Sabbath Afternoon, April 26
Memory Text:
“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. KJV — Psalm 46:10
“Lucifer's disposition to serve himself instead of his Creator aroused a feeling of apprehension when observed by those who considered that the glory of God should be supreme. In heavenly council the angels pleaded with Lucifer. The Son of God presented before him the greatness, the goodness, and the justice of the Creator, and the sacred, unchanging nature of His law. God Himself had established the order of heaven; and in departing from it, Lucifer would dishonor his Maker and bring ruin upon himself. But the warning, given in infinite love and mercy, only aroused a spirit of resistance. Lucifer allowed his jealousy of Christ to prevail, and became the more determined.” Patriarchs and Prophets, page 35, paragraph 3.
“Like the angels, the dwellers in Eden had been placed upon probation; their happy estate could be retained only on condition of fidelity to the Creator's law. They could obey and live, or disobey and perish. God had made them the recipients of rich blessings; but should they disregard His will, He who spared not the angels that sinned, could not spare them; transgression would forfeit His gifts and bring upon them misery and ruin. Patriarchs and Prophets, page 53, paragraph 1.
“The angels warned them to be on their guard against the devices of Satan, for his efforts to ensnare them would be unwearied. While they were obedient to God the evil one could not harm them; for, if need be, every angel in heaven would be sent to their help. If they steadfastly repelled his first insinuations, they would be as secure as the heavenly messengers. But should they once yield to temptation, their nature would become so depraved that in themselves they would have no power and no disposition to resist Satan.” Patriarchs and Prophets, page 53, paragraph 2.
Sunday, April 27
The Very First Commandment
Read Genesis 2:9–17. What was the first command, a prohibition, that God gave to humanity, and why was it so important?
Satan, we are told, was not the only sinner in Heaven, for with him were cast out of Heaven a third of the angelic host (Revelation 12:4). These were cast out of Heaven because they gave heed to the words of Lucifer, to a man in Heaven, rather than giving heed to the word of God. This was the angels’ downfall. Lucifer himself fell when he aspired to be as God.
These two sins – trust in man, and desire to exalt self – are still the leading sin elements now here on earth. This was Eve’s stumbling block and to many even today it is still the stumbling block. No, appetite alone was not the cause of Eve’s downfall. The serpent did not say, “Thou shouldst eat of this fruit for it is wonderful, more delicious than any other fruit in the garden of God.” But he said: “God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5.
The fruit, of course, appealed to her, but she was tempted by the idea of having the opportunity to be exalted to the throne of God, to be exalted to the same position to which Lucifer himself aspired. Lucifer must have honestly believed that he would be as God if the angels in Heaven and the men on earth would but take orders from him.
And so we see that the Devil deceived Eve on the same grounds he deceived himself and his angels, the only difference being that he caused Eve to eat of the fruit which he himself and his angels would not eat. Consequently, Eve sinned against her physical being, too, by taking into it something that was not created for food, and consequently she died. But Satan and his angels still live.
“Such has been Satan's work from the days of Adam to the present, and he has pursued it with great success. He tempts men to distrust God's love and to doubt His wisdom. He is constantly seeking to excite a spirit of irreverent curiosity, a restless, inquisitive desire to penetrate the secrets of divine wisdom and power. In their efforts to search out what God has been pleased to withhold, multitudes overlook the truths which He has revealed, and which are essential to salvation. Satan tempts men to disobedience by leading them to believe they are entering a wonderful field of knowledge. But this is all a deception. Elated with their ideas of progression, they are, by trampling on God's requirements, setting their feet in the path that leads to degradation and death. Patriarchs and Prophets, page 54, paragraph 3.
“Satan represented to the holy pair that they would be gainers by breaking the law of God. Do we not today hear similar reasoning? Many talk of the narrowness of those who obey God's commandments, while they themselves claim to have broader ideas and to enjoy greater liberty. What is this but an echo of the voice from Eden, “In the day ye eat thereof”—transgress the divine requirement—“ye shall be as gods”? Satan claimed to have received great good by eating of the forbidden fruit, but he did not let it appear that by transgression he had become an outcast from heaven. Though he had found sin to result in infinite loss, he concealed his own misery in order to draw others into the same position. So now the transgressor seeks to disguise his true character; he may claim to be holy; but his exalted profession only makes him the more dangerous as a deceiver. He is on the side of Satan, trampling upon the law of God, and leading others to do the same, to their eternal ruin.” Patriarchs and Prophets, page 55, paragraph 1.
Monday, April 28
Daniel 2
Read Daniel 2:31–35, which gives a sweeping panoramic view of world history until the end of time. What important truths can we learn from this amazing prophecy?
“In the annals of human history, the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as if dependent on the will and prowess of man; the shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, above, behind, and through all the play and counterplay of human interest and power and passions, the agencies of the All-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will.” Prophets and Kings, page 499, paragraph 4.
“Hundreds of years before certain nations came upon the stage of action, the Omniscient One looked down the ages and predicted the rise and fall of the universal kingdoms. God declared to Nebuchadnezzar that the kingdom of Babylon should fall, and a second kingdom would arise, which also would have its period of trial. Failing to exalt the true God, its glory would fade, and a third kingdom would occupy its place. This also would pass away; and a fourth, strong as iron, would subdue the nations of the world.” Prophets and Kings, page 501, paragraph 1.
“In the history of nations the student of God's word may behold the literal fulfillment of divine prophecy. Babylon, shattered and broken at last, passed away because in prosperity its rulers had regarded themselves as independent of God, and had ascribed the glory of their kingdom to human achievement. The Medo-Persian realm was visited by the wrath of Heaven because in it God's law had been trampled underfoot. The fear of the Lord had found no place in the hearts of the vast majority of the people. Wickedness, blasphemy, and corruption prevailed. The kingdoms that followed were even more base and corrupt; and these sank lower and still lower in the scale of moral worth.” Prophets and Kings, page 501, paragraph 3.
Thus it is that “…in the days of these kings [not after their days] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it [the kingdom] shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” Daniel 2:44-45.
If the Kingdom is to destroy all these kingdoms, then It must be set up before these kingdoms are destroyed. The stone that is cut out of the “mountain” in the days of these kings, is itself to become a great mountain, and It, the Kingdom, is to fill the whole earth (Daniel 2:35, 45).
Tuesday, April 29
Daniel 7
Read Daniel 7:1–3. There is a lot of movement in this scene. What lessons can we draw from this imagery, such as the beast first arising from the sea?
“The Sea” locates the Territory of the Five Beasts. Since in the realm of nature, the sea is the storehouse (home) of the waters, therefore in the realm of symbols, the “sea” must be the birthplace of the nations – the Old Country. The five beasts’ (the lion, bear, leopard, and the non-descript beast, along with the leopard-like beast) coming from the sea, denotes that they represent kingdoms that have arisen in the Old Country, just as history confirms.
These four great beasts said the angel, “are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.” Daniel 7:17.
Prior to Daniel’s vision of these beasts, Nebuchadnezzar, king of ancient Babylon while in a quandary as to the duration of his kingdom, was shown in a dream a great image composed of four metals. Its head was of “gold”; its breast and arms were of “silver”; its thighs, of “brass”; its legs, of “iron”; and its feet, of “iron mixed with miry clay.” Interpreting the vision Daniel said to the king:
“Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron:… And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter’s clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
“And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Daniel 2:38-44.
Plainly, the four metals of the great image symbolize, as do the four beasts, a succession of four kings in their respective periods. The feet (right and left) of iron and clay obviously represent two divisions of kings (rightists and leftists) in a fifth period – the time in which the God of Heaven shall “set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed.” The toes of the feet, indicate, of course, a multiplicity of kings in both parties, the rightists and the leftists.
Wednesday, April 30
Between Land and Sea
With the idea expressed above as the background, read Revelation 12:15, 16 and Revelation 13:1, 11. Notice the juxtaposition between water and earth. How are they used, and what can they teach us about how to understand prophecy?
Three and one half years after Christ’s resurrection, the church left Palestine (vineyard), and while she was in the Gentile world (wilderness), “the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman [forced the heathen to be baptized into Christianity, and to join the church], that he might cause her to be carried away [heathenized] of the flood.” Revelation 12:15. While thus flooded, she had to be nourished (sustained) by the Lord, because many of her followers were heathenized, and nearly all of those who were not, were carried to death by the “flood.” So had He not nourished her (kept her in existence) by a miracle, the Church would have perished during those dark ages of religion. True, she has been able to nourish herself since the Reformation, but the unconverted (flood) are still in her midst. She has, however, this promise of rescue:
“And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” Verse 16.
Or, literally stated, the unconverted who are now in the midst of the church, are to be slain and buried. The converted are then to be taken into the kingdom. Then will the dragon be “wroth with the woman, and…make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Verse 17.
Stirred to fury over her purification, the dragon will make war “with the remnant of her seed.” Against her personally, though, he will not war, because her communicants, the 144,000 (the first fruits – Revelation 7:3-8; 14:4), those who go first into the kingdom, stand with the Lamb, the King, on Mount Sion (Revelation 14:1), His palace grounds. Thus being the rulers of the tribes, they are symbolized by the crowned woman. And being in their own land, they are protected from the dragon who consequently persecutes only the “remnant,” those who are left behind, who are still in Babylon but who are finally called out of her (Revelation 18:4).
Unlike the first beast, the second beast comes from the earth. The sea and the earth obviously point to two different locations. We know that the beasts of Daniel 7, and the leopard-like of Revelation 13, the beasts that arose from the sea, all originated in the Old Country, the lands where humanity originated. Yes, the “sea” befittingly symbolizes the Old Country because the sea is the store-house of the waters, the place where the waters originate, as the Old Country is the place from where humanity spread out.
The “earth,” then, points to a place away from the “sea” and the opposite of what sea stands for, – a country made up of inhabitants who have emigrated from elsewhere. The only such country or nation away from the Old Country and as influential as portrayed in this two-horned beast that arises after the formation of the leopard-like beast, in the Protestant period, is the United States. Moreover, the United States is already a world power, and so we need not be guessing any more. The beast’s two horns point to its two political ruling powers – Democrats and Republicans. Their lamb-like character gives the appearance of innocence, harmlessness, and charitability. The beast’s speaking like a dragon nevertheless repudiates the lamb-like appearance of the horns.
Thursday, May 1
Prophesy Again
Read Revelation 10:1–11, which describes the birth of the movement. Look for some of the elements we have studied, such as “the nations,” the land, and the sea. Applying appropriate caution so that you do not read too much into the passage, what potential insights can you find in this account?
Revelation 10:1 – “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.”
This angel has all the characteristics of a power that sends down “the latter rain,” and that causes the spiritual grain fully to develop, for that is what cloud, sunshine, and rainbow, indicate. As a rainbow never appears without rain, the angel is therefore the angel that brings the rain and the sunshine for the development of the final harvest.
Revelation 10:2 – “And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth.”
There is but one book in the Bible that has had to be opened, and that is the book of Daniel (Daniel 12:4). And since the first thing which the angel did was to open the book, the analysis proves that he actually appears on the scene at the commencement of the time of the end, the time the book was to be opened. (Revelation 10:2).
You know that man naturally starts out with his right foot. Now, since the angel’s right foot was upon the sea and his left foot upon the land, the symbolism shows that he starts out on the sea, the province of Daniel’s beasts (Daniel 7), then on earth, the province of the two-horned beast (Revelation 13:10-18). His work, therefore, starts in the Old Country, and should include the very first truth that was disclosed from the book of Daniel. All in all his message and power prove to be world-wide – land and sea.
Revelation 10:5-7 – “And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, Who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to His servants the prophets.” (At the beginning of the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the Mystery of God is to be finished.)
What about the statement, “there shall be time no longer”? – The answer is found in Revelation 10:6, which in actuality proves that there shall be time no longer for the Mystery of God to be finished; that the remaining days of the sixth trumpet, the time to the sounding of the seventh trumpet, is the time for the Mystery of God, the Gospel of Christ, to be finished. In fact, the very first announcement of the seventh angel is that the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, – that the Gospel work is finished.
Revelation 10:8-10 – “And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.”
To eat the book is, as it were, to “swallow” its sayings. The honey sweet must be the joy that comes from its promises, and obviously the bitter denotes inability to digest, to comprehend all, and thus a disappointment. These, you know met fulfillment in the days of the First Advent Movement, when through the study of the book of Daniel, they learned that the cleansing of the Sanctuary (Daniel 8:14) was to begin in the year 1844, but who misunderstood the cleansing to mean the end of the world and the return of Christ. The disappointment came after the set date had passed and after the expectation of the people failed to materialize.
Friday, May 2
Further Thought – Thou Must Prophesy Again
Revelation 10:11– “And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”
After the disappointment they were commanded to prophesy again; that is, again to proclaim the cleansing of the Sanctuary. This work they were to do among many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings, obviously not to all.
Thus it was that the first Advent Movement was reorganized and renamed, Seventh-day Adventists. The Seventh-day Adventist organization, therefore, will not finish the work. Its message does not go to all people, to all nations, tongues, and kings. Consequently, the Church, too, is to be reorganized if the Gospel of the Kingdom is to be preached to all nations. “‘A revival and a reformation must take place under the ministration of the Holy Spirit. Revival and reformation are two different things. Revival signifies a renewal of spiritual life, a quickening of the powers of mind and heart, a resurrection from spiritual death. Reformation signifies a reorganization, a change in ideas and theories, habits and practices.’” – Christ Our Righteousness, page 121, 1941 edition.
How will the reorganization come about?–
“For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
“They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.
“And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard My fame, neither have seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.
“And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.” Isaiah 66:15-17, 19-20.
In these verses we see a slaughter taking place, a slaughter which takes away the transgressors of the Truth. Those that escape the slaughter of the Lord are sent to the nations who have not seen God’s glory, or heard His fame, and they are to bring all their brethren out of “all nations.” Plainly, then, the slaughter is in the Church, for those who escape are sent to preach to the Gentiles that know nothing of God. Sending the faithful to the nations, after the slaying of the unfaithful, presupposes a reorganization. And the commission at last is to go, not to many nations, but to all nations. If they are to bring all their brethren out of all nations, then they must be the last, the ones to finish the work, “the Mystery of God,” to bring probation to a close and the world to an end.