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# The Book of Daniel - Number Twenty-Two

Unveiling the Prophetic Debate: The Methodology of the Latter Rain and the Final Crisis

Author

Jeff Pippenger

Published

December 17, 2023

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Key Takeaways

- Divine Methodology: Emphasizes the “line upon line” approach from Isaiah as the God-approved method for interpreting prophecy.
- Historical Parallels: Compares the significance of August 11, 1840 and September 11, 2001, when angelic descents validated prophetic predictions.
- Prophetic Validation: The events confirmed the prophetic principles of the Millerite movement and its “day for a year” rule.
- Sacred Charts and Tables: Uses the 1843 and 1850 charts and “Habakkuk’s Two Tables” to visually represent and affirm prophecy.
- Methodological Debate: Contrasts a true, faith-based interpretation with a literal, tradition-based approach—paralleling the Pharisee versus Publican dynamic.
- End-Time Implications: Connects these prophetic events to the final crisis, the sealing of the 144,000, and the impending establishment of the Sunday law.
- Call to Action: Urges believers to accept the refreshing “latter rain” (the presence of the Lord) and the correct prophetic methodology to avoid repeating past mistakes.

The methodology that is sanctioned by God is specifically identified in Isaiah chapters twenty-eight and twenty-nine, where the methodology is represented as “line upon line.” On September 11, 2001 the mighty angel of Revelation eighteen descended, and in so doing, he repeated the descent he had made on August 11, 1840. In both cases, after his descent, Babylon was identified as fallen, and a call was made, and soon will be made again, for those still in her communion to come out. In both cases, the event that fulfilled the prediction had a worldwide impact, for just as the first angel’s message was carried to “every mission station in the world” in 1840 the entire world was impacted and understood the event of September 11, 2001. The prophecy that was fulfilled on August 11, 1840 was a prophecy that identified a restraint being placed upon Islam of the second woe, and immediately after September 11, 2001 a restraint was placed upon Islam of the third Woe.

August 11, 1840 represents the empowerment of the message that was unsealed at the time of the end in 1798, and September 11, 2001 represents the empowerment of the message that was unsealed at the time of the end in 1989. The primary rule of the movement of the first angel was confirmed on August 11, 1840, and the rule was the day for a year principle. The primary rule of the movement of the third angel was confirmed on September 11, 2001. The rule being that truth is established by bringing “line upon line,” demonstrating that the end is illustrated by the beginning, and that history repeats. The prophetic event of September 11, 2001 is not only established by Sister White’s direct words, but more significantly by the fact that the events perfectly paralleled the same waymark in Millerite history. What was recognized with the event of August 11, 1840 was not the fulfillment of the prophecy, so much as the soundness of the methodology adopted by Miller and his associates.

> “The event exactly fulfilled the prediction. When it became known, multitudes were convinced of the correctness of the principles of prophetic interpretation adopted by Miller and his associates, and a wonderful impetus was given to the advent movement. Men of learning and position united with Miller, both in preaching and in publishing his views, and from 1840 to 1844 the work rapidly extended.” The Great Controversy, 335.

On September 11, 2001, when the latter rain began to be measured, the “debate” was and still is over true or false methodology. The prophecies of the Millerite movement are set forth on both the 1843 and the 1850 charts, which Sister White endorses as being designed by the Lord, and also as a fulfillment of Habakkuk chapter two. The message of the Millerites that was produced through “the principles of prophetic interpretation adopted by Miller and his associates, and” which thereafter produced the “wonderful impetus” that empowered the message of the Midnight Cry, had been represented upon the two sacred charts. The prophecies represented upon those two sacred charts were identified and established by Miller’s prophetic rules. The charts were a fulfillment of the command in Habakkuk to visually represent the prophecies that had been established by Miller’s methodology upon “tables,” in the plural. Habakkuk chapter two, identifies and is directly connected to the “debate” of Isaiah chapter twenty-seven.

> I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. Habakkuk 2:1.

The word “reproved” in the verse means ‘argued with.’ Habakkuk, representing both the watchmen of the movement of the first and third angels, was going to be argued with, and he wished to understand what he was to answer when the debate began. The answer in the history of the first angel was the production of the two sacred charts, and the answer in the history of the movement of the third angel was the production of the prophetic series titled, Habakkuk’s Two Tables. The charts and the series were built upon the methodology represented in each of those respective histories. In Habakkuk, the methodology represents what the watchmen use to establish the message, and it also identifies the issue that is “debated,” which in turn produces two classes of worshippers.

> I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:1–4.

One class is justified by faith, and the other class is lifted up in soul, as represented by the Pharisee and the Publican. The Pharisees trusted in a methodology that was based upon custom and tradition, and the Pharisee also represented a religious system who maintained control of their flock by implementing a hierarchical system governed by those who professed to be the chosen people of God, and the defenders of truth, but who ultimately participated in the crucifixion of the Truth. The prophetic “debate” of Isaiah chapter twenty-seven, is over true and false biblical methodology. The antagonists in the “debate” are those who follow the methodology of the Elijah for that time, and the long-established system of theological experts, that is typified by the Sanhedrin in the time of Christ.

Chapter twenty-seven identifies that the “debate” begins when he “stayeth,” or when God restrains “his rough wind,” in the “day of the east wind.” “In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind. By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged.” The word “purged” means atoned for, and represents the blotting out of sin in the investigative judgment. The methodology that is debated over, represents the test that must be passed, if the sins of God’s people are to be blotted out. The methodology of Elijah as a test is represented in the history of Christ, where we have been forewarned that in that time, those who rejected the message of John the Baptist (who Christ identified as Elijah), could not be benefitted by the teachings of Jesus.

The message of the latter rain is represented as the teachings of Jesus, for He is the Word, and more than this, the latter rain is represented as “the refreshing”, which is defined as “the presence of the Lord”.

> 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 Christ, which before was preached unto you. Acts 3:19, 20.

Sister White identifies that the angel that descended in Revelation chapter ten, on August 11, 1840, “was no less a personage than Jesus Christ.” The angel that descended on September 11, 2001, would therefore be “no less a personage than Jesus Christ.” His descent in either history identifies the beginning of the prophetic “debate” over true or false methodology, for it is represented by the book in His hand that God’s people were commanded to eat. When in Galilee, Jesus instructed the disciples that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood, for He claimed there that He was the bread sent down from heaven. He lost more disciples there than any other point in his ministry, and those that left, never returned. Those that left, did so because they chose to analyze His teachings with the false methodology of taking His words in their literal sense, instead of applying them in the correct spiritual sense. The “debate” of Isaiah twenty-seven, is a prophetic waymark that has several witnesses to establish that it represents an established professed system of biblical analysis in confrontation with the methodology represented by the Elijah messenger.

It marks a specific point in the progressive passing by of the former covenant and chosen people of God, and the beginning of the covenant relationship with those “who in times past, were not the people of God.” The “debate,” more importantly represents the beginning of the period of time that concludes with the soon-coming Sunday law. The Alpha and Omega always represents the end with the beginning, and in so doing the very “debate” becomes a symbol of one of the sins of our fathers, that must be acknowledged and confessed, in order to fulfill the Leviticus twenty-six prayer.

Daniel’s prayer of chapter nine, represents the prayer that must be offered at the conclusion of the three and a half days of Revelation eleven. That period of time is represented in Isaiah twenty-seven as the period when “the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof. When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will show them no favour.”

The two witnesses are shown “no favor,” for they proclaimed a false prediction that ushered in the “wilderness” period of three and a half days. They then became a “people of no understanding,” though they previously had been the “defenced city.” That city then became “desolate” and a “habitation” that was “forsaken”. It became dead dry bones lying in the street of the city of Sodom and Egypt. When the dead are then called to arise, they are tested by the sins of their fathers, which includes the “debate” at the beginning of the period that starts with the empowerment of the first message and ends with the arrival of the third message. The debate is whether to accept or reject the methodology represented by the Elijah of their history. In 1863, the fathers of Adventism rejected the message of Moses’ “seven times,” that had been presented by Elijah.

Beginning in July, of 2023 the withered boughs of Isaiah twenty-seven must decide if they will repeat the sins of the church in Galilee, and the history of 1863, as well as the history of September 11, 2001. To reject the methodology represented by Habakkuk chapter two, and Isaiah twenty-seven, and by Elijah, John the Baptist and William Miller is to repeat the sins of our fathers, instead of being benefited by the sacred ensamples that were record for those upon whom the ends of the earth have come.

> Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. 1 Corinthians 10:11–15.

The sacred methodology establishes the message of the Midnight Cry, which is the latter rain message. That message, when eaten spiritually produces a corresponding experience as certainly as Daniel and the three worthies’ diet of pulse, produced a fairer and fatter countenance. But in Habakkuk chapter two, the stumbling block for those who reject the offer of justification by faith, is pride which prevents them from following on to know the Lord. If there is ever a time when God’s people cannot put off the work of accepting the true methodology, and eating the message from the angel’s hand, it is now!

> “We must not wait for the latter rain. It is coming upon all who will recognize and appropriate the dew and showers of grace that fall upon us. When we gather up the fragments of light, when we appreciate the sure mercies of God, who loves to have us trust Him, then every promise will be fulfilled. ‘For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.’ Isaiah 61:11. The whole earth is to be filled with the glory of God.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 7, 984.

God’s prophetic Word has identified that when the great buildings of New York City were thrown down, the angel of Revelation eighteen would descend and “Revelation eighteen, verses one through three would be fulfilled.” Isaiah twenty-seven identifies that time as the “day of the east wind,” and it is the time when “the rough wind” is restrained. “In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.” Sister White identifies the very same time.

> “At that time, while the work of salvation is closing, trouble will be coming on the earth, and the nations will be angry, yet held in check so as not to prevent the work of the third angel. At that time the ‘latter rain,’ or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come, to give power to the loud voice of the third angel, and prepare the saints to stand in the period when the seven last plagues shall be poured out.” Early Writings, 85.

The power that angers the nations arrived when the latter rain began to fall. But as soon as that power angered the nations, it was held in check, for Isaiah recorded that he “stayeth his rough wind.” The rough wind, is the east wind, and that wind is restrained when the latter rain begins to sprinkle, and the work of salvation is closing. The closing work of salvation is the sealing time. “Line upon line” the rough, or east wind that is restrained during the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand is the four winds of Revelation chapter seven.

> And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. Revelation 7:1–3.

The sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand was typified by Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. There Christ, for the only time in His life, rode upon an ass (a symbol of Islam), and Lazarus led the procession into Jerusalem. Sister White identifies Lazarus as the symbol of the seal in that history.

> “In delaying to come to Lazarus, Christ had a purpose of mercy toward those who had not received Him. He tarried, that by raising Lazarus from the dead He might give to His stubborn, unbelieving people another evidence that He was indeed ‘the resurrection, and the life.’ He was loath to give up all hope of the people, the poor, wandering sheep of the house of Israel. His heart was breaking because of their impenitence. In His mercy He purposed to give them one more evidence that He was the Restorer, the One who alone could bring life and immortality to light. This was to be an evidence that the priests could not misinterpret. This was the reason of His delay in going to Bethany. This crowning miracle, the raising of Lazarus, was to set the seal of God on His work and on His claim to divinity.” The Desire of Ages, 528, 529.

The tarrying time that began on July 18, 2020 is represented by Christ’s tarrying before He resurrected Lazarus. The tarrying time of Revelation chapter eleven, ends at the conclusion of the three and a half days. During those days the two witnesses laid dead in the street. And just as Lazarus was to be resurrected following a tarrying time, so too were John’s two witnesses. Once resurrected they lead the procession into Jerusalem, representing the “seal of God,” and the “crowning miracle” that testifies to Christ’s divinity. The resurrection identifies the conclusion of the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, which takes place while the four winds, the east wind, the rough wind, that arrived on September 11, 2001, is held in check.

In the hour that is the Sunday law, those winds are released to bring retributive judgment upon the earth beast of Revelation thirteen. They are now even slipping through the fingers of those four angels that are restraining them during the sealing period. One of the most profound references in the Spirit of Prophecy relating to the day of the east wind is found in Testimonies, volume nine. That volume begins the inspired words on page eleven, so it begins symbolically on “nine-eleven”. The title of the chapter is, “The Final Crisis”, but it is also the first chapter of a section titled, “For the Coming of the King”.

There is no evidence that the section and title of the chapter were purposely manipulated by the editors that compiled the volume, yet the coming of the King, is easily recognized as the coming of the bridegroom, which in the parable of the ten virgins occurs with the midnight crisis that is produced in the virgins, by the presence or lack of oil in their vessels. The midnight crisis that is now arriving, is as the title represents—the last crisis for the ten virgins. In that crisis they manifest whether they have the oil, or they don’t. The oil is not simply the Holy Spirit, it is precisely defined as the Holy Spirit, and also as the correct message, and also as the correct character.

The correct methodology establishes the correct message of the Midnight Cry, and that message, received and acted upon, produces the correct character. That character in the last crisis is the character that receives the seal of God. The process of sealing God’s people began at the arrival of the day of the east wind, on September 11, 2001. The message of that time was then to be eaten. Whether to eat or not to eat is represented by Isaiah’s “debate,” and also by Habakkuk’s question of what the watchmen should answer in the argument. The tarrying time of Matthew twenty-five and Habakkuk concludes with the representation of two classes of worshippers. The tarrying time, represented by three and a half days in Revelation chapter eleven, is almost finished.

That tarrying time is also represented at the beginning of the chapter in volume nine, with a passage from Hebrews, where Paul paraphrases verse four of Habakkuk chapter two. Paul’s reference places Habakkuk two in the movement of the third angel, for it is in that history that Christ moved into the Most Holy Place, and in that history the light of His high priestly ministry was revealed, and it is in the book of Hebrews that Paul is revealing the clearest revelation of Christ’s high priestly ministry in God’s Word.

Habakkuk two in the movement of the first angel did not yet recognize the movement of Christ into the Most Holy Place, for it did not happen until the end of the proclamation of the Midnight Cry. The tarrying time referenced by Paul, is the tarrying time of Habakkuk and Matthew, but it is the tarrying time that would begin on July 18, 2020. The last verse of Habakkuk two represents the conclusion of the Midnight Cry in the Millerite history, and the arrival of the third angel:

> But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. Habakkuk 2:20.

Testimonies, volume nine emphasizes, beginning on page eleven (nine-eleven), the parable of the ten virgins, the tarrying time and its connection with Habakkuk and Matthew, and the final crisis and September 11, 2001, when the prophetic debate arrived.

> “Section 1—For the Coming of the King

> “‘Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.’ Hebrews 10:37.

> “The Last Crisis

> “We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.

> “The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.

> “The condition of things in the world shows that troublous times are right upon us. The daily papers are full of indications of a terrible conflict in the near future. Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every hand. Men possessed of demons are taking the lives of men, women, and little children. Men have become infatuated with vice, and every species of evil prevails.

> “The enemy has succeeded in perverting justice and in filling men’s hearts with the desire for selfish gain.

> “‘Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.’ Isaiah 59:14. In the great cities there are multitudes living in poverty and wretchedness, well-nigh destitute of food, shelter, and clothing; while in the same cities are those who have more than heart could wish, who live luxuriously, spending their money on richly furnished houses, on personal adornment, or worse still, upon the gratification of sensual appetites, upon liquor, tobacco, and other things that destroy the powers of the brain, unbalance the mind, and debase the soul. The cries of starving humanity are coming up before God, while by every species of oppression and extortion men are piling up colossal fortunes.

> “On one occasion, when in New York City, I was in the night season called upon to behold buildings rising story after story toward heaven. These buildings were warranted to be fireproof, and they were erected to glorify their owners and builders. Higher and still higher these buildings rose, and in them the most costly material was used. Those to whom these buildings belonged were not asking themselves: ‘How can we best glorify God?’ The Lord was not in their thoughts.

> “I thought: ‘Oh, that those who are thus investing their means could see their course as God sees it! They are piling up magnificent buildings, but how foolish in the sight of the Ruler of the universe is their planning and devising. They are not studying with all the powers of heart and mind how they may glorify God. They have lost sight of this, the first duty of man.’

> “As these lofty buildings went up, the owners rejoiced with ambitious pride that they had money to use in gratifying self and provoking the envy of their neighbors. Much of the money that they thus invested had been obtained through exaction, through grinding down the poor. They forgot that in heaven an account of every business transaction is kept; every unjust deal, every fraudulent act, is there recorded. The time is coming when in their fraud and insolence men will reach a point that the Lord will not permit them to pass, and they will learn that there is a limit to the forbearance of Jehovah.

> “The scene that next passed before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly fire-proof buildings and said: ‘They are perfectly safe.’ But these buildings were consumed as if made of pitch. The fire engines could do nothing to stay the destruction. The firemen were unable to operate the engines.” Testimonies, volume 9, 11–13.

The “debate” that took place over methodology in the beginning of the period represented by Daniel chapter one; and also represented by Daniel chapters one through three; and also represented by the history beginning on August 11, 1840; and also represented in the history of John chapter six, at the crisis in Galilee; and also represented by the history of September 11, 2001 (until July 18, 2020), is now being repeated, not within Adventism at large, but among the dead dry bones that are being aroused from their lethargy by a “voice” crying in the wilderness.

We will take up the consideration of the methodology being the latter rain as represented in Isaiah chapters twenty-eight and twenty-nine in our next article.

> Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. Isaiah 6:8–13.

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