Article

# The Book of Daniel - Number One-Hundred and Seventy-Five

The Glorified Christ: Prophetic Parallels in Daniel and Revelation

Author

Jeff Pippenger

Published

April 5, 2024

Formats

PDF
Word

Key Takeaways

- Daniel chapter ten introduces a pivotal vision of the glorified Christ, paralleling John’s Revelation, characterized as the “marah” vision, embodying both an external prophecy and an internal transformation.
- This divine appearance, described with vivid imagery of lightning and fiery eyes, occurs by the Hiddekel river, marking a significant moment of revelation for Daniel.
- The term “mareh,” related to “marah,” indicates not just a vision but a transformative mirror, suggesting that those who truly see this vision are changed by it.
- The vision causes a division among its witnesses; some flee in fear, unable to perceive its depth, while Daniel is profoundly affected, signifying the two responses to divine revelation.
- The transformative nature of the vision is emphasized through the concept of a causative adverb, indicating that the vision actively brings about change in the beholder, aligning them more closely with the divine image.
- Daniel’s unique receptivity to the vision, in contrast to his companions’ fear, underscores the readiness and openness required to truly engage with divine revelations.
- The narrative highlights the interplay between divine intervention and human agency, as angelic beings play a role in conveying and interpreting the divine message.

The vision of Christ in Daniel chapter ten, is the same vision which John saw in the Revelation. It was the “marah” vision, which is the feminine expression of the “mareh” vision of Christ’s appearance. “Mareh” is the vision of the twenty-three hundred years, and its primary meaning is “appearance.” The “appearance” of Christ with both Daniel and John were both visions of the glorified Christ.

> And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. Daniel 10:4–6.

The word “mareh” which means “appearance” is translated as “the appearance of lightning,” in the passage. The word is used four times in chapter ten, and two times it is translated as “vision”, and two times as “appearance.” It’s used three other times in its feminine form. The word “marah” is the feminine expression of the “appearance” vision. It is defined as “a looking glass”, and it is a “causative” adverb that causes something to happen when it is seen.

A causative adverb is derived from an adjective that causes something to happen or produces an effect. In language and grammar, it often refers to verbs or constructions that express the idea of causing someone or something to perform an action or experience a state.

For example, in the sentence “She made him laugh,” the verb “made” is causative because it indicates that the subject (she) caused the object (him) to perform the action (laughing).

“I had my car repaired.” (In this sentence, the subject “I” caused someone else to perform the action of repairing the car.)

“She made her students study for the exam.” (Here, the subject “She” caused her students to engage in the action of studying for the exam.)

“He got his hair cut.” (In this case, the subject “He” caused someone else to perform the action of cutting his hair.)

“The company had the building renovated.” (In this sentence, the company caused someone else to carry out the action of renovating the building.)

“We’ll get the children to help with the chores.” (Here, the subject “We” plans to cause the children to participate in the action of helping with the chores.) In each of these examples, the causative verbs (had, made, got, get) indicate that the subject causes someone else to perform the action specified by the main verb (repaired, study, cut, renovated, help).

The “mareh” vision of the appearance, when expressed in feminine tense “marah”, and as defined as “a looking glass” identifies that the vision of the glorified Christ, is reproduced in those who behold the vision. When Daniel saw the “appearance” of Christ as lightning, a class of persons fled in fear, but for Daniel it produced a miraculous change within him.

> And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Daniel 10:7, 8.

The truth is represented by the Hebrew word “truth,” which is created by the first, thirteenth and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The first letter and the last letter are always the same for Christ, as Alpha and Omega, always represents the end with the beginning. The middle or thirteenth letter represents rebellion. Daniel states, “I Daniel alone saw the vision,” but the men who were with Daniel, who were living in rebellion, “saw not the vision.” Therefore Daniel “alone” “saw the great vision.” At the beginning and the ending Daniel alone saw the vision, and the second reference caused those who fled to manifest their rebellion. Daniel is representing God’s people in the last days who are changed unto the image of Christ through the process of beholding His image. We are to look at the “looking glass” vision.

> “We must have a knowledge of God by living experience. If we follow on to know the Lord, we shall know that His goings forth are prepared as the morning. Christ calls upon us to be filled with all the fulness of God. Then we can truly represent the perfection of the Christian religion. ‘Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him,’ the Saviour declares, ‘shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.’ Christ wants us to be co-laborers with Him. When we are emptied of self, He will give us His grace to impart to others. The two olive branches, which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves, will surely supply the cleansed vessels with light and comfort and hope and love for those who are in need. We must render God more than fitful service. But we can do this only by learning of Jesus, cherishing His meekness and lowliness of heart. Let us hide ourselves in God. Let us have confidence in Him. Let us abide in Christ. Then we all ‘with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,’—from character to character. God does not expect impossibilities from you or me. Beholding Him, we may be changed into His image.” Signs of the Times, April 25, 1900.

In Daniel chapter ten and chapter nine, Gabriel provides the interpretation of the external and internal visions of prophecy to Daniel, and Daniel’s first statement in verse one of chapter ten, is that he had understanding of both visions, represented as the “thing” and the “vision.” He received that understanding at the end of twenty-one days in which he had been in mourning. That twenty-one days concluded with the arrival of Michael the archangel. The number two hundred and twenty, and the number twenty-two, which is a tenth or tithe of two hundred and twenty is a symbol for the combination of Divinity with humanity, and it was on the twenty-second day that Daniel was changed into the image of Christ.

> I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz. Daniel 10:3–5.

Daniel represents God’s people of the last days who have recognized through God’s prophetic Word that they have been scattered, and who are mourning their scattered condition and seeking for light. Their scattered condition is illustrated as a valley of dead dry bones in Ezekiel chapter thirty-seven. The bones are dead, and they are scattered, but they are identified as the house of Israel. The house of Israel of the last days is the one hundred and forty-four thousand. They are scattered, just as Daniel recognized from the books of Jeremiah and Moses. In Ezekiel the dead identify that they recognize their condition.

> Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Ezekiel 37:11.

The house of Israel, which is the bones, proclaims that they are “cut off for our parts.” They have recognized their scattered condition. The house of Israel of the last days fulfills the parable of the ten virgins to the very letter, and in the Millerite history the fulfillment of recognizing that they were cut off from their parts, identified when the wise virgins came to understand that they were in the tarrying time, and also that the tarrying time was a specific period of the parable. Those in Ezekiel who recognize their scattered condition are those who after the first disappointment recognized they were in the tarrying time.

Both, Ezekiel’s bones, and the wise of the parable of the ten virgins, are represented by Daniel’s mourning during the twenty-one days. After the twenty-one days, on day twenty two, Michael descended, and Daniel was given a vision of the glorified Christ that changed Daniel into the image of Christ. The wise virgins and the dead bones must also go through the transformation accomplished by the looking-glass vision.

Daniel, Ezekiel’s dead bones, and the wise virgins of Millerite history, all align with the two witnesses who are slain in Revelation chapter eleven. Moses and Elijah were slain, but they were to be resurrected at the end of three and a half symbolic days. Moses was resurrected by Michael as identified in the book of Jude.

> Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. Jude 1:9.

In Daniel chapter ten, Daniel receives the looking glass vision when Michael descends after the twenty-one days of mourning. It is the voice of Michael that raises the dead.

> For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

Daniel chapter ten identifies the transition of the Laodicean movement of the third angel to the Philadelphian movement of the third angel. It aligns with the two witnesses of Revelation chapter eleven, the dead bones of Ezekiel chapter thirty-seven, the wise virgins in the parable of the ten virgins, and the Millerites who fulfilled the parable. Gabriel provided the interpretation of the great looking-glass vision, while finishing the work of interpretation he had begun in chapter nine. The interpretation was accomplished by Gabriel identifying the prophetic history found in chapter eleven, that actually continues into the first three verses of chapter twelve. Then in verse four of chapter twelve, Daniel is told to seal up his book.

In Daniel chapter ten, “line upon line”, Daniel represents God’s last day people who are also represented in Daniel chapter two as earnestly seeking (under the threat of death), to understand the external prophetic message represented by Nebuchadnezzar’s secret image of beasts. He is also seeking to understand the vision of the internal prophetic message represented by the twenty-three hundred days. After the twenty-one symbolic days of mourning in chapter ten, he is finally represented as understanding both revelations. His understanding is accomplished when the archangel descends, and he is touched three times.

His experience with Michael, the vision of Michael that he alone sees, prepares him to receive the full interpretation of both the internal and external visions of prophecy. That experience is set forth, line upon line, in a very detailed fashion when combined with Ezekiel chapter thirty-seven, Revelation chapter eleven and Isaiah chapter six. The verse in chapter eleven where Gabriel brings the two visions together is verse ten, for there the king of the north proceeds up to the fortress, but no further. The fortress is the nation, or the capital, or the king of Egypt in the verse, as defined by Isaiah in chapter seven.

> For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. Isaiah 7:8, 9.

In verse ten, of chapter eleven of Daniel, the king of the north comes up to the border of Egypt, and the verse defines that as the “fortress” of Egypt (the king of the south). Verse ten, can be shown to be representing 1989, when the Soviet Union was swept away by the papacy and its proxy army, the United States. It was the first of three proxy wars, which ultimately becomes World War III at the third proxy war (Panium). The second proxy war is represented by verses eleven and twelve, and is now taking place in the Ukraine, where Russia is representing the king of the south, just as the Soviet Union represented the king of the south in its defeat in 1989.

I have used the expression “cold war” in the past to make the distinction between these three proxy wars and world wars. There is actually genuine warfare taking place in Ukraine, so it is not actually a cold war, but it is a proxy war between the papacy and its allies and Russia. But there is to be a third world war, where virtually every nation will be considered a target.

> “O that God’s people had a sense of the impending destruction of thousands of cities, now almost given to idolatry! . ..

> “Transgression has almost reached its limit. Confusion fills the world, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings. The end is very near. We who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.” Review and Herald, September 10, 1903.

In verses eleven and twelve, Russia, the king of the south, will defeat the papacy’s proxy army, represented by the Nazi regime that is directing the Ukrainian war effort, and that is supported by the previous proxy army of the papacy, the United States. In World War II, the proxy army of the papacy, the king of the north, against Communist Russia was Germany’s Nazi regime, and that proxy army lost, just as it will lose again in the Ukraine in the near future.

The third proxy war is represented in verses thirteen through fifteen, and was fulfilled in ancient history by the battle of Panium. The third proxy war will be carried out by the United States, the proxy army of the papacy, and the king of the north will prevail in that battle against atheism, as it did in the first proxy war (cold war). In the first and the third proxy war, the king of the north–the papacy–defeats the king of the south (the Soviet Union), and then defeats the United Nations. Its proxy army in those two battles was and will be again, the United States.

After the victory of Putin in the Ukraine, Trump will be reelected as the eighth president, that is of the seven presidents that have reigned in the United States since the first proxy war (cold war) was fulfilled in 1989, which was the time of the end for the reform movement of the third angel. Trump is representing the Republican horn on the earth beast, and he received a deadly wound at the hands of the beast of “woke” atheism in 2020, in fulfillment of the Revelation chapter eleven’s two witnesses being slain in the street.

Future for America represents the true Protestant horn during the identical history, and in 2020, Future for America received a deadly wound at the hands of the beast of “woke” atheism. In 2023, twenty-two years after 2001, Michael descended to begin the process represented by Ezekiel, John, Daniel and Isaiah of resurrecting a mighty army that will be lifted up as an ensign at the soon coming Sunday law.

In 1856, the Philadelphian Millerite movement transitioned into the Laodicean Millerite movement, and there and then rejected the increased knowledge of the seven times, and then fully finalized their rebellion in 1863. The Millerites transitioned from the condition represented by the sixth church of Philadelphia, unto the experience of the seventh church, and that turning point aligns with the history of 2023, when the Laodicean movement of Future for America transitions from the experience of the seventh church, back to the experience of the sixth church of Philadelphia. In this prophetic application, the true Protestant horn, as with the Republican horn, becomes the eighth, that was of the seven.

The key to recognizing that the Ukrainian war is the second proxy war, is the “fortress” of verse ten, and verse seven. In verse seven, which represented the papacy receiving its deadly wound in 1798, the king of the south entered into the “fortress,” of the king of the north, and this was fulfilled by Napoleon’s general walking into the Vatican and taking the pope captive. The king of the south had entered into the fortress. In verse ten the king of the north, representing the papacy and its proxy army the United States, swept away the structure of the Soviet Union, but it left the “fortress” standing. The “fortress” was the head, the capital—it was Russia.

But the “head,” or fortress, can only be established upon two or three witnesses by employing Isaiah chapter seven, verses seven and eight. Isaiah seven, verse eight and nine, was the primary point of reference for Hiram Edson’s series of articles on the “seven times” that were published in 1856. The two verses that establish that Russia is the fortress that prevails in the current Ukrainian war, are also the two verses that establish the starting point for both “seven times,” against the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. Verse ten of chapter eleven identifies the external vision, which Sister White teaches is based upon the rise and fall of kingdoms.

> “From the rise and fall of nations as made plain in the books of Daniel and the Revelation, we need to learn how worthless is mere outward and worldly glory. Babylon, with all its power and magnificence, the like of which our world has never since beheld,—power and magnificence which to the people of that day seemed so stable and enduring,—how completely has it passed away! As ‘the flower of the grass,’ it has perished. James 1:10. So perished the Medo-Persian kingdom, and the kingdoms of Grecia and Rome. And so perishes all that has not God for its foundation. Only that which is bound up with His purpose, and expresses His character, can endure. His principles are the only steadfast things our world knows.” Prophets and Kings, 548.

The three proxy wars are “made plain in the books of Daniel and the Revelation,” and the key to this truth is the “fortress” of verse ten, of Daniel eleven. But verse ten also addresses the internal vision, for the starting point for both “seven times,” is also identified in Isaiah chapter seven verses eight and nine. The external and internal cannot be separated, and the two periods of twenty-five hundred and twenty years are also Ezekiel’s two sticks, which when joined together, represent the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, which is the combination of Divinity with humanity.

Daniel’s experience with the causative “marah” vision represents the line of prophecy where Michael descends and resurrects His last-day people. That resurrection represents the steps that Christ accomplishes to combine His Divinity with His last day people’s humanity. It is accomplished by the joining of the Divine mind with the human mind so that they have one mind, and it is accomplished in the throne room, in the Most Holy Place, which is the “fortress” that Sister White identifies as the “citadel” (fortress) of the soul.

In the throne room God’s last-day people receive the mind of Christ and are then seated with Christ in heavenly places. The heavenly place where Christ is seated is the fortress or the head of the temple. The body temple has a lower nature, which is the flesh, or the body. It also has a higher nature, which is the mind. In verse ten of Daniel chapter eleven, the key that marks the fortress of the external vision, also marks the fortress of the internal vision, and in doing so it identifies the history where the horns of Republicanism and of Protestantism transition into the image of the beast (Republicanism), or the image of God (true Protestantism). Both horns then become the eighth that is of the seven.

The true horn of Protestantism is then the Philadelphian horn that is Ezekiel’s mighty army, and Isaiah’s ensign that is lifted up in the warfare against the image of the beast, first in the United States and then in the world. Daniel eleven, verse ten, identifies the point in sacred history that the joining of the sticks begins. The Ukrainian war began in 2014, but it was not until 2022 that Russia began to invade the Ukraine. In 2023, twenty-two years after 2001, Michael began His work of resurrecting those who had suffered their first disappointment in fulfillment of the parable of the ten virgins in 2020. He first raised up a “voice” which is now crying in the wilderness. In July 2023, that voice began to cry, and it was the same voice that was raised up at the beginning of the reform movement of the third angel in 1989, for Jesus always illustrates the ending with the beginning.

The “voice” crying in the wilderness began to sound by presenting Revelation chapter one, where the combination of Divinity with humanity is represented as the Revelation of Jesus Christ, a revelation that is opened up just before probation closes. Daniel experienced that revelation in chapter ten, with the “causative” vision. The combination of Divinity with humanity in the first verses of Revelation represents the most important truth, based upon the rule of first mention. The combination of Divinity with humanity, which is the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand is accomplished by the Word of God. That Word is given from the Father to the Son, who gives it to His angel, who then gives the message to a human representative. The first two steps are represented by the Divinity. Those two steps possess the distinction that the second step of divinity represents the Divinity that created all things. The next two steps are represented by God’s creatures. The first step is an unfallen angel, and the second manifestation of God’s creation was the one that had been given the power to recreate after his own kind. That fourth step, representing humanity, was then to take the message and send it to the churches, that the churches might “read and hear” those things which were written therein.

We will continue this study in the next article.

> The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. Revelation 1:1–11.

Back to Articles