The “Seal” of God Impressed at the Sunday Law Decree: A Prophetic Analysis of Daniel Chapter 6
Key Takeaways
- Introduction
- Quotation from Testimonies, volume 5 about receiving the “seal” of God.
- The significance of character purification for receiving the seal of God.
- Daniel Receives the Seal
- Reference to Daniel 6:15–17, where Daniel is cast into the lion’s den.
- Illustration of the Sunday law decree being represented in this chapter.
- King Darius’ decree and sealing of the lion’s den, paralleling the Sunday law decree.
- Deception by the Confederacy
- Analysis of the confederacy led by the princes and presidents in Daniel 6.
- Explanation of their role in deceiving King Darius.
- The judgment that falls upon those who deceived the king, including their families.
- Prophetic Deception
- Comparisons with biblical stories of deception, such as Ahab and Jezebel, Herod and Herodias.
- Identification of deception as a recurring theme in prophetic scenarios.
- Mention of Islam’s role in deception in the third Woe.
- The Role of Pentecost
- The symbolism of one hundred and twenty princes in Daniel 6.
- Comparison with Acts 1:15, linking Pentecost to the Sunday law.
- Identifying the one hundred and twenty princes as false priesthood at the Sunday law.
- Two Categories of Deceivers
- Explanation of the two apostate presidents and the one hundred and twenty apostate princes.
- Recognition of their representation of false prophets and corrupted priests.
- Reference to Jeremiah 23:1–12, addressing false prophets and priests.
- Aligning Prophetic Lines
- Linking the judgment in Daniel 5 to the Sunday law and Islam’s role.
- The apostate Protestant horn represented by two classes.
- The connection between the story in Daniel 6 and the apostate religious power deceiving the state.
- Deception and the Three-Fold Union
- Explanation of how the deception in Daniel 6 parallels the formation of the three-fold union.
- Reference to Herod’s birthday and Revelation 17, marking the seventh kingdom.
- The one “hour” of the Sunday law crisis and its significance.
- The Deception of the Earth Beast
- Discussion of Revelation 13:11–14 and the role of the earth beast.
- Emphasis on how “the means of those miracles” deceive the world.
- Recognition of the current era’s information manipulation as part of the deception.
- Retributive Judgment
- Explanation of how religious leaders are turned upon by their deceived flocks.
- Reference to the overthrown seven thousand in Revelation 11:13.
- The significance of Seventh-day Adventists who bow to Rome at the Sunday law.
- Escaping Babylon’s Control
- Revelation 11:13 and the escape of Edom, Moab, and Ammon.
- The accountability of individual Seventh-day Adventists to the light of the third angel.
- The relationship between deception, punishment of the religious power, and state power in Daniel 6.
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgment of the ongoing exploration of the book of Daniel in subsequent articles.
- Reference to Hebrews 11:32–33 and the faith of biblical figures who faced challenges.
The “seal” of God that can be seen, is impressed at the Sunday law decree.
“Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement. Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples on the Day of Pentecost. . ..
“What are you doing, brethren, in the great work of preparation? Those who are uniting with the world are receiving the worldly mold and preparing for the mark of the beast. Those who are distrustful of self, who are humbling themselves before God and purifying their souls by obeying the truth these are receiving the heavenly mold and preparing for the seal of God in their foreheads. When the decree goes forth and the stamp is impressed, their character will remain pure and spotless for eternity.” Testimonies, volume 5, 214, 216.
Daniel receives the seal that can be seen, when he is thrown into the lion’s den, so the chapter is representing the Sunday law decree.
Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Daniel 6:15–17.
The story does not end there, but it does end where it starts. The line of Daniel chapter six illustrates the confederacy that was primarily led by the one hundred and twenty princes, and the two lesser presidents, but included the counselors, captains and governors. The five-fold alliance was formed to deceive the king into persecuting Daniel. The story ends with their judgment, for they are illustrating a special judgment that occurs at the Sunday law; a judgment that is not directed at those representing Daniel or the king, but at those who deceived the king.
And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den. Daniel 6:24.
In the prophetic scenario it is always the church that deceives the state, and chapter six is identifying the deception carried out against the king. After Ahab had witnessed the mighty manifestation of God’s power on Mount Carmel, Elijah led him through the rain back to Jezebel. Ahab had no reason to think that Jezebel would not be impressed with the powerful testimony of God’s power, but Ahab had been deceived concerning Jezebel’s deep-seated hatred of Elijah. The story of Elijah in confrontation with Ahab and Jezebel is again repeated in the story of John the Baptist (who was Elijah), and Herod and Herodias.
When on his birthday, the drunken Herod promised half his kingdom to Salome, (Herodias’ daughter), he did not expect that Herodias would demand the head of John. The kings, whether it be Ahab, Herod or Darius are deceived by the impure woman through the dance of Jezebel’s false prophets, or the dance of Herodias’ daughter, or the five-fold confederacy in the story of Daniel. Pilate was also deceived by a corrupt priesthood, which represented the Jewish “church”, and a church symbolizes a woman.
The deception is a characteristic of the prophetic scenario, and Islam of the third Woe is the lie that is employed to deceive the United Nations in the last days through fear. Both the “deception” and the “lie” that produces the deception, are identified in God’s prophetic word. The role of Islam, and the papacy becoming the eighth head of the seven heads, have already been identified as part of the message that is unsealed in the last days, which is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Therefore, exposing the deception of Darius in Daniel chapter six is part of the message that makes up the message of the Midnight Cry. The deception is the element that fully heals the deadly wound, thus resurrecting the papacy as the eighth and final kingdom. In the deception of Darius, the two apostate presidents and the one hundred and twenty princes are the representatives of the confederacy of deception who are contrasted with Daniel.
One hundred and twenty is a symbol of God’s disciples at Pentecost.
And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty.) Acts 1:15.
Pentecost typifies the Sunday law when the seal is impressed, and the one hundred and twenty princes who deceived Darius, are a symbol of false priesthood at the Sunday law. Two categories of those who deceive the king are presented by the two apostate presidents and the one hundred and twenty apostate princes. The two presidents are classed with Daniel, who is the prophet. The two classes that deceive Darius represent a group of false prophets and a group of corrupted priests.
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land. Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness. For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 23:1–12.
Jeremiah’s “year of visitation” is the judgment of the conspirators that deceived Darius. The judgment of the false prophets and priests is a subject of the prophetic word. And just as a corrupt priesthood led out and deceived the Roman authorities against Christ, the conspiracy in Daniel six is addressing that very prophetic truth.
The prophetic lines of chapter five of Daniel, set forth the executive judgment carried out upon the Republican horn and the nation of the United States at the Sunday law. That judgment is accomplished by Islam of the third Woe, that has snuck into the kingdom through the unguarded southern wall. The line of the Sunday law in chapter three of Daniel, identifies God’s people being lifted up as an ensign to the entire world at that very time. Chapter six is focusing upon the judgment carried out upon the false prophets in that very same history.
At the Sunday law in the United States the apostate Protestant horn is made up of two classes, one that upholds Sunday as the day of worship, and the other that vainly professes to uphold Sabbath as the day of worship. Their counterparts within the Republican horn are the Democrat and Republican parties. Each of the two apostate horns were typified by the Sadducees and Pharisees in the time of Christ. The two apostate presidents and one hundred and twenty priests in the deception of Darius also represent the two categories of the apostate horn of Protestantism. Though they were actually political figures in the time when the story took place, the prophetic context identifies that it is the apostate religious power that deceives the state.
The story, as illustrated at Mount Carmel, identifies two classes of false prophets; the prophets of Baal and the prophets of the grove (Ashtaroth). Together they typify the combination of church and state, for Baal is a male deity and Ashtaroth is a female deity. Elijah ultimately executed the false prophets of Mount Carmel, just as the confederacy of Daniel chapter six were thrown into the lion’s den.
And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. 1 Kings 18:40.
In the same Mount Carmel story, represented by John the Baptist, the power that deceives is the daughter. Both stories identify the deceivers as dancing, whether around their offering on Mount Carmel, or at Herod’s drunken birthday party, where Salome did her dance of deception. Together the two lines identify the combination of church and state that is fully formed at the Sunday law, and that the apostate churches of the United States are the daughters of Herodias, who is Jezebel, who both represent Catholicism. Herod’s birthday marks the end of the sixth kingdom of the earth beast, but simultaneously marks the birthday of the seventh kingdom of Bible prophecy (the United Nations).
In the very promise to Salome, Herod agrees to give half his kingdom to Salome, identifying the seventh kingdom represents a combination of one-half church and one-half state. The kingdom begins when John’s head is delivered to Herodias. For this reason, the seventh kingdom is represented in Revelation chapter seventeen, as continuing but a short space. It is at the Sunday law that the three-fold union is put in place, for there the ten kings agree to give their short-lived kingdom unto the beast for one “hour.” The one “hour,” is the “hour” of the Sunday law crisis, that begins in the United States and ends when Michael stands up.
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. Revelation 17:12–14.
The ten kings, represented by Herod, agree at the birthday of the seventh kingdom to give half their kingdom unto the beast during the Sunday law crisis, which is represented as “one hour.” In that “hour,” the handwriting is written on Belshazzar’s wall. In that “hour,” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are cast into the furnace and are lifted up in a cloud as are the two witnesses of Revelation chapter eleven. The three-fold union is brought together by the deception carried out by the earth beast, who brings fire down out of heaven in sight of men.
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. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. Revelation 13:11–14.
The world is deceived, not so much by the miracles, as it is by “the means of those miracles” which he had power to do. The expression “means of those miracles” is an added phrase, but it places the correct emphasis on the miracles, that should be carefully noted. The way in which the false message (fire from heaven), deceives the world is important to recognize, for we are now in the very history where the populations of planet earth are being hypnotized through an “information super-highway” that is controlled and manipulated by the globalist merchants of the earth. That subject we will leave off until later articles, but we are simply noting now that the deceit of the presidents and princes that was carried out upon Darius, is a specific prophetic subject, containing several connected elements that need to be recognized.
The three-fold union is brought together by the deception of Salome’s sensuous dance before the rulers at Herod’s birthday party. The deception that was forced upon Pilate, that was two-fold in nature, which was the accusation that Christ was causing and promoting sedition against the state power, and also that He was blaspheming against the religious power. In that history three antagonists came together. The Roman power (the state), Barabbas, a false Christ (the false prophet), and the apostate Jewish church (the beast). The apostate church deceived the Roman authority (the state), with the two-fold lie of sedition and blasphemy.
When Darius is finally awakened to the motivation of his deceivers, he is forced to throw Daniel into the lion’s den. Daniel broke the law of the state by his obedience to the law of God. The lie presented to Darius, was accomplished by exalting Darius’ pride, thus preventing him from recognizing the motivation of his deceivers. The lie and the deception in the story of Daniel and the lion’s den, identifies obedience to God as blasphemy and sedition, which was the same two-fold deception of the cross, and the waymark of the cross aligns with the waymark of the Sunday law.
The punishment of the religious deceiving power is a subject of Bible prophecy, as is the fact that the religious power deceives the state power.
“The people see that they have been deluded. They accuse one another of having led them to destruction; but all unite in heaping their bitterest condemnation upon the ministers. Unfaithful pastors have prophesied smooth things; they have led their hearers to make void the law of God and to persecute those who would keep it holy. Now, in their despair, these teachers confess before the world their work of deception. The multitudes are filled with fury. ‘We are lost!’ they cry, ‘and you are the cause of our ruin;’ and they turn upon the false shepherds. The very ones that once admired them most will pronounce the most dreadful curses upon them. The very hands that once crowned them with laurels will be raised for their destruction. The swords which were to slay God’s people are now employed to destroy their enemies. Everywhere there is strife and bloodshed.” The Great Controversy, 655.
The religious leaders are turned upon after probation closes, for their flocks recognize that they had been deceived by a lie propagated by the religious leaders. The presidents and princes, along with their families, all suffered the same retributive judgment for the lie they propagated. When Elijah slew the false prophets at Mount Carmel, that same retribution is represented at “the great earthquake” of Revelation chapter eleven, when “seven thousand” are overthrown.
And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. Revelation 11:13.
In the fulfillment of the great earthquake of the French Revolution the seven thousand that were slain represented the royalty of France. At the “hour” of the great earthquake that is the Sunday law, the seven thousand that are slain represent Seventh-day Adventists who bow to Rome, for only those that understand the accountability of the Seventh-day Sabbath receive the mark of the beast when the Sunday law arrives.
“The change of the Sabbath is the sign or mark of the authority of the Roman church. Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment, choose to observe the false Sabbath in the place of the true, are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded. The mark of the beast is the papal Sabbath, which has been accepted by the world in the place of the day of God’s appointment.
“But the time to receive the mark of the beast, as designated in prophecy, has not yet come. The testing time has not yet come. There are true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion. None are condemned until they have had the light and have seen the obligation of the fourth commandment. But when the decree shall go forth enforcing the counterfeit Sabbath, and when the loud cry of the third angel shall warn men against the worship of the beast and his image, the line will be clearly drawn between the false and the true. Then those who still continue in transgression will receive the mark of the beast in their foreheads or in their hands.
“With rapid steps we are approaching this period. When Protestant churches shall unite with the secular power to sustain a false religion, for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution, then will the papal Sabbath be enforced by the combined authority of church and state. There will be a national apostasy, which will end only in national ruin.” Bible Training School, February 2, 1913.
The “seven thousand” who are overthrown at the “hour” of the great earthquake, that is the Sunday law, are also paralleled by the “seven thousand” who refused to bow to Jezebel in the time of Elijah.
Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. 1 Kings 19:18.
The first reference to seven thousand identifies a faithful group that refused to bow to Jezebel, and the last reference represents a remnant that do bow to Jezebel. When the papacy conquers the glorious land (the earth beast of Revelation thirteen), at the Sunday law, one class is “overthrown” and another class escapes the hand of Babylon’s control, for the message to come out of Babylon then begins.
He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. Daniel 11:41.
The word “countries” is an added word, for many countries are not “overthrown” at the Sunday law, but many individual Seventh-day Adventists are, for at that point they are the only ones held accountable to the light of the third angel. They are the “many,” for they were those called to be among those that received the seal of God, but they rejected that calling.
And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew 22:12–14.
The deception of the princes and presidents in Daniel chapter six is identifying the punishment of the religious power that deceives the state power.
And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den. Daniel 6:24.
We shall continue the book of Daniel in the next article.
And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Hebrews 11:32, 33.
Amen! As we see the deceptive 3-fold union coming together, like Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image going up, let us determine beforehand to be faithful unto death if need be, when the world’s attention is turned toward us.