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# The Book of Daniel - Number One-Hundred and Eighty-Six

Panium’s Promise: The Final Sealing and Midnight Cry Revelation

Author

Jeff Pippenger

Published

April 16, 2024

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Key Takeaways

- Jesus’ promise at Panium (Caesarea Philippi) to build His church on the rock of Peter’s confession and the assurance that the “gates of hell” would not prevail, sets the stage for the final sealing of the 144,000.
- The sealing process, symbolically initiated on September 11, 2001, parallels the rediscovery of key Adventist prophecies, especially the “seven times” of Leviticus, marking a period of testing and separation between two classes of worshippers.
- The “keys of the kingdom” granted to Peter represent the critical biblical method of “line upon line”, providing the prophetic insights necessary for discerning and proclaiming the Midnight Cry and Loud Cry messages.
- The geographical and historical context of Panium, associated with the “gates of hell” and the Jordan River, enriches the understanding of Christ’s mission and His promise of victory for His church.
- The transition from the Laodicean to the Philadelphian state among God’s people, characterized by unity and anointing by the Holy Spirit, is essential for facing the final religious battles and fulfilling the divine mission.
- The article draws parallels between biblical events, such as Peter’s confession and the parable of the ten virgins, emphasizing the need for readiness and the presence of the Holy Spirit (symbolized by oil) in the last days.
- The narrative concludes with a call to embrace the truths revealed through the prophetic keys, ensuring preparedness for the sealing and the eventual triumph over the challenges symbolized by the “gates of hell.”

At Panium, which was Caesarea Philippi, which is verses thirteen through fifteen in chapter eleven of the book of Daniel, which is the history where the Republican and Protestant horns fulfill the enigma of being the eighth that is of the seven, which is the history where the Seal of God is permanently impressed upon the one hundred and forty-four thousand, and the history of the arrival of the message of the Midnight Cry, Christ gave a promise to His last-day people.

> And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:18, 19.

The period of the sealing which began on September 11, 2001, when the mighty buildings of New York City were brought down, which ends at the soon coming Sunday law, was designed by the Alpha and Omega. The very last part of the period repeats the very first part of the period. On September 11, 2001 the Lord led His people back to the old paths, where among other truths they discovered the “seven times,” just as it was found in the days of king Josiah. The latter rain then began to sprinkle, and a testing process that produced a separation of two classes of worshippers began.

In fulfillment of Habakkuk chapter two the two sacred charts were discovered and became an emblem of that historical period. Just as significantly the “debate” of Habakkuk chapter two began, between the methodology of line upon line, which is the latter rain methodology, in opposition to the methodology of apostate Protestantism that had been progressively adopted by Adventism beginning in the rebellion of 1863.

Jesus promised that He would give His last-day people “the keys of the kingdom,” and in so doing, He is referring to the correct biblical methodology, that contains the necessary prophetic keys to recognize, establish and proclaim the message of the Midnight Cry and Loud Cry.

> “Those who commune with God walk in the light of the Sun of Righteousness. They do not dishonor their Redeemer by corrupting their way before God. Heavenly light shines upon them. As they near the close of this earth’s history, their knowledge of Christ, and of the prophecies relating to him, greatly increases. They are of infinite worth in God’s sight; for they are in unity with his Son. To them the word of God is of surpassing beauty and loveliness. They see its importance. Truth is unfolded to them. The doctrine of the incarnation is invested with a soft radiance. They see that the Scripture is the key that unlocks all mysteries and solves all difficulties. Those who have been unwilling to receive the light and walk in the light will be unable to understand the mystery of godliness, but those who have not hesitated to take up the cross and follow Jesus, will see light in God’s light.” The Southern Watchman, April 4, 1905.

Those represented by Peter, who are the one hundred and forty-four thousand, are those who accept the Laodicean message that arrived on September 11, 2001, which is now being repeated since July, 2023. The Laodicean message that arrived in 1856, was the increased knowledge of the “seven times,” and when Christ brings the dead bones together, and thereafter brings them to life they transition from the Laodicean movement of the third angel unto the Philadelphian movement of the one hundred and forty-four thousand. That transition is brought about by Christ’s Word, for they are sanctified by His Word, and His Word is “truth,” and His Word is the “key” that unlocks His Word.

> And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Revelation 3:7–8.

The methodology of “line upon line” is the key which Christ promised to His last-day people in the battle at the “gates”. A “gate” is a church.

> And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. Genesis 28:16, 17.

The battle at the gates represents the religious battles that occur between truth and error, and the error of the religion of Greece, is the gate of hell, and the religion of apostate Laodicean Adventism is also a gate. The Laodicean Adventist gate represents where the debate of Habakkuk is fulfilled.

> In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people, And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Isaiah 28:5-14

The keys of the kingdom are the words of the Scriptures, that are given to God’s last-day people by the Word.

> “There are truths in the word which, like veins of precious ore, are hidden beneath the surface. The hidden treasure is discovered as it is searched for, as a miner searches for gold and silver. The evidence of the truth of God’s word is in the word itself. Scripture is the key that unlocks scripture. The deep meaning of the truths of God’s word is unfolded to our minds by His Spirit.

> “The Bible is the great lesson book for the students in our schools. It teaches the whole will of God concerning the sons and daughters of Adam. It is the rule of life, teaching us of the character that we must form for the future life. We need not the dim light of tradition to make the Scriptures comprehensible. As well might we suppose that the noonday sun needs the glimmering torchlight of earth to increase its glory. The utterances of priest and minister are not needed to save men from error. Those who consult the divine Oracle will have light. In the Bible every duty is made plain. Every lesson given is comprehensible. Every lesson reveals to us the Father and the Son. The word is able to make all wise unto salvation. In the word the science of salvation is plainly revealed. Search the Scriptures, for they are the voice of God speaking to the soul.” Testimonies, volume 8, 157.

The keys that Christ gave unto the last-day church have the same power they had when they were given to Peter.

> “Peter had expressed the truth which is the foundation of the church’s faith, and Jesus now honored him as the representative of the whole body of believers. He said, ‘I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’

> “‘The keys of the kingdom of heaven’ are the words of Christ. All the words of Holy Scripture are His, and are here included. These words have power to open and to shut heaven. They declare the conditions upon which men are received or rejected. Thus the work of those who preach God’s word is a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. Theirs is a mission weighted with eternal results.” The Desire of Ages, 413.

The power that is manifested through His words, when placed in the hands of men is based upon the principles identified in His word. The simplest perhaps, and perhaps the most profound is that truth is established upon the testimony of two.

> “Another grave evil that had arisen in the church was that of brethren going to law against one another. Abundant provision had been made for the settlement of difficulties among believers. Christ Himself had given plain instruction as to how such matters were to be adjusted. ‘If thy brother shall trespass against thee,’ the Saviour had counseled, ‘go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 18:15–18.” Acts of the Apostles, 304.

There are at least three geographical witnesses of the period when the one hundred and forty-four thousand are sealed at the Midnight Cry. Remembering the fact that at the cry at midnight, it is too late to obtain the oil, we find the geographical testimony of the Exeter camp meeting providing an illustration of the point where God’s last-day people are sealed, and we find that truth represented by the geography of Caesarea Philippi, and also by the testimony of the battle of Panium, in verses thirteen to fifteen of Daniel chapter eleven. Perhaps it is a little off to identify these three witnesses as geographical, but I am employing that term because the geography is certainly part of the setting in Exeter and Caesarea Philippi. Jesus places Peter within the prophetic geography that the one hundred and forty-four thousand find themselves in the last days. Then He gives a command.

> And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Matthew 16:19–23.

The word “Exeter” is the name of a city in Devon, England. Its etymology can be traced back to Old English, where it was known as “Exanceaster” or “Execestre.” The name is believed to derive from the Old English words “Exe” (referring to the River Exe, upon which the city is situated) and “ceaster” (meaning “Roman fort” or “walled city”). Therefore, “Exeter” means either the “fort on the River Exe,” or “the walled city by the River Exe.” The geography associated with the arrival and fulfillment of the Midnight Cry in Millerite history identifies a location where there was water, representing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and a point where God was raising up an army to proclaim the message to the world, which Sister White informs us went like a “tidal wave.” A tidal wave is not simply river water, it is water that is super empowered.

Millerite history was the fulfillment of the parable of the ten virgins, and when the one hundred and forty-four thousand are brought to the conclusion of the sealing time, they will repeat the waymarks identified at the beginning of the sealing time, and also the history of the Exeter camp meeting. An angel will descend with a testing message that is required to be eaten. That message will lead to the foundations, and it will confront the two classes with the “seven times,” of Leviticus twenty-six. It will include the Revelation of Jesus Christ, that is represented by Peter as an acceptance that Jesus was anointed as the Christ, when the divine symbol descended in the form of a dove, typifying September 11, 2001. It will include the understanding that Jesus is the divine Son of God, and also that by Jesus taking upon His divine being the flesh of fallen mankind, He is also the Son of man.

These truths will produce two classes of worshippers, as they did post-September 11, 2001. The two classes were represented at the Exeter camp meeting, for at that camp meeting there was a tent set up by a group from Watertown, who rejected the message of the Midnight Cry as presented through Samuel Snow. They held counterfeit meetings that were so loud and emotional the leaders of the meetings of Snow went to them and informed them to quiet down. At the camp meeting there were two classes manifested, and both professed to be associated with water, but one was a counterfeit and represented the foolish who were without oil. The group in the Exeter tent were the army who were the city, that was also a fort, for they were typifying Ezekiel’s dead dry bones who are raised up as a mighty army at the message of the Midnight Cry.

In the history where those two classes are manifested Peter represented both classes. His confession that identified Jesus as the Christ, and the Son of God was produced by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for Christ plainly told him, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” When Jesus then informed the disciples of the cross, Peter, lacking the influence of the Holy Spirit at that moment, took Christ, “and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But He turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”

The emotional outburst of Peter aligned with the emotional worship that was occurring in the Watertown tent when Samuel Snow was presenting the message of the Midnight Cry. At that level Peter represents those who are candidates to be among the one hundred and forty-four thousand. Those candidates represent a class that has the oil, which is the Holy Spirit, and it is the message and it is the character, and the other class lacks the oil. In the setting of Caesarea Philippi, Christ began to unfold “that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”

The disappointment of the disciples when those events were actually fulfilled at the cross is the history Sister White employs to illustrate the disappointment of October 22, 1844, and the disappointment of the Hebrews at the Red Sea crossing with Pharaoh’s army closing in and the waters of the sea in front of them. All of those witnesses identify the soon coming Sunday law, and the revelation of verses thirteen to fifteen of Daniel eleven, provides the testimony of the events that lead to that Sunday law. In doing so they also represent the “portion of the prophecy of Daniel relating to the last days.”

We will continue this study in the next article.

> “A careful study of types and antitypes led to the observation that the crucifixion of Christ took place on the very day in the yearly round of ceremonies given to Israel when the Passover lamb was slain. Would not the cleansing of the sanctuary typified in the Day of Atonement—falling on the tenth day of the seventh month—likewise take place on the very day in the year celebrated in the type? (see The Great Controversy, 399). This, according to the true Mosaic reckoning of time, would be October 22. Early in August, 1844, at a camp meeting at Exeter, New Hampshire, this view was introduced and it was accepted as the date for the fulfillment of the prophecy of the 2300 days. The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1–13 took on particular significance—the tarrying of the bridegroom, the waiting and slumbering of those who awaited the marriage, the cry at midnight, the shutting of the door, et cetera. The message that Christ was coming on October 22 came to be known as the ‘midnight cry.’ ‘The ‘midnight cry,’ wrote Ellen White, ‘was heralded by thousands of believers.’ She added:

> “‘Like a tidal wave the [seventh-month] movement swept over the land. From city to city, from village to village, and into remote country places it went, until the waiting people of God were fully aroused.—The Great Controversy, 400.’

> “The rapidity with which the message spread is depicted by writers cited by L. E. Froom:

> “‘Bates left the record that the Exeter message ‘flew as it were upon the wings of the wind.’ Men and women sped by rail and water, by stagecoach and horseback, with bundles of books and papers, distributing them as ‘profusely as the leaves of autumn.’ White said, ‘The work before us was to fly to every part of that wide field, sound the alarm, and wake the slumbering ones.’ And Wellcome adds that the movement broke forth like the released waters of a dam. Fields of ripened grain were left standing unharvested, and full-grown potatoes left undug in the ground. The coming of the Lord was nigh. There was no time now for such earthly things.—The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol. IV, p. 816.

> “As an eyewitness and participant in the movement, Ellen White described the character of the rapidly accelerating work:

> “‘Believers saw their doubt and perplexity removed, and hope and courage animated their hearts. The work was free from those extremes which are ever manifested when there is human excitement without the controlling influence of the word and Spirit of God…. It bore the characteristics that mark the work of God in every age. There was little ecstatic joy, but rather deep searching of heart, confession of sin, and forsaking of the world. A preparation to meet the Lord was the burden of agonizing spirits….

> “‘Of all the great religious movements since the days of the apostles, none have been more free from human imperfection and the wiles of Satan than was that of the autumn of 1844. Even now, after the lapse of many years [1888], all who shared in that movement and who have stood firm upon the platform of truth still feel the holy influence of that blessed work and bear witness that it was of God.—Ibid., 400, 401.’

> “In spite of the evidences of a work sweeping across the land and drawing thousands into the fellowship of the Second Advent, and some two hundred ministers from various churches united in spreading the message, [See C. M. Maxwell, Tell it to the world, pp. 19, 20.] the Protestant churches as a whole spurned it and used every means at their command to prevent the belief in Christ’s soon coming from spreading. No one dared to mention in a church service the hope of the soon coming of Jesus, but to those awaiting the event it was quite different.

> “Ellen White told what it was like:

> “‘Every moment seemed precious and of the utmost importance to me. I felt that we were doing work for eternity, and that the careless and uninterested were in the greatest peril. My faith was unclouded, and I appropriated the precious promises of Jesus to myself….

> “‘With diligent searching of hearts and humble confession we came prayerfully up to the time of expectation. Every morning we felt that it was our first business to secure the evidence that our lives were right before God. We realized that if we were not advancing in holiness we were sure to retrograde. Our interest for each other increased; we prayed much with and for one another.

> “‘We assembled in the orchards and groves to commune with God and to offer up our petitions to Him, feeling more clearly His presence when surrounded by His natural works. The joys of salvation were more necessary to us than our food and drink. If clouds obscured our minds we dared not rest or sleep till they were swept away by the consciousness of our acceptance with the Lord.—Life Sketches of James White and Ellen G. White (1880), 188, 189.” Arthur White, The Ellen White Biography, volume 1, 51, 52.

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