Habakkuk's Two Tables #52
PART SIX: 1989
Presented by Jeff Pippenger
Invocation by Brother Jeff Pippenger: Heavenly Father, we ask that you be with us here as we open your Word this morning. We solicit the presence of your Holy Spirit in each of our hearts and minds. We ask that you take control of this presentation that it might be of such a nature as to honor and glorify you and edify your people. We ask that you would overrule my humanity and the humanity of those that are hearing this that we might be prepared to deliver a message and receive a message that comes from your Throne Room that is purified from a coal out of the altar. We want the Latter Rain poured out upon us. We ask that you would do that at this time by opening our understanding to the significance of Daniel 11, 1989, and the story of the Dirt Brush Man. In Jesus's name, amen.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: We are dealing with Daniel 11, verse 40, in connection with this collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, marking the Time of the End for the 144,000, and also marking the end of William Miller's scattering in his dream when the Dirt Brush Man (the Lion of the tribe of Judah) comes and begins to unseal the prophetic testing message for this final generation.
And we have been spending some time identifying the significance of Daniel 11, verse 40.
Daniel 11:14
If you would, turn to Daniel 11, verse 14. We are going to put some other things in context.
This is an assumption on my part: Most Seventh-day Adventists do not understand that the Millerite History is going to be repeated to the very letter. Many in Adventism that have heard it presented that the Millerite History is going to be repeated to the very letter reject that principle. Then, those of us that believe that the Millerite History is going to be repeated to the very letter, we probably have different degrees of understanding in terms of what the "very letter" is; but, the more closely you look at the Millerite History, the more closely you realize, "to the very letter" means virtually every specific item that was addressed and identified in the historical record of the Millerites is to be repeated.
On these two sacred Charts behind us [indicating the 1843 and 1850 Charts], you see up here, this "164" [located in the middle of the 1843 Chart], and it is listed over here too—well, it is referenced "158" there [referring to the 1850 Chart);—but, here [going back to the 1843 Chart] where it says "164," it says, "Death of Antiochus Epiphanes, who of course, stood not up against the Prince of Princes as he had been 164 yrs. dead before the prince of princes [stet] was born." So, the point is, on this [1843] Chart here, you have a reference to Antiochus Epiphany, even though the argument of the Millerites of Antiochus Epiphanes is not mentioned in God's Word.
So, why is it, if the Millerites believed it was part of their position that Antiochus Epiphany is not even mentioned in God's Word, do they have him on the Chart? The reason that they have him on the Chart is this was one of the primary arguments of their history. Okay? This was one of the battlegrounds that they had to deal with, with the Protestants that were rejecting the message; because, the Protestants, through their method of interpreting the Bible concludes that Antiochus Epiphanes is the one in history that represents the antichrist; and, the Millerites knew better. The Millerites knew that the Pope of Rome was the antichrist of Bible prophecy; so, in the areas of Bible prophecy where the antichrist is being identified, the Millerites had to bump heads with the Protestants concerning who the antichrist was, and the argument they always met was that it was Antiochus Epiphanes.
In Daniel 11, verse 14—and, of course, Daniel's last vision is Daniel 10, 11 and 12—and in verse 14 you have a key to understand Daniel's last vision. It says,
"14And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall." Daniel 11:14 (KJV).
Whoever the "robbers" of the vision are, whatever the robbers of the people, God's people, are—"the robbers of thy people" are—they are the prophetic symbol that establishes Daniel's last vision. They establish the vision. And whoever they are, one of their characteristics in prophecy is that they fall and that they are the robbers of Daniel's people.
So, I am going to read here a passage from William Miller. So, he is going to describe how he understands verse 14.
And, let us get started, William Miller, William Miller's Works, volume 2, page 89.
"Need I, then, tell my hearers that history tells us that Alexander conquered the then known world in about six years, and that he died 323 years B. C. at Babylon; that his kingdom was divided among his greatest generals, from which division arose four great kingdoms, Egypt in the south, Persia in the east, Syria in the north, and Macedonia in the west, which kingdoms lasted until conquered by the Romans? Between the years 190 and 30 B. C. nearly all these kingdoms became Roman provinces. From Daniel 11:5, 13, inclusive, we have a prophecy of the two principal kingdoms out of these four—Egypt and Syria;"—
And we would be calling them the King of the South and the King of the North.
—"Egypt and Syria; and anyone who may have the curiosity to see the exact agreement between the prophecy and history, can read Rollin's Ancient History, where he has not only given us the history, but applied this prophecy. And as I see no reason to disagree from him in his application of these texts, I shall, therefore, for brevity's sake, pass over these texts, and examine the text, Daniel 11:14, 'And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south;"—
Who is the King of the South?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: (No audible response.)
BROTHER PIPPENGER: The king of Egypt.
—"'And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south; also, the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall.' The king of the south, in this verse, without any doubt, means king of Egypt; but what the robbers of thy people means remains yet a doubt perhaps to some."—
Now, here he goes. There are a lot of disagreements with what William Miller presented; but, in his historical record there are very few of those historical disagreements that he marks. So, the fact that Providentially this part of his history is in the record, if you believe that the Millerite History is going to be repeated to the very letter, then this is identifying that this will be a controversial subject here at the end of the world, just as it was a controversial subject in the time of William Miller.
So,
—"The king of the south, in this verse, without any doubt, means king of Egypt; but what the robbers of thy people means remains yet a doubt perhaps to some. That it cannot mean Antiochus, or any king of Syria, it is plain;—
In our terminology today, when he is talking about the king of Syria, how would we define them?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: (No audible response.)
BROTHER PIPPENGER: The kings of Greece. The King of the North, they are controlling Babylon and they are controlling Syria; but, this is the end of Alexander the Great's kingdom—all right?—when you get to the time period of Antiochus.
—"That it cannot mean Antiochus, or any king of Syria, it is plain; for the angel had been talking about that nation for a number of verses previous, and now says, 'also'—also—'the robbers of thy people,' etc., evidently implying some other nation. I will admit that Antiochus did perhaps rob the Jews; but how could this 'establish the vision,' as Antiochus is not spoken of anywhere in the vision as performing any act of that kind; for he belonged to what is called the Grecian kingdom in the vision. Again, 'to establish the vision,' must mean to make sure, complete, or fulfill the same. And if it cannot be shown that the Grecian kingdom was to rob the people of God, I think it must mean some other nation which would do these acts, to which every word will apply. And to this we need not be at a loss; for at this very time of which the angel is speaking, Rome, the least kingdom in Daniel's vision, did exalt itself, and this kingdom did have the very marks in the vision, and in the events following. This kingdom was to have great iron teeth; it was to break in pieces, and stamp the residue with the feet of it. The vision also says, 'He shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and holy people, and that he should magnify himself,' etc., the same as exalt himself, Daniel 7:7, 23; 8:10–12, 24, 25 verses. And it cannot be denied but that the Jews have been robbed of their city and sanctuary by the Romans, and the Christian church has been persecuted and robbed by this dreadful beast, the Roman kingdom. It is evident too that when this kingdom falls, the vision will be completed, fulfilled, established: 'but they shall fall,' says the angel in the verse under our present examination; 'they shall fall;' that is, the ten horns in this fourth kingdom, when the vision is fulfilled or established, and when the stone cut out of the mountain without hands shall grind them to powder. We will take the 15th, 'So the king of the north' (Rome is now the king of the north, because they had conquered the Macedonian kingdom, and had become masters of the countries north and east before they attacked Egypt) 'shall come up and cast up a mount,'"—
Now, I disagree with William Miller right here on verse 15, but that is okay. All right? We are not dealing with that. We are dealing with "the robbers of thy people" in verse 14.
—"'shall come up and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities; and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand.' This was about fifty years before Christ, when Pompey, a Roman general, conquered Egypt, and made that kingdom tributary to the Romans, and afterwards entered Jerusalem, and made them subjects of the Roman government.'" William Miller, William Miller's Works, volume 2, 89.
Okay. What am I saying? I am saying here that because the Millerite History is going to be repeated to the very letter, and because there were just a very few controversies over the prophetic message of the Millerites recorded Providentially in that history, it is of interest that this is one of the controversies that they bumped heads with the Protestants over, and so much so that they actually mark it on this sacred [1843] Chart. This is on the Chart not because of Bible prophecy but because of the controversy that took place in the Millerite History. Okay? So, that seems of significance.
And years ago we had a meeting where a man from the General Conference was selected that he either did his Masters' thesis or his Doctoral thesis on the last six verses of Daniel 11, and he was asked to come and present that thesis in Oklahoma, and he would speak for 45 minutes on the last six verses of Daniel 11, and then he would answer questions for half an hour; and, then I would get up and do what I understood what the last six verses of Daniel 11 to be for 45 minutes, and then answering questions for half of an hour. The audience was there was by invitation only: half of them were General Conference employees; half were self-supporting ministries.
And this guy was wrong. His thesis, whether it was Masters or Doctoral, was wrong; and, under the pressure of investigation, his thesis crumbled in front of everyone that wanted to see it crumble, and he went home early. He gave up; but, that is not the story.
The story is, is that for me the story was that I had never realized this about Antiochus Epiphanes, this part where William Miller comments on him. And about a week or two before that meeting, I had come across this and thought, "Wow, that's interesting. I don't know what it means."
And when this General Conference man was giving his presentation on verse 14, I had just learned this—and his presentation is recorded; you can go listen to it—is he began to tell everybody how verse 14 was Antiochus Epiphanes. And that is when I realized—without even close to fully understanding it, I did not realize that we had switched to the Protestant and Catholic interpretation of the Bible in the 1930s. At that time I did not understand that; but, I did understand in that meeting, without understanding the change that had taken place when we set aside the proof-texting method of William Miller in the 1930s and adopted this apostate Protestant approach to Scriptures, without understanding that history I understood that this guy, whatever Biblical interpretation he was using, he was coming to the identical conclusion that the Protestants came to way back when in the Millerite History.
So, maybe you are not familiar with verse 14; maybe you do not understand that it was such a controversy in the Millerite History that it actually finds a place on the 1843 Chart; and, maybe you are not prepared to think that this is something that is prefiguring a controversy that will take place in Adventism at the end of the world when the Millerite History is repeated; but, it is. Okay? It is a symbol of the two types of prophetic study, of Biblical study that exists here at the end of the world.
And when it comes to Daniel's last vision, this is the vision. This is the châzôn vision.
Daniel 10:14
Okay. Go to chapter 10 of Daniel, which is the same vision, verse 14.
It says,
"Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days." Daniel 10:14 (KJV).
The same vision here.
So, what is this vision? It is the vision about what happens to God's people at the end of the world. Right? That is what Gabriel just told Daniel in verse 14.
And if you want to know what happens to God's people at the end of the world, what does this vision tell you is the primary symbol to understand it? Daniel 11, verse 14: Rome establishes the vision.
If you are going to understand this vision that is explaining what happens to God's people at the end of the world, then what establishes this vision is Rome; and, it is so important that Satan makes sure that every time this subject gets brought up, in the Millerite History and in our history, that he is there, that Satan is there to argue, "Oh, this isn't Rome. This is Antiochus Epiphanes. I don't want you to understand this one. I don't want you to understand that this is Rome that establishes Daniel's last vision."
Okay. That is the kind of controversy we are dealing with.
So, when it comes to rightly understand the last six verses of Daniel 11, we are going to follow William Miller and say that we need to understand Rome to the fullest extent if we are going to understand this vision to the fullest extent.
I am going a certain direction, even if you do not understand yet.
In your notes, Uriah Smith: I want to show you something about Rome, which probably most of you already know but we are going to put it in the record.
In this worship series, we have more than once established that when it comes to the Dragon power, there is a number associated with the Dragon power. What is that number?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: (Indiscernible response.)
BROTHER PIPPENGER: Okay, 10. When you see the number 10, you are seeing the Dragon Power referenced.
And with the Beast (with the Papacy, with the King of the North, the antichrist, with the man of sin) there are certain numbers associated with him as well—okay?—two, the number 2. He is divided: East and West. He is about church and state. He is about the Roman church being in Western Rome, and the political center being in Constantinople. So, in Rome you see it divided in two.
But, you also see Rome divided in three. So, we want to look at this threefold division of Rome; and, we will jump ahead with Uriah Smith into Revelation, chapters 8 and 9, dealing with the Trumpets. And this is from Uriah Smith from Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation, page 280.
"The time appointed is probably the prophetic time of verse 24,"—
We have looked at that.
—"which has been previously mentioned. It closed, as already shown, in A.D.330, at which time this power was to return and come again toward the south, but not as on the former occasion, when it went to Egypt, nor as the latter, when it went to Judea. Those were expeditions which resulted in conquest and glory. This one led to demoralization and ruin. The removal of the seat of empire to Constantinople was the signal for the downfall of the empire."—
What happened right then? The kingdom was divided into East and West.
—"Rome then lost its prestige. The western division was exposed to the incursions of foreign enemies. On the death of Constantine, the Roman empire was divided into"—
Into what?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: Into three parts.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: —"into three parts,"—
Okay. Rome is divided into three parts. That is what we have been looking at for the past couple of days, is that modern Rome is divided into how many parts?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: Three parts.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: Three parts: the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet. And those three powers are going to lead the world to Armageddon, and those three powers are to begin their march to Armageddon where? In Daniel 11, verse 40.
And all the prophets are speaking about the end of the world; so, when we see Ancient Rome divided into three parts, what are those prophecies of Ancient Rome pointing forward to? The threefold division of spiritual Rome at the end of the world: the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet.
—"the Roman empire was divided into three parts, between his three sons, Constantius, Constantine II, and Constans. Constantine II and Constans quarreled, and Constans, being victor, gained the supremacy of the whole West. He was soon slain by one of his commanders, who, in turn, was shortly after defeated by the surviving emperor, and in despair ended his own days, A.D.353. The barbarians of the North now began their incursions, and extended their conquests till the imperial power of the West expired in A.D.476.
"This was indeed different from the two former movements brought to view in the prophecy; and to this the fatal step of removing the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople directly led." Uriah Smith, Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation, 280.
Now, commenting on a different aspect, Uriah Smith, Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation, page 487, says, after he quotes verse 12 of Revelation 8:
"'VERSE 12. And the fourth angel wounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.'
"We understand that this trumpet symbolizes the career of Odoacer, the barbarian monarch who was so intimately connected with the downfall of Western Rome. The symbols sun, moon, and stars—for they are undoubtedly here used as symbols—evidently denote the great luminaries of the Roman government,—its emperors, senators, and consuls."—
So, when Constantine moves to the Eastern empire, he divides Rome into three parts with his three sons; but, in the Western empire, there is a division noted in Scriptures connected with the government that Rome sets up. The emperors, the senators, and the consuls are "the sun," "the moon," and "the stars." And then as you watch the description in the Trumpets of the demise of Western Rome, you watch the sun, and the moon, and the stars be extinguished in a specific order.
—"Bishop Newton remarks that the last emperor of Western Rome was Romulus, who in derision was called Augustulus, or the 'diminutive Augustus.' Western Rome fell A.D. 476. Still, however, though the Roman sun was extinguished, its subordinate luminaries shone faintly while the senate and consuls continued. But after many civil reverses and changes of political fortune, at length, A.D. 566, the whole form of the ancient government was subverted, and Rome itself was reduced from being the empress of the world to a poor dukedom tributary to the Exarch of Ravenna." Uriah Smith, Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation, 487.
So, what am I saying? I am saying that I am just giving you a second argument here that all the prophets are speaking about the end of the world; all the prophecies are speaking about the end of the world; and, at the end of the world Rome is divided into three parts. It was divided into three parts anciently; and, at the end of the world it is divided into three parts in Revelation 16, and we need to understand what these three parts are because they are the parts that lead the world to Armageddon.
We have read this next quote before, Manuscript Release, number 17, page 18.
"God has warned His people of the perils before them. John beholds the things which will be in the last days, and he sees a people working counter to God. Read Revelation 12:17; 14:10–13, and chapters 17 and 13. John sees the company who have been deceived. He says,"—
And then Ellen White quotes from Revelation 16, mentioning the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet:
—"'I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."—
And then she quotes Revelation 16, also, the warning message that is given in the Sixth Plague. After probation has closed, there is a warning messages that says,
—"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.'" Manuscript Release, number 17, 18.
There is a warning message in the Sixth Plague that you and I need to understand before, long before, the Sixth Plague arrives; because, if you wait until the Sixth Plague to try to get the Righteousness of Christ upon you, it is far too late to do so. You have to have that before the First Plague. You have to have it before Michael stands up. As a Seventh-day Adventist, you have to have it before The Sunday Law in the United States.
So, what is this warning about the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet?
The warning, of course, is to understand the last six verses of Daniel 11, because that is where the beginning of the movements of these three powers start; and, if you are not watching them start, they are going to overtake you as a snare.
This next quote, Bible Training School, December 1, 1902, says,
"The powers of Satan are mustering for battle. Stern conflicts are before us. Press together, my brethren and sisters, press together. Bind up with Christ. 'Say ye not, A Confederacy;'"—
This confederacy here that Sister White is quoting from is the confederacy of Isaiah 8, and Isaiah 8 is the same vision of Isaiah 7; and, Isaiah 7 is the message that is given to Isaiah once he is confronted with the mareh vision in chapter 6 and humbled in the dust, and then purified and prepared to give a message; and, then Isaiah 7 tells us what the message is, and it moves right on into Isaiah 8. And then Isaiah 8, part of the warning message of the 2520 is to not enter into a confederacy, and this confederacy is the Evil Confederacy of Bible prophecy. Sister White speaks of it often, and you can show very clearly that it is the United Nations. She says that those globalists—she does not use the word globalists—but, it is those globalists that control the world's banking system, that have the religion of Spiritualism, that are Free Masons, and that have the same philosophy that atheistic France did during the French Revolution. It is definitely the United Nations; it is the Evil Confederacy that brings the whole world into its grasp at the end of time.
—"Bind up with Christ. 'Say ye not, A Confederacy,'. . . neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary to his people; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.'
"I am instructed to say to those who know the truth, 'Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples."—
This is in the same passage of Isaiah 8, which marks that this warning message of the 2520 in Isaiah 7, that in Isaiah 6 Isaiah has been purified and prepared to proclaim that this warning message of the 2520 in Isaiah 7 also includes the warning about not being connected with the United Nations at the end of the world, is the warning that takes place during the sealing of the 144,000, "Seal up the Law among my disciples."
—"'Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion. And when they shall say unto you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.'
"'And I saw three unclean spirits"—
And this is why I read so far. Here Sister White is tying the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet. She is saying this is the Evil Confederacy. The Evil Confederacy consists of three parts, the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet; but, the political structure is the United Nations.
Drop down two paragraphs,—
—"like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked,'—without the robe of Christ's righteousness—'and they see his shame.'
"'Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God. The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.'
—where it says,
"These subjects are of"—minor—"importance."—
Is that what it says?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: No; the utmost.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: —"These subjects are of the utmost importance. Urge our people to consider them carefully."—
I will urge our people to consider them carefully. The Evil Confederacy of Isaiah 8 is the United Nations. If it is not the United Nations, then you need to bring some "Thus saith the Lord" to prove that it is not. But, it is, on the testimony of many, many areas of Scripture.
Therefore, the Seventh-day Adventist Church should not be in confederacy with the United Nations, as they are with all of their social work that they do.
FROM THE AUDIENCE: Amen.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: They need to break free from that confederacy.
FROM THE AUDIENCE: Amen.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: —"These subjects are of the utmost importance. Urge our people to consider them carefully. When they do this, their minds will be so fully occupied with matters of eternal consequence that they will lose sight of the little differences that once annoyed them. They will realize that prophecy is even now fulfilling. If the minds of the people of God were not occupied with things of minor consequence, they would see that the signs of the times are fast fulfilling, and that events of the greatest consequence to them are taking place in the world and in the churches pointed out by the words, 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.'
"Let us cease the conversation that is so unprofitable, and spend our time learning lessons from the Word of God. Christ has told us that we are to be united in love. This is the lesson we are to learn. We are to close the door to all disparaging of one another and exalting of self." Bible Training School, December 1, 1902.
Revelation 16:12-13
The Evil Confederacy consists of the threefold enemy of the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet.
In Daniel 11, verse 40, when these three powers begin to march to Armageddon, they are symbolically represented as the Beast (the King of the North), the Dragon (the King of the South), and the False Prophet (the chariots, horsemen, and ships).
Many, many times in the Scriptures these three enemies of God (the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet) are symbolically represented. We want to show you two or three places where the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet are represented in other passages of the Scriptures.
Judges 6:3, 7:12
Go to Judges 6. Judges 6 is the story of Gideon, and Gideon is one of the most complete illustrations of the history of Adventism that you will ever find; but, we are just going to show you that in the battle of Gideon, he dealt with three enemies, and because he is illustrating the end of the world, those three enemies are the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet.
Verse 3, chapter 6 of Judges says,
"3And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; . . ." Judges 6:3 (KJV).
So, when it comes to placing this at the end of the world, Gideon represents God's people that are going to have a confrontation with the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet. But, here in verse 3, the Beast, and the Dragon, and the False Prophet are represented by the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the East. Okay?
When you deal with Millerite History, they had to deal with a threefold enemy. Their enemy was the religions that were opposing their message: (1) the Dragon power in the Millerite History was what they called the Universalists—the Universalist Religion is a professed Christian religion that is into spiritualism; (2) they had to deal with the Catholics—there is your Beast; and, they had to deal with the Protestants that were opposing their message—there is your False Prophet. The Millerites had to deal with a threefold enemy.
We have to deal with a threefold enemy. Who is our threefold enemy? That is the United States [the False Prophet], the Vatican [the Beast], and the United Nations [the Dragon power]—the same three powers that we referenced awhile ago that Malachi Martin writes about in his book, The Keys of This Blood, these three powers in verse 40 that are struggling for world dominion.
Everyone seems a bit subdued here this morning.
FROM THE AUDIENCE: (Laughter.)
BROTHER PIPPENGER: A question, all right.
SISTER CANDACE FROM THE AUDIENCE: Midianites, Amalekites, and children of the East: how do you know who is the Dragon power?
BROTHER PIPPENGER: Okay. Now you are going to start asking those kinds of questions. Let me finish my thought.
Okay. We have a question from the floor that we will touch upon in a moment.
1989 (Time of the End)
Lamb – Rev 13:11 Dragon – Rev 13:11
Daniel - 11:40 11:41
1798 Sept. 11, 2001
Tyre (Isa 23) ISLAM Sunday Law
Elijah
Chosroes
Josiah
Figure No. 102.
But, what I want you to see is in the Millerite History and in our history we have a threefold enemy, and the Gideon story is illustrating that enemy. Right? But, what we are dealing with here is 1989 as the Time of the End, paralleling the Time of the End for the Millerites, which was 1798. So, when the Millerites come into history in 1798, they have a threefold enemy. Right? And I am saying that Gideon's threefold enemy is symbolically pointing forward to the Millerites' threefold enemy and our threefold enemy.
Are you following the prophetic application?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: (Affirmations.)
BROTHER PIPPENGER: So, when does this threefold enemy come into Gideon's history?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: (No response.)
BROTHER PIPPENGER: When does the threefold enemy come into the history of the Millerites?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: 1798.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: 1798.
What ends in 1798?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: The 2520.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: The 2520 ends in 1798.
What ends in 1989?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: The 2520.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: Miller's 2520; not 2520 literal years but . . .
So, what does verse 1 of chapter 6 of Judges say?
"1And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian"—
For what?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: For seven years.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: For 2520 days.
—"for seven years." Judges 6:1 (KJV).
And he is going to raise up Gideon, and Gideon is going to have to have a battle with the threefold enemy, representing the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet.
Okay. The question from the floor is, let us read verse 12 of chapter 7 first [of Judges].
"12And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude." Judges 7:12 (KJV).
If you are going to identify the threefold union of the Beast and the Dragon and the False Prophet in the other illustrations of God's Word as a threefold enemy, then you have to have the spiritual characteristics that allows you to say, "Yes, this is a threefold enemy." And one of the things that allows you to do that—
BROTHER PIPPENGER (addressing Sister Candace from the audience that posed the question): And I am beginning to answer your question.
—is that when you see these three enemies, two of them will be in a singular fashion and one of them will be in a plural. There are certain tribes in the Scriptures that are noted to be pluralities. The Arabians are pluralities, the Philistines are pluralities, and the Greeks are pluralities. I mean, they represent nations, groups of people.
MIDIAN, (singular): strife. Descendant of Abraham from Keturah.
AMAL, (singular): trouble. Descendant of Esau.
THE CHILDREN OF THE EAST, (plural). Descendants of Ishmael, associated with Balaam.
But in here with Gideon, you see Midian, a single; Amal, a single; but the children of the East, a plurality. Generally, these three tribes will also be some kind of relative to Israel; and, of course, Midian is a descendant of Abraham through Keturah, Amal is a descendant of Esau, and the children of the east, well, that is Islam, descendants of Abraham through Ishmael.
Okay. Now, once you see that this is repeated over and over again—what is repeated over and over again?—that when you see this threefold enemy in the Scriptures, that two of the enemies will be expressed in a singular fashion and one in a plural. That allows you to say, "Okay. Yes, this is an illustration of the Beast and the Dragon and the False Prophet at the end of the world."
But then, you want to get to the level that Sister Candace is asking about: How do you know who is the Beast, who is the Dragon, and who is the False Prophet in this scenario? And you have to do it by context. It is varied. There is not any perfect rule, when you see the threefold enemy throughout the Scriptures, to say that it will always be the same.
And by that I mean, sometimes the plurality will represent the Dragon power, and sometimes not.
Midian means strife; Amal means trouble; and, of course, those are the two characteristics of the children of the East as well. So, in these threefold enemies in the story of Gideon, he had big problems on his hands.
Let us proceed a little big further, and maybe we can answer that question after you see a couple of lines.
Nehemiah 2:19
"19But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heart it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king?" Nehemiah 2:19 (KJV).
Go to Nehemiah 2, and we will look at another illustration of the threefold enemy. And what I am saying is the threefold enemy represents the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet at the end of the world.
But, in the different illustrations of the threefold enemy, they are not always telling the same story about modern Babylon. Revelation 16 is telling the story about how modern Babylon leads the world to Armageddon; but, in Nehemiah we are told how the influence of modern Babylon impacts the work that is being symbolized by Nehemiah.
Who is Nehemiah? What does Nehemiah do? Who is Nehemiah?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: (Indiscernible responses.)
BROTHER PIPPENGER: Hard questions this morning?
Who is Nehemiah? What does Nehemiah do?
Pardon me?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: He rebuilds Jerusalem.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: He finishes the streets and the wall, even in troublous times.
FROM THE AUDIENCE: Yes.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: What did he have to get before he could do that work?
We went through this in this series.
FROM THE AUDIENCE: A decree.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: A decree.
Which decree was it?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: The Fourth Decree.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: It is the Fourth Decree. You had the First Decree of Cyrus, the Second Decree of Darius, the Third Decree of Artaxerxes, and then later on Nehemiah gets another decree from Artaxerxes, but it is the Fourth Decree.
So, what is that? It is the 3:1 combination; because, after that Third Decree, Ezra, who is associated with the Third Decree, he was greatly disappointed about how few people came out of Babylon. This is the 3:1 combination. It is illustrating the Three Angels' Message, which is followed by the Fourth at the end of the world.
Cyrus is Miller. Darius represents the call out of Babylon, the Second Angel's Message. The Third Decree, Artaxerxes, that is the beginning of the judgment message of the 2300 Days. And, Nehemiah is the finishing of the work—that we went through this, by the way—the building of the wall, the Law of God; the streets, the Old Paths; in troublous times, is Islam at the end of the world.
SANBALLAT THE HORONITE, a Moabite, (singular).
TOBIAH. the Ammonite, (singular).
GESHEM, the Arabian: born in the rainy season. Descendant of Ishmael. Arabians are a family of tribes, (plural).
So, in that history the threefold enemy is there. It is Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian: Sanballat, singular; Tobiah, singular; Geshem, he is an Arabian, plural. But, in that story, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, they are not leading the world to Armageddon. That is not what this story is about.
What is this story about? It is how the influence of modern Babylon works to prevent the work of the Fourth Angel, the work of Nehemiah; the Fourth Decree, the Fourth Angel.
Are you with me?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: (Affirmations.)
BROTHER PIPPENGER: So, when you see these various three enemies, these various illustrations of the three enemies in the Scriptures, you not only have as a student of prophecy the responsibility of determining if they genuinely are the symbols of the Beast and the Dragon and the False Prophet but once you determine that, yes, they are that symbol, then you have to dissect what lesson it is contributing to the end of the world. And, you are making a mistake if you think it is always telling the same story, because it is not. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem are talking about how modern Babylon impacts Adventism at the end of the world and inhibits Adventism from finishing the work; whereas, Revelation 16 (the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet), that is the story about how they lead the world to Armageddon.
Numbers 22:4-5
MOAB, king of the Moabites, (singular);
AHAB, king of Israel, (singular), married to Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians; and,
BALAAM of Pethor, which is representing the children of his people, (plural).
Numbers 22. Now, this is a fairly easy one to apply prophetically. This is just before the children of Israel are going into the Promised Land.
So, what is that illustrating? Just before modern Israel is going into the Promised Land. Right?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: (Affirmations.)
BROTHER PIPPENGER: So, in Numbers 22, verses 4 and 5, is the children of Israel are getting ready to go into the Promised Land (into the Earth made new).
In verse 4, it says,
"4And Moab said unto the elders of Midian,"—
What is that? That is two enemies.
—"Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. 5He sent messengers therefore unto"—
Unto whom?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: Unto Balaam.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: —"unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me: . . ." Numbers 22:4-5 (KJV).
So, who is the threefold enemy? It is Moab.
Who is Moab in this story?
This is what you look for, Sister Candace.
Who is Moab? What is he?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: (Indiscernible responses.)
BROTHER PIPPENGER: He is a king, is he not? He is identified as the king.
And who are the Midianites?
Okay. They are singular, they are singular.
But, the children of the East are plural.
And who are the children of the East represented by?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: Balaam.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: Balaam; and, what is he in this story?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: A false prophet.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: A false prophet.
So, you have a king. What is a king?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: A kingdom.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: A king is a king, yeah; a kingdom.
Who is Ahab? Ahab is a king, is he not? He is the Dragon, and he is married to Jezebel; he is married to Midian. And the prophets of Baal are the prophets of Balaam.
So, that is how you work that out at that level, is you look for those kinds of clues.
But, what is it that Balaam, and Midian, and Moab are doing in this story? Are they leading the world to Armageddon? No. This is a second witness to the fact that modern Babylon is going to work to prevent Seventh-day Adventism from accomplishing their assigned task. This is identifying the infiltration of Adventism.
And how does it come by modern Babylon? How do they infiltrate it? Through women—right?—but, they are going to seduce Adventism through women.
But, of course, this is one of the places where Sister White overrules the prophetic principles. Okay?
The prophetic principles here are that these Moabite women, what do they represent? The false doctrines that are introduced into Adventism from Babylon. Okay? And we have them today all over the place. So, that is the correct application; but, this is one history where Sister White overrules the prophetic application.
And what does she say? That this fornication is going to be an issue in Adventism that is going to lead many astray at the end. She applies this literally, too.
But, what was it that led the Jews to the Moabite women in the first place?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: The music.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: Partying down: music and food; Appetite, celebration service. This is about modern Babylon (the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet) not how they lead the world to Armageddon but how they undermine the Seventh-day Adventist Church, as they have done.
John 19:19-20
And another one is John 19, verses 19 and 20. And there are several; we are just giving you a few.
John 19, beginning at verse 19 says,
"19And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written"—
In what?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: In Hebrew.
—"in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin." John 19:19-20 (KJV).
So, there are your three enemies in the cross.
HEBREW: one from the other side, a descendant of Shem, (Abraham's lineage)
LATIN: Roman: I have exalted, Babylon was founded by Nimrod, a descendant of Ham.
GREEK: sons of the Ionians, a descendant of Japheth (plural).
And the Hebrew were a descendant of Shem. They are usually close relatives.
The Latin is a descendant of Ham; the Greek a descendant of Japheth.
So, you see the threefold enemies even in the sons of Noah. As you start looking for them, they are from this lineage; the three enemies at the end of the world are identified.
Okay. What establishes Daniel's last vision is Rome, and one of the truths about Rome is that Rome is divided into three parts.
And at the end of the world the threefold division of modern Rome is the Papacy, the United States, and the United Nations (the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet). These three enemies are repeatedly illustrated in the Scriptures; and, when they are illustrated, they are teaching different lessons about the prophetic role of modern Babylon (the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet). It is up to the student of prophecy to determine what these lessons are.
We are studying now Daniel 11, verse 41, if you did not know it. It is in your notes. It says,
"41He shall enter also into the glorious land,"—
We have already dealt with this, "He" being the Papacy (the King of the North), "shall enter," meaning he conquers it the same way he conquered verse 40; and, the way that he conquered in verse 40 was as an overflowing flood, as the Euphrates overflows its banks. The overflowing, all by itself, tells you this is the Papacy. And he overflows the King of the South in verse 40, and then he overflows the glorious land; and, we have identified the "glorious land" clear enough for anyone to see—we have more to say—but clear enough for anyone to see that the "glorious land" is the United States of America that is conquered by the overflowing scourge at The Sunday Law in the United States.
And the verse says [continuing],
—"and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon." Daniel 11:41 (KJV).
And these are the three enemies of Scripture that represent modern Babylon; but, these three enemies (Edom, Moab, and Ammon) are not telling the story about how the world is led to Armageddon, and they are not telling the story about how modern Babylon infiltrates the Seventh-day Adventist Church and corrupts the work that it is doing. It is not telling that story. It is telling a story about who escapes from the hand of the Papacy at The Sunday Law in the United States, and those that escape from the hand of the Papacy at The Sunday Law in the United States are those that come out of Babylon, ". . . Come out of her, my people, . . . Revelation 18:4."
And Babylon, as the point where people, the eleventh-hour workers, come out of at The Sunday Law is represented in the verse as a threefold fashion, representing modern Babylon (the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet).
In that study back in Oklahoma, this General Conference employee was one of these people that you covet their gift. I coveted his gift. He is one of these people that he could turn anywhere in the Old Testament and tell you what it was in the Hebrew, and he could turn anywhere in the New Testament and tell you what it was in the Greek. You could tell; the guy was sharp! What he wanted to do, his personal thing, was to go to some country where the Bible had not been translated yet and translate it into that local dialect. He wanted to work with the Gideon people that do that work. He knew the Bible. He was sharp! Okay?
So, when I get to this point of my presentation on Daniel 11, I always point out that in verse 41 and verse 42 that you will find the word escape in both verses, but that it is two different Hebrew words. And the word that is translated as escape in verse 41 means to escape as by slipperiness. You see that in your notes.
ESCAPE: Strong's Concordance 4422—to be smooth, i.e., (by impl.) to escape (as if by slipperiness); to release or rescue; to bring forth young, emit sparks: -deliver (self), escape, lay, leap out, let alone, let go, preserve, save.
So, in this discussion we were having in Oklahoma, I mean this brother and myself were cordial but it was obviously a combative situation. He is telling his view of Daniel 11, and I am telling mine, and there are two sides pumping questions to try to expose why the other guy is false. That was the whole dynamics of this. So, I did not say much to him because I did not want to throw any fuel on the fire, and he did not say much to me; but, he is out in the audience when I am presenting, and I am out in the audience when he is presenting. And when I am presenting on this particular subject, and I give my explanation on what this word escape means in verse 41, as soon as I finished—what I am going to tell you right now—he blurts out from the audience, "That's correct!" And this guy is the linguist expert; I am not. And he is in an adversarial position with me in terms of the meeting, but he could not hold back from saying, "I agree."
This word escape is as if you reach into a tub of water and you grab a bar of soap and it slips out of your hand. The most important part of the definition of this word is the aspect that whatever, if this eraser [holding up the eraser as an example] escapes from my hand, whatever escapes from my hand, the most important part of the definition is that it has previously been in my hand. That is the essence of the definition. It has been in my hand, but it escaped by slipperiness, like a bar of soap.
Because, what the verse is saying is that these people that come out of Babylon (Edom, Moab, and Ammon), before this verse, before verse 41, they had been in the hand of the Papacy.
And who is the Papacy at the end of the world? It is modern Babylon. It is the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet.
There are people that are walking in modern Babylon (that is where they are at, the eleventh-hour workers); but, at The Sunday Law they escape the hand of the Papacy. So, this word escape is one of the most important words in verse 41, in the last six verses of Daniel 11; whereas, the word escape in verse 42 means finding no deliverance.
Okay. Let us continue on here, Manuscript Releases, volume 12, pages 141 – 142. We want to talk about what happens at The Sunday Law in the United States, because we are saying that verse 41 is The Sunday Law in the United States.
"The law of God cannot be made void by the law of a nation. When the law is trampled in the dust, the sacredness of the commandments of God will be vindicated by those who are loyal to Him. We are to make no railing accusation against the nations, for this would close our way so that we could not set the light before the people."—
Does this mean that I am not supposed to explain why Mitt Romney and his Mormonism is a problem, or I am not supposed to explain why Obama, and this, that, and the other, is a problem?
Is that what it means? I think that is what it means. I think the message that we have is so far above national politics or world politics that we should not be taking up those arguments.
Anyway, that is what she says.
—"We are to make no railing accusation against the nations, for this would close our way so that we could not set the light before the people."—
Would it?
I guarantee you, if you would go into a Black Seventh-day Adventist congregation and you are going to say some things about President Obama that you would say in a White Seventh-day Adventist congregation, you are going to have a different response in the Black congregation than you do in the White congregation. So, what benefit would it be for you to say anything, one way or another? It is going to close the door.
FROM THE AUDIENCE: Especially publically.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: Especially publically.
When we are sitting around in private, it is okay?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: (Laughter.)
BROTHER PIPPENGER: No? I do not think so, because part of the problem is the fact that we are all inclined to get drawn into political controversies, and by doing so we are getting drawn into, if nothing more, a waste of time that we should be drawn into a deeper study of the Word of God.
And there are some of us that are more inclined to get wrapped up into controversies and political intrigues. And maybe I am not inclined that way, and for me bringing the subject up in a casual way and it does not mean anything to me may spur my brother here into a direction that leads him into darkness.
But, anyway, we just switched from my study to sermonizing. Let us go back to my study.
—"Every objection raised against the commandments of God will make a way for the advancement of truth and enable its advocates to present its value before men."—
This is one of the premises that about four worships ago we put in place. We went through and we showed that there was going to be a shaking in Adventism and it was described in Scripture repeatedly, and we wanted to be clear before we reached a certain point that as we named some personalities in ministries in Adventism that have fought against this message, that we were doing it not to belittle human beings or to belittle ministries but the fact of the matter is, is that the Lion of the tribe of Judah has used some of the adversaries to this message to open up better, clearer understandings of the Truth.
And maybe you think, "Well, all I need is the better, clearer understanding of the Truth. I don't have to really see how this Truth got put in place by the Lion of the tribe of Judah." But, I think you need to see that the Lord does use the adversaries to lead us to places in our studies that He reveals jewels. It is part of the story. It can be handled wrongly, no doubt.
But, anyway, Sister White is saying that here from a different point of view.
—"Every objection raised against the commandments of God will make a way for the advancement of truth and enable its advocates to present its value before men. There is a beauty and force in the truth that nothing can make so apparent as opposition and persecution. When this is revealed, many will be converted to the truth." Manuscript Releases, volume 12, 141–142.
Okay. So when the Law of God is being made void, this crisis is where the Truth is going to be clarified. Right?
Okay. Who is it going to be clarified for? For the eleventh-hour workers that have not heard this argument up until now.
Now, we have read this a couple of times in our worship before, Bible Training School, December 1, 1903. It says,
"The work of the Holy Spirit is to convince the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. The world can only be warned"—can only be warned—"by seeing those who believe the truth sanctified through the truth, acting upon high and holy principles, showing in a high, elevated sense, the line of demarcation between those who keep the commandments of God, and those who trample them under their feet."—
The world can only be warned by seeing people with the Righteousness of Christ upon them at the time period when the Law of God is being trampled in the dust. What time period is that?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: The Sunday Law.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: This is The Sunday Law crisis, by the context of the statement.
Continuing on:
—"The sanctification of the Spirit signalizes the difference between those who have"—what?—"the seal of God, and those who keep a spurious rest-day. When the test comes, it will be clearly shown what the mark of the beast is. It is the keeping of Sunday. Those who after having heard the truth, continue to regard this day as holy, bear the signature of the man of sin, who thought to change times and laws." Bible Training School, December 1, 1903.
Now, remember, this [referring to Figure No. 102] is verse 40, is it not? Do you remember this? This is verse 40, and there are several lines that are parallel to verse 40. We looked at Isaiah 23; that is the history of verse 40. The story of Elijah and Carmel, that is the history of verse 40. Chosroes, that is the history of verse 40. Josiah, that is the history of verse 40. Remember that?
And, of course, we have the Millerites in our history. And just before The Sunday Law, what happens in the story of Elijah, just before the prophets of Baal are killed and judgment is executed, representing The Sunday Law?
What happens? The true prophet is identified, and fire comes down out of Heaven.
So, just before The Sunday Law, there is going to be a group in Adventism that begin to be lifted up as an ensign. It does not happen right at The Sunday Law; it has to happen just before. The distinction has to be seen just before.
And why are they being isolated and lifted up? Because, the only way the world can be warned is by seeing this ensign in The Sunday Law crisis. So, they have to have the Seal of God before the eleventh-hour workers.
Ezekiel 20:33-42; 28:25-26; 36:22-28; 38:14-23; Isaiah 4:1-4; 44:21-23; 45:25; 46:8-13
Ezekiel 20:33-42
Now, notice this, Ezekiel 20.
This is not a—people that think that we are taking the quote from Sister White about the only way the world can be warned is by seeing men and women with the Seal of God in The Sunday Law testing time, they think we are kind of taking this one quote and putting too much of our understanding into it. Look at Ezekiel 20, beginning at verse 33.
"33As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: 34And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. 35And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. 36Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God. 37And I will cause you to pass under the rod,"—
What is "to pass under the rod"? Judgment.
—"and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:"—
So, the Lord is going to enter into covenant with the 144,000, as He entered into covenant with Ancient Israel, as He entered into covenant with the Millerites in their history. Right? That is what is being described here.
But, all the prophets are speaking about the end of the world; so, this is more about us than anyone else. He is going to put us into judgment.
What judgment? The Judgment of the Living, and He is going to enter into covenant with us.
And what does the next verse say He is going to do?
—"38And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 39As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols."—
"Your probation is closed."
—"40For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. 41I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been"—
What?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: Scattered.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: —"scattered;"—
The 144,000 are scattered before they are gathered together?
Where do you see that marked? In William Miller's dream; that is the scattering of Adventism.
—"and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen."—
What does that mean? That God will be sanctified in us before the heathen. "The world can only be warned . . . ."
The next verse:
—"42And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers." Ezekiel 20:33-42 (KJV).
Okay. So, what am I saying? I am saying that at the end of William Miller's scattering time in 1989, the Dirt Brush Man begins to gather together a people that He is going to lift up at The Sunday Law, and He is going to be sanctified in them. That is the only way the world can be warned.
Look at chapter 28 of Ezekiel, verses 25 and 26.
"25Thus saith the Lord God; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. 26And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God." Ezekiel 28:25-26 (KJV).
They are lifted up as an ensign for the heathen.
Chapter 36 of Ezekiel, beginning at verse 22:
"22Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. 23And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25Then will I"—what?—"sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you."—
When is it that we are clean? In the blotting out of sin in the Judgment of the Living, in the sprinkling of the Latter Rain.
Verse 26:
—"26A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 28And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." Ezekiel 36:22-28 (KJV).
What is the land that He gave to his fathers? It is a reference to rebuilding Jerusalem, to entering into covenant with the ensign (with the 144,000).
Chapter 38 of Ezekiel, verses 14 to 23.
What we are saying here is that when the King of the North comes into the glorious land at The Sunday Law as an overflowing scourge, we are not dealing with many that will be overthrown right now, but we are dealing with that there will be a group of people that will come out of modern Babylon, represented as Edom, Moab, and Ammon. And the reason that they come out is at The Sunday Law, Inspiration tells us that there is an ensign lifted up, and that ensign is the people that receive the Seal of God at The Sunday Law, who the Lord is sanctified in. The sanctification of the Spirit is the signalization of those that have the Seal of God.
And we are in chapter 38, beginning at verse 14:
"14Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog,"—
Brothers and Sisters, Ezekiel 37 and 38, I know there are a lot of ideas about Gog. Gog is the King of the North. Ezekiel 37 and 38 is almost word for word—it is not word for word, but it is the identical sequence of the last six verses of Daniel 11. This is a parallel passage, without a doubt.
—"14Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog [the King of the North]—"Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? 15And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: 16And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. 17Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them? 18And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. 19For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; 20So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. 21And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother. 22And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord." Ezekiel 38:14-23 (KJV).
They are not only going to know from the people that they see with the Seal of God, the eleventh‑hour workers are not only going to make their decision based upon seeing men and women with the Seal of God, but they are going to see the Lord actively involved in these final movements. He is going to be directing these people. Sister White says so.
Isaiah 4:1-4.
We are almost finished. I know you have more notes, and you are nervous; but, we are not going to go through all these notes until tomorrow, the Lord willing.
Isaiah 4, verses 1 through 4, what are we dealing with here? We are dealing with the concept that the only way the world can be warned is by seeing the character of Christ upon His people in The Sunday Law testing time. And when they see this, they will come out from where they have been; and, where they have been is in the hand of the Papacy, where they have been is in the spiritual communion that we call Babylon. And Babylon at the end of the world is made up of three parts: the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet.
And Daniel, in verse 41 of chapter 11 when he is illustrating modern Babylon, he does so with Edom, Moab, and Ammon. He is not telling the story about how you go to Armageddon; he is saying this is where the eleventh-hour workers come from. They escape the hand of the Papacy that they have been in prior to verse 41 at that time, and the reason that they escape the hand of the Papacy is at that time at The Sunday Law, according to Inspiration, the Lord lifts up an ensign. He lifts up a group of people that prior to that event have settled fully into the Truth and have the character of Christ upon them.
Isaiah 4:1-4 says,
"1And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach."—
So, "that day," if you have got to know what day it is, you have got to go back to where the vision began, and the vision began in chapter 2, verse 1, and it says, "1The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, 2And it shall come to pass in the last days, . . ."
So, if you go back to verse 4 when it says, "in that day," it is saying that at the end of the world, in our day, seven—
What is "seven"? Complete.
What is a woman? Churches.
At the end of the world all of the churches shall take hold of one man. It is the man of sin, the Papacy. This is the climax of the Ecumenical Movement.
And you know this is not Christ, as some commentaries say; because, what these women say is, "We will eat our own bread,"—and Christ's followers eat His bread—"and we will wear our own apparel"—and Christ's followers wear the Righteousness of Christ. So, this is about all the churches coming together with the man of sin, and they take his name and his name is Catholic, which means universal. This is the universal church.
And they want to take away their reproach, and the reproach that is upon them is that they have not come into agreement with the One World Government/One World Religion Movement. And in order to take away that reproach, they come together with the Pope of Rome.
Verse 2:
—"2In that day"—in that day—"shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel."—
Who are those that escaped? It is those Adventists that have been scattered that are gathered. All right? These are the ones that are going to receive the Seal. They have escaped of Israel.
—"3And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion,"—
If you escape from Israel at the end of the world, where do you end up? You end up in Zion.
—"3And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:"—
If you are written among the living in Jerusalem, where is that book? Where is that book at? It is in the Most Holy Place.
Jesus is dealing with it in what? The Investigative Judgment.
And at what period of time is it when there will be men and women that are alive, based upon the work of the judgment books, that are identified as holy? When does that take place? Judgment of the Living, when the sins are being blotted out.
Verse 4:
—"4When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning." Isaiah 4:1-4 (KJV).
What is the "spirit of burning" and the "spirit of judgment"? Well, judgment is of the living.
What is the "spirit of burning"? We have dealt with that. I heard Pastor Sankey deal with that the first day, I think. I heard someone deal with it.
That is Malachi, is it not, where He says He is a refiner and purifier of silver?
Who is He purifying? The sons of Levi, because they are faithful in The Sunday Law crisis.
Go to Isaiah 44. We are almost done here.
Isaiah 44, verses 21 through 23:
"21Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. 22I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. 23Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and"—
What?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: Glorified himself in Israel.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: —"glorified himself in Israel." Isaiah 44:21-24 (KJV).
The world can only be warned by seeing Christ glorified in His people in The Sunday Law testing time. That is what Sister White says; that is what the Bible says.
Chapter 45, verse 25, of Isaiah:
"25In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory." Isaiah 45:25 (KJV).
Where are we justified? At the foot of the cross.
What is justification? It is pardon; our sins are pardoned.
Isaiah 46:8-13.
We are closing now. Isaiah 46:8-13. We are going to read this, and then we are going to say something, and then we are going to close. All right? I do not want to mislead you. We are going to wrap this up together.
"8Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. 9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country:"—
Now, do you understand that to be one man with two characteristics, or two men; two powers or one power?
Is there a ravenous bird that comes from the East and a man that is going to execute his counsel?
Because, we have read in the past couple of days that the Papacy is what the Lord uses to accomplish His purposes. He is the rod in the Lord's hand.
But, what is the religion, the bird? A bird is a religion, is it not; because, Babylon is a cage full of unclean birds. All right? A bird is a religion.
Is there a religion that comes from the East that the Lord calls?
FROM THE AUDIENCE: Islam.
BROTHER PIPPENGER: Okay.
—"11Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it."—
He is going to bring Islam and the King of the North [the Papacy] back into prophetic history to fulfill their roles.
"12 Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness: 13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory." Isaiah 46:8-13 (KJV).
And the salvation that He puts in Zion is to glorify Himself and His people at The Sunday Law.
Summary
Okay. We are going to stop here. I thought we could get further, but we will take this up tomorrow.
But, what am I saying? Here is what I am saying, is that Daniel's last vision is established by an understanding of Rome. And one of the characteristics of Rome is that at the end of the world it is divided into three parts. And in Revelation 16, modern Rome leads the world to Armageddon. And if you are going to understand that warning, because it is a warning to keep your garments, then you need to understand where this march to Armageddon begins, and it begins in Daniel 11, verse 40. And you can see all the players in Daniel 11, verse 40, the Beast, the Dragon, and the False Prophet.
But, we are saying that Daniel 11, verses 40 and 41 is the design of God that produces the revival among God's people.
When you understand that the Soviet Union collapsed in fulfillment of Daniel 11, verse 40, in 1989; and, then you understand that the next verse, verse 41, is The Sunday Law in the United States and at that point probation closes for you as a Seventh-day Adventist, the Holy Spirit then has the information available to convict you of your need and of my need to get ready for The Sunday Law or receive the mark of the beast. This is the formula for the revival, are these verses.
So, when you leave verse 40 and the Papacy is moving as an overflowing flood, and he enters into the United States (the glorious land) and conquers it at The Sunday Law, there are many that are going to be overthrown. We have not dealt with that specifically yet; but, at that time there are some that escape the hand of the Papacy.
And what we have dealt with today is that what calls them out of Babylon—we are saying Edom, Moab, and Ammon is modern Babylon, and it is not talking about how you go to Armageddon; it is talking about the eleventh-hour workers that come out of Babylon—what calls them out of Babylon is the 144,000 that are lifted up as an ensign at this point in time [at The Sunday Law]. They have already received the Seal of God. They are the firstfruits of the sealing process.
And this is not an obscure teaching that you find alone in the Spirit of Prophecy; it is a consistent teaching throughout God's Word over and over again.
So, tomorrow, we will finish off our consideration of Edom, Moab, and Ammon. We never got there, really, to discuss them as the threefold union of modern Babylon.
And I think that is all that I need to say to summarize it.
Shall we pray?
Benediction: Heavenly Father, we wish to be among those that are lifted up as an ensign here in the very near future; but, we understand that we have a work to do as individuals. We need to set aside the idols that are still consciously handled by us, and that we also need to set aside the idols that we have not yet recognized. So, we ask that your Holy Spirit would open to our understanding a deep understanding of who and what we are as individuals and what we need to set aside and overcome that we can be about our business of finishing that work through your power. We want to be able to give a winning warning message. We ask that you would use this study that we are doing here as a point of reference that we can go out and pass this oil on, that we might be allowed to receive more. We thank you for the oil that you have been pouring down upon us. We thank you for the work that you are doing here this week with Pastor Sankey. We ask your continued blessing upon that work, upon the recordings, upon the LiveStreaming. And as we break for our physical food now, we ask for a blessing upon that physical food as well, and we thank you for all these things. In Jesus's name, amen.