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# The Book of Daniel - Number Thirty-One

America’s Warning: The Significance of Daniel’s Interpretation for Today

Author

Jeff Pippenger

Published

December 26, 2023

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Key Takeaways

- Daniel’s interpretation of the writing on the wall serves as a prophetic warning for modern America, particularly its Republican and Protestant “horns.”
- America is now in its fourth generation of apostasy, paralleling ancient Israel’s spiritual decline and the Amorites’ probationary period.
- Since 1863, both the U.S. government and Adventism have deviated from their founding principles and sacred responsibilities.
- The two horns of the earth beast (Revelation 13:11) symbolize Republicanism and Protestantism, which will unite in apostasy at the Sunday law.
- The wave loaves from the Pentecost festival represent two purified groups, culminating in the 144,000, the faithful remnant of God’s people.
- Daniel receiving the scarlet robe and gold chain represents the exaltation of the 144,000, who stand as an ensign in the final crisis.
- The scarlet and white robe signifies Christ’s righteousness, purified through His blood—worn by those who have been refined as silver and gold.

The writing on the wall, and Daniel’s interpretation to Belshazzar, represents the final pronouncement against both the apostate Republican horn and the apostate Protestant horn of the United States. The beginning history of both the founding fathers of the United States and the pioneers of Adventism are clearly recorded, yet the lessons and warnings contained therein have been set aside over “four generations”. Belshazzar perfectly represents this truth.

It is not necessary to define a precise period of time to decide what a generation amounts to, for God’s Word never fails, and it speaks directly that it is in the fourth generation when God closes up the books on nations who have rebelled against His revealed will.

> And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:1.

In the final generation, and therefore the prophetic “fourth generation” of ancient Israel, both John the Baptist and Christ identified that generation, as a generation of vipers.

> O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Matthew 12:34–37.

In the final generation of the earth beast, it speaks as a dragon (a viper). From 1863, through until the Sunday law, the Republican horn has turned away from the Constitution of the United States. The blessings that God bestowed upon the nation turned the hearts of the citizens and leaders away from their responsibility to protect the principles that produced the wealth and affluence they had come to enjoy, and they forgot the motivation that directed the founding fathers in producing the sacred document that produced the wealth and affluence that they thereafter allowed to seduce them. They not only forgot the purpose of the sacred document, but they also forgot their responsibility to preserve the principles contained within the document.

From 1863, through until the Sunday law, the true Protestant horn (Adventism), has turned away from its foundational truths established by God through the ministry of William Miller. The blessings that God bestowed upon Adventism, turned the hearts of the citizens and leaders away from their responsibility to protect the principles that produced the spiritual wealth they had come to enjoy, and they forgot the purpose of the pioneers in producing the message represented upon the two sacred charts, that was designed to establish the prophetic wealth they were to guard and proclaim.

When the Lord entered into covenant with ancient Israel at Mount Sinai, He provided two sacred tables containing His ten laws, that were to be the symbol of His covenant relationship with His people. When He instituted the annual festivals, He directed that at Pentecost there was to be an offering of two loaves, that were to be lifted up. The wave offering of the two loaves was the only offering in the sanctuary service that was to have leaven (a symbol of human sin, malice, wickedness and hypocrisy), included in its preparation.

> Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Corinthians 5:6–8.

> In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Luke 12:1.

The two wave loaves that were lifted up as a wave offering, were the symbol of the ensign of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, who, though sinners, had, through the power of God, purged out their leaven of malice, wickedness and hypocrisy. The leaven that was in the loaves represented men (sinners), who had overcome sin through the purification process represented as being “baked” by the furnace fire of the messenger of the covenant in Malachi chapter three. The loaves also represented the “bread of heaven”, for when offered, they were to be lifted up to heaven as a wave offering.

At Pentecost, when the fulfillment of the typification of the two loaves that had been offered through the years at the Pentecostal festival arrived, Christ’s disciples began the work of calling another group (the second loaf) out from the Gentile world. There would then be two loaves that were both purified from sin (leaven).

The two tables of the Ten Commandments became the symbol of the covenant relationship of ancient Israel, and the two wave loaves represent the covenant relationship with the early Christian church. In the beginning of the history of the earth beast, the two sacred tables of Habakkuk were given as the symbol of the covenant relationship of modern Israel, the true Protestant horn, just as the sacred Constitution was given to the Republican horn. The Lord is now calling the one hundred and forty-four thousand to stand up as a mighty army, and when they do, they will be lifted up as a wave offering (ensign) as they are thrown into the furnace heated seven times hotter.

That ensign represents the law of the Ten Commandments, it also represents those who walk in the furnace fire with the living Bread of Heaven beside them, and also those who uphold the foundational teachings symbolized on Habakkuk’s two sacred tables. Those emblems are all represented in the two witnesses of Revelation chapter eleven.

Belshazzar’s judgment represents the testimony against both horns of the earth beast. In the time of that judgment, there was one woman (a church), that understood that the only man in the kingdom that could recognize and interpret the handwriting was Daniel.

> And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.

> O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.

> And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

> Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old. Daniel 5:16–31.

At the Sunday law in the United States the cup of iniquity and the cup of probationary time will be full, for the nation and for the apostate Republican horn and the apostate Protestant horn, for God will have “numbered” (the sixth) “kingdom, and finished it.” Both horns, and the nation will have been “weighed in the balances” (of the judgment taking place in the sanctuary) “and found wanting”. The United States will then be “divided,” as civil war and despotism ensues, and then be given to the seventh and eighth kingdoms of Bible prophecy.

> “Of the Amorites the Lord said: ‘In the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.’ Although this nation was conspicuous because of its idolatry and corruption, it had not yet filled up the cup of its iniquity, and God would not give command for its utter destruction. The people were to see the divine power manifested in a marked manner, that they might be left without excuse. The compassionate Creator was willing to bear with their iniquity until the fourth generation. Then, if no change was seen for the better, His judgments were to fall upon them.

> “With unerring accuracy the Infinite One still keeps an account with all nations. While His mercy is tendered with calls to repentance, this account will remain open; but when the figures reach a certain amount which God has fixed, the ministry of His wrath commences. The account is closed. Divine patience ceases. There is no more pleading of mercy in their behalf.

> “The prophet, looking down the ages, had this time presented before his vision. The nations of this age have been the recipients of unprecedented mercies. The choicest of heaven’s blessings have been given them, but increased pride, covetousness, idolatry, contempt of God, and base ingratitude are written against them. They are fast closing up their account with God.

> “But that which causes me to tremble is the fact that those who have had the greatest light and privileges have become contaminated by the prevailing iniquity. Influenced by the unrighteous around them, many, even of those who profess the truth, have grown cold and are borne down by the strong current of evil. The universal scorn thrown upon true piety and holiness leads those who do not connect closely with God to lose their reverence for His law. If they were following the light and obeying the truth from the heart, this holy law would seem even more precious to them when thus despised and set aside. As the disrespect for God’s law becomes more manifest, the line of demarcation between its observers and the world becomes more distinct. Love for the divine precepts increases with one class according as contempt for them increases with another class.

> “The crisis is fast approaching. The rapidly swelling figures show that the time for God’s visitation has about come. Although loath to punish, nevertheless He will punish, and that speedily. Those who walk in the light will see signs of the approaching peril; but they are not to sit in quiet, unconcerned expectancy of the ruin, comforting themselves with the belief that God will shelter His people in the day of visitation. Far from it. They should realize that it is their duty to labor diligently to save others, looking with strong faith to God for help. ‘The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’

> “The leaven of godliness has not entirely lost its power. At the time when the danger and depression of the church are greatest, the little company who are standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the land. But more especially will their prayers arise in behalf of the church because its members are doing after the manner of the world.

> “The earnest prayers of this faithful few will not be in vain. When the Lord comes forth as an avenger, He will also come as a protector of all those who have preserved the faith in its purity and kept themselves unspotted from the world. It is at this time that God has promised to avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them.

> “The command is: ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.’ These sighing, crying ones had been holding forth the words of life; they had reproved, counseled, and entreated. Some who had been dishonoring God repented and humbled their hearts before Him. But the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel; although many still continued the forms of religion, His power and presence were lacking.” Testimonies, volume 5, 208–210.

Those represented by Daniel as he stood before Belshazzar, who know the “Future for America“, will then receive Daniel’s “scarlet robe”, a “necklace of gold”, and be proclaimed as “the third ruler in the kingdom.” Scarlet is the sign and color of the first born, who receive a double portion of the Father’s inheritance, who are the one hundred and forty-four thousand.

> These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. Revelation 14:4.

Of the two loaves that are lifted up as an ensign, it is the first born (the first fruits), who has a scarlet thread placed upon their hand.

> And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first. And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez. And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah. Genesis 38:28–30.

The first mention of “scarlet” in the Scriptures is when “Zarah,” who is the first born, and whose name means ‘a rising light,’ came out first, from the twins that were fathered by Judah. The mother, Tamar (who had played the harlot), was the wife of Judah’s deceased, wicked son. Zarah, the ‘rising light,’ came from the tribe of Judah, and had a scarlet thread upon his hand. “Pharez” means to break out, and he represents those that break away from the papacy, and come out of Babylon during the Sunday law crisis.

The “scarlet line” was also the sign that protected the harlot of Jericho, when the city of Jericho was destroyed.

> Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window. Joshua 2:18–21.

Daniel’s scarlet garment identifies that he then represents the one hundred and forty-four thousand, the first of two wave loaves that are lifted up. As loaves of bread they represent the Bread of heaven, who was given a scarlet robe in the common hall on His way to the crucifixion. In Belshazzar’s banquet hall, which typified the common hall where Jesus was given a robe of scarlet, it is given to those that understand the crisis that is just ahead in the “Future for America”.

> Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. Matthew 27:27, 28.

The robe given to those represented by Daniel is Christ’s robe of righteousness, which is white.

> Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. Revelation 19:7, 8.

The robe given to those represented as Daniel is both scarlet and white, for their robes have been washed with fuller’s soap, by the fuller of Malachi chapter three, when he purifies the sons of Levi.

> But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Malachi 3:2, 3.

The robe is white, but only because it was washed in the scarlet blood of the lamb.

> 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. Revelation 1:5, 6.

The first mention of a golden chain, is when Joseph is appointed to the leadership of Egypt.

> And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. Genesis 41:41–43.

The reason Joseph was appointed by Pharaoh as the ruler over Egypt, was that Joseph could interpret Pharaoh’s dream of “seven times,” in connection with the destructive blast of the “east wind.”

> And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river: And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow: And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness: And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke. And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good: And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them: And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me. And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do. Genesis 41:17–25.

Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream with the principle of “line upon line”, for he first informed Pharaoh the two dreams were one. He then interpreted the word “seven,” that was associated with the “kine,” and the “ears,” as symbols. The word “seven” in the passage is the same word translated as “seven times,” in Leviticus twenty-six. Joseph interpreted the “seven” as a symbol of seven years, or twenty-five hundred and twenty days. Joseph and Daniel were both interpreting a symbol of the “seven times” of Leviticus twenty-six.

In Pharaoh’s dream, the famine was produced by the ears of corn being “blasted with the east wind.” Line upon line, as Joseph directly employs, the “east wind” identifies that it is Islam that produces the period of famine and economic crash that begins when Joseph and Daniel are given the golden necklace, representing the lifting up of the ensign to the world (Joseph’s Egypt), and to call God’s other flock out of (Daniel’s) Babylon.

The two horns of the United States are represented by all the powers of Bible prophecy that are represented as two nations. This would include France, which consists prophetically of Sodom and Egypt, and of Israel that consisted of the northern and southern kingdoms, and also of the Medo-Persian Empire. The two horns of Medo-Persia in Daniel chapter eight, identify that one of the horns of the kingdom comes up last.

> Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. Daniel 8:3.

The two horns of Medo-Persia represent the two horns of the earth beast, and one of the horns of the earth beast must therefore be higher and come up last. At the time of the end in 1798, the reign of the earth beast began, and the horn of Protestantism was taken to Mount Carmel by Elijah the prophet, represented by William Miller. There was to be a contest that manifested a distinction between the true prophet and false prophet, which would be accomplished at the test of Mount Carmel, that took place from August 11, 1840 through to October 22, 1844.

Millerite Adventism was providentially identified as the true prophet, at the same time that the Protestant denominations of the United States returned to, and became the daughters of papal Rome. In 1863, the true Protestant horn of Millerite Adventism returned to the same communion as apostate Protestantism by returning to the corrupt method of Bible study as apostate Protestantism, as they began their progressive work of rejecting the message of Elijah. In the same period of time the U.S. Civil War began. (Note that when the Holy Spirit is rejected, then the other spirit takes over, and war is always the result.) The nation was then literally, politically and prophetically divided. The horn of Republicanism, from that point on, would be in an escalating struggle between two primary political parties.

From 1863, a symbol of division, for the year was the very center of the civil war between North and South, there was brought about two political factions of the Republican horn and two factions of the Protestant horn that consisted of the Democratic and Republican parties, and Sunday-keeping and Sabbath-keeping apostate Protestants. The two-fold division of either horn was typified in the days of Christ by the Sadducees and the Pharisees. One class outright rejected the founding principles, and the other professed to uphold the founding principles, but ultimately replaced them with human traditions and customs.

On September 11, 2001, the image of the beast testing period was prophetically initiated, and it reaches its climax at the Sunday law, or at Belshazzar’s drunken feast. The Sunday law is the mark that identifies that the combination of church and state is fully developed. At that point, the two horns of apostate Republicanism and apostate Protestantism become one apostate horn, and it is then that Daniel is made the third horn, or third ruler, or the true Protestant horn that comes up last and is higher, for it is then that he is lifted up as an ensign.

Joseph and Daniel are the same line of prophecy, for line upon line, all the prophets are identifying the last days. They both recognized the “seven times,” when they saw it. The “east wind” of Islam is coming in under the wall, as they provide their interpretation to Belshazzar and Pharaoh of what the “Future for America” is. They are wearing the “scarlet robe” of Christ’s righteousness, which is the “white robe” that is made so, by the blood of Christ. They are lifted up as an ensign and represented as a crown, or a golden chain, as they become the third ruler that comes up higher and comes up last.

We will continue with Daniel chapter six, in the next article.

> “In that last night of mad folly, Belshazzar and his lords had filled up the measure of their guilt and the guilt of the Chaldean kingdom. No longer could God’s restraining hand ward off the impending evil. Through manifold providences, God had sought to teach them reverence for His law. ‘We would have healed Babylon,’ He declared of those whose judgment was now reaching unto heaven, ‘but she is not healed.’ Jeremiah 51:9. Because of the strange perversity of the human heart, God had at last found it necessary to pass the irrevocable sentence. Belshazzar was to fall, and his kingdom was to pass into other hands.” Prophets and Kings, 530.

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