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# The Book of Daniel - Number Fifty-Seven

Unveiling the Prophetic Secrets of Revelation: A Journey Through End-Time Prophecies

Author

Jeff Pippenger

Published

January 21, 2024

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Key Takeaways

- Daniel and Revelation: Two Books, One Message
- Unsealing the Prophetic Message
- The Three-Step Testing Process
- Revelation 17:9–11: A Crucial Revelation
- The Identical Historical Vantage Point
- The Great Whore’s Control
- The “Seven Mountains” Symbolism

All the prophets speak of the end of the world, and all the prophecies meet and end in the book of Revelation. In the book of Revelation, the same line is taken up as in the book of Daniel, for they are the same book. All of these prophetic principles have been firmly recorded in the previous articles. In the book of Revelation, we are informed that just before probation closes there is a prophecy that has been sealed up that is unsealed. These articles have been setting forth the prophetic elements connected to the message in the book of Revelation that is now being unsealed. The message is not a singular prophetic truth, and every element of the message that is being unsealed falls into the category of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

The message is unsealed just before the close of probation, when the “time is at hand.” The books of Daniel and Revelation, in association with the commentary from the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy, are very specific concerning the process associated with the unsealing of a prophetic message. It is the Lion of the tribe of Judah who accomplishes the unsealing, and when he does so he employs a structured method for presenting the message. He receives the message from the Father, who is represented as holding the Bible as it is sealed with seven seals. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, who is also the root of David and the Lamb that was slain, takes the book from the Father and removes the seals.

Jesus then gives the message to Gabriel, who along with other angels conveys the message to a prophet who writes the message and sends it to the churches. When the time to unseal the prophetic message is at hand the opening of the prophetic message produces a three-step testing process, that tests those within the churches who are the target audience of the prophet’s writing, and based upon the individual response of those church members, they determine whether they are in one of two classes. Those that accept the increase of knowledge which is produced by the message that is unsealed are identified as the “wise,” and those who do not are identified by Daniel as the “wicked,” and by Matthew as the “foolish”.

All of these factors connected with the unsealing of the final prophetic secret are addressed and emphasized in verse nine of Revelation seventeen, for it identifies an element of the Revelation of Jesus Christ that will test the two classes of worshippers. It does so by identifying that it is the “wise” that will understand the message that follows the warning flag of the verse.

> And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. Revelation 17:9–11.

The “mind that has wisdom,” is the mind of the “wise.” The “wise” understand the increase of knowledge, and the increase of knowledge that is represented immediately after the prophetic marker, which identifies a truth that will be understood by the wise and rejected by the wicked, is the truth associated with the kingdoms of Bible prophecy set forth in the verses that follow. Those verses represent the last illustration of the kingdoms of Bible prophecy, and what is unsealed in the last days is that those eight kingdoms have also been represented in the first illustration of the kingdoms of Bible prophecy in Daniel chapter two.

The revelation of the truth upholds the limited view of the kingdoms of Bible prophecy that made up one of Miller’s jewels, but it shone ten times brighter, for it possesses much more truth than the Millerites understood from their limited point in history, and it represents a test as represented by the number “ten,” and by the warning beacon of the introductory warning of “here is the mind that has wisdom,” prophetically interpreted as, the following truth will test the churches that are sent the message that is unsealed just before the close of probation.

In Revelation seventeen John was carried into the wilderness of twelve hundred and sixty years of papal darkness. He was placed at the very end of that period in 1798, which is the identical history he was placed at in Revelation thirteen.

> And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. Revelation 13:1.

The “sand of the sea” represents 1798, for it represents the historical vantage point where John was shown the papacy (the beast of the sea) in the past tense, and the United States (the beast of the earth) rising up, and ultimately speaking as a dragon at the soon-coming Sunday law. Then the earth beast forces the world to accept the “image of the beast,” that would speak and implement Sunday legislation upon the entire world.

> “At the time when the Papacy, robbed of its strength, was forced to desist from persecution, John beheld a new power coming up to echo the dragon’s voice, and carry forward the same cruel and blasphemous work. This power, the last that is to wage war against the church and the law of God, is represented by a beast with lamblike horns. The beasts preceding it had risen from the sea; but this came up out of the earth, representing the peaceful rise of the nation which it symbolized—the United States.” Signs of the Times, February 8, 1910.

John is taken to the same vantage point of history to receive the final presentation of the kingdoms of Bible prophecy in chapter seventeen. Standing at that vantage point the kingdoms are presented. He is first informed that the beast controls both church and state, for she is seated upon not only seven heads, but also seven mountains. The seating of the great whore is identifying that she is the one riding the beast, and the one who rides the beast is the one who controls the beast.

> And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Revelation 17:18.

The word “reigneth” means to hold and to rule over. A rider rules over the beast by holding the reins. The papacy rules over seven heads and also over seven mountains. In Daniel chapter two, Daniel informs Nebuchadnezzar that he is the “head” of gold. In Isaiah chapter seven a “head” is also a king, a capitol or a kingdom.

> 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 7:7, 8.

The papacy, which is the woman riding the beast, rules over all the kings of the earth. Those kings are represented as “ten kings,” that are the dragon-power of the last days. They are the kings the whore of Tyre commits fornication with. Those “ten kings” have been forced to accept the authority of the papacy, but the premier king of those ten kings is the United States. The United States is therefore also represented by Ahab, the king of the ten northern kingdoms of Israel. The number “seven” represents “complete,” and when the papacy is portrayed as reigning over the kings of the earth, she is also reigning over the ten kings and she is seated upon the seven heads.

Here is the mind that has wisdom, for the wise of the last days employ the methodology of “line upon line,” and they recognize that each of the symbols of the statecraft that the whore rules over identify the same truth. She also rules over seven mountains, and the Millerites identified a “mountain” in Bible prophecy as a symbol of a kingdom, but they also identified that symbols have more than one meaning.

Mountains are also a symbol of a church. The “glorious holy mountain” in the Scriptures represents God’s church.

> The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:1–3.

The “Lord’s house” is His church, and it is a “mountain.” The great whore is seated upon seven mountains, thus identifying that she rules over all the churches, just as she rules over all the kings. She has control over all the churches and all the states in all the world.

The vision that Isaiah is identifying that came to him “concerning Judah and Jerusalem,” that we just cited, continues on, and it is still the same passage in chapter four, and according to Isaiah it is the “same day” that people say, “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.” In that same period of time “seven women” are identified.

> And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. Isaiah 4:1–6.

The “day” which is the subject of Isaiah’s vision is the “hour” of the great earthquake of Revelation chapter eleven. The wise that have accepted the admonition to “return” from the disappointment of July 18, 2020, and met the requirements of Leviticus twenty-six, and who have been brought together by Ezekiel’s first prophecy, are sealed when they accept Ezekiel’s second message of the four winds of Islam. They are then lifted up into heaven as an ensign, and God’s other children in Babylon begin to respond to the call to come out of Babylon, that begins at the earthquake, which is the soon-coming Sunday law. God’s other flock hear the message to come out of Babylon, and they proclaim, “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.”

In that “hour” the great whore begins to sing her songs and commit fornication with the kings of the earth. Those who are not written in the Lamb’s book of life follow the whore, and their churches come under her authority. Those churches are represented by Isaiah as “seven women.” Those “seven women” are the “seven mountains” that the papacy shall rule over, as the United States forces the entire world to erect an image of the beast that will both speak and cause all to receive the mark of papal authority.

Those “seven women shall take hold of one man,” and that “man” is the “man” Paul identifies as “the man of sin.” In that testing period those who remain “in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem.” God’s people are those in the period of time whose names are written in the book of life, the book of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world. The other class, who take hold of the “man of sin” are those in Revelation chapter thirteen that worship the man of sin.

> And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. Revelation 13:8, 9.

The “hour” of the great earthquake, which is the Sunday law crisis, is the conclusion of the investigative judgment, and the judgment is based upon whether your name is found or not found entered within the book of life, thus in that time the two classes represented by the relation to the book of life is identifying the very closing scenes of judgment. Those who take hold of the “man of sin,” proclaim that they will “eat” their “own bread, and wear” their “own apparel,” but their primary desire is to “be called by thy name”.

They will retain their own doctrinal statement of beliefs (eat their own bread), and retain their denominational profession (their own apparel), but accept the name of the “man of sin.” The name of the “man of sin,” is “catholic”, which means “universal”. Those who take hold of the “man of sin,” wish to become part of the “universal church”, which is the Catholic church. They desire that relationship in order to “take away” their “reproach.”

The “reproach” addresses two significant elements of the beast that reigns over all the churches and all the nations in the last days. In the “hour of the great earthquake” in Revelation eleven, “the third woe cometh quickly”. The “third woe” is Islam. In the “hour of the great earthquake” in Revelation eleven, the Seventh Trumpet sounds. The Seventh Trumpet is Islam. Islam strikes in the “hour of the great earthquake,” for all of the Trumpets are the prophetic tools God has employed in judgment upon forced Sunday worship throughout world history.

When the “national ruin” of the United States is brought about, at the soon-coming Sunday law, the “nations will be angry.” It is Islam that angers the nations in Bible prophecy, as represented by the first reference to Islam in the book of Genesis.

> And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. Genesis 16:11, 12.

The “reproach” of the last days is the religion of Islam. The churches and the nations of the world will come under the authority of the New World Order of a United Nations, which is ruled over by the Catholic church. The pope will be seated upon the one-world system, just as Constantine gave the papacy its seat in the year 330. The nations will determine that their ability to deal with the warfare being brought against mankind by Islam, can only be accomplished by a united effort, which will require a subjection to some moral authority, which the United States will insist is the Roman church. Just as Justinian gave the Catholic church its great authority in the year 533, history is repeated. The United States will force the world through its military might to obey, just as Clovis did for the Catholic church in the year 496. The history of verse two of Revelation thirteen will be repeated.

> And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. Revelation 13:2.

Once the image is set up, then the kings of the earth, who have been angered by the attacks of Islam, will recognize that the universal “reproach” against Islam that has been used to bring the worldwide image of the beast into existence, was not the “reproach” that the “man of sin” (Jezebel) was actually concerned with. Too late, the world will find out that Jezebel cares nothing about Islam, but that her heart desires to kill Elijah, as Herodias killed John the Baptist.

The “mind which hath wisdom,” is the “mind of the wise,” and the “wise” are those who understand the “increase of knowledge” that is produced when the Lion of the tribe of Judah, unseals the Revelation of Jesus Christ, just before probation closes.

> And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. Revelation 22:10, 11.

The “seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth,” represents the truth that the papacy will reign over both church and state. Symbols have more than one meaning, and the symbols are to be defined and understood by the context of the passage where the symbols are represented. The argument arises that the verse identifies that the heads are the mountains, so what would be the justification for identifying a distinction between the heads (statecraft) and the mountains (churchcraft)? The distinction is established in Daniel chapters seven and eight. In chapter seven both pagan Rome and papal Rome are identified as “diverse,” from the beasts that preceded them.

When chapter seven is brought upon chapter eight (line upon line), we find in chapter eight the little horn of Rome, oscillating between man, woman, man, woman. One symbol (the little horn) that represents two powers. In those chapters, a horn is a kingdom, and a kingdom is also a head. In chapter eight, the little horn represents two kingdoms, the fourth and fifth kingdom of Bible prophecy. The little horn symbolically represents two kingdoms, and the two kingdoms it represents are kingdoms that identify the union of statecraft and churchcraft. The seven heads, which are also seven mountains, represent two kingdoms, and the one kingdom is churchcraft and the other is statecraft.

In Daniel chapter two, there is another witness to this prophetic symbolism, for there the last kingdom, which the Millerites understood to be the fourth kingdom of Rome, is represented by iron and clay. The iron and clay are combined, though in reality iron does not combine with clay. Yet when Sister White comments upon the “iron and clay,” she identifies it as a symbol of churchcraft and statecraft, as is represented by chapter eight’s little horn, and the Revelation seventeen heads that are also mountains.

> “We have come to a time when God’s sacred work is represented by the feet of the image in which the iron was mixed with the miry clay. God has a people, a chosen people, whose discernment must be sanctified, who must not become unholy by laying upon the foundation wood, hay, and stubble. Every soul who is loyal to the commandments of God will see that the distinguishing feature of our faith is the seventh-day Sabbath. If the government would honor the Sabbath as God has commanded, it would stand in the strength of God and in defense of the faith once delivered to the saints. But statesmen will uphold the spurious sabbath, and will mingle their religious faith with the observance of this child of the papacy, placing it above the Sabbath which the Lord has sanctified and blessed, setting it apart for man to keep holy, as a sign between Him and His people to a thousand generations. The mingling of churchcraft and statecraft is represented by the iron and the clay. This union is weakening all the power of the churches. This investing the church with the power of the state will bring evil results. Men have almost passed the point of God’s forbearance. They have invested their strength in politics, and have united with the papacy. But the time will come when God will punish those who have made void His law, and their evil work will recoil upon themselves.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 4, 1168, 1169.

We will continue this study in the next article.

> “In the scene representing the work of Christ for us, and the determined accusation of Satan against us, Joshua stands as the high priest, and makes request in behalf of God’s commandment-keeping people. At the same time Satan represents the people of God as great sinners, and presents before God the list of sins he has tempted them to commit through their lifetime, and urges that because of their transgressions, they be given into his hands to destroy. He urges that they should not be protected by ministering angels against the confederacy of evil. He is full of anger because he cannot bind the people of God into bundles with the world, to render to him complete allegiance. Kings and rulers and governors have placed upon themselves the brand of antichrist, and are represented as the dragon who goes to make war with the saints—with those who keep the commandments of God and who have the faith of Jesus. In their enmity against the people of God, they show themselves guilty also of the choice of Barabbas instead of Christ.

> “God has a controversy with the world. When the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, He has an awful account to settle, which would now make the world fear and tremble were men not blinded and bewitched by satanic delusions and deceptions. God will call the world to account for the death of His only-begotten Son, whom to all intents and purposes the world has crucified afresh, and put to open shame in the persecution of His people. The world has rejected Christ in the person of His saints, has refused His messages in the refusal of the messages of prophets, apostles, and messengers. They have rejected those who have been colaborers with Christ, and for this they will have to render an account.” Testimonies to Ministers, 38, 39.

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