Article

# The Book of Daniel - Number Seventy

From Ancient Tables to Modern Responsibilities: Unveiling the Covenant Journey

Author

Jeff Pippenger

Published

February 3, 2024

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Key Takeaways

- The article explores the role of two tables in God’s covenant with ancient and modern Israel.
- These tables serve as symbols of the covenant relationship and the responsibility to bear a living testimony.
- Both ancient and modern Israel experienced periods of bondage and had issues with Sabbath observance.
- Prophecy identified specific time durations for their respective periods of bondage.
- The article mentions the biblical account of Aaron making a golden calf while Moses received the two tables.
- God’s jealousy, especially against idolatry, is highlighted in the context of the second commandment.
- The Ten Commandments are seen as a reflection of Christ’s character.

When the Lord entered into covenant with ancient Israel, He provided two tables as the foundation and symbol of the covenant relationship. The two tables also identified the responsibility of ancient Israel to present a living testimony of the two tables to the world. When the Lord entered into covenant with modern Israel, He provided two tables as the foundation and symbol of the covenant relationship. The two tables also identified their responsibility to present a living testimony of all four tables to the world.

The two tables were given to literal ancient Israel just after God delivered them out of the literal slavery of Egyptian bondage, and brought them through the disappointment of the Red Sea crossing. The period of time that literal ancient Israel was in bondage had been specifically identified in prophecy as four hundred and thirty years, and while in bondage literal ancient Israel forgot, and ceased to observe, the seventh-day Sabbath.

The two tables were given to spiritual modern Israel just after God delivered them out of the spiritual slavery of Catholic bondage, and brought them through the great disappointment of 1844. The period of time that spiritual modern Israel was in bondage had been specifically identified in prophecy as twelve hundred and sixty years, and while in bondage spiritual modern Israel forgot, and ceased to observe, the seventh-day Sabbath.

In the very history when God provided the two tables to Moses to take to ancient Israel, his brother Aaron was making a golden image of a calf. The two tables of the Ten Commandments identify that God is a jealous God, and His jealousy is especially manifested against idolatry, and as Moses descended the mount, ancient Israel was dancing naked around a golden image that had been produced by the one who had been chosen as God’s spokesman.

> And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. Exodus 4:28–30.

The brother of the prophet who led ancient Israel during the covenant history when the two covenant tables were provided was the leader in the rebellion of the image of jealousy. The husband of the prophetess who led modern Israel during the covenant history when the two covenant tables were provided was the leader in the rebellion of 1863, and 1863 marks the first generation of Adventism as being represented as an image of jealousy being placed at the entry of the gate of the altar.

> Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. Ezekiel 8:5.

The “altar” is a symbol of Christ.

> “We are in danger of mingling the sacred and the common. The holy fire from God is to be used in our efforts. The true altar is Christ; the true fire is the Holy Spirit. This is our inspiration. It is only as the Holy Spirit leads and guides a man that he is a safe counselor. If we turn aside from God and from His chosen ones to inquire at strange altars we shall be answered according to our works.” Selected Messages, book 3, 300.

The “gate” is the church.

> “To the humble, believing soul, the house of God on earth is the gate of heaven. The song of praise, the prayer, the words spoken by Christ’s representatives, are God’s appointed agencies to prepare a people for the church above, for that loftier worship into which there can enter nothing that defileth.” Testimonies, volume 5, 491.

In 1863, Laodicean Adventism became a legally registered church and ceased to be a movement. They “entered” into church history at that point. In 1863, the church of Christ entered into a legal association with the government of the United States. In that year they also introduced a counterfeit chart to replace the two sacred tables of Habakkuk. As soon as the second table was prepared, in terms of prophetic history those typified by Aaron were preparing a counterfeit image.

The second Commandment is the most specific warning against idolatry and the worship of images. It is also where God identifies His character as a jealous God. It is also there that He sets forth the principle that He reserves judgment upon the wicked unto the third and fourth generations. The Ten Commandments are a transcript of Christ’s character.

> “For the rejection of Christ, with the results that followed, they were responsible. A nation’s sin and a nation’s ruin were due to the religious leaders.

> “In our day are not the same influences at work? Of the husbandmen of the Lord’s vineyard are not many following in the steps of the Jewish leaders? Are not religious teachers turning men away from the plain requirements of the word of God? Instead of educating them in obedience to God’s law, are they not educating them in transgression? From many of the pulpits of the churches the people are taught that the law of God is not binding upon them. Human traditions, ordinances, and customs are exalted. Pride and self-satisfaction because of the gifts of God are fostered, while the claims of God are ignored.

> “In setting aside the law of God, men know not what they are doing. God’s law is the transcript of His character. It embodies the principles of His kingdom. He who refuses to accept these principles is placing himself outside the channel where God’s blessings flow.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 305.

The character of Christ is His image, and it includes that He is a jealous God. God’s jealousy was manifested in Christ when He twice cleansed the temple. In the first temple cleansing the disciples who witnessed the work were then led to remember that the Scriptures referenced God’s jealousy.

> And the Jews’ Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. John 2:13–17.

In the Scriptures, both the Hebrew and the Greek the word “zealous” is also the word “jealous.” They are the same word. When Christ cleansed the temple, He was manifesting God’s jealousy, which is the attribute of God’s character that is identified in the second commandment, and it is especially manifested against idolatry. When Moses descended the mount with the two tables and understood what Aaron had done and what the people were doing, he broke the two tables. The two tables were the true image of jealously, for they were physical representations that identified God as a jealous God. When Moses broke the two tables, he was manifesting the very jealousy that is identified in the second commandment.

> And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. Exodus 32:15–19.

The two tables were the testimony of God’s character. The character of God is the image that is to be formed in men through the righteousness of Christ. The two tables are the true image of jealousy, and Aaron had produced a counterfeit image of jealousy at the very time that the true image of jealousy was being delivered to ancient Israel. Those who have Christ formed within have His image, and the robe of His righteousness, yet Aaron’s celebrants were dancing naked, for they were Laodiceans. Laodiceans are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

> And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies). Exodus 32:25.

In 1856, seven years before the counterfeit chart was produced, both James and Ellen White identified that the movement had transitioned into the Laodicean condition. In 1863, Adventism was as spiritually “naked” as was ancient Israel literally “naked” as they danced around the counterfeit image of jealousy. The counterfeit that Aaron had made was an idol made of gold, but it was an image of a calf, which is a beast. It was an image of the beast, and also an image to the beast. The golden calf was an image of the beast, but it also had been dedicated to the gods that Aaron unrighteously declared had delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage.

> And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. Exodus 32:4–6.

The golden calf was an image of a beast, but it was dedicated to false gods, and so it was also an image (offering) to the beast. The image was made of gold, which is the symbol of Babylon, and it was a calf, which is the highest form of offering in the sanctuary service. It was dedicated to the gods of Egypt. Mystery Babylon (for all the prophetic testimonies identify the end of the world) consists of a woman riding upon a beast. The beast the woman rides is the United Nations (ten kings), and is a symbol of the dragon, atheism and Egypt. The woman herself is a counterfeit of God’s true church. The golden calf that Aaron dedicated to the gods of Egypt typified the great whore of Revelation seventeen, who is Babylon (gold), riding upon a beast (Egypt) and a counterfeit church (calf).

At the same time Aaron built an altar, which, as just defined, represents Christ, the true altar. He then instituted a counterfeit system of worship, for he proclaimed a feast to the Lord on the following day. Aaron’s golden calf was an image “of” and “to” the beast, and it was set up “before” a counterfeit Christ, and a day was set aside to celebrate his false system of worship.

The United States is the power that sets up an image to the beast and then forces the world to follow its example. The United States has power to force that system of worship upon the world, and it does so in sight of the beast “before” it.

> And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. Revelation 13:11, 12.

The man of sin, who is the papacy, is the sea beast of Revelation thirteen. When the United States speaks as a dragon, at the soon-coming Sunday law, it then begins to force the world to set up an image to the beast “before” it. The beast before the United States (the earth beast), is the papacy (the sea beast). The papacy is a counterfeit Christ, and Aaron had set up his golden image, before a counterfeit Christ, for Christ is the true altar. Aaron then instituted a false system of worship as represented by the proclamation of the feast day that was to take place on the next day. The United States also forces a false system of worship, and it is also associated with a counterfeit day of worship.

When Moses descended the mount, the controversy was between the true and the false image of jealousy—the image of Christ or the image of Satan. The counterfeit consisted of a counterfeit Christ (the altar), a counterfeit experience (Laodicean), a counterfeit day of worship (“tomorrow is a feast of the Lord”). The rebellion of the golden calf represents the rebellion of the soon-coming Sunday law, but it also represents the rebellion of Laodicean Adventism in 1863.

In 1863, a counterfeit table was introduced to cover up the jewels of Miller’s dream as represented upon Habakkuk’s two tables. Those two tables had been typified by the two tables Moses received on the mount. In 1863, a legal connection was made with the government of the United States, thus ending the Millerite movement and legally registering the Laodicean movement as the Seventh-day Adventist church. That relationship was represented by Aaron’s image to the beast, which prophetically is defined as the combination of Church and State, thus typifying the Millerites establishing a Church-State relationship in 1863, and also typifying the United States at the soon-coming Sunday law.

Aaron’s naked dancing fools, representing the counterfeit experience of Laodicea, is just as the Millerite movement had become in 1856. The spiritual experience represented by Aaron’s dancing fools was contrasted with the experience of Moses, who was manifesting the jealousy of God’s character towards idolatry. A “dance” in prophecy is a symbol of deception, and Aaron’s dancing fools, also represented the deception that is brought about by the United States as it forces the world to “dance” to Nebuchadnezzar’s band, while the whore of Tyre sings her songs.

In 1863, the Laodicean Millerite movement transitioned to the legally registered Laodicean Seventh-day Adventist church. As identified in previous articles, in 1863, Jericho was rebuilt, for Jericho is a symbol of the affluence of Laodicea and serves as a counterfeit of the city of Jerusalem. In 1863, the introduction of a counterfeit prophetic chart represented a repetition of the history of Aaron, the golden calf and the dancing fools. The history of the Red Sea deliverance has been repeatedly employed by Sister White to illustrate the history of early Adventism, and this application aligns perfectly with the history of Moses and Aaron in the controversy over the image of jealousy.

In 1863, the first generation of Laodicean Adventism began as an image of jealousy was placed in the gate (church), which was before the altar (Christ). That first generation then “entered” into an escalating history of abominations.

> Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. Ezekiel 8:5.

We will continue these considerations in the next article.

> “What is our condition in this fearful and solemn time? Alas, what pride is prevailing in the church, what hypocrisy, what deception, what love of dress, frivolity, and amusement, what desire for the supremacy! All these sins have clouded the mind, so that eternal things have not been discerned. Shall we not search the Scriptures, that we may know where we are in this world’s history? Shall we not become intelligent in regard to the work that is being accomplished for us at this time, and the position that we as sinners should occupy while this work of atonement is going forward? If we have any regard for our souls’ salvation, we must make a decided change. We must seek the Lord with true penitence; we must with deep contrition of soul confess our sins, that they may be blotted out.

> “We must no longer remain upon the enchanted ground. We are fast approaching the close of our probation. Let every soul inquire, How do I stand before God? We know not how soon our names may be taken into the lips of Christ, and our cases be finally decided. What, oh, what will these decisions be! Shall we be counted with the righteous, or shall we be numbered with the wicked?

> “Let the church arise, and repent of her backslidings before God. Let the watchmen awake, and give the trumpet a certain sound. It is a definite warning that we have to proclaim. God commands His servants, ‘Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins’ (Isaiah 58:1). The attention of the people must be gained; unless this can be done, all effort is useless; though an angel from heaven should come down and speak to them, his words would do no more good than if he were speaking into the cold ear of death.

> “The church must arouse to action. The Spirit of God can never come in until she prepares the way. There should be earnest searching of heart. There should be united, persevering prayer, and through faith a claiming of the promises of God. There should be, not a clothing of the body with sackcloth, as in ancient times, but a deep humiliation of soul. We have not the first reason for self-congratulation and self-exaltation. We should humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. He will appear to comfort and bless the true seekers.” Selected Messages, book 1, 125, 126.

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