Article

# The Book of Daniel - Number One-Hundred and Fifty-Three

The Spiritual Symbolism of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms: A Journey Through Biblical Temples and Human Nature

Author

Jeff Pippenger

Published

March 23, 2024

Formats

PDF
Word

Key Takeaways

- The northern kingdom symbolizes the lower nature, the body, and the human flesh, while the southern kingdom represents the higher nature and the mind.
- The rejection and eventual exaltation of the rejected stone, symbolizing Christ, are significant themes in temple construction and spiritual redemption.
- Historical rebellions, such as the rebellion of 1863, are paralleled with biblical events to illustrate the rejection of foundational truths and subsequent spiritual consequences.
- Contemporary events, including September 11, 2001, are interpreted as spiritual wake-up calls and opportunities for redemption.
- Surrendering one’s will to divine guidance is emphasized as essential for spiritual deliverance and salvation, drawing insights from biblical figures like Paul and the writings of Ellen G. White.
- The ongoing spiritual battle between good and evil is discussed, highlighting the significance of biblical prophecies and the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand.
- Connections are drawn between historical events, biblical prophecies, and modern-day occurrences to illustrate the fulfillment of prophecy and the culmination of the great controversy.

The northern kingdom represented the lower nature in the temple of mankind, it represented the body in the temple of the church, it represented the human flesh in the temple of Christ. Christ built every temple, and He laid every foundation, and the first stone in the Millerite temple was the doctrine of the “seven times,” which is represented by Ezekiel’s two sticks. In the rebellion of 1863, Laodicean Adventism rejected their prophetic “cornerstone”, which also occurred in the building of the earthly temple. The rejected stone was destined to be chosen at the conclusion of the temple erection, though it had been a stumbling stone for the entire construction period. Yet, the prophetic Word identifies that the rejected stone of stumbling will ultimately become the head of the corner.

The stick of the “seven times,” as represented by the southern kingdom, is the “head,” in relation to the northern kingdom. It is the “head,” for it is in the southern kingdom that God chose to identify Jerusalem, as His city, where He placed His sanctuary and His name. Until the two sticks were joined from 1798 unto 1844, the “head” had been the lower, southern kingdom. Once John, in 1844, was told to leave off the northern kingdom, for it was given to the Gentiles, the southern kingdom was left as an ensign standing alone as one nation, or at least that was the plan. That plan was hindered by the rebellion of 1863, and modern Israel’s first “rebellion at Kadesh”.

On September 11, 2001, the Lord brought His Laodicean church back to 1863, back to 1888, back to 1919, and back to 1957 to the second “rebellion at Kadesh”. But at that rebellion the promise of the stone that was rejected becoming the head of the corner is now being fulfilled. It is fulfilled in those represented as the one hundred and forty-four thousand, who Christ accomplishes the combination of Divinity and humanity among forever.

Paul identified the lower nature as the flesh, and the higher nature as the mind. He identified the body (the lower nature) as death.

> For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Romans 7:14–24.

Paul knew that in his “flesh” dwelt “no good thing.” The tendencies, both inherited and cultivated that existed in his flesh (his body), only worked to lead him into sin. Those tendencies represented the law of sin, but Paul desired to keep the law of God, not the law of sin. The law of God Paul identified as the “law of his mind” (his higher nature). His cry was “who shall deliver me from the body of death?” Of course, Paul knew that it was divinity that would bring deliverance, but he also knew that the work of deliverance required his participation.

> Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12, 13.

The deliverance from the body of death was accomplished by Divine power, which was connected with human power, and that was the example Jesus provided for men. Even with the law of sin actively working in the lower nature of the body, Jesus kept His lower nature in subjection to God’s law by surrendering His will, to the will of His Father. Paul could find deliverance if he would surrender his will unto the will of divinity. In doing so, he was working out his own salvation, and this is what Sister White means when she speaks about the work of eliminating sin from our life.

> “Every soul that refuses to give himself to God is under the control of another power. He is not his own. He may talk of freedom, but he is in the most abject slavery. He is not allowed to see the beauty of truth, for his mind is under the control of Satan. While he flatters himself that he is following the dictates of his own judgment, he obeys the will of the prince of darkness. Christ came to break the shackles of sin-slavery from the soul. ‘If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.’ ‘The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus’ sets us ‘free from the law of sin and death.’ Romans 8:2.

> “In the work of redemption there is no compulsion. No external force is employed. Under the influence of the Spirit of God, man is left free to choose whom he will serve. In the change that takes place when the soul surrenders to Christ, there is the highest sense of freedom. The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself. True, we have no power to free ourselves from Satan’s control; but when we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the powers of the soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God.

> “The only condition upon which the freedom of man is possible is that of becoming one with Christ. ‘The truth shall make you free;’ and Christ is the truth. Sin can triumph only by enfeebling the mind, and destroying the liberty of the soul. Subjection to God is restoration to one’s self,—to the true glory and dignity of man. The divine law, to which we are brought into subjection, is ‘the law of liberty.’ James 2:12.” The Desire of Ages, 466.

Paul cried out, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Sister White stated “when we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the powers of the soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God.” In engaging in the combination of our humanity with the divinity of Christ, through the exercise of our will, we accomplish the “act” of removing sin from our own “soul.”

But what we “need to understand is the true force of the will.” The will is “the governing power in the nature of man, the power of decision, or of choice. Everything depends on the right action of the will. The power of choice God has given to men; it is theirs to exercise. You cannot change your heart, you cannot of yourself give to God its affections; but you can choose to serve Him. You can give Him your will; He will then work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Thus your whole nature will be brought under the control of the Spirit of Christ; your affections will be centered upon Him, your thoughts will be in harmony with Him.”

Paul knew these truths, and He knew that his lower nature needed to be held in subjection by his higher nature, through the exercise of his will. This is why Paul died daily.

> I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 1 Corinthians 15:31.

Paul knew he needed to crucify his lower nature daily by exercising his will to keep his lower nature in subjection. He therefore crucified his flesh.

> And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Galatians 5:24.

Paul knew his sinful flesh would exist in humanity until the Second Coming of Christ, when the faithful, in the twinkling of an eye, would receive a new glorified body. This is why 1798 identifies the foundation of the forty-six years where the Millerite temple was erected, for Christ, as the only foundation, was the lamb slain from the foundation. The northern kingdom was the body, which through sin had taken ascendancy over humanity, and elevated itself to be the counterfeit northern kingdom. In 1844, John was told to “leave out” the courtyard, which means in the Greek, to reject the lower nature, that had taken ascendancy over the higher nature where God had chosen to place His name, and in 1798, the flesh (the lower nature) with “the affections and lusts” was to be crucified.

At the foundation, Christ’s flesh died at the crucifixion, as He was cut off from the living. The southern kingdom was then to be one nation, with one king, in covenant with God, and a nation who had God’s sanctuary in their midst. Line upon line, the “seven times,” is now “the head of the corner,” for since September 11, 2001 God is raising up His “northern army” as an ensign. That army is to be one nation, and that nation will reflect His image alone, and it does so at the very time when Satan is raising up his “horn” that is the image of the beast. In Ezekiel chapter thirty-seven the message of the four winds breathes the latter rain message upon those who then stand up as that army. The message of the four winds is the message of the Seventh Trumpet, which is where the mystery of God is finished.

The finishing work of the sealing began on October 7, 2023. The sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand is accomplished during the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, and that trumpet sounds three times during the sealing process. It always marks a strike by Islam against the Glorious Land. The modern spiritual “glorious land” was hit on September 11, 2001, and the ancient literal glorious land was hit on October 7, 2023, the very year the two witnesses who had been slain came back to life. The third strike is at the soon coming Sunday law in the United States.

From October 7, 2023, the Republican horn and the true Protestant horn of the earth beast are accomplishing their final transitions into a horn that either speaks as a dragon or as a Lamb, at the soon coming Sunday law. The two manifestations of the internal and external antagonists in the great controversy that is played out during the closing events of earth’s history, are both located in the history represented by verse forty in Daniel chapter eleven. The two final developments of the two horns is accomplished during the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet. The Seventh Trumpet is the third of three woe trumpets.

The three woes, represent a triple application of prophecy, and in doing so they provide a strong witness of the waymark of October 7, 2023. In both the first woe and the second woe, Islam’s warfare was carried out against the armies of Rome, which in the last days is the United States, as witnessed to by the conquering of the Soviet Union that was brought about by a secret alliance between the antichrist (Pope John Paul II), and the false prophet (Ronald Reagan) in 1989.

In the first woe, as set forth in Revelation chapter nine, there is a time prophecy of five months, which is one hundred and fifty years. In the second woe, there is a time prophecy of three hundred and ninety-one years, and fifteen days. Both time prophecies represent the warfare against Rome that Islam brought during the two histories that represent the first and second woes. Those two prophecies possessed two different outcomes of the warfare. In the first one hundred and fifty years Islam was to “hurt” Rome, and in the prophecy of three hundred and ninety-one years, and fifteen days, Islam was to “kill” Rome. Those two prophecies were directly connected. The ending of the one hundred and fifty years that Islam was to hurt Rome identified the beginning of the three hundred and ninety-one years, and fifteen days that Islam was to kill Rome. The first and second woes are divided by the ending of the one hundred and fifty years, and the starting of the three hundred and ninety-one years, and fifteen days.

The United States ceases to be the sixth kingdom of Bible prophecy at the soon-coming Sunday law, and it is then that it is prophetically “killed”. The hour of the “great earthquake”, in Revelation chapter eleven is the soon coming Sunday law, and when that hour arrives, so too does the Seventh Trumpet of Islam. It arrives to mark the end, or the death of the sixth kingdom, which is the army of Rome in the last days. That death was preceded by one hundred and fifty years of Islam hurting the armies of Rome. According to the mainstream media, which attempts to downplay the activities of radical Islam in the modern world, since October 7, 2023. Until the writing of this article on February 12, 2024, Islam has carried out one hundred and sixty-five attacks upon American interests around the globe.

The one hundred and fifty years of Islam hurting the armies of Rome that leads to the killing of the armies of Rome in the first and second woes, is repeated in the history of the third woe, for that is how a triple application of prophecy works. The sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, which is the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, which is when the combination of Divinity with humanity occurs, as represented by the joining of the two sticks, has three waymarks, The first is the spiritual glorious land and the last is the spiritual glorious land. The middle waymark is the literal glorious land.

In 2023, the second blast from the warning Trumpet of the third woe, identified the escalation of the warfare of Islam as it entered into a period where it would “hurt” the earth beast. In that same year, the two witnesses of the Republican horn and the true Protestant horn came back to life and began their mutual transitions into their final symbolic horns. For the Republican horn it was the combination of all the apostate Protestant powers, with all the apostate Republican powers in order to form one horn that is the image of the beast. With the true Protestant horn it was the combination of Divinity with humanity as the horn transitioned from Laodicean to Philadelphian in character, in order to reflect the opposite of the image of the beast. 2023 occurred twenty-two years after 2001, thus representing the symbolic link of Divinity combined with humanity.

All of this history occurs in verse forty of Daniel eleven, which is the verse that was unsealed and produced the increase of knowledge in 1989, that is represented by the Hiddekel River. In the prophetic history of that verse, the final work in the Most Holy Place is also accomplished, which is the light that was unsealed in 1798, and that is represented by the Ulai River. The beginning of verse forty identifies the time of the end in 1798, and the ending of the verse identifies the time of the end in 1989, and both rivers merge together in the history of verse forty, just as the Tigris and Euphrates (the Ulai and Hiddekel) do just before they reach the Persian Gulf.

We will continue this study in the next article.

> The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

> And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.

> For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For 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 before all the nations. Isaiah 61:1–11.

Back to Articles