FRIDAY MORNING MANNA
August 7, 2015
Nathaniel Fajardo
Bible Numerology: NUMBER THREE – Part X
NO PROPHETIC TIME EXTENDS BEYOND 1844
We also have the prophetic word made sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and morning star rises in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1: 19-21, N.K.J.V.
More than anything else, prophecies fulfilled are the timeless monuments impervious to corrosion and eloquent witnesses throughout the history of mankind of God’s perfect wisdom and knowledge of the end from the beginning as “the Alpha and Omega,” and His ultimate direction and control over the affairs of man and the earth (Daniel 2: 21) without suppressing or withholding the individual will—the power of choice He Himself created into man as a free moral agent to discern and choose between righteousness and unrighteousness, truth and error; thus, their respective eternal rewards and destinies. It is to be expected then, by the very nature of the great controversy that “the great dragon, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Rev. 12: 9), “the murderer from the beginning and father of lies” (John 8: 44), the enemy of God and man would wage unrelenting warfare and persecution and his ultimate weapons of deception, including counterfeit prophets and prophecies that If possible, even the very elect would be deceived., Jesus warned His disciples: “For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Matt. 24: 24; Mark 13: 22, N.K.J.V.
In language sublime, Ellen G. White best describes God’s divine foreknowledge and benevolent oversight over the affairs of individuals, nations, and universal empires as He silently works out the counsels of His will through the ages—even if they think they can twist truth or destroy the evidence of truth and its witnesses. God rules supreme above the greatest powers of the earth. True history speaks for itself; it cannot lie even if all attempts are made to rewrite it. She wrote:
“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 will.”- Prophets & Kings, pp. 499-500, Pacific Press Publishing Association, Mountain View, CA: 1917, 1943, “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 [four] universal kingdoms.” –Ibid, p. 501.
“In the word of God only is this clearly set forth. Here it is shown that the strength of nations, as of individuals, is not found in the opportunities or facilities that appear to make them invincible; it is not found in their boasted greatness. It is measured by the fidelity with which they fulfill God’s purpose.”- Ibid, p. 502.
Three Things God does: He Ordains, Permits, and Intervenes.
“In the affairs of nations God is ever ‘silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will’ (Ed 1730. At times, with the call of Abraham, He ordains a series of events designed to demonstrate the wisdom of His ways. Again, as in the antediluvian world, He permits evil to run its course, and provide and example of the folly of opposition to right principles. But eventually, as in the deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt, Heintervenes lest the forces of evil overcome His agencies for the salvation of the world. Whether God ordains, permits, or intervenes, ‘the complicated play of human events is under divine control ‘and an overruling purpose has manifestly been at work throughout the ages.’(PK 536, 535; see Ed 174; Rom. 13:1).” – The Most High Ruleth. Footnotes on Daniel 4: 17, p. 129, An Exhaustive Ellen G. White Commentary on Daniel, Vol. 1, Review & Herald Publishing:
“’To every nation . . . .God has assigned a place in His great plan’ and has given an opportunity to ‘fulfill the purpose of the Watcher and Holy One’’ (Ed 178, 177). In the divine economy the function of government is to protect and up-build the nation, to provide its people with the opportunity of achieving the Creator’s purpose for them, and permit other nations to do the same (Ed 175) in order that all men ‘should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him.’ (Acts 17: 27).”- Ibid, p. 130.
The Longest Time Prophecy of 2300 days of Dan. 8: 14 Ended in 1844. Absolutely No More Prophecies Based on Time After this Date.
“The experience of the disciples who preached ‘the gospel of the kingdom’ at the first advent of Christ, had its counterpart in those who proclaimed of His second advent [beginning in 1840] As the [first] disciples went out preaching, ‘The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand,’ [Mark 1: 15; Matt. 3: 2], 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 [the first angel’s message of Revelation 14: 6, 7], and the everlasting kingdom was to be ushered in. The preaching of the disciples in regard to time was based on the 70 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 70 weeks from a part. The preaching of each was based upon the fulfillment of a different portion of the same great prophetic period [of the 2300-day/years prophecy of Daniel 8: 14].”- Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (1911 ed], p. 351. (See also Early Writings, p 243; and 7BC 971).
“Like the first disciples, William Miller and his associates did not, themselves, fully comprehend the import of the messages which they bore. Errors had been long established in the church [there were no Seventh-day Adventists till 1863, thus this generic term “church” refers to all the churches of Christendom] 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.
“In explaining Daniel 8: 14, ‘Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,’ Miller, as has been stated, adopted the generally received view that the earth is the sanctuary, and he believed that the cleansing of the sanctuary represented the purification of the earth by fire at the coming of the Lord. When, therefore, he found that the close of the 2300 days was definitely foretold, he concluded that this revealed the time of the second advent. His error resulted from accepting the popular view [in Christendom at that time] as to what constitutes the sanctuary.
The Explanation from the Types: “In the typical system, which was a shadow of the sacrifice and priesthood of Christ, the cleansing of the sanctuary was the last service performed by the high priest in the yearly round of ministration. It was the closing work of the atonement—a removal or putting away of sin from Israel. It prefigured the closing work in the ministration of our High Priest in heaven, in the removal or blotting out of sins of His people, which are registered in the heavenly records. This service involves a work of investigation, a work of judgment; and it immediately precedes the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; for when He comes, every case has been decided. Says Jesus: ‘My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.’ Revelation 22: 12. It is this work of judgment, immediately preceding the second advent, that is announced in the first angel’s message of Revelation 14: 7: ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment is come.’ – ibid, p. 352.
“Those who proclaimed this warning gave the right message at the right time. But as the early disciples declared, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand,’ based on the prophecy of Daniel 9, while they failed to perceive that the death of the Messiah [in 31 A.D.] was foretold in the same scripture, so Miller and his associates preached the message of Daniel 8: 14 and Revelation 14: 7, and failed to see that there were still other messages brought to view in Revelation 14 [the second and third], which were also to be given before the advent of our Lord. As the disciples were mistaken in regard to [the nature of] the kingdom to be set up at the end of the seventy weeks, so Adventists were mistaken in regard to the event to take place at the expiration of the 2300 days. In both cases there was an acceptance of, or rather an adherence to, popular errors that blinded the mind to the truth. Both classes fulfilled the will of God in delivering the message which He desired to be given, and both, through their own misapprehension of the message, suffered disappointment.
“Yet God accomplished His own beneficent purpose in permitting the warning of the judgment to be given just as it was. The great day was at hand, and in Hjs providence the people were brought to the test of a definite time, in order to reveal to them what as in their hearts. The [first angel’s] message was designed for the testing and the purification of the church [at that period]. They were led to see whether their affections were set upon this world or upon Christ and heaven. They professed to love the Savior; now they were to prove their love. Were they ready to renounce their worldly hopes and ambitions, and welcome with joy the advent of the Lord? The message was designed to enable them to discern their true spiritual state; it was sent in mercy to arouse them to seek the Lord with repentance and humiliation.” –Ibid, p. 353.
(To be continued next week: “Why Time-Setters Have, and Will Fail)