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# Rome Establishes the Vision - Number Seventeen

The Final Sifting of the 144,000: The Prophetic Test of the Image of the Beast

Author

Jeff Pippenger

Published

September 24, 2024

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Key Takeaways

- The final sifting process for the 144,000 is a prophetic test based on the formation of the image of the beast.
- This test occurs twice: first in the United States, then globally, reflecting a pattern of judgment that starts with God’s house.
- The period from September 11, 2001 (Patriot Act) to the Sunday law in the U.S. marks the final testing period for Laodicean Adventism.
- Historical events like Noah’s preaching, Christ’s ministry, and the Millerite movement prefigure this testing process.
- The image of the beast test is not merely about choosing sides; it requires deep prophetic study and correct application of prophetic rules.
- Misinterpretation of prophetic symbols, especially the roles of Rome and the United States, can lead to strong delusion and eternal consequences.
- The relationship between the papal power, the United States, and the United Nations is crucial to understanding the formation of the image of the beast.

Those called to be among the one hundred and forty-four thousand are now in their final sifting process and the process is a testing process that is based upon the formation of the image of the beast. The testing process begins with the house of God, for judgment always begins with the house of God, and thereafter God’s other flock is confronted with the identical testing process. Perhaps the most significant and important prophetic characteristic in the formation of the image of the beast is that it occurs twice; first in the United States, then in the rest of the world. Prophetically this means that the image of the beast in the world is the final manifestation of the image of the beast, and therefore any typification of the image of the beast that came before the image of the beast in the world, was simply the shadow that typified the substance.

Judgment began at the house of God on September 11, 2001. That date had been typified by August 11, 1840, when the angel of Revelation ten came down with a little book open in His hand. When the angel of chapter ten came down He announced that the judgment of Protestantism was then under way. Whoever God judges, He first forewarns, and the confirmation of Miller’s methodology in determining time, added weight to his calculations about the judgment of the Second Coming. The testing of the Protestants was under way as of August 11, 1840 and by 1844 the Protestants had become the daughters of Rome. The period of 1840 to 1844 typifies the period of September 11, 2001, unto the soon-coming Sunday law.

Those two periods were also represented from Jesus’ baptism when the Holy Spirit descended until the cross. Those three periods were all typified by the one hundred and twenty years that were allotted to the antediluvian world, leading up to the flood. There is always a warning message that identifies the judgment of that particular history. There are sacred histories that also address this particular period in the last days.

Noah preached for one hundred and twenty years, then the judgment of the flood arrived. Christ preached for twelve hundred and sixty days, then came the judgment of the cross. The warning message of John the Baptist was empowered at the baptism of Christ, and then Jesus was led into the wilderness for forty days. Those forty days, and the subsequent three tests at the end of the forty days teach that once the message is empowered, as identified by the descent of a holy symbol, such as the Holy Spirit at His baptism, and the descent of both angels of Revelation chapters ten and eighteen—a testing process is under way. When the divine symbol comes down, the judgment message proclaimed to those who are then the subject of judgment is empowered and the particular group that is being judged is then in a specific period that only ends with the close of their probation.

The line of Jesus identifies two periods of witnessing. The first was His personal witness for twelve hundred and sixty days, then His witness in the presence of His disciples for another twelve hundred and sixty days until Stephen was stoned.

> “Then, said the angel, ‘He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week [seven years].’ For seven years after the Saviour entered on His ministry, the gospel was to be preached especially to the Jews; for three and a half years by Christ Himself; and afterward by the apostles. ‘In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.’ Daniel 9:27. In the spring of A. D. 31, Christ the true sacrifice was offered on Calvary. Then the veil of the temple was rent in twain, showing that the sacredness and significance of the sacrificial service had departed. The time had come for the earthly sacrifice and oblation to cease.

> “The one week—seven years—ended in A. D. 34. Then by the stoning of Stephen the Jews finally sealed their rejection of the gospel; the disciples who were scattered abroad by persecution “went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4); and shortly after, Saul the persecutor was converted, and became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.” The Desire of Ages, 233.

The line of Noah, Christ, the Millerites and the one hundred and forty-four thousand all provide witness to a period of time when a specific target audience is tested by a warning message. The empowerment of the message identifies the beginning of a testing period, that in turn ends with the close of that target audience’s probation. With the prophetic line of Jesus two periods of witnessing are identified. Those two periods of witnessing typify the two warning messages represented by the angel who descended on September 11, 2001 which fulfilled Revelation 18:1–3, who was then followed by the second voice of verse four and onward of chapter eighteen.

> “So in the last work for the warning of the world, two distinct calls are made to the churches. The second angel’s message is, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ And in the loud cry of the third angel’s message a voice is heard from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people.’” Review and Herald, December 6, 1892.

The first period is the judgment that begins with the house of God, and then at the soon-coming Sunday law the second period of judgment commences with the warning to come out of Babylon. The line of Christ from His baptism to the cross represents September 11, 2001 unto the Sunday law in the United States, and the period from the Sunday law in the United States until the point where every nation is forced to accept Sunday as the Global Day of Worship is the period that concludes when the very last nation submits.

The period begins with the Sunday law in the United States and it ends when the final nation bows to the papal power. The beginning of the second period marks the end of the first period, and both have Sunday laws that have been previously typified in the witness of Rome. The first Sunday law in the year 321, was brought about through the authority of pagan Rome. The Sunday law that was brought about through the authority of the papal church is represented by the year 538. The Sunday law in the United States is 321, and the Sunday law enforced upon the last nation is 538. The Sunday law in the United States marks the arrival of the message of warning that is then proclaimed by the ensign that was made up of the outcasts of Israel.

That waymark is the year 321, and it marks the beginning of the period of the testing of every nation upon the Sunday question. That period ends when the final nation bows to Rome, and that event was typified by the waymark of the year 538. The period from 321 unto 538 was typified by the period from the cross until the stoning of Stephen. As Stephen was being stoned he saw Christ standing in the heavenly sanctuary, typifying when Michael stands up at the close of human probation.

September 11, 2001 marks the arrival of the warning of the first three verses of chapter eighteen, and it was marked by the prediction set forth by the prophetess Ellen White, who said that when the great buildings of New York City are brought down by a touch from God, that those very three verses would be fulfilled. It was also marked by the Patriot Act, which was a sign for those willing to see; that the principle of English law which professes that a person is innocent until proven guilty, was set aside for Roman law, which professes that a person is guilty, until proven innocent.

The Patriot Act marked the beginning of judgment for Laodicean Seventh-day Adventism. That period concludes at the Sunday law in the United States. Those Laodicean Seventh-day Adventists that successfully make it through that period of sifting, are then going to give the warning message of verse four of chapter eighteen, that ends with the final nation that bows to Rome. That period begins with the Sunday law in the United States and ends with the final Sunday law.

If we misunderstand the fact that there are two images to the beast that are identified upon more than two witnesses, then we will misunderstand the work represented by the first three verses of Revelation chapter eighteen that began in 2001, and the work that begins in verse four of chapter eighteen.

When we employ Sister White’s direct identification of the angel of Revelation eighteen’s descent in 1888, and her placing the same angel in the future tense, we find that 1888 typifies 2001. The angel of Revelation, that lightens the earth with His glory, came down at the Minneapolis meetings in 1888, and did so again when the great buildings of New York City came down.

The period of Christ’s baptism unto the cross, and the period from August 11, 1840 unto October 22, 1844, and the period of Noah’s one hundred and twenty years provide three witnesses to a period of judgment. 1888 provides a witness of the manifestation of rebellion that was recorded at the Minneapolis meetings, and Noah identifies the removal of the Holy Spirit from those who rejected the message. The rebellion of the antediluvians as well as the rebellion of the church leaders in 1888 both align with the history of Korah, Dathan and Abiram in the history of Moses, which the angel told Sister White was being repeated in Minneapolis.

From the Patriot Act until the Sunday law in the United States represents the testing period for Laodicean Seventh-day Adventism. The rebellion against the message of warning that announces their judgment identifies the removal of the Holy Spirit, and therefore the pouring out of strong delusion on the wicked foolish virgins of that history. The focus of the rebellion is the chosen messenger as represented by Noah, Moses, Elders Jones and Waggoner, and of course Sister White. The rebellion against the warning message and the messenger of that history is based upon the “oil” in the history of the parable of the ten virgins.

Those who present the warning message, do so, because they have “oil,” which is also the warning message. The distinction between the two classes is therefore produced by the correct applications of the rules of prophetic interpretation that were adopted by those of the movement of the first and second angels, represented as Miller’s rules of interpretation, and also the rules of prophetic interpretation adopted by the movement of the third angel.

The test that is represented as the “formation of the image of the beast,” must therefore be a test in connection with how the image of the beast is formed in God’s prophetic word.

From the Patriot Act in 2001, which was typified by the Blair Bill in 1888, which was typified by the Declaration of Independence in 1776, which was typified by the baptism of Christ, which typified August 11, 1840, all support the truth that the testing-process of judgment begins with an empowered warning message that must be taken from the hand of the angel and then be eaten.

The prophetic teaching that identifies the United States as the robbers of thy people confuses several points by their logic, and those points are often the most direct proof-texts in establishing elements of the formation of the image of the beast. A way to illustrate the fact that this test is prophetic in nature is by using the basic rules of prophecy to demonstrate a truth that is only understood if you accept Rome as the symbol represented by the robbers of thy people.

This illustration is drawn from the five lines of history within Adventism, where a controversy over Rome as a symbol occurred. We are now in the last, or sixth of these controversial histories, and the controversy now is identical to the controversy represented upon the 1843 chart.

It is easy to see this truth if you correctly apply the prophetic rules. A prophetic rule that needs to be used is that symbols have more than one meaning, and the meaning they use in a passage is to be established by the passage. The Syrian king, Antiochus III Magnus fulfilled the battle of verse ten of chapter eleven of Daniel, and he fulfilled the battle of Raphia in verses eleven and twelve, and he fulfilled the battle of Panium in verse fifteen. The Millerite controversy represented upon the 1843 chart was that the false Protestant view identified that the “robbers” was Antiochus Epiphanes, while also upholding the truth that the “robbers” were a symbol of Rome.

Verses ten through fifteen were first fulfilled in the history of Antiochus III Magnus, so those verses, and the subsequent historical repeat of those verses provide two witnesses to the fulfillment of those verses in the last days, for all the prophets spoke more directly about the last days, than the days in which they lived.

Along with that established rule concerning where a prophet’s testimony is to be applied, we also have Sister White who directly recorded “much of the history which has taken place in fulfillment of this prophecy [Daniel chapter eleven] will be repeated.” Antiochus III Magnus represents the United States as papal Rome’s proxy army. The Protestants argued that the robbers had typified another Antiochus, where the Millerites knew it was Rome. Currently one side identifies the United States as the robbers, and the other side holds to the foundational truth.

If the rule that identifies that symbols have more than one meaning, and the meaning is to be based upon the context where they are employed, then identifying the United States as the robbers, parallels the Protestants’ identification of Antiochus as the robbers, but now Antiochus is a symbol of the United States in the last days.

The context of the passage is directly addressing the question of what power exalts itself to establish the vision, so to place the emphasis upon this fact, is justified. It is justified upon many witnesses, for the other historical lines of a controversy over Rome as a symbol identify the same fact. That fact is that those on the wrong side of the issue invariably identify the United States in the place of Rome. But if you are unwilling to accept that symbols have more than one meaning, or if you believe they do so, but are not practiced enough to have full faith in the rule, then it will be virtually impossible for you to follow the logic that is now going to be applied.

Every two-horned power represents the United States in the last days. France is the twofold power represented by Sodom and Egypt. Islam also typifies the United States, for the United States is the false prophet in relation to the papal power who is Jezebel. The United States is Salome in subjection to Herodias. Balaam is a symbol of a false prophet too, though his story is more complex than simply being a false prophet.

Balaam’s prophecies, which were recorded after he blessed Israel three times, are associated with Islam in a variety of ways. The ass is a symbol of Islam, and you can’t keep the talking ass out of a story of Balaam. The wise men from the east who came to worship the baby Jesus were guided by Balaam’s prophecies. Islam of the three woes of Revelation chapter nine represents the false prophet Mohammed.

If you understand that symbols have more than one meaning, then you will no doubt also understand that many truths are so important that they are represented by a variety of symbols. The symbol that establishes the vision is a symbol of Rome, and therefore it is obvious that Rome would be a primary theme throughout Bible prophecy. One classic and well-established symbol of Rome is the king of the north in Daniel chapter eleven. The king of the north who comes to his end with none to help is the papal power, the Roman church, the pope of Rome, the man of sin.

In the controversy of Uriah Smith, it was claimed that the king of the north in verse thirty-six was France, and the king of the north in verse forty was Turkey. Both France and Turkey are symbols of the United States in different contexts, but as with the Protestants, and as it is today, in Smith’s controversy, he rejected the truth that the king of the north is a symbol of Modern Rome, and claimed the symbol of Rome was represented by a symbol of the United States in the nation of France, and again that the symbol of Rome was a symbol of the United States as represented in the nation of Turkey.

The context now contains three lines; Millerite history, Uriah Smith’s history, and the here and now. In each of those illustrations there is a controversy over a symbol of Rome, which is misapplied through misunderstanding Rome as a symbol of the United States.

The line of the controversy of “the daily,” in the book of Daniel upholds this very same emphasis of arguing against the truth regarding a symbol of Rome, though there are some important nuances in this history.

The logic of Uriah Smith’s prophetic model led his followers to misapply the sixth plague in chapter sixteen of Revelation. A primary problem in Smith’s application of chapter sixteen, other than his attempt to apply everything literally, in a period when everything is to be applied spiritually, was his inability to see the specific structure of the threefold union of the dragon, the beast and false prophet. By replacing the true meaning of the symbols with meanings of a private interpretation Smith’s logic precludes the ability to recognize how the threefold union is formed, and how it is formed is “the great test for the people of God by which their eternal salvation will be determined.”

The misapplication of symbols of Rome are an attempt by Satan to prevent God’s last-day people from seeing not only modern Rome, but how modern Rome is formed. The necessity of recognizing the prophetic characteristics associated with the joining together of the United Nations, the papal power and the United States contains eternal consequences.

In the book of Daniel there is a special test that emphasizes the importance of recognizing the relationships of these three powers, and there is another special test that emphasizes these identical points in the book of Revelation. “The daily” in the book of Daniel was understood to be pagan Rome by William Miller as he studied Second Thessalonians. Miller understood from the description of the prophetic relationship between pagan Rome and papal Rome in Second Thessalonians that the word, “daily,” was a symbol of pagan Rome, and the abomination of desolation would therefore be papal Rome.

The point we are underscoring though is that in Second Thessalonians the relationship between pagan Rome and papal Rome is placed in a context that teaches that when and if you do not understand the relationship of those two powers, you receive strong delusion, and are lost for eternity.

This is the same warning of the sixth plague where not only the dragon, who was pagan Rome in Second Thessalonians, and the beast, who was the “man of sin” in that passage, but also in chapter sixteen you have the false prophet. The passage is emphasizing the importance of recognizing the relationship of the powers who make up Modern Rome’s threefold union, that is also modern Babylon.

The controversy over “the daily” addresses the very same last-day controversy, but it expands the identification of the controversy by adding the importance of understanding the relationship between the three powers who make up Modern Rome. To refuse to see this truth, is to guarantee strong delusion for your reward.

In the current controversy those identifying the United States as the robbers appear unable to even assent to understanding why it would matter that the United States is repeatedly represented as being in subjection to the papal power rather than being the papal power itself. Basic common sense recognizes that the power who is controlling the relationship in politics, history, marriage and Bible prophecy is considered as the head, and the head is what exalts itself to establish the vision and then falls.

The logic that identifies the United States as the robbers, is unable to apply the history that was represented, and thereafter fulfilled, from 321 to 538. The symbol of the United States must fall away before the “man of sin” would be revealed. The “man of sin” gets revealed again in the last days, and before he does the United States must fall away first.

The Sunday law in the United States does not identify the United States as Modern Rome, it identifies that national ruin has arrived, and that the United States has been fully disconnected from righteousness. The Modern Rome that gets revealed when the United States falls away at the Sunday law is the papal power, who then and there just conquered her ally, the false prophet.

“The daily” in the book of Daniel and its relationship to the message of William Miller, and the significance of Miller’s understanding being derived from Second Thessalonians chapter two, and the warning to keep your garments in the sixth plague, all identify elements from those controversies that address current issues.

The warning of Second Thessalonians chapter two in the last days is about a class that identifies the United States as a symbol, but refuses to be guided by the light that addresses the United States’ relationship with papal Rome. In doing this they will see the relationship of not only papal Rome and the United States, but also the United Nations, the dragon power of Revelation chapter sixteen.

As with Uriah Smith, A.G. Daniells and W.W. Prescott, who Sister White identified as being unable to reason from cause to effect, so too are those who refuse to be guided by the direction of God’s prophetic word in its elaboration of the relationship of these three powers in the last days.

Like the first, the current, and the Uriah Smith controversies, the controversy of the relationship of the three powers as represented in Second Thessalonians and the sixth plague manifests a private interpretation that points to the United States, but refuses to see certain prophetic characteristic of the United States that would expose their erroneous concept, and possibly bring them to the light.

After September 11, 2001 the controversy over the four insects of Joel arose. The truth being that the insects represented a progressive spiritual declension of the Laodicean Seventh-day Adventist church by the introduction of Catholic and apostate Protestant theology. Again the correct application of the four insects is Rome, but the private interpretation claimed it was Islam, which is a symbol of a false prophet, and therefore a symbol of the United States. Line upon line, the controversies from Advent history which we have just addressed, all speak to the same truth.

The wrong side, on four witnesses, identifies the robbers as the United States, and upon two witnesses the wrong side’s understanding of the United States as a symbol is incorrect. God’s last-day candidates to be among the one hundred and forty-four thousand are now in a prophetic test. It is not a test that is accomplished by simply casting your vote for this side or that side. It is a test that can only genuinely be navigated correctly if the prophetic rules are accurately applied. In order for the Lion of the tribe of Judah to awaken His last-day people to the fact that they are not studying deeply enough, He allowed heresies to be introduced.

The fact that a heresy arose within this movement identifies that our personal aptitude in regard to the rules of prophetic interpretation is weaker than it should be. Rome establishes the vision, and the vision of the last days is the final rise and fall of the king of the north. That “king” is also the “man of sin”, and the “man of sin” is the “mystery of iniquity,” and that “wicked.” He is the antichrist, he is symbolized as the “robbers of thy people,” and he is the “head” of Modern Rome.

> “Those who become confused in their understanding of the word, who fail to see the meaning of antichrist, will surely place themselves on the side of antichrist. There is no time now for us to assimilate with the world. Daniel is standing in his lot and in his place. The prophecies of Daniel and of John are to be understood. They interpret each other. They give to the world truths which everyone should understand. These prophecies are to be witness in the world. By their fulfillment in these last days, they will explain themselves.” Kress Collection, 105.

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