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# The Book of Daniel - Number Fifty-Four

Unveiling the Last Days: Daniel’s Quest for Understanding

Author

Jeff Pippenger

Published

January 18, 2024

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Key Takeaways

- The Millerites and Their Prophetic Understanding
- The Connection Between Seventy Years and Twenty-Three Hundred Years
- The Longest Prophetic Period and the Millerite Charts
- Daniel’s Example for God’s People
- The Prophetic Interpretations and Distinctions
- The Lasting Relevance of Adventist Foundations
- The Ongoing Quest for Understanding

We ended a recent article with a passage from Prophets and Kings, where Sister White identified that Daniel was seeking to “understand the relation sustained by the seventy years’ captivity, as foretold through Jeremiah, to the twenty-three hundred years that in vision he heard the heavenly visitant declare should elapse before the cleansing of God’s sanctuary.”

> “Through another vision further light was thrown upon the events of the future; and it was at the close of this vision that Daniel heard ‘one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision?’ Daniel 8:13. The answer that was given, ‘Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed’ (verse 14), filled him with perplexity. Earnestly he sought for the meaning of the vision. He could not understand the relation sustained by the seventy years’ captivity, as foretold through Jeremiah, to the twenty-three hundred years that in vision he heard the heavenly visitant declare should elapse before the cleansing of God’s sanctuary. The angel Gabriel gave him a partial interpretation; yet when the prophet heard the words, ‘The vision … shall be for many days,’ he fainted away. ‘I Daniel fainted,’ he records of his experience, ‘and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.’ Verses 26, 27.” Prophets and Kings, 553, 554.

The Millerites never arrived to a complete understanding of the foundational message they proclaimed. When the time arrived that the Lion of the tribe of Judah sought to provide more information upon the “seven times,” they transitioned into the Laodicean experience, and seven years later rejected the light of the “seven times” altogether. They never saw the full relationship of the seventy years and the twenty-three hundred years, which Daniel had earnestly sought to understand. Daniel represents God’s people of the last days.

The land enjoying its sabbaths is the part of the covenant that was given to ancient Israel that included the light of the resting of the land every seventh year. That covenant included the cycle of seven years repeating seven times. It included the release and restoration of property and slaves at the conclusion ending of the seven cycles of seven years (forty-nine years) during the celebration known as the jubilee. The Jews were disobedient to those covenant principles, and 2 Chronicles identified that the seventy years of captivity, spoken of by Jeremiah the prophet, represented a prior four hundred and ninety years of rebellion. In four hundred and ninety years, if ancient Israel had obeyed the directions within the covenant as set forth in Leviticus twenty-five, there would have been a total of seventy of those years in which the land rested. A biblical year is three hundred and sixty days, and three hundred and sixty days multiplied by seven (“seven times”) equals twenty-five hundred and twenty days.

The seventy years is absolutely connected to the land resting, which is absolutely connected with the “seven times.” Daniel was seeking to “understand the relation” of “the seventy years’ captivity,” “to the twenty-three hundred years” “before the cleansing of God’s sanctuary.” He was therefore seeking to understand the relation of the “chazon” vision and the “mareh” vision. It is impossible to understand that relation, without acknowledging the resting of the land in Leviticus twenty-five and twenty-six with the captivity of seventy years spoken of by Jeremiah. If you do not believe the “seven times” represents a prophetic period of twenty-five hundred and twenty years, you remove yourself from being those represented by Daniel in the last days. The Millerites believed the “seven times” was a time prophecy, but Adventism no longer does.

Daniel, as with all prophets, illustrates God’s people at the end of the world, and Sister White’s comments on his desire to understand the relationship between the seventy years (the “seven times”) and the twenty-three hundred years, represents the desire which God’s people of the last days are to possess. As has been stated in previous articles, there are no truths represented upon the 1843 and 1850 charts, that are not directly supported (repeatedly) in the writings of Sister White.

Miller’s jewels will shine ten times brighter in the Midnight Cry of the last days, and in doing so, the jewels represent the final test for the virgins of Adventism. Those jewels are the foundational truths represented on Habakkuk’s tables, and the jewels in the casket which were placed upon a table in the middle of Miller’s room. The foundational test is the final test, but so too, is the authority of the Spirit of Prophecy. To reject the foundational truths, which were typified as jewels in Miller’s dream is to simultaneously reject the Spirit of Prophecy.

> “The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish’ (Proverbs 29:18). Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God’s remnant people in the true testimony. He will bring in spurious visions to mislead, and will mingle the false with the true, and so disgust people that they will regard everything that bears the name of visions as a species of fanaticism; but honest souls, by contrasting false and true, will be enabled to distinguish between them.” Selected Messages, volume 2, 78.

We are now addressing the increase of knowledge that occurred in the history of the Millerites from 1798, until 1844, but we are identifying that even though the Millerites were correct in their prophetic applications, they were limited by the history where they were raised up. We are now in the last days, and in the final generation (the fourth) of Adventism. In this period of time, Adventism has been so indoctrinated with traditions and customs (counterfeit jewels) that it no longer knows what the foundational truths were. Not knowing what those truths are prevents Adventism from understanding the significance of those truths, and makes meaningless the repeated commands to protect and preserve those truths.

Before we proceed further into Gabriel’s interpretation of the vision of the Ulai River, we will address a few relevant points connected with the foundational truths and the authority of the Spirit of Prophecy. The modern theologians argue that the following passage identifies that the longest time prophecy in the Bible is the twenty-three hundred years.

> “The experience of the disciples who preached the ‘gospel of the kingdom’ at the first advent of Christ, had its counterpart in the experience of those who proclaimed the message of His second advent. As the disciples went out preaching, ‘The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand,’ so Miller and his associates proclaimed that the longest and last prophetic period brought to view in the Bible was about to expire, that the judgment was at hand, and the everlasting kingdom was to be ushered in. The preaching of the disciples in regard to time was based on the seventy weeks of Daniel 9. The message given by Miller and his associates announced the termination of the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14, of which the seventy weeks form a part. The preaching of each was based upon the fulfillment of a different portion of the same great prophetic period.

> “Like the first disciples, William Miller and his associates did not, themselves, fully comprehend the import of the message which they bore. Errors that had been long established in the church prevented them from arriving at a correct interpretation of an important point in the prophecy. Therefore, though they proclaimed the message which God had committed to them to be given to the world, yet through a misapprehension of its meaning they suffered disappointment.” The Great Controversy, 351.

The passage says that, “Miller and his associates proclaimed that the longest and last prophetic period brought to view in the Bible was about to expire,” and the theologians claim that the longest and last prophetic period is the twenty-three hundred years. They further claim that this is what Sister White is identifying in the passage, for she, they claim, is directly addressing the period of twenty-three hundred years. They are blind to any relationship of the seventy years and the period of twenty-three hundred years. They are blind to the light Daniel was seeking to understand.

Ellen White was a Millerite, and she knew the messages that had been placed upon the 1843 pioneer chart, and upon the 1850 pioneer chart that was published by F. D. Nichols. The 1850 chart, which was produced by Nichols, was prepared in Nichol’s home at the very time when James and Ellen White were living with Nichols. The longest prophetic period in the Bible, that is represented upon both of those charts, is not the twenty-three hundred years, it is the “seven times,” of Leviticus twenty-six.

To claim that the previous passage is an inspired identification of the twenty-three hundred years as the longest and last prophetic period is to make Sister White’s writings contradict themselves. If she believed what the theologians claim about this passage, then what does it mean when she endorses the charts that uphold the “seven times?”

> “I have seen that the 1843 chart was directed by the hand of the Lord, and that it should not be altered; that the figures were as He wanted them; that His hand was over and hid a mistake in some of the figures, so that none could see it, until His hand was removed.” Early Writings, 74.

Those who wish to uphold their traditions and fables might argue that on the 1843 chart, the Lord held his hand over the error of the “seven times,” until he removed his hand at a later date. The problem with that premise is that Sister White identified when the Lord removed his hand from the figures, His hand was removed before October 22, 1844, just after the first disappointment. In her testimony of that event, she identifies the mistake that was corrected, and it is clear that the mistake was not the “seven times.”

> “Those faithful, disappointed ones, who could not understand why their Lord did not come, were not left in darkness. Again they were led to their Bibles to search the prophetic periods. The hand of the Lord was removed from the figures, and the mistake was explained. They saw that the prophetic periods reached to 1844, and that the same evidence which they had presented to show that the prophetic periods closed in 1843, proved that they would terminate in 1844.” Early Writings, 237.

When the Lord’s hand “was removed from the figures, and the mistake was explained,” they then recognized “that the same evidence which they had presented to show that the prophetic periods closed in 1843, proved that they would terminate in 1844.” The prophetic periods that were first thought to close in 1843, are represented upon the 1843 chart, which is the chart that each of the three hundred Millerite preachers used. The prophetic periods that are represented upon that chart that closed in 1843, were the twenty-three hundred years of Daniel chapter eight, verse fourteen, the twenty-five hundred and twenty years of Leviticus twenty-six and the thirteen hundred and thirty-five years of Daniel twelve. After the first disappointment the Lord removed his hand from the mistake and the Millerites then recognized that the same evidence that identified the close of the prophetic periods in 1843, actually proved those periods ended in 1844.

The 1850 chart was produced in 1850, and went on sale in January of 1851. Ellen White recorded that the chart was also a fulfillment of Habakkuk, as she had also recorded concerning the 1843 chart. That chart also represented the longest prophetic period as Leviticus twenty-six’s “seven times.”

> “I saw that God was in the publishment of the chart by Brother Nichols. I saw that there was a prophecy of this chart in the Bible, and if this chart is designed for God’s people, if it [is] sufficient for one it is for another, and if one needed a new chart painted on a larger scale, all need it just as much.” Manuscript Releases, volume 13, 359.

To claim that Sister White’s reference to the fact that the Millerites “proclaimed that the longest and last prophetic period brought to view in the Bible was about to expire,” is accurate, for they did. To claim that the “longest” “prophetic period” is the twenty-three hundred years turns Sister White’s testimony against itself, and against the historical record. To believe that fable is to believe a lie, and in the last days those that choose to believe a lie, do so because they do not love the truth.

Jesus did not miraculously inoculate Himself with some type of divine anesthesia in order to go through the suffering of the cross. Jesus suffered with divine suffering, far beyond any of His creation could endure. Yet mankind was created in His image, and inspiration identifies that mankind is to overcome as He overcame. What allowed Christ to endure the suffering of the cross was an attribute which He possessed, which mankind also possesses.

> Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1.

Jesus endured the sufferings of the cross, because he had a goal set before him, and we have been created in his image, and as such, are beings that are motivated by goals. It’s part of our design. If we have been led to believe that it is unimportant to understand the foundations of Adventism, we will have no motivation to do that very thing. The only divine motivation that can be aroused by the Holy Spirit to overcome that Laodicean condition is a love of the truth. The love of the truth will be tested by the availability of easy customs and traditions designed to soothe our itching ears. If, in our Laodicean comfort we have no desire to understand truth for ourselves we will be lost. This is where Adventism stands today.

Daniel is an example of God’s people in the last days who are seeking through the prophetic word to understand the relationship between the seventy year captivity and the twenty-three hundred year prophecy. To identify the twenty-three hundred year prophecy as the longest and last prophetic period is to reject the foundational truths of Adventism, and simultaneously reject the authority of the Spirit of Prophecy. To claim that when the Millerites presented the longest and last prophetic period that it was the twenty-three hundred years is to reject the historical record.

> “We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.” Life Sketches, 196.

Gabriel came to give Daniel understanding of both the “mareh” and the “chazon” visions and he instructed Daniel to mentally separate the two visions, though they obviously had a prophetic relationship. The vision included the kingdoms of Bible prophecy in chapters seven and eight, that were a repeat and enlargement of those same kingdoms in chapter two. The information included the heavenly dialogue that represented the one vision as the trampling down of God’s sanctuary and people, and the other vision of the work of restoring the people and sanctuary.

As Gabriel presented the interpretation, which ultimately became the heart of the message proclaimed by the Millerites, there was a relationship that existed between the two visions, which is to be noted by those who fulfill the command to make a mental separation of the interpretation. One of the distinctions is represented by the two words that are both translated as “determined.”

> Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Daniel 9:24–27.

Seventy weeks (four hundred and ninety years) are determined upon the people and the holy city. The word translated “determined” means “cut off”, and the word identifies a period or probation for the Jews and Jerusalem. It also represented the period of rebellion that brought about the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the seventy years. The four hundred and ninety years was then “determined”, beginning at the third decree. The first four hundred and ninety years of rebellion brought about Nebuchadnezzar’s three attacks, the ultimate destruction of Jerusalem and a scattering and captivity of seventy years of literal Israel in literal Babylon.

The first decree marked the end of the captivity and the beginning of the work of rebuilding Jerusalem. The third decree marked the beginning of the twenty-three hundred years. The arrival of the first angel marked the end of the captivity of spiritual Israel in spiritual Babylon for twelve hundred and sixty years, and it marked the beginning of a period of forty-six years, when Christ used the Millerites to come out of captivity and erect a spiritual temple.

The word that is translated twice as “determined” in verses twenty-six and twenty-seven is “charats” and it means “to wound” and “a decree”. It was prophetically “decreed” that the papacy would receive a deadly “wound,” at the end of the first indignation. It is the same word Daniel uses in chapter eleven, verse thirty-six.

> And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Daniel 11:36.

In verse thirty-six, “the king” is the papacy. The papacy was to prosper until 1798, when it received its deadly wound. Then the first “indignation” was to “be accomplished,” for that “indignation” had been “determined” (decreed) to “be done.” At the end of the first indignation against the northern kingdom of Israel, which began in 723 BC and ended in 1798, the papacy received a “deadly wound.” The word “determined” means “wound.”

> And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. Revelation 13:3.

The Millerites’ prophetic framework was based upon the two desolating powers of paganism followed by papalism. They understood those two powers were to trample down the sanctuary and host as represented by the “chazon” vision of Daniel chapter eight, verse thirteen.

> Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? Daniel 8:13.

The papal desolating power was to trample down the sanctuary and host for twelve hundred and sixty years.

> But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. Revelation 11:2, 3.

At the end of the first indignation in 1798, prophecy had determined to “wound” the papacy. In Daniel nine, that determination is represented in the last two verses, and the word twice translated as “determined” in those verses is associated with the “chazon” vision, whereas the word translated as “determined” in verse twenty-four, is a different Hebrew word and is associated with the “mareh” vision. Daniel, representing God’s people of the last days, was seeking to understand the relationship of those two visions, which Gabriel had told him to mentally separate.

We will continue this subject in the next article.

> “God is not giving us a new message. We are to proclaim the message that in 1843 and 1844 brought us out of the other churches.” Review and Herald, January 19, 1905.

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