christ, as Palmoni (the Numberer of Secrets), introduces that attribute of His character in the two verses that establish the central pillar of Adventism, but the secrets which the Numberer of Secrets chooses to reveal are our responsibility to recognize and defend.

A secret that has been revealed is that the Numberer of Secrets (Palmoni), is that “certain saint which spake,” and in the two verses where He reveals Himself, the central pillar of Adventism is identified. In those two verses the Wonderful Numberer identifies the “increase of knowledge” that He, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah unsealed in 1798. In those two verses, the jewels of Miller’s dream, that represent the “increase of knowledge,” were, by the direction of Palmoni’s hand, published upon the two tables of Habakkuk.

After Daniel received the prophetic vision of the kingdoms of Bible prophecy, and then heard the heavenly dialogue in verses thirteen and fourteen, he sought to understand the “vision.”

The “vision” which Daniel is seeking to understand is the “chazon” vision, but the “mareh” vision, is what Gabriel is told to make Daniel understand. Every fact has its bearing, and if this fact is missed, the structure and design of the passage is essentially destroyed. In verse fifteen, when Daniel seeks to understand the “chazon” vision, the “mareh” is hidden, but still represented, for with the “appearance of a man” (Gabriel), the Hebrew word “mareh” is translated as “appearance”. In verse fifteen both words which have been translated as “vision” are represented. Daniel, in verse fifteen, seeks to understand the “chazon,” but Palmoni commands Gabriel, in verse sixteen to make Daniel understand the “mareh.” The design of these two verses is purposeful, and emphasizes the connection and difference between the two words.

It is Palmoni that commands Gabriel to make Daniel understand the “mareh,” for the One that commands Gabriel is the One who stands upon the water, and Gabriel heard His voice, “a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai.” It is the Ulai river that runs between the banks, and it is Christ who stands upon the water in the Scriptures. Accompanied with that fact, is the fact that Christ, as the archangel, is the One who commands the angels. The voice between the banks, is the voice of “that certain saint” in verse thirteen, and it is His word that commands Gabriel to make Daniel understand the “mareh” vision. In chapter twelve of Daniel, Christ once again is between the banks of the river. In chapter twelve He is clothed in linen, and swares by Him that liveth forever.

The Man who was “clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river,” “held up His right hand and His left hand unto heaven, and sware by Him that liveth forever,” and He is the same Man, who in chapter eight commanded Gabriel. In Revelation chapter ten, Christ also held up His hand and swore by Him who lives forever, but there He is standing upon both the water and the earth.

The mighty angel of chapter ten of Revelation, is Palmoni, who spake to Gabriel from between the banks of the river in chapter eight, and identified when the “end of” the “wonders” would occur in chapter twelve. In Revelation chapter ten, He is the one who roared as a “lion,” for He is there represented as the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

As the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Christ is the lamb that prevailed to unseal the book that was sealed with seven seals. Whether He is walking upon the water in the book of Daniel, or has one foot on the sea and the other on the earth in Revelation, each of the prophetic representations are associated with prophetic time. And as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Christ both seals up and unseals His Word. As He sealed up the book of Daniel, He also sealed up the seven thunders in Revelation chapter ten.

Christ, represented as Palmoni, the Man in chapters eight and twelve who is upon the water, is also the mighty angel with the little book in His hand. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah that seals and unseals His Word, and He is the one who commands Gabriel, for He is Michael the archangel.

Michael is Christ’s name, and that name represents that He is the commander of not only the angels, but He is also the one who has the power to resurrect. The name Michael means “who is like God”. When Nebuchadnezzar saw one like unto the son of God in the furnace with the three worthies, he saw Michael. And the archangel Michael, is also the prince of God’s people that the little horn of pagan Rome magnified themselves against at the cross in fulfillment of Daniel chapter eight, verse eleven.

It is Michael who commands the angels, who resurrects the dead and who decides when probation closes.

The final secret which the Lion of the tribe of Judah unseals is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and it includes that He is in control of the design and structure of every element of His prophetic Word. The Man in linen that stands upon the waters, who lifts up His hand and swares by Him that liveth forever, and who cries as a Lion, which causes seven thunders to utter their voices, is He who seals up the book of Daniel and seals up the seven thunders of Revelation. It is He who unseals the book that is sealed with seven seals, who has the power to resurrect, and who is the great Prince that stands up and announces the end of probation. When Palmoni commanded Gabriel to make Daniel to understand the “mareh” vision, He meant exactly that.

He did not command Gabriel to make Daniel understand the “chazon” vision. The “chazon” vision is the vision of the kingdoms of Bible prophecy in Daniel chapter eight, verses one through twelve, and it is also the “vision” that is referenced in verse thirteen, within a question of duration. “How long shall be the vision?” The “chazon” vision concerns the daily (paganism) and the transgression (papalism) desolating powers that trample down the sanctuary and host.

Christ, as Palmoni (the Wonderful Numberer), is asked “how long” shall be the “chazon” vision, and he answers, “unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Daniel then desires to understand the “chazon” vision which concerns “the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot.” But Gabriel is commanded to make Daniel understand the “mareh” vision. Every fact has its bearing in God’s Word. The “mareh” vision, is the vision of the evening and mornings identified in verse twenty-six.

The word “vision” is mentioned twice in the verse. The first reference is the “mareh” vision and the second is the “chazon” vision. The “mareh” vision is the vision of “the evening and mornings.” The Hebrew expression of “evening and mornings” is often found in the Bible, and it is always translated as “evening and mornings,” as it is in verse twenty-six. The only place in the Bible where it is translated differently than “evening and mornings,” is in verse fourteen, where it is translated as simply “days.” The actual Hebrew of verse fourteen would read, “Unto twenty-three hundred evenings and mornings.”

The verse that is the central pillar of Adventism, is the only verse in God’s Word where “evening and mornings” is expressed simply as “days.” Every fact has its bearing, and if nothing else, it is clear that Palmoni was purposely emphasizing the verse. He did so by directing the minds of those who translated the King James Bible to write the phrase differently than it is always written in His Word. The point that is to be derived from this fact, is that when Gabriel is told to make Daniel understand the “mareh” vision, he is being told to make Daniel understand the vision of the appearance of 1844, and not the “chazon” vision concerning the trampling down the sanctuary and the host.

The vision of the “evening and mornings” is about an appearance that occurs when the cleansing of the sanctuary began on October 22, 1844. The vision of the appearance of October 22, 1844, is not about the trampling down of the sanctuary, but of the cleansing of the sanctuary. Was there a prophetic appearance on that date?

Gabriel was instructed to make Daniel understand the prophetic appearance of Christ in His temple on October 22, 1844. For this reason, Gabriel gave Daniel a second witness to the date of October 22, 1844, for Gabriel led every Bible author that recorded some form of the biblical principle that identifies that truth is established upon the testimony of two. If Gabriel was to make Daniel understand October 22, 1844, he would need a second witness to establish “the vision of the appearance.”

Gabriel begins his work by first addressing Daniel’s desire to understand the “chazon” vision, and he does so by identifying that the “chazon” vision, is the vision that concludes at the “time of the end” in 1798.

The “vision” in the previous verse, that is “at the time of the end” is the “chazon” vision, and the “time of the end” in the book of Daniel is 1798. This is the “vision” which Daniel had sought to understand, but it was not the “vision” Gabriel was told to make Daniel to understand. For that Gabriel is going to provide a second witness.

Gabriel takes up his job assignment by informing Daniel to, “behold,” which is informing Daniel to consider the next fact. The next fact is that the “last indignation,” of the two “seven times” of Leviticus twenty-six, ends in 1844. The “last indignation” is directly identified as a time prophecy, for it has a “time appointed” that it will “end.” The “indignation” must represent a period of time, for it has a “time appointed” for its ending. If the “indignation” was simply a point in time it would not have an end, it would simply be the point when it took place.

The “indignation” had an ending point that is marked, so it represents the end of a period of time. The period of time is represented as “the last indignation.” If there is a last, then there must be a first. The “first indignation” is identified in Daniel chapter eleven, and there it is also a period of time, for the papacy was going to “practice and prosper” until the end of the “indignation”.

In these two verses, the king that does according to his will and exalts himself is the subject. Verse thirty-six is the verse Paul paraphrases, as he identifies the “man of sin” who is seated in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. The persecution of the Dark Ages from the year 538 through to 1798 is identified in verse thirty-five, and it continues until “the time of the end” which was 1798, which was the “time appointed.” Verse thirty-six then identifies that the papacy would “prosper” “till the indignation be accomplished.” The verse identifies that the papacy prospered until 1798, at which point, the first “indignation,” had been “accomplished.” God’s prophetic Word had “determined” that the papacy would continue for twelve hundred and sixty years, until 1798, which was the “time of the end.”

The first “indignation” ended in 1798, and “the last indignation” ended in 1844. Both indignations are represented as periods of time, which had specific endings, thus identifying them both as time prophecies. Gabriel was commanded by Palmoni to make Daniel understand the appearance vision (“mareh”), of the “evening and mornings” (days) that identified October 22, 1844, and he did so by providing a second witness to that date.

The “chazon” vision of verse thirteen, which Daniel desired to understand, was the vision of the trampling down that ended at the “time of the end” in 1798. The “mareh” vision of verse fourteen, ended with the appearance of Christ in the Most Holy Place on October 22, 1844, in fulfillment of the time prophecy of twenty-three hundred years, and also the fulfillment of the time prophecy of the twenty-five hundred and twenty years. Both of those time prophecies are represented upon Habakkuk’s sacred tables, which Sister White identifies were directed by the hand of the Lord, and should not be altered.

We will continue this study in the next article.