Special Insights No. 7
Third Quarter 2006 Adult Sabbath School Lessons
“The Gospel, 1844, and Judgment”
(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)
“70 Weeks”
The prophecy that the Lord gave to Daniel in chapter 8 is simple and clear (you can write its four symbols in your margin): (1) the ram with two horns = Medo-Persia (vs. 3, 4). (2) The goat with one great horn = Grecia (vss. 5-8). (3) The little horn which attacked the sanctuary of God = pagan and papal Rome (vss. 9-13). (4) The only symbol left unexplained there was the 2300 “days” [years, prophetic time] (vs. 14). Now in chapter 9 the angel comes back to explain to Daniel what’s missing (vss. 21-23). The 2300 years begin with the decree of 457 B. C. (our Sabbath School quarterly explains all this very clearly).
But we want to look at what happens at the close: the only event in Christian history that corresponds to the end of the 2300 year prophecy in 1844 is the Great Second Advent Movement of 1831-44, climaxing with the Great Disappointment. The great events that took place after 457 B. C. in the revival and rebuilding of Jerusalem and its government are paralleled by great events taking place in the last days:
Point 1 is the restoration of Israel after their Babylonian captivity compared with the prophecy of Revelation 10:7-10 about that great angel who stands with one foot on the earth and one on the sea—a symbol of the worldwide proclamation of the Advent Message from 1831-1844, which brought about the restoration of the sanctuary message. “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel [Rev. 8-11], when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets. 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. ... And I ... 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” (10:7-10). A perfect description of the Great Disappointment—its joyous anticipation and its pain.
Point 2 is God’s call to the Jews in Babylon after their captivity to come back to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. The parallel is God’s call in Revelation to His people in the last days, “Come out of her, My people” (18:1-4).
Point 3 is the certainty of God’s message going to all the world to prepare a people for the second coming of Jesus. “The street [was certainly] built again and the wall, even in troublous times” (Dan. 9:25); the parallel is the certainty of that “loud cry” message lighting the earth with glory just before the return of Jesus. Will God’s gospel be restored and preached in its purity? Yes! Do not be discouraged by the troubles in the world and in the church. The gospel will be purified. We may not know how God will accomplish this, but it will happen, just as surely as the temple and Jerusalem were rebuilt anciently.
Point 4 is this: all pride must be removed and laid in the dust; there will be a people aroused with self crucified. Will there be resistance? Christ was resisted, can we expect less?
Christ’s ministry began with His baptism in 27 A. D., an act which involved His experience of corporate repentance for the sins of all mankind. As Daniel corporately repented for the sins of his people in chapter 9, God’s people will corporately repent of their own sins and of the sins of their forefathers and of the world (they will follow the example of Christ at His baptism). They will realize that they have no righteousness of their own; the sins of others would be their sins except for the grace of a Savior who has delivered them from them. In the last days, the church will appear to fall, but it will be purified. Then the gospel will spread like wildfire around the world (see Matt. 24:14).
Sadly, just like the Jewish nation rejected their Messiah, many in the world will finally reject the pure, true gospel. But many also will accept. Take courage as you seek to share the 1888 message of righteousness by faith. “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love” (1 Cor. 16:13, 14, NIV).
—Lloyd Thomas
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