The Book of Daniel - Number Forty-Five

The “daily” in the book of Daniel was recognized by William Miller as a symbol of pagan Rome or paganism, but in the last days it is the symbol of the rejection of William Miller’s foundational truths. It represents the end of a rebellion that began in 1863, with the rejection of Miller’s understanding of Moses’ “seven times” of Leviticus twenty-six. When Adventism rejected the correct identification of “the daily” as paganism, they turned the symbol of Satan into a symbol of Christ. Isaiah identifies that this work was turning things upside down. The rejection of “the daily” was put in place in the 1930’s (the third generation of Adventism), but it had been a controversy since 1901 (the second generation of Adventism). As with ancient Israel, a progressive rejection of truth led to the acceptance of an error that contained the elements of the unpardonable sin.

The unpardonable sin for the quibbling Jews, was represented when they identified the works that Christ had done as the works of Satan. Ancient Israel is the premier symbol of modern Israel, and modern Israel did that very thing, only in reverse. They took the works of Satan (paganism), and attributed those works to Christ. Ancient Israel’s rebellion includes their choice of Satan as their king.

Pilate was the representative of pagan Rome, and Sister White identifies that the dragon who was kicked out of heaven in Revelation chapter twelve, is Satan, but in a secondary sense the dragon, is also pagan Rome. The dragon is therefore symbolized by “the daily.” The end of ancient Israel’s rebellion, when they publicly proclaimed, “We have no king but Caesar,” represented their public declaration that they were subjects of their king, and their king was Satan. That rebellion against God as King, began in the days of Samuel the prophet, when they rejected God as their king and demanded that they be given a human king so they could be as the other nations.

Ancient Israel never recognized that they had rejected God, or that their desire for an earthly king would progress to the point where they crucified the Messiah, and chose Satan as their king. Their rebellion was hidden from their eyes by their own self-righteous ideas that in spite of rejecting God, they were still the chosen people, for after all, they reasoned, God still maintained a holy prophetic ministry, even after Samuel.

They misinterpreted the prophetic ministry of the prophets, believing that the presence of God’s prophets proved they were God’s chosen people. They did not see that they were far from God and the prophets were seeking to lead them back to God, for they interpreted the activity of the prophets as evidence of God’s leading. This was in spite of their continued rejection of all the messages of the prophets that were sent to them. The same deception came upon Adventism in 1863.

Adventism rejected the movement that had been brought together through the ministry of William Miller, and chose to become a legally registered church the same year in which they rejected Moses’ message of the “seven times,” as delivered by Elijah (William Miller). The same year they produced a counterfeit prophetic chart, that could no longer be read, and could no longer “speak” as per Habakkuk 2, verse 3, for it required a handout to explain it. Habakkuk’s charts could be read just as they existed and therefore they could “speak”.

Adventism refused to accomplish any self-examination of the choice they made in 1863, for after all they had the prophetess among them, proving they were the remnant people identified in the book of Revelation, which had the Spirit of Prophecy. They manifested the same spirit and attitude of ancient Israel, and the rebellion that began with the rejection of the first jewel that was discovered by Miller, ultimately led to their rejection of Miller’s identification of the jewel of “the daily” also.

Modern Israel rejected Miller’s understanding of “the daily,” a symbol of pagan Rome, which in turn is a symbol of Satan, and claimed that “the daily” is a symbol of Christ. In other words, modern Israel chose to accept a satanic symbol as a symbol of Christ. Just as ancient Israel proclaimed that they had no king but Caesar, a representative of pagan Rome, which is a symbol of Satan.

In terms of prophetic application, that choice demanded that modern Israel would need to redefine chapters seven, eight and nine of Daniel, which were the very chapters that are represented by the Ulai River, and were the increase of knowledge in Millerite history. They would be forced to change those chapters, for chapter eight directly references “the daily” three times.

Forced by the history where the vision of the Ulai River was unsealed, the Millerites could see no other earthly kingdoms before Christ returned and set up His everlasting kingdom, as represented in Daniel chapter two. They therefore treated the fourth kingdom of Rome as one kingdom with two aspects. Those two aspects were directly represented in chapters seven and eight of Daniel. Daniel identifies that the vision he received in chapter eight was to be understood in connection with the vision of chapter seven.

The vision “which appeared unto” Daniel “at the first,” was the vision of chapter seven.

The two visions represent two aspects of the kingdoms of Bible prophecy that had first been represented in chapter two of Daniel. The four kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome were repeated in chapters seven, and then again in chapter eight, but with a distinction between the political elements of the four kingdoms and the religious elements of the four kingdoms. In Daniel seven, the kingdoms are represented by beasts of prey, but in chapter eight the same kingdoms are presented by sanctuary beasts. Daniel wished to understand the vision of chapter seven, and Gabriel came to him to explain.

Daniel was informed that the four beasts were four earthly kingdoms that would exist until God’s everlasting kingdom would be set up, in agreement with Daniel chapter two. There were to be four earthly kingdoms that preceded the arrival of God’s everlasting kingdom, as represented by the rock that was cut out of the mountain and filled the whole earth in chapter two.

Sister White took the Millerite understanding of those four kingdoms well beyond the Millerite understanding, when she addressed the earth beast of Revelation chapter thirteen.

The beasts are symbols of the conquests that were accomplished as the kingdoms came to power. A beast of prey prophetically represents the political, economic and military power of a kingdom. The same kingdoms represented in Daniel chapter two and seven, are also represented in chapter eight, but there they are all associated with elements derived from God’s sanctuary, and in so doing they represent the religious element of the kingdoms, for they were all a union of church and State.

Chapter eight begins with Daniel affirming that he is then living in the history of the first kingdom of Bible prophecy (Babylon), but his vision does not identify any symbol that was to represent Babylon, for it begins with the ram that represented the second earthly kingdom of Medo-Persia. The absence of a symbol of Babylon is purposeful, for a primary characteristic of Babylon is that it represents a kingdom that is removed, and thereafter restored, as represented by Nebuchadnezzar’s “seven times” living as a beast. During that “seven times” an element of spiritual Babylon (the papacy), is represented, for the papacy is the kingdom that is forgotten for seventy symbolic years, during which she had a deadly wound. The fact that Daniel identifies that he receives the vision “in the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar,” identifies Babylon as the kingdom that precedes the second kingdom of Medo-Persia, but it emphasizes Babylon as the hidden, or forgotten kingdom that is forgotten during the days of one king.

The beasts of chapter eight, are not beasts of prey, they are beasts that were used as sacrificial animals in the sanctuary service. The fourth kingdom is represented as “a little horn,” not as a beast, but horns were part of God’s sanctuary, for the altars in God’s sanctuary had horns as part of their design.

Not only were the four kingdoms of prophecy represented by Daniel with sanctuary terms, the narrative of the chapter contains several words derived directly from God’s sanctuary service. The narrative in the chapter is presented with Hebrew words drawn from the sanctuary service, but also the action of presenting an offering in the sanctuary service is built within the structure of the chapter. The fact that Daniel purposely associated chapter seven and eight together, allows those who wish to see, that chapter seven, is identifying the statecraft of the kingdoms of Bible prophecy and chapter eight, is identifying the churchcraft of the kingdoms of Bible prophecy.

Adventism has been forced to cover this fact up with satanic fables, for this recognition reveals that Miller’s jewels were just as God designed them to be. Their rejection of Miller’s understanding of “the daily,” is represented as a claim that “God had no understanding,” for they claim that when God gave the framework to Miller (through the ministry of holy angels), it was not accurate.

The framework of Miller was the prophetic structure he recognized and employed but from 1863 onward, Adventism returned to the theological applications of apostate Protestantism and Catholicism, in order to cover up the jewels of Miller’s dream. Adventism accepted a false framework (the thing framed), in order to reject the work, and also the Maker of the work. In doing so, they claim the Maker of the work has no understanding. The rejection of that framework, was and still is, a rejection of the increase of knowledge that was unsealed in 1798. Those that reject the increase of knowledge reject the work and the Maker of the work, and in terms of Daniel they were “the wicked”.

The “wicked shall do wickedly”, thus identifying a progressive escalating rejection of truth. The wickeds rejection of the framework is a rejection of God, and in turn God rejects the wicked for the rejection they attempt to accomplish by a counterfeit framework.

God’s people, who were God’s “priests” from 1844 through to 1863, were rejected for their lack of the “knowledge” that has been increased through the ministry of William Miller. It is important to consider the context of verse six in Hosea, for the context identifies an escalating rebellion against the truth, represented as the “knowledge.”

The warning of Hosea is that “the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.” Adventism is God’s people of the last days. In the day that the dirt brush man enters Miller’s room, Adventism, including the people, the priests, the prophets “that doth not understand shall fall,” for they will be “joined to idols.” Their idols are their counterfeit doctrines, woven into a counterfeit framework.

The rebellion represented by the rejection of the increase of knowledge is a progressive escalation of rebellion that reaches the point where their probation ends with the pronouncement that they are joined to the counterfeit doctrines that are swept from Miller’s room. Their rebellion is represented as the commission of whoredom continually. From 1863 onward until the close of probation, they continually rebel until they are spewed out of the mouth of the Lord.

The rebellion of rejecting knowledge was represented by their “continually” committing adultery, and although not the same Hebrew word, the meaning is the same as the Hebrew word “tamid” which means “continual”, and that is translated as “the daily” in the book of Daniel.

We will continue our study of the four kingdoms of Bible prophecy in the next article.