The Book of Daniel - Number One-Hundred and Sixteen

We were considering Jeremiah chapter fifty in the previous article, and in the passage the judgment upon Babylon, that begins at the soon coming Sunday law in the United States and ends with the wrath of God. The executive judgment is the day of the Lord’s vengeance that was represented by the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD. The destruction of Jerusalem accomplished by Rome in 70 AD, had been typified by the destruction of Jerusalem carried out by Nebuchadnezzar. Together they provided two witnesses of the Executive Judgment of the whore of Tyre, who is also the whore of Revelation chapter seventeen.

Jeremiah informs us that when the Lord’s vengeance is accomplished upon modern Babylon, beginning with the soon-coming Sunday law, that “In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.” In those days, the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand will have already been accomplished.

The executive judgment begins with the second voice of Revelation chapter eighteen, who calls men and women to flee from Babylon, and Jeremiah says, “their day is come, the time of their visitation. The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple. Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her.” Her judgment is accomplished by the “archers.” The first reference to an archer in the Scriptures is concerning Ishmael.

The “hour of the great earthquake” in Revelation eleven identifies the beginning of the executive judgment upon the whore of Rome, that begins at the soon-coming Sunday law in the United States. In the “hour” “the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded.” The third woe, is the seventh trumpet. It is the archers of Islam that are employed to bring His judgment upon those who enforce the mark of papal authority (Sunday worship), and persecute those who uphold the mark of God’s authority (Sabbath worship).

In Luke chapter twenty-one Jesus in answering the disciple’s questions about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, provides an historical narrative that also represents the history of the last days. He references the “days of vengeance,” which was an essential prophetic attribute of His ministry as the Messiah, which He identified in His opening announcement of His ministry by reading from the prophet Isaiah to the church in Nazareth. The announcement at Nazareth, and the passage from Isaiah represented not only His ministry, but the message of His disciples, and more specifically the work and ministry of the movement of the one hundred and forty-four thousand.

The one hundred and forty-four thousand who are sealed in Ezekiel chapter nine, are those who are mourning over the sins in the church and in the world. “The acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God,” is when those who mourn in Zion are comforted, and become “trees of righteousness” in order to “glorify the Lord.” They glorify the Lord, for “in those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none.” Those who mourn are those who have been sealed and they are those who “shall build the old wastes,” who “shall raise up the former desolations, and” who “shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.” They shall “be named the Priests of the Lord,” and men shall call them “the Ministers of our God.”

The righteousness of the one hundred and forty-four thousand is to “spring forth before all nations,” when they are lifted up as an ensign in the hour of the great earthquake. Their righteousness is caused progressively, for it is “as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth.” The sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand began at the arrival of the latter rain on September 1, 2001. It is then that the buds of earth were brought forth. Isaiah identifies when the buds spring forth.

In “the day of the east wind” which is His “rough wind” that “He stayeth,” the “shooting forth” of the buds will begin when the rain is “measured.” “Stayeth” means restrained. When the four winds are restrained by the four angels of Revelation chapter seven, the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand begins. At that time the latter rain begins to “sprinkle” in moderation, for the word “measure” in the verse means moderation. At the beginning of the period of the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand the latter rain is measured, and at the end of the period it is without measure.

The testing period of the latter rain and sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand begins with the measuring of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit for the wheat and tares have reached the time of the harvest. The rain brings both classes to maturity, then at the end of the testing period the wheat and tares are separated, and the wheat will then “know by experience what it means to be laborers together with God” They will then “have entire, whole-hearted consecration to the service of Christ, God will recognize the fact by an outpouring of his Spirit without measure.”

The “day of the rough east wind” arrived on September 11, 2001, and Habakkuk’s debate over the counterfeit peace and safety message of the latter rain message, as opposed to the message identifying the day of God’s vengeance, began. At that point the plants, both wheat and tares began to bud and bring forth the fruit they would manifest at the judgment of the soon-coming Sunday law.

One class bows to the sun in Ezekiel chapter eight, and the other receives the seal of God in Ezekiel chapter nine. In Luke chapter twenty-one, Christ is identifying the one hundred and forty-four thousand, and He sets forth a sign that marks the final generation of earth’s history. He identified the sign that Christians must recognize in order to flee the destruction of Jerusalem.

Jesus identified, “line upon line,” more prophetic characteristics of the sign, for His words are recorded not only by Luke, but also by Matthew and Mark.

Before the seven last plagues, which is the final and perfect fulfillment of the “days of vengeance,” is accomplished upon two classes the gospel of the kingdom must be preached and published among all nations. The gospel message is given to the nations at the soon-coming Sunday law in the United States, when the one hundred and forty-four thousand are lifted up as an ensign. The “days of vengeance” represents the period of the Executive Judgment of the whore of Babylon, which begins with the Sunday law in the United States and ends when Michael stands up and human probation closes, and the wrath of God is poured out in the seven last plagues.

The period of time is the “hour” which Mark identifies, and the “hour” of the “great earthquake,” and the “hour” the ten kings agree to give their seventh kingdom unto the papacy. When the last soul has accepted the gospel that is published to all nations, probation closes, and God’s wrath is poured out without mercy. That period begins with the gospel being proclaimed to all nations as the ensign is lifted up, and ends when the last person responds to the gospel message proclaimed and preached and published by the ensign. That period of time is the “days of vengeance.”

In Luke, chapter twenty-one, Jesus is pinpointing that history, for He is identifying the final generation, that will not die before His second coming. He identifies a sign, which is represented as the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet. The sign is when the abomination of desolation stands in the “holy place,” and when it is “standing where it ought not,” which is also when Jerusalem is “compassed with armies.”

When Jerusalem was compassed by armies in the year 66 by Cestius, the Christians in Jerusalem fled the city, and Sister White identifies that not one Christian died during the destruction that ultimately ended in the year 70. Cestius initiated a siege, and then withdrew for apparently unknown reasons, and the Christians in the city fled in agreement with the warning associated with the sign. In the year 70 Titus completed the destruction by once again instituting a siege. The siege of Cestius was the beginning of what is called the First Jewish-Roman War, and the siege and destruction accomplished by Titus was the end of the First Jewish-Roman War.

The entire history lasted three and a half years, began and ended with a siege, and the beginning contained a sign for God’s people. That history was identified as the days of God’s vengeance by Christ, which was a specific element that He was to identify in His ministry. Those days represent the executive judgment upon the whore of Rome that begins at the soon-coming Sunday law, and ends when human probation closes. At the beginning of the executive judgment of the whore of Babylon, the one hundred and forty-four thousand are lifted up as an ensign, which is a sign. When God’s other flock see the sign, they are to flee out of Babylon, whose destruction was typified by the destruction of Jerusalem.

We will continue to consider Luke chapter twenty-one in the next article.