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# The Revelation of Jesus Christ - Number Sixteen

The Unveiling of the Seven Thunders: A Prophetic Analysis of Revelation and Hidden History

Author

Jeff Pippenger

Published

November 15, 2023

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Key Takeaways

- Seven Thunders & Hidden History: Revelation chapters 11–13 symbolize a concealed prophetic history that unravels through the “seven thunders,” guiding believers toward pivotal truths.
- Prophetic Witnesses: Four witnesses—the image of Christ, the two witnesses, the image of the beast, and the counterfeit king of the north—affirm the prophetic sequence.
- Treading Down Jerusalem: The “treading down” of Jerusalem for 1260 years under paganism and papalism parallels Christ’s own ministry and the disciples’ 1260-day ministry.
- Symbol of the Wilderness: The 1260-year “wilderness” era reflects the “seven times” curse from Leviticus 26, indicating spiritual exile due to covenantal neglect.
- Parallel Timelines: The lines of Christ and the counterfeit king of the north share a structure that involves an initial period, a midpoint, and a conclusive judgment.
- Covenant of the “Seven Times”: The article stresses the need to understand and honor the covenantal “seven times” as a foundational principle, reflecting a call to covenant restoration.
- Midnight Cry & Last Movement: Recent prophetic movements echo the “Midnight Cry” message, with three waymarks shaping the current era, from disappointment to ultimate restoration.

We have been setting forth the sequence of prophetic events that are identified by the hidden history of the seven thunders that is represented in Revelation chapters eleven through thirteen. We have not yet reached the point in the development of these events, where we will overlay the history of the horn of Protestantism and the horn of Republicanism. Nor have we yet prepared a platform of understanding to pinpoint the role of Islam in the message of the Midnight Cry. There is, though, a very important truth connected with these events, that identifies what a person must do when they understand the truths that are being unsealed. The blessing of Revelation includes the responsibility of “keeping” those things that are written.

The line of history that is being unsealed conveys the creative power of God to those who would hear, read and keep those things written therein. It is therefore time to break away from our consideration of Isaiah’s last prophetic narrative, and Revelation chapters eleven through thirteen in order to establish the significance of the “three and a half days” that Elijah and Moses were dead in the street of the information super highway, that runs through the valley of dead dry bones. What we will identify now, is the symbolism of “the wilderness.”

In the last article we identified four prophetic witnesses of the sequence of events that are established by the hidden history of the seven thunders. The line of the image of Christ, the line of the two witnesses, the line of the image of the beast and the line of the counterfeit king of the north.

The second half of the line of the counterfeit king of the north, begins with the empowerment of the papacy in 538. Then the papacy, the spiritual counterfeit king of the north, trampled down spiritual Jerusalem and spiritual Israel for twelve hundred and sixty years.

> And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Luke 21:24.

John was told to measure both the sanctuary and the host, but he was also told to leave out the courtyard, for it had been given to the Gentiles for twelve hundred and sixty years.

> And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. Revelation 11:1, 2.

John and Luke testify that the Gentiles “tread under foot” “Jerusalem,” for “forty and two months.” John identifies the duration, and Luke marks the conclusion of the history. These two witnesses are addressing the question of Daniel chapter eight, and verse thirteen.

> Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? Daniel 8:13.

The question about the duration that the sanctuary and host were to be trodden under foot, identifies two desolating powers that would accomplish the act of treading down Jerusalem, which in Daniel is represented as the “sanctuary” and also the “host.” The correct foundational understanding of this verse, as expressed by J. N. Andrews, is that the verse identifies two desolating powers, which trampled down both the sanctuary and the host. The first desolating power identified in the verse is paganism, and the second is papalism. The word “host,” is Daniel’s expression for what John identifies as the “worshippers” in the temple, that is in Jerusalem.

> “THERE ARE TWO ‘DESOLATIONS’ IN DANIEL 8.—This fact is made so plain by Josiah Litch that we present his words:

> “‘The daily sacrifice’ is the present reading of the English text. But no such thing as sacrifice is found in the original. This is acknowledged on all hands. It is a gloss or construction put on it by the translators. The true reading is, ‘the daily and the transgression of desolation,’ daily and transgression being connected together by “and;” the daily desolation and the transgression of desolation. They are two desolating powers, which were to desolate the sanctuary and the host.’—Prophetic Expositions, Volume 1, page 127.

> “It is plain that the sanctuary and the host were to be trodden under foot by the daily and the transgression of desolation. The careful reading of verse 13 settles this point. And this fact establishes another, viz.: that these two desolations are the two grand forms under which Satan has attempted to overthrow the worship and the cause of Jehovah. Mr. Miller’s remarks on the meaning of these two terms, and the course pursued by himself in ascertaining that meaning, is presented under the following head:

> “THE TWO DESOLATIONS ARE PAGANISM AND PAPACY

> “‘I read on, and could find no other case in which it [the daily] was found, but in Daniel. I then [by the aid of a concordance] took those words which stood in connection with it, ‘take way;’ he shall take away, ‘the daily;’ ‘from the time the daily shall be taken away’, etc. I read on, and thought I should find no light on the text; finally, I came to 2 Thessalonians 2:7, 8. ‘For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked be revealed,’ etc. And when I had come to that text, oh! how clear and glorious the truth appeared! There it is! That is ‘the daily!’ Well now, what does Paul mean by ‘he who now letteth,’ or hindereth? By ‘the man of sin,’ and the ‘wicked,’ popery is meant. Well, what is it which hinders popery from being revealed? Why, it is paganism; well, then, ‘the daily’ must mean paganism.’—Second Advent Manual, page 66.” J. N. Andrews, The Sanctuary and the 2300 Days, 33, 34.

In fulfillment of the “seven times” of Leviticus twenty-six, paganism trampled down the sanctuary and host for twelve hundred and sixty years, and then papalism did the same work for an additional twelve hundred and sixty years. The papacy had trampled down Jerusalem for twelve hundred and sixty years according to Luke and John, until the papacy received its deadly wound in 1798. Subtracting twelve hundred and sixty years from 1798, arrives at 538. Subtracting twelve hundred and sixty years from 538, arrives at 723 BC, when Assyria, the literal king of the north at that time, took the northern kingdom of Israel into slavery.

John only refers to the twelve hundred and sixty years that the papacy trampled down the sanctuary and the host, but Luke addresses both periods of twelve hundred and sixty years that paganism and papalism trampled down Jerusalem, for he states “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Luke identifies the trampling down of Jerusalem as more than a single “time”, for he calls it the fulfillment of the “times” of the Gentiles.

Of course, in 1856, Millerite Adventism became Laodicean, and seven years later they rejected the truth of the “seven times” of Leviticus twenty-six, so it is impossible for Adventism to see these simple biblical facts. The fact that I am identifying is that the hidden history of the seven thunders, which identifies three waymarks, and a period of time between the first and second waymark, and then a second period of time between the second and third waymark, is represented within the prophetic line of the counterfeit king of the north.

That line started in 723 BC, with the northern kingdom of Israel going into slavery at the hands of the king of Assyria, a literal king of the north. Then in 538, the spiritual king of the north was empowered, and he then trampled down spiritual Jerusalem for another twelve hundred and sixty years, until he received a deadly wound in 1798. From 723 BC, until 538, the powers that held Israel in subjection were always pagan powers.

The line of Christ identifies the anointing of the true king of the north at His baptism in the year 27, and twelve hundred and sixty prophetic days later, He was crucified. His disciples were then empowered to present the message of the true king of the north, until the stoning of Stephen in the year 34. The only time Christ did not walk in the entire twelve hundred and sixty days of His ministry, was when he rode into Jerusalem in the triumphal entry. He therefore trod down Jerusalem for twelve hundred and sixty days, as did His disciples after the cross. Both lines, the counterfeit king of the north and Christ, the true king of the north, trod down Jerusalem and the host for twelve hundred and sixty days.

Paganism was a counterfeit of the worship system of the earthly sanctuary service of the literal Jews, and papalism is a counterfeit of the heavenly sanctuary service of the spiritual Jews. Paganism’s twelve hundred and sixty years, was parallel to Christ’s twelve hundred and sixty days, and papalism’s twelve hundred and sixty years, was parallel to the disciples’ twelve hundred and sixty days.

Each of the two lines contain the identical prophetic structure of the hidden history of the seven thunders, that began to be publicly unsealed in July, 2023. The unsealing was accomplished in part by the recognition of the Millerite movement’s first disappointment. Their first disappointment ushered in a period of time, called the “tarrying time” in the parable of the ten virgins. The “tarrying time” ended at the Exeter, New Hampshire camp meeting, when the message of the Midnight Cry had been fully established. The Exeter camp meeting became the second waymark, which then ushered in a period of time where the message of the Midnight Cry was proclaimed, until the third waymark of judgment and the last disappointment arrived.

The three waymarks were the first disappointment, the Midnight Cry message and the last disappointment. Those three waymarks align with the Hebrew word “truth” which represent the first, thirteenth and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The first and the last both being disappointments, represents the signature of Alpha and Omega.

There is no direct representation of twelve hundred and sixty days in the Millerite history, yet the Millerite history is the history of the first movement and therefore typifies the last movement. The history of the first disappointment in the last movement began on July 18, 2020, and it is illustrated in Revelation chapter eleven. In Revelation chapter eleven, the two witnesses are slain, marking the first disappointment in the last movement, that was typified by the first movement.

In Revelation eleven the disappointment ushered in a period of twelve hundred and sixty days that their dead bodies were in the street, thus marking the tarrying time of the parable. At their resurrection they are lifted up as an ensign in the same hour as the judgment of the Sunday law. The history of the two witnesses includes a symbolic period of twelve hundred and sixty days.

The details of the movement of the third angel in the hidden history of the seven thunders provides much more specification than the other parallel lines, but the line of the third angel, the line of the true king of the north, and the line of the counterfeit king of the north, all possess the same prophetic characteristics of a beginning point, followed by a period of time that reaches to a middle point, that is followed by a period of time that reaches to judgment at the end-point.

The twelve hundred and sixty days is a primary element of the hidden history of the seven thunders. The twelve hundred and sixty days is symbolized as a “wilderness” in Revelation chapter twelve.

> And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. Revelation 12:6.

The church fled into the wilderness to escape the treading down of the papal power for twelve hundred and sixty years. Verse fourteen provides another witness.

> And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. Revelation 12:14.

The church fled from the persecution of the dragon and the papacy for twelve hundred and sixty years, and therefore the “wilderness” is a symbol of the twelve hundred and sixty days. That number occurs directly seven times in the books of Daniel and Revelation, but it is represented several other ways in the Scriptures. In each case, it represents the “seven times” of Leviticus twenty-six.

Whether it was paganism trampling down the sanctuary and host from 723 BC to the year 538, or the papacy trampling down spiritual Jerusalem and the worshippers therein, it was an illustration of the scattering of God’s people, that was brought about by God’s people breaking the “sabbaths-of-the-land” covenant as represented in Leviticus chapters twenty-five and twenty-six. In chapter twenty-six it is called the quarrel of God’s covenant.

> And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. Leviticus 26:25.

The rebellion against God’s covenant brought upon God’s people the slavery and scattering that is represented as the “quarrel of my covenant.” Without understanding the punishment, which Daniel calls Moses’ “curse” and “oath”, that is also called the “quarrel of my covenant,” blinds a person from seeing the deeper meaning of Christ’s work as represented in Daniel chapter nine. A consistent evaluation of God’s people who are in Laodicean blindness in the writings of Ellen White is that they cannot “reason from cause, to effect.” You may profess to understand the twelve hundred and sixty years of the Dark Ages, but if you don’t know the “cause” of that trampling down you are blind.

> And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Daniel 9:27.

Christ’s confirmation of the covenant is directly associated with the “quarrel of His covenant.” The duration of the “curse” was twenty-five hundred and twenty years, and the duration of Christ confirming that very same covenant was twenty-five hundred and twenty days. In agreement with the Hebrew word “truth” which provides the structure of the hidden history of the seven thunders, the prophetic week that Christ was to confirm His covenant possessed three waymarks that are represented by the first, thirteenth and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

The first waymark of the week was His baptism, the second waymark was the cross and the last was the death of Stephen. To refuse to see the “seven times” of Leviticus twenty-six, as the heavenly angels led William Miller to see the “seven times,” eliminates the ability to fully see the very prophecy where Christ shed His blood and confirmed the very covenant that His literal ancient people had rejected. Everyone that is ultimately saved will have only a partial and incomplete understanding of “truth.” But no one gets saved that purposely refuses to see the “truth.” There is only one way to the Father, and that is through Jesus, and Jesus is the “truth.”

This is a worthwhile understanding to ponder, for it speaks to the covenant of Leviticus twenty-five and twenty-six. The “curse” of the “seven times” was brought upon ancient literal Israel through their unwillingness to implement the guidelines of allowing the land to rest, and of fulfilling the Jubilee instructions. It was a sin of omission. The curse was brought upon them for their omitting a work they were commanded to do, rather than because they had directly broken a commandment, such as thou shalt not kill or thou shalt not steal. They simply ignored the guidelines associated with allowing the land to rest. Adventists that simply do not accept the “seven times” (that the angels led William Miller to discover) because for whatever unsanctified reason, simply have never taken the time to truly investigate the truth, and are accomplishing the same type of rebellion of omission by disregarding the very same covenant information that ancient literal Israel disregarded. The beginning illustrates the ending.

The twelve hundred and sixty days in Revelation twelve that is identified as a “wilderness,” is a symbol of the “seven times.” Both the twelve hundred and sixty days of Christ’s ministry, and the twelve hundred and sixty days of the disciple’s ministry represent the entire week that the covenant was being confirmed. Both the twelve hundred and sixty years that paganism trampled down God’s people, and the twelve hundred and sixty years that papalism trampled down God’s people, represent the entire “seven times” of the curse of Moses.

In Revelation eleven, after twelve hundred and sixty days, the dead bones are brought back to life in order to enter into covenant as the one hundred and forty-four thousand. But in order for them to accomplish that covenant relationship, they are required to fulfill the terms of the covenant, just as Daniel did in chapter nine. The terms of the covenant of the “seven times” contains specific directions for those who find themselves in the land of the enemy. When those who wake up to the reality that they have been scattered desire to return to the Lord, Leviticus twenty-six provides directions for how they are to return.

> And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. Leviticus 26:39–42.

The expression “pine away” in the Scriptures means to be dissolved, corrupted and consumed away. To pine away is to deteriorate into dead dry bones. And the instruction identifies death, for it represents those that awaken to their condition as being “in your enemies land.”

> The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 1 Corinthians 15:26.

July 18, 2020, the first disappointment in the movement of the third angel took place. It has been typified by all the other first disappointments in the sacred prophetic reform lines. Ezekiel chapter thirty-seven identifies God’s people in the last days as having been dissolved, corrupted and consumed away until they were simply a valley of dead dry bones. They are in the enemy’s land, which is the land of death. In Revelation eleven, the two witnesses were slain and left in the street. All the prophets agree with each other. Moses is therefore speaking to those that are dead in the street that runs through Ezekiel’s valley. In their disappointed condition they are given instruction through Jeremiah.

> Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. Jeremiah 15:19.

Jeremiah is informed that if he desires to speak for God, he must return, and in so doing he must separate the precious from the vile. The context of the passage identifies that the vile are those that he is not to return unto. When he is represented in the passage as being in his disappointed state, he identifies that he was alone.

> I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation. Jeremiah 15:17.

Jeremiah was not seated in the “assembly of mockers,” for he was seated alone. He was not to return to the vile, who are the assembly of mockers. In 1863, Adventism began its return to the “assembly of mockers” when it returned to the biblical methodology of the daughters of Babylon in order to reject Moses’ “seven times.” But Jeremiah is more specifically speaking of the last days, than the Millerite history. When those in the valley of dead bones awaken to the fact that they are in the enemies’ land, they are never to return to those that rejoiced over their death in the street. That group can return unto Jeremiah, but he cannot return unto them.

But if they are to return, they also must fulfill the directions given by Moses that are directly associated with the “seven times.” Those that are dead in the street in Revelation eleven, are dead for three and a half days, which prophetically is the “wilderness.”

This is why the initial awakening of the dead is accomplished by a message that causes the bones to be formed together, but they are not yet alive. It takes the message of the four winds, which is the sealing message, to turn them into a mighty army. The first message that brings them together comes from a “voice.”

> Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. Isaiah 40:1–4.

The voice comes from the wilderness, which is a symbol of the scattering of the “seven times.” That voice is in the wilderness, for Ezekiel was also taken to the valley of dead bones. He was testifying from the very valley, not from a distance.

> The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones. Ezekiel 37:1.

The valley is the wilderness of three and a half days. The promise of the voice is that Jerusalem’s iniquity is pardoned and that her warfare is finished. The promise is representing the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand that is accomplished in the last days. But the pardoning of her iniquity is associated with her receiving “double” for all her sins. The remedy offered by Moses requires a confession of not only their iniquities, but also the iniquities of their fathers. If they will fulfill that command, their iniquity will be pardoned.

We will continue these truths in the next article.

> Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. Daniel 9:11–13.

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