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

Unlocking Prophecy: Understanding the Triple Application of Prophetic Frameworks

Author

Jeff Pippenger

Published

February 29, 2024

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Key Takeaways

- The unsealing of Daniel’s final verses in 1989 marked a pivotal moment in biblical prophecy, unleashing a surge of knowledge that tested the understanding of God’s people.
- Resistance against these unveiled truths spurred a deeper exploration of prophetic concepts, leading to the recognition of the prophetic principle of the triple application of prophecy.
- Parallels between historical frameworks, such as the three desolating powers and the movements of the three angels in Revelation, provide insights into the significance of chosen messengers and their role in preparing the way for divine intervention.
- Through the lens of biblical typology, figures like William Miller emerge as pivotal messengers, embodying the spirit of Elijah and John the Baptist in heralding prophetic messages.
- The rejection of chosen messengers and their messages parallels historical precedents, illustrating the critical importance of embracing divine revelation for spiritual enlightenment.
- The purging and purification depicted in prophetic narratives serve as a precursor to the executive judgment, highlighting the urgency of heeding divine warnings and embracing spiritual renewal.
- The intersection of investigative and executive judgments underscores the imminent fulfillment of prophecy, urging believers to heed the call to repentance and spiritual preparation.

We have been considering triple applications of prophecy. We are doing this for the purpose of identifying that when the Lord unsealed the last six verses of Daniel eleven with the collapse of the Soviet Union at the “time of the end” in 1989, an “increase of knowledge” was produced that was to test that generation of God’s people.

> And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. Daniel 12:9, 10.

Whenever a truth is unsealed by the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Satan works to resist the message. The resistance offered against the truths revealed in those final verses of Daniel eleven forced a deeper study of the truths connected with the verses in order that a sanctified defense against the errors which were proposed to undermine the truths revealed would not stand. One of the principles that was brought to light in the midst of that debate, was the triple application of prophecy. It was initially recognized in connection with the necessity to be correct about what “the daily” in the book of Daniel represented (paganism), and the correct history associated with the “taking away of the daily” (508 AD).

The recognition of three desolating powers as the framework of prophecy, paralleled the Millerite framework of prophecy being the first two desolating powers, and the Millerite identification of “the daily” as paganism provided a history consistent with the last six verses of Daniel eleven, as Sister White said it should. Thus, the resistance against the unsealed knowledge at the time of the end in 1989, produced greater light, as the knowledge was increased, and it also identified specific rules for the movement of the third angel, that paralleled the development of certain prophetic rules that had been assembled and employed in the movement of the first angel by William Miller.

We have considered the triple application of the three Rome’s, the three falls of Babylon, and the three Elijah’s and are now addressing the three messengers who prepare the way for the Messenger of the Covenant. We have identified a close overlap and parallel of the three Rome’s, with the three falls of Babylon, and also a close parallel to the three Elijah’s and the three messengers who prepare the way. In the last days William Miller and Future for America both represent the third Elijah and also the third messenger who prepares the way. Jesus always illustrates the end of a thing with the beginning of a thing, and the movement of the first angel parallels the movement of the third angel.

> “God has given the messages of Revelation 14 their place in the line of prophecy, and their work is not to cease till the close of this earth’s history. The first and second angel’s messages are still truth for this time, and are to run parallel with this which follows. The third angel proclaims his warning with a loud voice. ‘After these things,’ said John, ‘I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory.’ In this illumination, the light of all the three messages is combined.” The 1888 Materials, 803, 804.

The movement of the first and second angels, was led by William Miller. Sister White identifies Miller as the “chosen messenger.”

> “William Miller was disturbing Satan’s kingdom, and the arch-enemy sought not only to counteract the effect of the message, but to destroy the messenger himself.” Spirit of Prophecy, volume 4, 219.

She also identifies that Miller had been typified by both Elijah and John the Baptist.

> “Thousands were led to embrace the truth preached by William Miller, and servants of God were raised up in the spirit and power of Elijah to proclaim the message. Like John, the forerunner of Jesus, those who preached this solemn message felt compelled to lay the ax at the root of the tree, and call upon men to bring forth fruits meet for repentance.” Early Writings, 233.

John the Baptist, who according to Jesus was the second Elijah, was also the first messenger who was to prepare the way for the Messenger of the Covenant. It is therefore evident that the movement of the third angel will have a “chosen messenger.” That messenger will have been typified by Elijah, John the Baptist and William Miller. Together with Miller the two chosen messengers represent the beginning and the ending of the movement of the three angels of Revelation fourteen, and in doing so, together they represent both the third Elijah and also the third messenger who is to prepare the way for the Messenger of the Covenant.

To reject the message of either the beginning or ending chosen messenger is death, and the message of Future for America is based upon the prophetic application of “line upon line,” which is the methodology of the latter rain. Through the application of “line upon line” it is established that the Millerite movement typified the movement of Future for America. A waymark of the Millerite history is William Miller, the “chosen messenger.” To reject that waymark is to reject the message, so it is established by the beginning and ending of Adventism, that a rejection of the messenger is also a rejection of the message, for the message identifies a chosen messenger. Therefore, to reject the message is to reject the messenger and vise-versa. Without a dancer, there is no dance.

> “I was pointed back to the proclamation of the first advent of Christ. John was sent in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way of Jesus. Those who rejected the testimony of John were not benefited by the teachings of Jesus. Their opposition to the message that foretold His coming placed them where they could not readily receive the strongest evidence that He was the Messiah. Satan led on those who rejected the message of John to go still farther, to reject and crucify Christ. In doing this they placed themselves where they could not receive the blessing on the day of Pentecost, which would have taught them the way into the heavenly sanctuary. The rendering of the veil of the temple showed that the Jewish sacrifices and ordinances would no longer be received. The great Sacrifice had been offered and had been accepted, and the Holy Spirit which descended on the day of Pentecost carried the minds of the disciples from the earthly sanctuary to the heavenly, where Jesus had entered by His own blood, to shed upon His disciples the benefits of His atonement. But the Jews were left in total darkness. They lost all the light which they might have had upon the plan of salvation, and still trusted in their useless sacrifices and offerings. The heavenly sanctuary had taken the place of the earthly, yet they had no knowledge of the change. Therefore they could not be benefited by the mediation of Christ in the holy place.

> “Many look with horror at the course of the Jews in rejecting and crucifying Christ; and as they read the history of His shameful abuse, they think they love Him, and would not have denied Him as did Peter, or crucified Him as did the Jews. But God who reads the hearts of all, has brought to the test that love for Jesus which they professed to feel. All heaven watched with the deepest interest the reception of the first angel’s message. But many who professed to love Jesus, and who shed tears as they read the story of the cross, derided the good news of His coming. Instead of receiving the message with gladness, they declared it to be a delusion. They hated those who loved His appearing and shut them out of the churches. Those who rejected the first message could not be benefited by the second; neither were they benefited by the midnight cry, which was to prepare them to enter with Jesus by faith into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. And by rejecting the two former messages, they have so darkened their understanding that they can see no light in the third angel’s message, which shows the way into the most holy place. I saw that as the Jews crucified Jesus, so the nominal churches had crucified these messages, and therefore they have no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and they cannot be benefited by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare.” Early Writings, 259–261.

Those “who rejected the testimony of John were not benefited by the teachings of Jesus,” and those “who rejected the first message could not be benefited by the second; neither were they benefited by the midnight cry.” The ministry of John preceded the baptism of Christ, who shortly thereafter cleansed the temple at the beginning of His ministry. Miller’s ministry prepared for Christ to purify the sons of Levi when He came suddenly on October 22, 1844. In either of those two witnesses, the rejection of the messenger who prepares the way, equates to death.

The purging and purification that was accomplished by Christ in His work as the Messenger of the Covenant was for the purpose of raising up a people to accomplish the work of carrying the message of salvation to the world. The work is accomplished in advance of the period of time representing when the executive judgment begins. The destruction of Jerusalem in the history of the disciples represents the executive judgment, and Adventism turned away from their responsibility to accomplish that work, but the Lord had tried to gather them together. He had led His people to publish the 1850 chart as the graphical representation of the message they could have carried to the world.

> “It was not the will of God that Israel should wander forty years in the wilderness; He desired to lead them directly to the land of Canaan and establish them there, a holy, happy people. But ‘they could not enter in because of unbelief.’ Hebrews 3:19. Because of their backsliding and apostasy they perished in the desert, and others were raised up to enter the Promised Land. In like manner, it was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be so long delayed and His people should remain so many years in this world of sin and sorrow. But unbelief separated them from God. As they refused to do the work which He had appointed them, others were raised up to proclaim the message. In mercy to the world, Jesus delays His coming, that sinners may have an opportunity to hear the warning and find in Him a shelter before the wrath of God shall be poured out.” The Great Controversy, 458.

Had Adventism only held fast their faith, “their work would have been completed.”

> “Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to their reward. But in the period of doubt and uncertainty that followed the disappointment, many of the advent believers yielded their faith. . . . Thus the work was hindered, and the world was left in darkness. Had the whole Adventist body united upon the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, how widely different would have been our history!” Evangelism, 695.

In the Spring of 1844, the Messenger of the Covenant purified the movement of the Millerites, and then in the Fall brought the message of the third angel. Miller, his message and the movement he represented, had fulfilled the parable of the ten virgins. At the Exeter, NH camp meeting the message of the Midnight Cry arrived and in two short months it was demonstrated which of the virgins had the oil. The two classes were manifested, and the third angel arrived with a message in his hand that was to be eaten, but the wise virgins “yielded their faith” in “the period of doubt and uncertainty.”

The “period of doubt and uncertainty” had been represented by the disciples at His death, but on the third day He began to open the message of His resurrection to His disciples, and they did not “yield their faith.” The period of doubt and uncertainty for the wise virgins of the movement of the first and second angels’ messages continued for roughly three years, at which point the Lord revealed to Sister White that He had stretched forth His hand to again gather the remnant of His people. He led His people to begin their publishing work and to produce Habakkuk’s second table, but “many of the advent believers yielded their faith. . . . Thus the work was hindered, and the world was left in darkness.”

In 1849, William Miller, the chosen messenger of the first and second angels’ message was laid to rest. Had the wise virgins of October 22, 1844 “held fast their faith and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God,” the Lord would have raised up another messenger in the spirit and power of Elijah. Instead “the coming of Christ” was “delayed and His people” “in like manner” to ancient Israel would “remain” “many years in this world of sin and sorrow.”

One hundred and twenty-six years after the rebellion of 1863, the Lord raised up the chosen messenger of the third angel. His work was both to prepare the way for the Messenger of the Covenant to suddenly come into His temple and to enter into a covenant relationship with the one hundred and forty-four thousand, during the closing scenes of the investigative judgment, but also to present a message that confronts the threefold union of Ahab, Jezebel and her prophets in the period of the Executive Judgment, which begins at the soon-coming Sunday law.

The third messenger who prepares the way represents a work, a message, a messenger, and a movement during the closing scenes of the Investigative Judgment. The third Elijah represents a work, a message, a messenger and a movement during the closing scenes of the Executive Judgment. The message of the messenger who prepares the way, and the message of Elijah, is the message of the third of the three Woes of Revelation chapters eight through eleven.

In the history represented by the messenger who prepares the way, the message of the third Woe, represents the Trumpet which calls Laodicean Adventism to “buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” It is the message of God’s love that shows God’s people their transgressions, for “As many as” He loves, He “rebukes and chastens.” It is the message of Christ’s righteousness that calls men to accept His character, which is manifested in the time period when the Messenger of the Covenant is accomplishing the work of cleansing the soul temple, and therefore He calls those whom He loves to manifest His character and be “zealous therefore, and repent,” for He is “at the” dispensation “door,” that represents the close of probation, where He “will spue” Laodicean Adventism “out of” His “mouth.” That dispensational “door” is the door that He “openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.”

There is a seeming contradiction that is resolved by the application of “line upon Line,” but many may not even recognize the seeming contradiction. When resolved it adds clarity to the transition from the Investigative to the Executive Judgment which takes place at the soon coming Sunday law. It is resolved by accepting that Pentecost typifies the soon coming Sunday law in the United States. In order to finalize our consideration of the third messenger who prepares the way as a symbol in the Investigative Judgment, in contrast with the third Elijah being a symbol of the Executive Judgment, we will address this seeming contradiction.

We will continue this study in the next article.

> “The angel who unites in the proclamation of the third angel’s message is to lighten the whole earth with his glory. A work of world-wide extent and unwonted power is here foretold. The advent movement of 1840–44 was a glorious manifestation of the power of God; the first angel’s message was carried to every missionary station in the world, and in some countries there was the greatest religious interest which has been witnessed in any land since the Reformation of the sixteenth century; but these are to be exceeded by the mighty movement under the last warning of the third angel.

> “The work will be similar to that of the Day of Pentecost. As the ‘former rain’ was given, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the opening of the gospel, to cause the upspringing of the precious seed, so the ‘latter rain’ will be given at its close for the ripening of the harvest. ‘Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.’ Hosea 6:3. ‘Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain.’ Joel 2:23. ‘In the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh.’ ‘And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ Acts 2:17, 21.

> “The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the gospel are again to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close. Here are ‘the times of refreshing’ to which the apostle Peter looked forward when he said: ‘Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus.’ Acts 3:19, 20.” The Great Controversy, 611.

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