Chapter 53.
A Great Prophetic Period
(The 2300 Days of Daniel 8)
or the time of restoration and of judgment
1. IMMEDIATELY after the vision of Daniel 8, what did Daniel learn from his study of the prophecy of Jeremiah?
"In the first year of Darius . . . ________________________, _________________ ___________________________________________________________________." Dan. 9:1,2.
NOTE.-The first deportation to Babylon, when Daniel and his companions were carried captive, was in B.C. 606, and the seventy years of Jeremiah's prophecy would therefore expire In B.C. 536. The first year of Darius was B.C. 538, and the restoration period was therefore only two years distant from that time.
2. What did this nearness of the time of restoration from captivity lead Daniel to do?
"And I set my face unto the Lord God, to ___________________, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes." Verse 3.
3. What urgent petition of the prophet connects this prayer with the vision of the taking away of the continual mediation and the desolation of the sanctuary recorded in Daniel 8?
"Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Thy servant, and his supplications, and ___________________________________________, for the Lord's sake." Dan. 9:17.
4. At the conclusion of Daniel's prayer, what assurance did Gabriel give him?
"And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O ________________________ _____________________________________." Verse 22.
5. What previous instruction connected with the vision of Daniel 8 was thus being more fully carried out?
"And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, ____________________________________________." Dan. 8:16.
6. Why was further instruction concerning this vision necessary?
"And I _______________________________________; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I ________________________________________." Verse 27.
7. To what did Gabriel now direct Daniel's attention?
"At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee: for thou art greatly beloved: therefore ________________________, and ____________________________." Dan. 9:23.
NOTES.-There is abundant evidence that the instruction in the ninth chapter of Daniel supplements and interprets the vision of the eighth chapter. Note the following facts:-
(1) Daniel did not understand the vision concerning the treading down of his people and the sanctuary, and therefore searched the prophecies anew concerning the period of captivity.
(2) He evidently made a connection between the period of seventy years mentioned by Jeremiah and the twenty-three hundred days of the vision, and he at once began to pray earnestly for the restoration of the city and the sanctuary.
(3) The angel Gabriel, who appeared to him at the first, and interpreted all the vision with the exception of the twenty-three hundred days, now appears, and again directs his attention to the vision.
(4) The events of the vision begin with the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, the era of the restoration of the Jews to their own land. In the absence of any instruction to the contrary, this would be the natural time in which to locate the beginning of the period of twenty-three hundred days; and this is the very time given for the beginning of the seventy weeks, which are clearly a part of the twenty-three hundred days, and thus determine the time of their commencement.
(5) The seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, extend from the restoration of literal Jerusalem and the literal temple to the preaching of the gospel to all the world. See Acts 15:14-17. This special preaching of the gospel was completed in one generation, and was followed by the destruction of Jerusalem.
(6) The twenty-three hundred prophetic days, or twenty-three hundred literal years, begin at the same time as the four hundred and ninety years, or seventy weeks, or in B.C. 457, when the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem went forth; and extend from the restoration of literal Jerusalem and the typical temple service after the captivity in ancient Babylon, in the time of the Medes and Persians, to 1844 A.D., the time for the restoration of spiritual Jerusalem and of the knowledge of the mediation of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, taken away by the little horn, after the captivity in modern Babylon. This work of restoration is to be accomplished in one generation by preaching the gospel to all the world (Rev. 14:6-12), and this will be followed by the destruction of the world, or fall of all nations, of which the destruction of Jerusalem was a type.
The 2300 Days
The heavy line represents the full 2300 year-day period, the longest prophetic period in the Bible. Beginning in B.C. 457 when the decree was given to restore and build Jerusalem (Ezra 7:11-26; Dan. 9:25), seven weeks (49 years) are measured off to indicate the time occupied in this work of restoration. These, however, are a part of the sixty-nine weeks (483 years) that were to reach to Messiah, the Anointed One. Christ was anointed in 27 A.D., at His baptism. Matt.3:13-17; Acts 10:38. In the midst of the seventieth week (31 A.D.), Christ was crucified, or "cut off," which marked the time when the sacrifices and oblations of the earthly sanctuary were to cease. Dan. 9:26,27. The remaining three and one-half years of this week reach to 34 A.D., or to the stoning of Stephen, and the great persecution of the church at Jerusalem which followed. Acts 7:59; 8:1. This marked the close of the seventy weeks, or 490 years, allotted to the Jewish people.
But the seventy weeks are a part of the 2300 days; and as they (the seventy weeks) reach to 34 A.D., the remaining 1810 years of the 2300-day period must reach to 1844, when the work of judgment, or cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, was to begin. Rev. 14:6,7. Then special light began to shine upon the whole sanctuary subject, and Christ's mediatorial or priestly work in it.
Four great events, therefore, are located by this great prophetic period,-the first advent, the crucifixion, the rejection of the Jewish people as a nation, and the beginning of the work of final judgment.
8. What portion of the 2300 days (years) mentioned in the vision, was allotted to the Jews?
"________________________ are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city." Verse 24, first clause.
NOTES.-"As both the 2300 years of chapter 8 and the 'seventy weeks' of chapter 9 start from the Persian period of Jewish history, in other words, as they both date from the restoration era which followed the Babylonian captivity, their starting-points must be either identical or closely related chronologically."-" Light for the Last Days," by H. Grattan Guinness, London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1893, page 183.
"There is plainly a close correspondence between the two visions of Daniel 8 and Daniel 9. The seventy weeks are said to be cut off for certain distinct objects; and this implies a longer period from which they are separated, either the course of time in general, or some period distinctly revealed. Now the previous date (the 2300 days) includes two events,- the restoration of the sacrifice, and the desolation. The first of these is identical in character with the seventy weeks, which are a period of the restored polity of Jerusalem; and hence the most natural of the cutting off is that which refers it to the whole period of the former vision."-"First Elements of Sacred Prophecy," by T. R. Birks, London, 1843, pages 359, 360.
9. What was to be accomplished at the close of the seventy weeks?
"To ________________________, and to _________________, and to make ____________________, and to ________________________, and ______________ ___________________________, and to _________________________." Same verse, latter part.
NOTE.- For "the Most Holy," the Douay version reads, "the Saint of saints."
10. What portion of this period was to reach to Christ, the Messiah, or Anointed One?
"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be _______________ _________________________." Verse 25, first part.
NOTE.-The word Messiah means anointed, and Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38) at His baptism in 27 A.D. Matt. 3:16.
11. At the end of this time, what was to be done to Messiah?
"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be ____________." Verse 26, first part.
12. How was the destruction of Jerusalem and the sanctuary by the Romans then foretold?
"And the people of the prince that shall come shall ________________________; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined." Same verse, last part.
13. What was Messiah to do during the seventieth week?
"And He shall ________________________________ with many for one week." Verse 27, first clause. See Matt. 26:26-28.
14. What was He to take away in the midst of this week?
"And in the midst of the week He shall cause the _________________________." Same verse, next clause.
NOTE.-Ancient Babylon took away the typical service by the destruction of the temple at the capture of Jerusalem. This service was restored at the rebuilding of Jerusalem, but was perverted into mere formalism by the Jews, and was taken away by Christ at the first advent, when He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances, and "took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross." Col. 2:14. He then became "a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Heb. 8:2. Thus He established the service in the heavenly sanctuary. The little horn, the Papacy, as far as was within its power, took away from the people the mediation of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, and substituted for it the Roman priesthood, with the Pope as Pontifex Maximus, or high priest. Power over this truth of the gospel and over the people of God was allowed to the Papacy because of transgression (Dan. 8:12, R.V.), just as the people of Jerusalem were given into the hand of the king of ancient Babylon for the same reason. 1 Chron. 9:1. Thus has the Papacy "cast down the truth to the ground," and has trodden underfoot the sanctuary and the people of God.
15. How are the judgments upon Jerusalem again foretold?
"And for the ____________________________________, even until the consummation, and that _________________________________." Remainder of verse 27.
NOTE.-Seventy weeks would be four hundred and ninety days; and as a day in prophecy represents a year (Num. 14:34; Eze. 4:6), this period would be four hundred and ninety years. The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem was brought to its completion by Artaxerxes Longimanus in the seventh year of his reign (Ezra 6:14; 7:7,8), which, as already noted, was B.C. 457. From this date the sixty-nine weeks, or four hundred and eighty-three years, would extend to the baptism of Christ in 27 A.D., and the whole period to 34 A.D., when the martyrdom of Stephen occurred, and the gospel began to be preached to the Gentiles. Before the end of that generation Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, 70 A.D. The twenty-three hundred years would extend from B.C. 457 to 1844 A.D., when began the great second advent movement, which calls upon all to come out of modern Babylon, and to prepare for the next great event, the coming of Christ and the destruction of the world by fire.
16. What question was asked in the vision of Daniel 8?
"Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto that certain one which spake, ______________________________________, ___________________ __________________________________________________________?" Dan. 8:13.
NOTES.-Literal Jerusalem was given into the hands of ancient Babylon, and the typical service in the earthly sanctuary was thus taken away. Dan. 1:1,2. This was prophetic of the experience of spiritual Jerusalem in modern Babylon foretold in the prophecies of Daniel and John, and of the taking away of the mediation of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. Dan. 7:25; 8:13. These two visions expose the work of modern Babylon, the Papacy, and determine the limit of its permitted power over the people of God, and of its perversion of the gospel of Christ in substituting another mediatorial system for the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary.
The general theme upon which the book of Daniel treats is Babylon, both ancient and modern. Chapters 1-6, inclusive, present certain historical facts leading up to the fall of ancient Babylon, and an attempt to destroy the prophet Daniel himself and the final attempt to destroy the people of God,- a brief historical outline, which is in itself a prophecy of modern Babylon. Chapters 7-12, inclusive, contain prophecies relating especially to modern Babylon, which supplement the historical prophecy of the previous chapters, and which enable us to draw a very exact and striking parallel between ancient and modern Babylon. A brief outline of this parallel may be stated thus:-
(1) In the religion of ancient Babylon, image-worship found a prominent place. The same is true of modern Babylon.
(2) Ancient Babylon affirmed that the gods (or God) dwelt not in the flesh. By the dogma of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary (that is, that she herself was born without the taint of original sin), modern Babylon teaches that God, in the person of His Son, did not take the same flesh with us; that is, sinful flesh.
(3) Ancient Babylon persecuted those who refused to accept her dogmas and worship according to her laws. Modern Babylon has done the same.
(4) The king of ancient Babylon set himself above God, and attempted to make his kingdom an everlasting kingdom. So does modern Babylon.
(5) Ancient Babylon rejected the true gospel as taught to Nebuchadnezzar, and the fall of Babylon came in consequence. Modern Babylon has done the same in her rejection of the true gospel as brought to her in the Reformation, and her fall is inevitable and impending.
(6) The fall of ancient Babylon came just at the time when it was giving expression to its contempt of all its enemies, and its confidence in its own permanence. This experience will be repeated in the history of. modern Babylon.
17. What prophetic period, therefore, extends to the deliverance of God's people from the captivity in modern Babylon, and the restoration to them of the mediation of Christ?
"And he said unto _________________________________; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Verse 14.
NOTE.-The earthly sanctuary was a type of the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 9:23,24; Lev. 16:29,30,33); the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary was typical of the cleansing in the heavenly sanctuary; and this cleansing of the sanctuary accomplished on the great day of atonement is the closing work of Christ in His mediation for sin. And the commencement of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary marks the beginning of a new era in the experience of the people of God on earth; namely, the deliverance from the power of modern Babylon, the restoration to them of the knowledge of the mediation of Christ for them in the heavenly sanctuary, and a cleansing from sin in preparation for the second advent of Christ. The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary involves the investigative judgment, which will be followed by the plagues, and Christ's coming. This period, therefore, determines the time of restoration and of judgment.
18. What is said of those who live to see the deliverance from modern Babylon, and the restoration of the true gospel?
"__________________________, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." Dan. 12:12.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn222/debralyn91/charts/1260years.jpg
NOTE.-The 1335 days (years) of Dan. 12:12 are evidently a continuation of the 1290 days (years) of the previous verse, which commence with the taking away of the mediation of Christ, in the period 503-508 A.D. See under question 22 in reading on "The Vicar of Christ," page 229. The 1335 days, or years, would therefore extend to the period 1838-43, the time of the preaching of the judgment-hour, in preparation for the cleansing of the sanctuary, and the accompanying work at the end of the 2300 days, or years, of Dan. 8:14. At that time special blessings were to come upon those who were delivered from the errors and bondage of Rome, and had their minds directed anew to the mediation of Christ as the great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.
GENERAL NOTE ON THE PROPHECIES OF DANIEL.-The second chapter of Daniel presents in brief outline the divine program of history leading up to the establishment of the everlasting kingdom of God. The seventh chapter of Daniel presents somewhat more in detail the history of those earthly kingdoms which were to precede the establishment of the kingdom of God, the objective point of the prophecy being the little horn and its effort to change the laws and ordinances of God, and to destroy the subjects of the heavenly kingdom. The period allotted to the supremacy of this power, the Papacy (the 1260 years), is also indicated. The prophecy of the eighth chapter of Daniel covers the period from the restoration era in the time of the Persian kings and the establishment of the people of God in their own land, to the restoration era just preceding the second advent of Christ and the setting up of His everlasting kingdom. In this chapter the leading theme is the effort of the Papacy to substitute its own mediatorial system for the mediatorial work of Christ and the announcement of a prophetic period (the 2300 years), at the end of which the counterfeit system introduced by the Papacy was to be fully exposed. The remaining chapters of Daniel supplement the prophecies of the second, seventh, and eighth chapters, and show that at the end of the first portion of the 2300-year period (the 70 weeks, or 490 years) Messiah was to appear and be cut off, following which would come the destruction of Jerusalem. In the closing chapter two new periods are introduced (the 1290 years and the 1335 years), at the end of which, as with the 2300 years, was to come the movement preparatory to the setting up of God's everlasting kingdom in the earth, In harmony with the prophecies of the second and seventh chapters.
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Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
BIBLE STUDY: CHAP.52 -- THE VICAR OF CHRIST
Chapter 52.
The Vicar of Christ
1. WHAT appeared unto Daniel in 538 B.C., the same year in which Babylon fell?
"In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a _____ appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first." Dan. 8:1.
2. Where was Daniel at this time?
"And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at _________ in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai." Verse 2.
3. What first attracted the prophet's attention?
"Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river _____ which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last." Verse 3.
4. What power was represented by the ram having two horns?
"The ram which thou sawest having two horns are _____________________." Verse 20.
5. How are the rise and work of this power described?
"I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and _______________________." Verse 4.
6. What symbol was next introduced in the vision?
"And as I was considering, behold, ______________ came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes." Verse 5.
7. What did the goat with the notable horn represent?
"And the rough goat is ______________________: and the great horn that is between his eyes is _________________." Verse 21.
8. How was the conquest of Medo-Persia by Grecia foretold in this symbolic prophecy?
"And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and ________________________________: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand." Verse 7.
9. When the he goat "was strong," what occurred? "Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, _________________________; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven." Verse 8.
10. Who was represented by " the great horn," and what followed when it was broken?
"And the rough goat is the king [kingdom] of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is ________________________. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, ____________________________, but not in his power." Verses 21,22.
NOTES.-From the interpretation given, it is plain that the notable "horn" upon the he goat represented Alexander the Great, who led the Grecian forces in their conquest of Medo-Persia. Upon the death of Alexander at Babylon, B.C. 323, there followed a brief period of confusion in the struggle for the kingdom, but the succession was definitely determined by the battle of Ipsus, B.C. 301. Alexander's four leading generals- Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus- became his successors.
"The vast empire created by Alexander's unparalleled conquests was distracted by the wranglings and wars of his successors, and before the close of the fourth century before Christ, had become broken up into many fragments. Besides minor states, four well-defined and important monarchies rose out of the ruins. . . . Their rulers were Lysimachus, Cassander, Seleucus Nicator, and Ptolemy, who had each assumed the title of king. The great horn was broken; and instead of it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven."- Myers's "History of Greece," page 457, edition 1902.
11 What came out of one of the four horns of the goat?
"And out of one of them came forth _____________, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." Verse 9.
12. What interpretation is given to this little horn?
"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a __________________________________________________________." Verse 23.
13. What did this little horn do to the people of God?
"And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and _________________________ _____________________________________________________." Verse 10.
14. In what literal language is this persecution of the people of God further described?
"And ___________________, but not by his own power: and ________________ wonderfully, and _______________________, and practise, and ______________ ____________________________." Verse 24.
15. How was this little horn to exalt itself against Christ and His mediatorial work?
"Yea, it magnified itself, even to the Prince of the host, and __________________ ________________________, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down." Verse 11, R.V.
16. In the interpretation of the vision, how is this self-exaltation set forth?
"And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and _______ _____________________________, and by peace shall destroy many: _________ __________________________; but he shall be broken without hand." Verse 25.
17. What similar language is used by the apostle Paul in describing the "mystery of iniquity," or "man of sin"?
"That day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; _________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________." 2 Thess. 2:3,4.
NOTE.-The last two scriptures evidently describe one and the same power,-a power which while religious and professedly Christian, is anti-christian in spirit, and the very "man of sin" himself. Possessed with the selfish ambition of Lucifer (Isa. 14:12-14; Eze. 28:17), he assumes to occupy the very seat and place of Deity in the temple of God. Professing to be Christ's vicar, or personal representative on earth, he magnifies himself against Christ, and "stands up," or reigns, in the place of, and "against," the Prince of princes.
18. What was given into the hands of the power represented by the little horn?
"And ____________________ was given over to it together with ________________ _________________________through transgression." Dan. 8:12, first clause, R.V.
19. What did this power do to the truth?
"And _________________________________-, and it did its pleasure and prospered." Same verse, last clause, R.V.
NOTES.-The interpretation already given to this vision shows plainly that the power represented by the little horn is the successor of Medo-Persia and Grecia. In the vision of the seventh chapter of Daniel, which is closely related to this vision, the fourth beast represented the fourth kingdom, or Rome, in its entirety, special attention, however, being given to the "little horn" phase of its history. As shown by the work attributed to it, this little horn, which arose among the ten kingdoms into which Rome was divided, was to be a religio-political power, which was to change the times and law of God, and persecute the people of God. In the vision of the eighth chapter the ecclesiastical features of this fourth world power are especially noticed and emphasized, and hence the only symbol there used to represent it is the "little horn" which waxed "exceeding great."
The religion of all the four great monarchies mentioned in these prophecies was paganism; but the paganism of ancient Babylon was re-produced in pagan Rome, and then adapted and adopted by papal Rome. The little horn of the eighth chapter represents Rome, both pagan and papal, in its ecclesiastical aspect, with its union of paganism, and later of apostate Christianity, with the secular power; with its antichristian persecutions of the saints of God; with its perversion of the priesthood of Christi and with its assertion of both temporal and spiritual power over all the world. It is evident that pagan Rome is introduced into this prophecy chiefly as a means of locating the place and work of papal Rome, and the ecclesiastical features of pagan Rome as typical of the same features accentuated in papal Rome, and that the emphasis is to be placed upon the fulfillment of the prophecy in the work of papal Rome. A careful comparison of Dan. 7:21,25, with Dan. 8:10-12, R.V., and 2 Thess. 2:3,4, will amply justify this conclusion.
"The Romans could not forget-never did forget-that they had once been masters and rulers of the world. Even after they had become wholly unfit to rule themselves, let alone the ruling of others, they still retained the temper and used the language of masters. . . . In the absence of an emperor in the West the popes rapidly gained influence and power, and soon built up an ecclesiastical empire that in some respects took the place of the old empire and carried on its civilizing work."-Myers's "Rome; Its Rise and Fall," Boston, 1900, pages 398, 399, 442, 443.
The host and the stars of Dan. 8:10 are the same as the saints of the Most High of Dan. 7:25; and the Prince of the host of Dan. 8:11 is the Prince of princes, or Christ. When the same being appeared to Joshua. (Joshua 5:13-15, margin), He applies the same expression to Himself.
In Dan. 8:11-13, in the Revised Version, the words "burnt offering" have been supplied by the translators after the word "continual," but this rendering seems to place too restricted a meaning upon the word "continual." The fact that no word is connected with "continual" in the original text, although in the typical service of the sanctuary it is used with "burnt offering" (Ex. 29:42), with "incense" (Ex. 30:8, here rendered perpetual), and with "showbread" (Num. 4:7), indicates that that which is continual represents the continual service or mediation of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, in which an that was continual in the typical service found its antitype and fulfillment. See Heb. 6:19,20; 7:1-3, 14-16, 23-25. The action which made the Pope the vicar of God and the high priest of the apostasy, really took away from Christ, as far as human intent and power were concerned, his place and work as the only mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5), and this took away from Him, as far as man could take it away, the continual mediation, according to the prediction in this prophecy.
The prophecies of Daniel are cumulative and widening in their view, each carrying matters farther than the preceding one, and bringing out more explicitly and more in detail important features down the stream of time. In Daniel 2, under the fourth universal kingdom, the Papacy is not represented under any direct symbol or figure at all,-simply Rome in its united and divided state; In Daniel 7 Rome is symbolized by the "little horn" coming up among the ten horns representing the divided state of Rome; while in Daniel 8 the only figure used to represent the fourth world power is the "little horn" which waxed "exceeding great."
In each of these last two chapters the little horn is introduced to tell especially of the workings of the same terrible power-Rome papal. Both chapters deal with the same great apostasy. In the seventh chapter, the little horn takes away the law of God. In the eighth chapter, it takes away the gospel. Had it taken away only the law, this would have vitiated the gospel; for, with the law of God gone, even the true gospel could not save, because the law is needed to convict and give a knowledge of sin. And had the Papacy taken away only the gospel, and left the law, salvation through such a system would still have been impossible, for there is no salvation for sinners through even the law of God itself apart from Christ and the gospel. But to make apostasy doubly sure, this power changes, vitiates, and takes away both the law and the gospel.
In changing the Sabbath, the Papacy struck directly at the very heart and seal of the law of God, just as in substituting its own mediatorial system for that of Christ's it struck directly at the heavenly sanctuary and its service, which, in his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul shows to be the very heart and essence of the gospel.
20. What question was asked in the hearing of the prophet?
"Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, _____________________________________________, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?" Dan. 8:13.
21. What answer was addressed to Daniel?
"And he said unto me, ______________________________________________ __________________________________." Verse 14.
NOTE.-In verse 13, R.V., the vision is clearly defined. It is "the vision concerning the continual burnt offering [or continual mediation], and the transgression that maketh desolate," which results in giving both the sanctuary and the people of God to be trodden underfoot. The time when the vision was to have its special application is stated in verse 17 to be "at the time of the end," or in the last days. This is additional proof that this prophecy was to find its complete fulfillment in papal Rome only, as pagan Rome passed away many centuries ago. The sanctuary and the twenty-three-hundred-day period here referred to are considered at length in succeeding readings. See Chapter 53 and 54 of this book.
22. What prophetic period begins at the time when the continual mediation of Christ was taken away by the Papacy?
"And from the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a ____________________ ___________________." Dan. 12:11, R.V.
NOTES.-lnasmuch as the taking away of the continual mediation of Christ is made the beginning of a prophetic period, there must be some definite act at some definite time which, in form and intent, takes from Christ His priestly work in the heavenly sanctuary. This act was the official decree of an ecclesiastical council held at Rome in 503 A.D., by which it was declared "that the Pope was judge as God's vicar, and could himself be judged by no one." See Hardouins "Councils," Vol. II, page 983; Labbe and Cossart's "Councils," Vol. IV, col. 1364; and Bower's "History of the Popes" (three-volume edition), Vol. I, pages 304, 305. The work of Clovis king of the Franks, who earned for himself the title of "the eldest son of the church" by his campaigns to subdue the kingdoms hostile to the Papacy, contributed much toward putting into practical effect this claim of the Papacy, which finally resulted in establishing the Pope as the head of the Roman priesthood which has usurped the priestly work of Christ, and has established another system of mediation in its place. This work of Clovis came to its climax in the period 503-508, and this period therefore becomes the natural one from which to date the 1290 years of Dan. 12:11, which would accordingly end in the period 1793-98, at the same time as the 1260 years of Dan. 7:25.
"With Rome would have fallen her bishop, had he not, as if by anticipation of the crisis, reserved till this hour the master-stroke of his policy, He now boldly cast himself upon an element of much greater strength than that of which the political convulsions of the time had deprived him; namely, that the bishop of Rome is the successor of Peter, the prince of the apostles, and, in virtue of being so, is Christ's vicar on earth. In making this claim, the Roman pontiffs vaulted at once over the throne of kings to the seat of gods: Rome became once more the mistress of the world, and her popes the rulers of the earth."-" The Papacy," by J. A. Wylie, page 34.
23. What assurance was given to Daniel concerning the period of time mentioned in verse 14?
"And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told ____________; wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days." Dan. 8:26.
NOTES.-By the expression "the vision of the evening and the morning" reference is made to the vision concerning the twenty-three hundred days, as may be seen by referring to the marginal readings of Dan. 8:14.
The interpretation of the vision of chapter 8 closes without making any explanation of the long period of time which was mentioned to Daniel in the answer to the question, "How long shall be the vision?" This important feature was left to be interpreted later. See the next chapter.
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The Vicar of Christ
1. WHAT appeared unto Daniel in 538 B.C., the same year in which Babylon fell?
"In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a _____ appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first." Dan. 8:1.
2. Where was Daniel at this time?
"And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at _________ in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai." Verse 2.
3. What first attracted the prophet's attention?
"Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river _____ which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last." Verse 3.
4. What power was represented by the ram having two horns?
"The ram which thou sawest having two horns are _____________________." Verse 20.
5. How are the rise and work of this power described?
"I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and _______________________." Verse 4.
6. What symbol was next introduced in the vision?
"And as I was considering, behold, ______________ came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes." Verse 5.
7. What did the goat with the notable horn represent?
"And the rough goat is ______________________: and the great horn that is between his eyes is _________________." Verse 21.
8. How was the conquest of Medo-Persia by Grecia foretold in this symbolic prophecy?
"And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and ________________________________: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand." Verse 7.
9. When the he goat "was strong," what occurred? "Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, _________________________; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven." Verse 8.
10. Who was represented by " the great horn," and what followed when it was broken?
"And the rough goat is the king [kingdom] of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is ________________________. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, ____________________________, but not in his power." Verses 21,22.
NOTES.-From the interpretation given, it is plain that the notable "horn" upon the he goat represented Alexander the Great, who led the Grecian forces in their conquest of Medo-Persia. Upon the death of Alexander at Babylon, B.C. 323, there followed a brief period of confusion in the struggle for the kingdom, but the succession was definitely determined by the battle of Ipsus, B.C. 301. Alexander's four leading generals- Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus- became his successors.
"The vast empire created by Alexander's unparalleled conquests was distracted by the wranglings and wars of his successors, and before the close of the fourth century before Christ, had become broken up into many fragments. Besides minor states, four well-defined and important monarchies rose out of the ruins. . . . Their rulers were Lysimachus, Cassander, Seleucus Nicator, and Ptolemy, who had each assumed the title of king. The great horn was broken; and instead of it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven."- Myers's "History of Greece," page 457, edition 1902.
11 What came out of one of the four horns of the goat?
"And out of one of them came forth _____________, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." Verse 9.
12. What interpretation is given to this little horn?
"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a __________________________________________________________." Verse 23.
13. What did this little horn do to the people of God?
"And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and _________________________ _____________________________________________________." Verse 10.
14. In what literal language is this persecution of the people of God further described?
"And ___________________, but not by his own power: and ________________ wonderfully, and _______________________, and practise, and ______________ ____________________________." Verse 24.
15. How was this little horn to exalt itself against Christ and His mediatorial work?
"Yea, it magnified itself, even to the Prince of the host, and __________________ ________________________, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down." Verse 11, R.V.
16. In the interpretation of the vision, how is this self-exaltation set forth?
"And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and _______ _____________________________, and by peace shall destroy many: _________ __________________________; but he shall be broken without hand." Verse 25.
17. What similar language is used by the apostle Paul in describing the "mystery of iniquity," or "man of sin"?
"That day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; _________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________." 2 Thess. 2:3,4.
NOTE.-The last two scriptures evidently describe one and the same power,-a power which while religious and professedly Christian, is anti-christian in spirit, and the very "man of sin" himself. Possessed with the selfish ambition of Lucifer (Isa. 14:12-14; Eze. 28:17), he assumes to occupy the very seat and place of Deity in the temple of God. Professing to be Christ's vicar, or personal representative on earth, he magnifies himself against Christ, and "stands up," or reigns, in the place of, and "against," the Prince of princes.
18. What was given into the hands of the power represented by the little horn?
"And ____________________ was given over to it together with ________________ _________________________through transgression." Dan. 8:12, first clause, R.V.
19. What did this power do to the truth?
"And _________________________________-, and it did its pleasure and prospered." Same verse, last clause, R.V.
NOTES.-The interpretation already given to this vision shows plainly that the power represented by the little horn is the successor of Medo-Persia and Grecia. In the vision of the seventh chapter of Daniel, which is closely related to this vision, the fourth beast represented the fourth kingdom, or Rome, in its entirety, special attention, however, being given to the "little horn" phase of its history. As shown by the work attributed to it, this little horn, which arose among the ten kingdoms into which Rome was divided, was to be a religio-political power, which was to change the times and law of God, and persecute the people of God. In the vision of the eighth chapter the ecclesiastical features of this fourth world power are especially noticed and emphasized, and hence the only symbol there used to represent it is the "little horn" which waxed "exceeding great."
The religion of all the four great monarchies mentioned in these prophecies was paganism; but the paganism of ancient Babylon was re-produced in pagan Rome, and then adapted and adopted by papal Rome. The little horn of the eighth chapter represents Rome, both pagan and papal, in its ecclesiastical aspect, with its union of paganism, and later of apostate Christianity, with the secular power; with its antichristian persecutions of the saints of God; with its perversion of the priesthood of Christi and with its assertion of both temporal and spiritual power over all the world. It is evident that pagan Rome is introduced into this prophecy chiefly as a means of locating the place and work of papal Rome, and the ecclesiastical features of pagan Rome as typical of the same features accentuated in papal Rome, and that the emphasis is to be placed upon the fulfillment of the prophecy in the work of papal Rome. A careful comparison of Dan. 7:21,25, with Dan. 8:10-12, R.V., and 2 Thess. 2:3,4, will amply justify this conclusion.
"The Romans could not forget-never did forget-that they had once been masters and rulers of the world. Even after they had become wholly unfit to rule themselves, let alone the ruling of others, they still retained the temper and used the language of masters. . . . In the absence of an emperor in the West the popes rapidly gained influence and power, and soon built up an ecclesiastical empire that in some respects took the place of the old empire and carried on its civilizing work."-Myers's "Rome; Its Rise and Fall," Boston, 1900, pages 398, 399, 442, 443.
The host and the stars of Dan. 8:10 are the same as the saints of the Most High of Dan. 7:25; and the Prince of the host of Dan. 8:11 is the Prince of princes, or Christ. When the same being appeared to Joshua. (Joshua 5:13-15, margin), He applies the same expression to Himself.
In Dan. 8:11-13, in the Revised Version, the words "burnt offering" have been supplied by the translators after the word "continual," but this rendering seems to place too restricted a meaning upon the word "continual." The fact that no word is connected with "continual" in the original text, although in the typical service of the sanctuary it is used with "burnt offering" (Ex. 29:42), with "incense" (Ex. 30:8, here rendered perpetual), and with "showbread" (Num. 4:7), indicates that that which is continual represents the continual service or mediation of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, in which an that was continual in the typical service found its antitype and fulfillment. See Heb. 6:19,20; 7:1-3, 14-16, 23-25. The action which made the Pope the vicar of God and the high priest of the apostasy, really took away from Christ, as far as human intent and power were concerned, his place and work as the only mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5), and this took away from Him, as far as man could take it away, the continual mediation, according to the prediction in this prophecy.
The prophecies of Daniel are cumulative and widening in their view, each carrying matters farther than the preceding one, and bringing out more explicitly and more in detail important features down the stream of time. In Daniel 2, under the fourth universal kingdom, the Papacy is not represented under any direct symbol or figure at all,-simply Rome in its united and divided state; In Daniel 7 Rome is symbolized by the "little horn" coming up among the ten horns representing the divided state of Rome; while in Daniel 8 the only figure used to represent the fourth world power is the "little horn" which waxed "exceeding great."
In each of these last two chapters the little horn is introduced to tell especially of the workings of the same terrible power-Rome papal. Both chapters deal with the same great apostasy. In the seventh chapter, the little horn takes away the law of God. In the eighth chapter, it takes away the gospel. Had it taken away only the law, this would have vitiated the gospel; for, with the law of God gone, even the true gospel could not save, because the law is needed to convict and give a knowledge of sin. And had the Papacy taken away only the gospel, and left the law, salvation through such a system would still have been impossible, for there is no salvation for sinners through even the law of God itself apart from Christ and the gospel. But to make apostasy doubly sure, this power changes, vitiates, and takes away both the law and the gospel.
In changing the Sabbath, the Papacy struck directly at the very heart and seal of the law of God, just as in substituting its own mediatorial system for that of Christ's it struck directly at the heavenly sanctuary and its service, which, in his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul shows to be the very heart and essence of the gospel.
20. What question was asked in the hearing of the prophet?
"Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, _____________________________________________, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?" Dan. 8:13.
21. What answer was addressed to Daniel?
"And he said unto me, ______________________________________________ __________________________________." Verse 14.
NOTE.-In verse 13, R.V., the vision is clearly defined. It is "the vision concerning the continual burnt offering [or continual mediation], and the transgression that maketh desolate," which results in giving both the sanctuary and the people of God to be trodden underfoot. The time when the vision was to have its special application is stated in verse 17 to be "at the time of the end," or in the last days. This is additional proof that this prophecy was to find its complete fulfillment in papal Rome only, as pagan Rome passed away many centuries ago. The sanctuary and the twenty-three-hundred-day period here referred to are considered at length in succeeding readings. See Chapter 53 and 54 of this book.
22. What prophetic period begins at the time when the continual mediation of Christ was taken away by the Papacy?
"And from the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a ____________________ ___________________." Dan. 12:11, R.V.
NOTES.-lnasmuch as the taking away of the continual mediation of Christ is made the beginning of a prophetic period, there must be some definite act at some definite time which, in form and intent, takes from Christ His priestly work in the heavenly sanctuary. This act was the official decree of an ecclesiastical council held at Rome in 503 A.D., by which it was declared "that the Pope was judge as God's vicar, and could himself be judged by no one." See Hardouins "Councils," Vol. II, page 983; Labbe and Cossart's "Councils," Vol. IV, col. 1364; and Bower's "History of the Popes" (three-volume edition), Vol. I, pages 304, 305. The work of Clovis king of the Franks, who earned for himself the title of "the eldest son of the church" by his campaigns to subdue the kingdoms hostile to the Papacy, contributed much toward putting into practical effect this claim of the Papacy, which finally resulted in establishing the Pope as the head of the Roman priesthood which has usurped the priestly work of Christ, and has established another system of mediation in its place. This work of Clovis came to its climax in the period 503-508, and this period therefore becomes the natural one from which to date the 1290 years of Dan. 12:11, which would accordingly end in the period 1793-98, at the same time as the 1260 years of Dan. 7:25.
"With Rome would have fallen her bishop, had he not, as if by anticipation of the crisis, reserved till this hour the master-stroke of his policy, He now boldly cast himself upon an element of much greater strength than that of which the political convulsions of the time had deprived him; namely, that the bishop of Rome is the successor of Peter, the prince of the apostles, and, in virtue of being so, is Christ's vicar on earth. In making this claim, the Roman pontiffs vaulted at once over the throne of kings to the seat of gods: Rome became once more the mistress of the world, and her popes the rulers of the earth."-" The Papacy," by J. A. Wylie, page 34.
23. What assurance was given to Daniel concerning the period of time mentioned in verse 14?
"And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told ____________; wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days." Dan. 8:26.
NOTES.-By the expression "the vision of the evening and the morning" reference is made to the vision concerning the twenty-three hundred days, as may be seen by referring to the marginal readings of Dan. 8:14.
The interpretation of the vision of chapter 8 closes without making any explanation of the long period of time which was mentioned to Daniel in the answer to the question, "How long shall be the vision?" This important feature was left to be interpreted later. See the next chapter.
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BIBLE STUDY: CHAP.51 -- THE KINGDOM AND WORK OF ANTICHRIST
Chapter 51.
The Kingdom and Work
of Antichrist
1. WHAT is said of the little horn as compared with the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7?
"He shall be __________ from the first, and he shall subdue three kings." Dan. 7:24.
NOTE.-The Papacy, which arose on the ruins of the Roman Empire, differed from all previous forms of Roman power, in that it was an ecclesiastical despotism claiming universal dominion over both spiritual and temporal affairs, especially the former. It was a union of church and state, with the church dominant.
2. What attitude of rivalry was the Papacy, represented by the little horn, to assume toward the Most High?
"And he shall ____________________________________." Verse 25, first clause.
3. How does Paul, speaking of the man of sin, describe this same power?
"Who ______________________________ above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, __________________ ___________." 2 Thess. 2:4.
NOTES.-The following extracts from authoritative works, most of them by Roman Catholic writers, will indicate to what extent the Papacy has done this:-
"All the names which are attributed to Christ in Scripture, implying His supremacy over the church, are also attributed to the Pope."-Bellarmine, "On the Authority of Councils," book 2, chap. 17.
"For thou art the shepherd, thou art the physician, thou art the director, thou art the husbandman; finally thou art another God on earth." -From Oration of Christopher Marcellus in fourth session of Fifth Lateran Council, Labbe and Cossart's " History of the Councils," published in 1672, Vol. XIV, col. 109.
"For not man, but God, not by human but rather by divine authority, releases those whom, on account of the need of the churches or what is regarded as a benefit, the Roman pontiff (who is vicegerent on earth, not of mere man, but of the true God) separates [from their churches]."-"The Decretals of Gregory IX," book 1, title 7, chap. 3.
"The Pope is the supreme judge of the law of the land. He is the vicegerent of Christ; who is not only a priest forever, but also King of kings and Lord of lords."-From the Civilta Cattolica, March 18, 1871, quoted in "Vatican Council," by Leonard Woolsey Bacon, American Tract Society edition, page 220.
"Christ entrusted His office to the chief pontiff; . . . but all power in heaven and in earth has been given to Christ; . . . there fore the chief pontiff, who is His vicar, will have this power."-Gloss on the "Extravagantes Communes," book 1, "On Authority and Obedience," chap. 1 , on words Porro Subesse Romano Pontiff. Canon law, published in 1556, Vol. III, "Extravagantes Communes," col. 29.
"Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven, and earth, and purgatory (Internorum)."-" Prompta Bibliotheca," Ferraris, Vol. VI, page 26, article "Papa" (the Pope).
"The decision of the Pope and the decision of God constitute one decision, just as the opinion of the Pope and his disciple are the same. Since, therefore, an appeal is always taken from an inferior judge to a superior, as no one is greater than himself, so no appeal holds when made from the Pope to God, because there is one consistory of the Pope himself and of God Himself, of which consistory the Pope himself is the key-bearer and the doorkeeper. Therefore no one can appeal from the Pope to God, as no one can enter into the consistory of God without the mediation of the Pope who is the key-bearer and the doorkeeper of the consistory of eternal life; and as no one can appeal to himself, so no one can appeal from the Pope to God, because there is one decision and one curia [court] of God and of the Pope."-Writings of Augustinus de Ancona printed without title page or pagination, Ques. VI, "On an Appeal From the Decision of the Pope."
"All the faithful of Christ must believe that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman pontiff possesses the primacy over the whole world, and that the Roman pontiff is the successor of the blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, and is true vicar of Christ, and the head of the whole church, and father and teacher of all Christians, and that full power was given him in blessed Peter to rule, feed, and govern the universal church by Jesus Christ our Lord."-" Petri Privilegium," in section on "The Vatican Council and Its Definitions," by Henry Edward Manning, archbishop of Westminster (Roman Catholic), London, Longmans, Green & Co., 1871, page 214.
"We teach and define that it is a dogma divinely revealed; that the Roman pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when in the discharge of the office of Pastor and Doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the universal church, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, is possessed of that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that His church should be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith or morals: and that therefore such definitions of the Roman pontiff are irreformable of themselves, and not from the consent of the church."- Id., page 218.
"Should Jesus Christ come in person from heaven into a church to administer the sacrament of reconciliation, and should He say to a penitent, 'I absolve thee,' and should a priest sitting at His side in the tribunal of penance pronounce over a penitent the selfsame words, 'I absolve thee,' there is no question that in the latter case, as in the former, the penitent would be equally loosed from his sin."-" Jesus Living in the Priest," by the Rev. P. Millet, S. J., English translation by the Rt. Rev. Thomas Sebastian Byrne, D. D., bishop of Nashville; New York, Benziger Brothers printers to the Holy Apostolic See, 1901, pages 23, 24. Imprimatur, Michael Augustine, archbishop of New York.
Among the twenty-seven propositions known as the "Dictates of Hildebrand," who, under the name of Gregory VII, was Pope from 1073-87, occur the following: -
"2. That the Roman pontiff alone is justly styled universal.
"6. That no person . . . may live under the same roof with one excommunicated by the Pope.
"9. That all princes should kiss his feet only.
"12. That it is lawful for him to depose emperors.
"18. That his sentence is not to be reviewed by anyone; while he alone can review the decisions of all others.
"19. That he can be judged by no one.
"22. That the Romish Church never erred, nor will it, according to the Scriptures, ever err.
"26. That no one is to be accounted a Catholic who does not harmonize with the Romish Church.
"27. That he can absolve subjects from their allegiance to unrighteous rulers."- Annals of Baronius, 1076, Vol. XI, col. 506. See Gieseler's "Ecclesiastical History," third period, div. 3, par. 47, note 3; and Mosheim's " Ecclesiastical History," book 3, cen. 11, part 2, chap. 2, par. 9, note.
"They have assumed infallibility, which belongs only to God. They profess to forgive sins, which belongs only to God. They profess to open and shut heaven, which belongs only to God. They profess to be higher than all the kings of the earth which belongs only to God. And they go beyond God in pretending to loose whole nations from their oath of allegiance to their kings, when such kings do not please them. And they go against God, when they give indulgences for sin. This is the worst of all blasphemies."- Adam Clarke, on Dan. 7:25.
4. How was the little horn to treat God's people?
"And shall _____________________________of the Most High." Dan. 7:25.
NOTES.-"Under these bloody maxims [previously mentioned], those persecutions were carried on, from the eleventh and twelfth centuries almost to the present day, which stand out on the page of history. After the signal of open martyrdom had been given in the canons of Orleans, there followed the extirpation of the Albigenses under the form of a crusade, the establishment of the Inquisition, the cruel attempts to extinguish the Waldenses, the martyrdoms of the Lollards, the cruel wars to exterminate the Bohemians, the burning of Huss and Jerome, and multitudes of other confessors, before the Reformation; and afterwards, the ferocious cruelties practised in the Netherlands, the martyrdoms of Queen Mary's reign, the extinction by fire and sword of the Reformation in Spain and Italy, by fraud and open persecution in Poland, the massacre of Bartholomew, the persecution of the Huguenots by the League, the extirpation of the Vaudois, and all the cruelties and prejudices connected with the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. These are the more open and conspicuous facts which explain the prophecy, besides the slow and secret murders of the holy tribunal of the Inquisition."-"The First Two Visions of Daniel," Rev. T. R. Birks, M. A., London, 1845, pages 248, 249.
A detailed summary of the number of the victims of the Inquisition in Spain, under each Inquisitor-General, is given in "The History of the Inquisition in Spain," by Llorente, formerly secretary of the Inquisition, pages 206-208. According to this authority the number who were condemned and perished in the flames is 31,912.
"The church has persecuted. Only a tyro in church history will deny that. . . . One hundred and fifty years after Constantine the Donatists were persecuted, and sometimes put to death. . . . Protestants were persecuted in France and Spain with the full approval of the church authorities. We have always defended the persecution of the Huguenots, and the Spanish Inquisition. Wherever and whenever there is honest Catholicity; there will be a clear distinction drawn between truth and error, and Catholicity and all forms of error. When she thinks it good to use physical force, she will use it."-The Western Watchman (Roman Catholic), of St. Louis, Dec. 24, 1908.
5. What else does the prophecy say the little horn would do?
"Arid he shall ________________________________." Dan. 7:25, third clause, R.V.
NOTES.- "The little horn, further, shall think to change times. The description applies, in all its force, to the systematic perversion of God's words by which all promises of millennial glory are wrested from their true sense, and referred to the dominion and grandeur of the Church of Rome. The orator of the Pope, for instance, in the Lateran Council, declares that in the submission of all nations to Leo the prophecy was fulfilled: 'All kings shall fall down and worship Him; all nations shall serve and obey Him.' The same antichristian feature appears in those advocates of the Papacy who would clear it from the guilt of actual idolatry, because 'it is part of that church from which the idols are utterly abolished.' Thus are the times changed; but only in the vain 'thoughts' of dreamers who see false visions and divine lying divinations; because the visible glory of Christ's kingdom remains still to be revealed."-" The First Two Visions of Daniel," Rev. T .R. Birks, M. A., London, 1845, pages 257, 258.
Although the ten commandments, the law of God, are found in the Roman Catholic versions of the Scriptures, as they were originally given, yet the faithful are instructed from the catechisms of the church, and not directly from the Bible. As it appears in these, the law of God has been changed and virtually reenacted by the Papacy. Furthermore, communicants not only receive the law from the church, but they deal with the church concerning any alleged infractions of that law, and when they have satisfied the ecclesiastical authorities, the whole matter is settled.
The second commandment, which forbids the making of, and bowing down to, images, is omitted in Catholic catechisms, and the tenth, which forbids coveting, is divided into two.
As evidence of the change which has been made in the law of God by the papal power, and that it acknowledges the change and claims the authority to make it, note the following from Roman Catholic publications:-
"Question.-Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?
"Answer.-Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,-she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority."-" A Doctrinal Catechism," Rev. Stephen Keenan, page 174. Imprimatur, John Cardinal McCloskey, archbishop of New York.
"Question.-How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
"Answer.-By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
"Question.-How prove you that?
"Answer.-Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin: and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they deny again, in fact, the same power."-" An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine," composed in 1649, by Rev. Henry Tuberville, D. D., of the English College of Douay; New York, John Doyle, 1883, page 58.
"Is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday, to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify."-"The Faith of Our Fathers," by James Cardinal Gibbons, Baltimore, John Murphy & Co., 1893, page 111.
All Roman Catholic writers agree in this teaching. See chapter 97 of this book. {Just email me and I will give it to you.}
6. Until what time were the saints, times, and laws of the Most High to be given into the hands of the little horn?
"And they shall be given into his hand _________________________________." Dan. 7:25, last clause.
7. In what other prophecies is this same period mentioned?
"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for ______________________ _____________________, from the face of the serpent." Rev. 12:14. "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue [margin, to make war] _________________." Rev. 13:5. See also Rev. 11:2. "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there ________________________ _______________________." Rev. 12:6.
8. In symbolic prophecy what length of time is represented by a day?
"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, ____ ____________________, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years." Num. 14:34. See Eze. 4:6.
NOTES.-A time in prophecy being the same as a year (see Dan. 11:13, margin, and R.V.), three and one-half times would be three and a half , years, or forty-two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days, since the calendar year of 360 days, or twelve months of thirty days each, is used in prophetic chronology. As each day represents a year, the period, the end of which was to mark the limit of the time of the supremacy of the little horn, the Papacy, over the saints, times, and the law, would therefore be twelve hundred and sixty years.
The decree of the emperor Justinian, issued in A.D. 533, recognized the Pope as "head of all the holy churches." (Justinian's Code, book 1, title 1. Baronius's Annals, A.D. 533.) The overwhelming defeat of the Ostrogoths in the siege of Rome, five years later, A.D. 538, was a death-blow to the independence of the Arian power then ruling Italy, and was therefore a notable date in the development of papal supremacy. With the period 533-538, then, commences the twelve hundred and sixty years of this prophecy, which would extend to the period 1793-1798. The year 1793 was the year of the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, and the year when the Roman Catholic religion was set aside in France and the worship of reason was established in its stead. As a direct result of the revolt against papal authority in the French Revolution, the French army, under Berthier, entered Rome, and the Pope was taken prisoner Feb. 10,1798, dying in exile at Valence, France, the following year. This period, 1793-1798, during which this death-stroke was inflicted upon the Papacy fittingly and clearly marks the close of the long prophetic period mentioned in this prophecy. Any standard history of the time may be consulted in substantiation of the facts here stated.
9. What will finally be done with the dominion exercised by the little horn?
"But the judgment shall sit, and they shall _____________________________ _________________________." Dan. 7:20.
10. To whom will the dominion finally be given?
"And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given ______________________________________ whose kingdom is an ____________________, and _______________________ shall serve and obey Him." Verse 27.
NOTE.-Here as in the second chapter of Daniel, the announcement of the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of God in the earth includes a brief outline of the history of this world; and the prophecies of Daniel concerning the powers that would oppose the purpose of God, furnish additional features of this outline. The exact fulfillment of this outline in the history of the world since the time of Nebuchadnezzar constitutes an unimpeachable testimony to the inspiration of these prophecies, and furnishes a ground of confidence that the unfulfilled portion of the prophecies will be wrought out in the future with absolute certainty and in every detail.
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The Kingdom and Work
of Antichrist
1. WHAT is said of the little horn as compared with the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7?
"He shall be __________ from the first, and he shall subdue three kings." Dan. 7:24.
NOTE.-The Papacy, which arose on the ruins of the Roman Empire, differed from all previous forms of Roman power, in that it was an ecclesiastical despotism claiming universal dominion over both spiritual and temporal affairs, especially the former. It was a union of church and state, with the church dominant.
2. What attitude of rivalry was the Papacy, represented by the little horn, to assume toward the Most High?
"And he shall ____________________________________." Verse 25, first clause.
3. How does Paul, speaking of the man of sin, describe this same power?
"Who ______________________________ above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, __________________ ___________." 2 Thess. 2:4.
NOTES.-The following extracts from authoritative works, most of them by Roman Catholic writers, will indicate to what extent the Papacy has done this:-
"All the names which are attributed to Christ in Scripture, implying His supremacy over the church, are also attributed to the Pope."-Bellarmine, "On the Authority of Councils," book 2, chap. 17.
"For thou art the shepherd, thou art the physician, thou art the director, thou art the husbandman; finally thou art another God on earth." -From Oration of Christopher Marcellus in fourth session of Fifth Lateran Council, Labbe and Cossart's " History of the Councils," published in 1672, Vol. XIV, col. 109.
"For not man, but God, not by human but rather by divine authority, releases those whom, on account of the need of the churches or what is regarded as a benefit, the Roman pontiff (who is vicegerent on earth, not of mere man, but of the true God) separates [from their churches]."-"The Decretals of Gregory IX," book 1, title 7, chap. 3.
"The Pope is the supreme judge of the law of the land. He is the vicegerent of Christ; who is not only a priest forever, but also King of kings and Lord of lords."-From the Civilta Cattolica, March 18, 1871, quoted in "Vatican Council," by Leonard Woolsey Bacon, American Tract Society edition, page 220.
"Christ entrusted His office to the chief pontiff; . . . but all power in heaven and in earth has been given to Christ; . . . there fore the chief pontiff, who is His vicar, will have this power."-Gloss on the "Extravagantes Communes," book 1, "On Authority and Obedience," chap. 1 , on words Porro Subesse Romano Pontiff. Canon law, published in 1556, Vol. III, "Extravagantes Communes," col. 29.
"Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven, and earth, and purgatory (Internorum)."-" Prompta Bibliotheca," Ferraris, Vol. VI, page 26, article "Papa" (the Pope).
"The decision of the Pope and the decision of God constitute one decision, just as the opinion of the Pope and his disciple are the same. Since, therefore, an appeal is always taken from an inferior judge to a superior, as no one is greater than himself, so no appeal holds when made from the Pope to God, because there is one consistory of the Pope himself and of God Himself, of which consistory the Pope himself is the key-bearer and the doorkeeper. Therefore no one can appeal from the Pope to God, as no one can enter into the consistory of God without the mediation of the Pope who is the key-bearer and the doorkeeper of the consistory of eternal life; and as no one can appeal to himself, so no one can appeal from the Pope to God, because there is one decision and one curia [court] of God and of the Pope."-Writings of Augustinus de Ancona printed without title page or pagination, Ques. VI, "On an Appeal From the Decision of the Pope."
"All the faithful of Christ must believe that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman pontiff possesses the primacy over the whole world, and that the Roman pontiff is the successor of the blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, and is true vicar of Christ, and the head of the whole church, and father and teacher of all Christians, and that full power was given him in blessed Peter to rule, feed, and govern the universal church by Jesus Christ our Lord."-" Petri Privilegium," in section on "The Vatican Council and Its Definitions," by Henry Edward Manning, archbishop of Westminster (Roman Catholic), London, Longmans, Green & Co., 1871, page 214.
"We teach and define that it is a dogma divinely revealed; that the Roman pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when in the discharge of the office of Pastor and Doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the universal church, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, is possessed of that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that His church should be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith or morals: and that therefore such definitions of the Roman pontiff are irreformable of themselves, and not from the consent of the church."- Id., page 218.
"Should Jesus Christ come in person from heaven into a church to administer the sacrament of reconciliation, and should He say to a penitent, 'I absolve thee,' and should a priest sitting at His side in the tribunal of penance pronounce over a penitent the selfsame words, 'I absolve thee,' there is no question that in the latter case, as in the former, the penitent would be equally loosed from his sin."-" Jesus Living in the Priest," by the Rev. P. Millet, S. J., English translation by the Rt. Rev. Thomas Sebastian Byrne, D. D., bishop of Nashville; New York, Benziger Brothers printers to the Holy Apostolic See, 1901, pages 23, 24. Imprimatur, Michael Augustine, archbishop of New York.
Among the twenty-seven propositions known as the "Dictates of Hildebrand," who, under the name of Gregory VII, was Pope from 1073-87, occur the following: -
"2. That the Roman pontiff alone is justly styled universal.
"6. That no person . . . may live under the same roof with one excommunicated by the Pope.
"9. That all princes should kiss his feet only.
"12. That it is lawful for him to depose emperors.
"18. That his sentence is not to be reviewed by anyone; while he alone can review the decisions of all others.
"19. That he can be judged by no one.
"22. That the Romish Church never erred, nor will it, according to the Scriptures, ever err.
"26. That no one is to be accounted a Catholic who does not harmonize with the Romish Church.
"27. That he can absolve subjects from their allegiance to unrighteous rulers."- Annals of Baronius, 1076, Vol. XI, col. 506. See Gieseler's "Ecclesiastical History," third period, div. 3, par. 47, note 3; and Mosheim's " Ecclesiastical History," book 3, cen. 11, part 2, chap. 2, par. 9, note.
"They have assumed infallibility, which belongs only to God. They profess to forgive sins, which belongs only to God. They profess to open and shut heaven, which belongs only to God. They profess to be higher than all the kings of the earth which belongs only to God. And they go beyond God in pretending to loose whole nations from their oath of allegiance to their kings, when such kings do not please them. And they go against God, when they give indulgences for sin. This is the worst of all blasphemies."- Adam Clarke, on Dan. 7:25.
4. How was the little horn to treat God's people?
"And shall _____________________________of the Most High." Dan. 7:25.
NOTES.-"Under these bloody maxims [previously mentioned], those persecutions were carried on, from the eleventh and twelfth centuries almost to the present day, which stand out on the page of history. After the signal of open martyrdom had been given in the canons of Orleans, there followed the extirpation of the Albigenses under the form of a crusade, the establishment of the Inquisition, the cruel attempts to extinguish the Waldenses, the martyrdoms of the Lollards, the cruel wars to exterminate the Bohemians, the burning of Huss and Jerome, and multitudes of other confessors, before the Reformation; and afterwards, the ferocious cruelties practised in the Netherlands, the martyrdoms of Queen Mary's reign, the extinction by fire and sword of the Reformation in Spain and Italy, by fraud and open persecution in Poland, the massacre of Bartholomew, the persecution of the Huguenots by the League, the extirpation of the Vaudois, and all the cruelties and prejudices connected with the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. These are the more open and conspicuous facts which explain the prophecy, besides the slow and secret murders of the holy tribunal of the Inquisition."-"The First Two Visions of Daniel," Rev. T. R. Birks, M. A., London, 1845, pages 248, 249.
A detailed summary of the number of the victims of the Inquisition in Spain, under each Inquisitor-General, is given in "The History of the Inquisition in Spain," by Llorente, formerly secretary of the Inquisition, pages 206-208. According to this authority the number who were condemned and perished in the flames is 31,912.
"The church has persecuted. Only a tyro in church history will deny that. . . . One hundred and fifty years after Constantine the Donatists were persecuted, and sometimes put to death. . . . Protestants were persecuted in France and Spain with the full approval of the church authorities. We have always defended the persecution of the Huguenots, and the Spanish Inquisition. Wherever and whenever there is honest Catholicity; there will be a clear distinction drawn between truth and error, and Catholicity and all forms of error. When she thinks it good to use physical force, she will use it."-The Western Watchman (Roman Catholic), of St. Louis, Dec. 24, 1908.
5. What else does the prophecy say the little horn would do?
"Arid he shall ________________________________." Dan. 7:25, third clause, R.V.
NOTES.- "The little horn, further, shall think to change times. The description applies, in all its force, to the systematic perversion of God's words by which all promises of millennial glory are wrested from their true sense, and referred to the dominion and grandeur of the Church of Rome. The orator of the Pope, for instance, in the Lateran Council, declares that in the submission of all nations to Leo the prophecy was fulfilled: 'All kings shall fall down and worship Him; all nations shall serve and obey Him.' The same antichristian feature appears in those advocates of the Papacy who would clear it from the guilt of actual idolatry, because 'it is part of that church from which the idols are utterly abolished.' Thus are the times changed; but only in the vain 'thoughts' of dreamers who see false visions and divine lying divinations; because the visible glory of Christ's kingdom remains still to be revealed."-" The First Two Visions of Daniel," Rev. T .R. Birks, M. A., London, 1845, pages 257, 258.
Although the ten commandments, the law of God, are found in the Roman Catholic versions of the Scriptures, as they were originally given, yet the faithful are instructed from the catechisms of the church, and not directly from the Bible. As it appears in these, the law of God has been changed and virtually reenacted by the Papacy. Furthermore, communicants not only receive the law from the church, but they deal with the church concerning any alleged infractions of that law, and when they have satisfied the ecclesiastical authorities, the whole matter is settled.
The second commandment, which forbids the making of, and bowing down to, images, is omitted in Catholic catechisms, and the tenth, which forbids coveting, is divided into two.
As evidence of the change which has been made in the law of God by the papal power, and that it acknowledges the change and claims the authority to make it, note the following from Roman Catholic publications:-
"Question.-Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?
"Answer.-Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,-she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority."-" A Doctrinal Catechism," Rev. Stephen Keenan, page 174. Imprimatur, John Cardinal McCloskey, archbishop of New York.
"Question.-How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
"Answer.-By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
"Question.-How prove you that?
"Answer.-Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin: and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they deny again, in fact, the same power."-" An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine," composed in 1649, by Rev. Henry Tuberville, D. D., of the English College of Douay; New York, John Doyle, 1883, page 58.
"Is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday, to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify."-"The Faith of Our Fathers," by James Cardinal Gibbons, Baltimore, John Murphy & Co., 1893, page 111.
All Roman Catholic writers agree in this teaching. See chapter 97 of this book. {Just email me and I will give it to you.}
6. Until what time were the saints, times, and laws of the Most High to be given into the hands of the little horn?
"And they shall be given into his hand _________________________________." Dan. 7:25, last clause.
7. In what other prophecies is this same period mentioned?
"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for ______________________ _____________________, from the face of the serpent." Rev. 12:14. "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue [margin, to make war] _________________." Rev. 13:5. See also Rev. 11:2. "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there ________________________ _______________________." Rev. 12:6.
8. In symbolic prophecy what length of time is represented by a day?
"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, ____ ____________________, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years." Num. 14:34. See Eze. 4:6.
NOTES.-A time in prophecy being the same as a year (see Dan. 11:13, margin, and R.V.), three and one-half times would be three and a half , years, or forty-two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days, since the calendar year of 360 days, or twelve months of thirty days each, is used in prophetic chronology. As each day represents a year, the period, the end of which was to mark the limit of the time of the supremacy of the little horn, the Papacy, over the saints, times, and the law, would therefore be twelve hundred and sixty years.
The decree of the emperor Justinian, issued in A.D. 533, recognized the Pope as "head of all the holy churches." (Justinian's Code, book 1, title 1. Baronius's Annals, A.D. 533.) The overwhelming defeat of the Ostrogoths in the siege of Rome, five years later, A.D. 538, was a death-blow to the independence of the Arian power then ruling Italy, and was therefore a notable date in the development of papal supremacy. With the period 533-538, then, commences the twelve hundred and sixty years of this prophecy, which would extend to the period 1793-1798. The year 1793 was the year of the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, and the year when the Roman Catholic religion was set aside in France and the worship of reason was established in its stead. As a direct result of the revolt against papal authority in the French Revolution, the French army, under Berthier, entered Rome, and the Pope was taken prisoner Feb. 10,1798, dying in exile at Valence, France, the following year. This period, 1793-1798, during which this death-stroke was inflicted upon the Papacy fittingly and clearly marks the close of the long prophetic period mentioned in this prophecy. Any standard history of the time may be consulted in substantiation of the facts here stated.
9. What will finally be done with the dominion exercised by the little horn?
"But the judgment shall sit, and they shall _____________________________ _________________________." Dan. 7:20.
10. To whom will the dominion finally be given?
"And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given ______________________________________ whose kingdom is an ____________________, and _______________________ shall serve and obey Him." Verse 27.
NOTE.-Here as in the second chapter of Daniel, the announcement of the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of God in the earth includes a brief outline of the history of this world; and the prophecies of Daniel concerning the powers that would oppose the purpose of God, furnish additional features of this outline. The exact fulfillment of this outline in the history of the world since the time of Nebuchadnezzar constitutes an unimpeachable testimony to the inspiration of these prophecies, and furnishes a ground of confidence that the unfulfilled portion of the prophecies will be wrought out in the future with absolute certainty and in every detail.
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BIBLE STUDY: CHAP.50 -- FOUR GREAT MONARCHIES
Chapter 50.
Four Great Monarchies
1. AT what time was Daniel's second vision given?
"______________________ Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters." Dan. 7:1.
NOTE.-That is, in the first year of Belshazzar's office as associate king with his father Nabonadius, or 540 B.C.
2. What effect did this dream have upon Daniel?
"I Daniel was __________________ in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head ______________." Verse 15.
NOTE.-The effect of Daniel's dream upon him, it will be noticed was similar to the effect of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams upon him; it troubled him. See Dan. 2:1.
3. What did Daniel ask of one of the heavenly attendants who stood by him in his dream?
"I came near unto one of them that stood by, __________________. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things." Verse 16.
4. What did the prophet see in this vision?
"Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, _______________." Verse 2.
5. What was the result of this strife?|
"And _____________________, diverse one from another." Verse 3.
6. What did these four beasts represent?
"These great beasts, which are four, are __________________________." Verse 17.
NOTE.-The word kings here, 88 in Dan. 2:44, denotes kingdoms, as explained in verses 23 and 24 of the seventh chapter, the two words being used interchangeably in this prophecy.
7. In symbolic language, what is represented by winds?
Strife, war, commotion. See Jer. 25:31-33; 49:36,37.
NOTE.-That winds denote strife and war is evident from the vision itself. As a result of the striving of the winds, kingdoms rise and fall.
8. What, in prophecy, is symbolized by waters?
"And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest . . . are ____________, and ______________, and ______________, and _____________." Rev. 17:15.
NOTE.-In the second chapter of Daniel, under the figure of an image of man, the mere political outline of the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms is given, preceding the setting up of God's everlasting kingdom. In the seventh chapter, earthly governments are represented as viewed in the light of Heaven,- under the symbols of wild and ferocious beasts,- the last, in particular, oppressing and persecuting the saints of the Most High. Hence the change in the symbols used to represent these kingdoms.
9. What was the first beast like?
"____________________, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it." Dan. 7:4.
NOTE.-The lion, the first of these four great beasts, like the golden head of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, represents the Babylonian monarchy; the lion, the king of beasts, standing at the head of his kind, as gold does of metals. The eagle's wings doubtless denote the rapidity with which Babylon extended its conquests under Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned from B.C. 604 to B.C. 561. This kingdom was overthrown by the Medes and Persians in B.C. 538.
10. By what was the second kingdom symbolized?
"And behold another beast, a ________________, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh." Verse 5.
NOTE.-"This was the Medo-Persian Empire, represented here under the symbol of a bear. . . . The Medes and Persians are compared to a bear on account of their cruelty and thirst after blood, a bear being a most voracious and cruel animal."- Adam Clarke, on Dan. 7:5.
11. By what was the third universal empire symbolized?
"After this I beheld, and lo another_____________, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it." Verse 6.
NOTES.-If the wings of an eagle on the back of a lion denoted rapidity of movement in the Babylonian, or Assyrian, Empire (see Hab. 1:6-8), four wings on the leopard must denote unparalleled celerity of movement in the Grecian Empire. This we find to be historically true.
"The rapidity of Alexander's conquests in Asia was marvelous: he burst like a torrent on the expiring Persian Empire, and all opposition was useless. The gigantic armies collected to oppose him melted like snow in the sunshine. The battles of Granicus, B.C. 334, Issus in the following year, and Arbela in B.C. 331, settled the fate of the Persian Empire, and established the wide dominion of the Greeks."-"The Divine Program of the World's History," by H. Grattan Guinness, page 308.
"The beast had also four heads." The Grecian Empire maintained its unity but a short time after the death of Alexander, which occurred in B.C. 323. Within twenty-two years after the close of his brilliant career, or by B.C. 301, the empire was divided among his four leading generals. Cassander took Macedonia and Greece in the west; Lysimachus had Thrace and the parts of Asia on the Hellespont and Bosporus in the north; Ptolemy received Egypt, Lydia, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria in the south; and Seleucus had all the rest of Alexander's dominions in the east.
12. How was the fourth kingdom represented?
"After this I saw in the night-visions, and behold ________________________: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; ___________________." Verse 7.
13. What was the fourth beast declared to be?
"Thus he said, _______________________________, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." Verse 23.
NOTES.-"This is allowed on all hands to be the Roman Empire. It was dreadful, terrible, and exceeding strong; . . . and became, in effect, what the Roman writers delight to call it, the empire of the whole world." -Adam Clarke, on Dan. 7:7.
The final overthrow of the Greeks, by the Romans, was at the battle of Pydna, in 168 B.C.
14. What was denoted by the ten horns?
"And the ten horns out of this kingdom are _______________________." Verse 24.
NOTES.-The Roman Empire was broken up into ten kingdoms between the years 351 A.D. and 476 A.D.
"The historian Machiavelli, without the slightest reference to this prophecy, gives the following list of the nations which occupied the territory of the Western Empire at the time of the fall of Romulus Augustulus (476 A.D.), the last emperor of Rome: The Lombards the Franks, the Burgundians, the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, the Vandals, the Heruli, the Suevi, the Huns, and the Saxons: ten in all.
"Amidst unceasing and almost countless fluctuations, the kingdoms of modern Europe have from their birth to the present day averaged ten in number. They have never since the breaking up of old Rome been united into one single empire; they have never formed one whole even like the United States. No scheme of proud ambition seeking to reunite the broken fragments has ever succeeded; when such have arisen, they have been invariably dashed to pieces.
"And the division is as apparent now as ever. Plainly and palpably inscribed on the map of Europe this day, it confronts the skeptic with its silent but conclusive testimony to the fulfillment of this great prophecy. Who can alter or add to this tenfold list of the kingdoms now occupying the sphere of old Rome? Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany, England, Holland, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal - ten, and no more; ten, and no less."-"The Divine Program of the World's History," by H. Grattan Guinness, pages 318-321.
15. What change did Daniel see take place in these horns?
"I considered the horns, and, behold, ____________________________________: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." Verse 8.
16. What inquiry on the part of Daniel shows that the fourth beast, and especially the little horn phase of it, constitutes the leading feature of this vision?
"Then I ________________________, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; __________________ that were in his head, and _________________________; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows." Verses 19,20.
17. When was the little horn to arise?
"And another shall rise __________." Verse 24.
NOTE.-The ten horns, as already shown, arose when Rome, the fourth kingdom, was divided into ten kingdoms. This division was completed in A. D. 476. The little-horn power was to arise after them.
18. What was to be the character of the little horn?
"And he shall be __________ from the first, and he shall ______________________." Same verse, last part.
NOTES.- That power which arose in the Roman Empire after the fall of Rome in A.D. 476, which was entirely different from all the ten kingdoms into which Rome was divided (for it demanded and exercised spiritual power over the other kingdoms), and before whom three of the other kings -the Heruli the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths -fell, was the Papacy.
Having located the place and the time of the kingdom of the little horn, the study of its character and work will be considered in the readings which follow.
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Four Great Monarchies
1. AT what time was Daniel's second vision given?
"______________________ Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters." Dan. 7:1.
NOTE.-That is, in the first year of Belshazzar's office as associate king with his father Nabonadius, or 540 B.C.
2. What effect did this dream have upon Daniel?
"I Daniel was __________________ in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head ______________." Verse 15.
NOTE.-The effect of Daniel's dream upon him, it will be noticed was similar to the effect of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams upon him; it troubled him. See Dan. 2:1.
3. What did Daniel ask of one of the heavenly attendants who stood by him in his dream?
"I came near unto one of them that stood by, __________________. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things." Verse 16.
4. What did the prophet see in this vision?
"Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, _______________." Verse 2.
5. What was the result of this strife?|
"And _____________________, diverse one from another." Verse 3.
6. What did these four beasts represent?
"These great beasts, which are four, are __________________________." Verse 17.
NOTE.-The word kings here, 88 in Dan. 2:44, denotes kingdoms, as explained in verses 23 and 24 of the seventh chapter, the two words being used interchangeably in this prophecy.
7. In symbolic language, what is represented by winds?
Strife, war, commotion. See Jer. 25:31-33; 49:36,37.
NOTE.-That winds denote strife and war is evident from the vision itself. As a result of the striving of the winds, kingdoms rise and fall.
8. What, in prophecy, is symbolized by waters?
"And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest . . . are ____________, and ______________, and ______________, and _____________." Rev. 17:15.
NOTE.-In the second chapter of Daniel, under the figure of an image of man, the mere political outline of the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms is given, preceding the setting up of God's everlasting kingdom. In the seventh chapter, earthly governments are represented as viewed in the light of Heaven,- under the symbols of wild and ferocious beasts,- the last, in particular, oppressing and persecuting the saints of the Most High. Hence the change in the symbols used to represent these kingdoms.
9. What was the first beast like?
"____________________, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it." Dan. 7:4.
NOTE.-The lion, the first of these four great beasts, like the golden head of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, represents the Babylonian monarchy; the lion, the king of beasts, standing at the head of his kind, as gold does of metals. The eagle's wings doubtless denote the rapidity with which Babylon extended its conquests under Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned from B.C. 604 to B.C. 561. This kingdom was overthrown by the Medes and Persians in B.C. 538.
10. By what was the second kingdom symbolized?
"And behold another beast, a ________________, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh." Verse 5.
NOTE.-"This was the Medo-Persian Empire, represented here under the symbol of a bear. . . . The Medes and Persians are compared to a bear on account of their cruelty and thirst after blood, a bear being a most voracious and cruel animal."- Adam Clarke, on Dan. 7:5.
11. By what was the third universal empire symbolized?
"After this I beheld, and lo another_____________, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it." Verse 6.
NOTES.-If the wings of an eagle on the back of a lion denoted rapidity of movement in the Babylonian, or Assyrian, Empire (see Hab. 1:6-8), four wings on the leopard must denote unparalleled celerity of movement in the Grecian Empire. This we find to be historically true.
"The rapidity of Alexander's conquests in Asia was marvelous: he burst like a torrent on the expiring Persian Empire, and all opposition was useless. The gigantic armies collected to oppose him melted like snow in the sunshine. The battles of Granicus, B.C. 334, Issus in the following year, and Arbela in B.C. 331, settled the fate of the Persian Empire, and established the wide dominion of the Greeks."-"The Divine Program of the World's History," by H. Grattan Guinness, page 308.
"The beast had also four heads." The Grecian Empire maintained its unity but a short time after the death of Alexander, which occurred in B.C. 323. Within twenty-two years after the close of his brilliant career, or by B.C. 301, the empire was divided among his four leading generals. Cassander took Macedonia and Greece in the west; Lysimachus had Thrace and the parts of Asia on the Hellespont and Bosporus in the north; Ptolemy received Egypt, Lydia, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria in the south; and Seleucus had all the rest of Alexander's dominions in the east.
12. How was the fourth kingdom represented?
"After this I saw in the night-visions, and behold ________________________: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; ___________________." Verse 7.
13. What was the fourth beast declared to be?
"Thus he said, _______________________________, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." Verse 23.
NOTES.-"This is allowed on all hands to be the Roman Empire. It was dreadful, terrible, and exceeding strong; . . . and became, in effect, what the Roman writers delight to call it, the empire of the whole world." -Adam Clarke, on Dan. 7:7.
The final overthrow of the Greeks, by the Romans, was at the battle of Pydna, in 168 B.C.
14. What was denoted by the ten horns?
"And the ten horns out of this kingdom are _______________________." Verse 24.
NOTES.-The Roman Empire was broken up into ten kingdoms between the years 351 A.D. and 476 A.D.
"The historian Machiavelli, without the slightest reference to this prophecy, gives the following list of the nations which occupied the territory of the Western Empire at the time of the fall of Romulus Augustulus (476 A.D.), the last emperor of Rome: The Lombards the Franks, the Burgundians, the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, the Vandals, the Heruli, the Suevi, the Huns, and the Saxons: ten in all.
"Amidst unceasing and almost countless fluctuations, the kingdoms of modern Europe have from their birth to the present day averaged ten in number. They have never since the breaking up of old Rome been united into one single empire; they have never formed one whole even like the United States. No scheme of proud ambition seeking to reunite the broken fragments has ever succeeded; when such have arisen, they have been invariably dashed to pieces.
"And the division is as apparent now as ever. Plainly and palpably inscribed on the map of Europe this day, it confronts the skeptic with its silent but conclusive testimony to the fulfillment of this great prophecy. Who can alter or add to this tenfold list of the kingdoms now occupying the sphere of old Rome? Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany, England, Holland, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal - ten, and no more; ten, and no less."-"The Divine Program of the World's History," by H. Grattan Guinness, pages 318-321.
15. What change did Daniel see take place in these horns?
"I considered the horns, and, behold, ____________________________________: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." Verse 8.
16. What inquiry on the part of Daniel shows that the fourth beast, and especially the little horn phase of it, constitutes the leading feature of this vision?
"Then I ________________________, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; __________________ that were in his head, and _________________________; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows." Verses 19,20.
17. When was the little horn to arise?
"And another shall rise __________." Verse 24.
NOTE.-The ten horns, as already shown, arose when Rome, the fourth kingdom, was divided into ten kingdoms. This division was completed in A. D. 476. The little-horn power was to arise after them.
18. What was to be the character of the little horn?
"And he shall be __________ from the first, and he shall ______________________." Same verse, last part.
NOTES.- That power which arose in the Roman Empire after the fall of Rome in A.D. 476, which was entirely different from all the ten kingdoms into which Rome was divided (for it demanded and exercised spiritual power over the other kingdoms), and before whom three of the other kings -the Heruli the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths -fell, was the Papacy.
Having located the place and the time of the kingdom of the little horn, the study of its character and work will be considered in the readings which follow.
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www.preparingforeternity.com
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Tuesday, August 26, 2008
BIBLE STUDY: CHAP.49 -- THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM
Chapter 49.
The Gospel of the Kingdom
1. WHAT gospel did Jesus preach?
"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching _________________________________." Matt. 4:23.
2. How extensively did He say this should be preached?
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached ______________ for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matt. 24:14.
3. What shows that it has always been God's purpose that all the world should hear the gospel?
"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and ___________________________." Gen. 12:1-3.
"And the Scripture, __________________________, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." Gal. 3:8.
4. How did God warn Israel against formalism?
"Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their ___________, and with their ________ do honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men: therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people: . . . for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." Isa. 29:13,14.
5. What shows that they had substituted the ritual service of the temple for heart service?
"Thus saith the Lord, . . . Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. ________________________________." Jer. 7:3,4
6. What national disaster did they bring upon themselves by their apostasy from God?
"So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, __________________________." 1 Chron. 9:1.
NOTE.-From the earliest times it has been God's purpose that those who receive the gospel should make it known to others. For this purpose He chose a special people and established them in Palestine, in the highway of the nations; but they shut up the revelation of the truth to themselves, and so lost it. A few, like Daniel and his companions, maintained a personal connection with God, although surrounded by spiritual declension and dry formalism, and so were chosen by God to carry out His plan that the gospel of the kingdom should be preached in Babylon. They were tested and trained m Babylon, as shown m the first chapter of Darnel, and then, being ready to make known the gospel, the way providentially opened for them by the dream of Nebuchadnezzar.
7. In interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream, what kingdom did Daniel say would follow the four world empires?
"And in the days of these kings shall _________________, which shall never be destroyed." Dan. 2:44.
8. What was this kingdom to do to the other kingdoms?
"The kingdom shall not be left to other people, but ______________________." Same verse.
9. How long is this kingdom to continue?
"And it shall ___________________." Same verse, last clause.
10. What words of Christ imply the gospel's final triumph?
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; ______________________________." Matt. 16:18.
NOTE.-Anciently the gates to cities were places for holding courts, transacting business, and deliberating on public matters. The word gates, therefore, is used for counsels, designs, machinations, and evil purposes. The gates of hell mean the plottings, stratagems, and designs of Satan to overthrow the church. But none of these are to prevail.
11. What promises to David will thus be fulfilled?
"Thine _________________________ forever: . . . thy __________________ forever." 2 Sam. 7:16.
NOTE.-By uniting His divinity with humanity in becoming the Son of David, Christ laid the foundation upon which He built His church, and thus established the house of David forever. The kingdom of God, the house of David, and the church of Christ are so inseparably connected in this prophecy that the establishment of either involves the establishment of the other two.
12. Through whom are these promises to be fulfilled?
"He shall be great, and shall be called _________________: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end." Luke 1:32,33.
13. In order to fulfil these promises, whose son did the Son of God become?
"The son of _______________." Matt. 22:42.
14. What is this union of divinity and humanity called?
"And without controversy great is __________________: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." 1 Tim. 3:16.
15. What did Jesus call this same mystery?
"And He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know ______________________: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables." Mark 4:11.
16. In what confession did the wise men of Babylon deny any knowledge of this essential doctrine of Christianity?
"And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can show it before the king, except ________________________________________." Dan. 2:11.
NOTE.-The union of the divine and human in the person of Christ is "the mystery of godliness," or "the mystery of the kingdom of God." In the case of the seed which is sown in the field, this same principle is illustrated by the union of the reproducing power with the material form. As the seed is thus capable of multiplying itself, so Christ reproduces His own character in believers, by making them partakers of the divine nature. At His coming He bestows upon the subjects of the kingdom the gift of immortality (1 Cor. 15:51-53), and so the kingdom will stand forever. It is quite likely that the wise men of Babylon did not understand about the incarnation of God in the flesh in the coming Messiah, but in their statement that the dwelling of the gods was not with flesh they announced the fundamental error of Babylon, both ancient and modern, and really denied the vital principle of Christianity. This was the essential secret, or mystery, of the kingdom of God, which needed to be known in Babylon, and which is still to be proclaimed throughout the world.
17. Concerning what did Daniel and his companions pray?
"Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven ________________________." Verses 17,18.
18. What would have been the result of failure on their part to obtain a knowledge of this mystery?
"That Daniel and his fellows should not _________________________." Verse 18, last part.
19. How was the secret concerning the king's dream revealed, and thus the mystery of the kingdom of God made known in Babylon?
"Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel ___________________. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven." Verse 19.
NOTE.-The most vital truth of the gospel of the kingdom of God was denied in the religion of Babylon. This made it necessary that this very truth should be preached in Babylon. This mystery of the kingdom of God was the real and essential secret which the wise men of Babylon could not make known to the king, and which could be learned only by revelation. This is the mystery which "from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God" (Eph. 3:9); and the "riches of the glory of this mystery" is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27), or "the mystery of the gospel " (Eph. 6:19).
20. How did Nebuchadnezzar acknowledge God as the revealer, and thus Daniel's intimate fellowship with Him?
"The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that ________________ ___________." Verse 47.
21. When the gospel of the kingdom has been fully preached, and Christ appears as King, what invitation will be extended to those who have learned "the mystery of the kingdom"?
"When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations. . . . Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, ____________________." Matt. 25:31-34.
________________________________________
Thy kingdom come. Thus day by day
We lift our hands to God, and pray;
But who has ever duly weighed
The meaning of the words He said?
Copyright © 2003-2008
www.preparingforeternity.com
All rights reserved.
The Gospel of the Kingdom
1. WHAT gospel did Jesus preach?
"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching _________________________________." Matt. 4:23.
2. How extensively did He say this should be preached?
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached ______________ for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matt. 24:14.
3. What shows that it has always been God's purpose that all the world should hear the gospel?
"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and ___________________________." Gen. 12:1-3.
"And the Scripture, __________________________, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." Gal. 3:8.
4. How did God warn Israel against formalism?
"Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their ___________, and with their ________ do honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men: therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people: . . . for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." Isa. 29:13,14.
5. What shows that they had substituted the ritual service of the temple for heart service?
"Thus saith the Lord, . . . Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. ________________________________." Jer. 7:3,4
6. What national disaster did they bring upon themselves by their apostasy from God?
"So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, __________________________." 1 Chron. 9:1.
NOTE.-From the earliest times it has been God's purpose that those who receive the gospel should make it known to others. For this purpose He chose a special people and established them in Palestine, in the highway of the nations; but they shut up the revelation of the truth to themselves, and so lost it. A few, like Daniel and his companions, maintained a personal connection with God, although surrounded by spiritual declension and dry formalism, and so were chosen by God to carry out His plan that the gospel of the kingdom should be preached in Babylon. They were tested and trained m Babylon, as shown m the first chapter of Darnel, and then, being ready to make known the gospel, the way providentially opened for them by the dream of Nebuchadnezzar.
7. In interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream, what kingdom did Daniel say would follow the four world empires?
"And in the days of these kings shall _________________, which shall never be destroyed." Dan. 2:44.
8. What was this kingdom to do to the other kingdoms?
"The kingdom shall not be left to other people, but ______________________." Same verse.
9. How long is this kingdom to continue?
"And it shall ___________________." Same verse, last clause.
10. What words of Christ imply the gospel's final triumph?
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; ______________________________." Matt. 16:18.
NOTE.-Anciently the gates to cities were places for holding courts, transacting business, and deliberating on public matters. The word gates, therefore, is used for counsels, designs, machinations, and evil purposes. The gates of hell mean the plottings, stratagems, and designs of Satan to overthrow the church. But none of these are to prevail.
11. What promises to David will thus be fulfilled?
"Thine _________________________ forever: . . . thy __________________ forever." 2 Sam. 7:16.
NOTE.-By uniting His divinity with humanity in becoming the Son of David, Christ laid the foundation upon which He built His church, and thus established the house of David forever. The kingdom of God, the house of David, and the church of Christ are so inseparably connected in this prophecy that the establishment of either involves the establishment of the other two.
12. Through whom are these promises to be fulfilled?
"He shall be great, and shall be called _________________: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end." Luke 1:32,33.
13. In order to fulfil these promises, whose son did the Son of God become?
"The son of _______________." Matt. 22:42.
14. What is this union of divinity and humanity called?
"And without controversy great is __________________: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." 1 Tim. 3:16.
15. What did Jesus call this same mystery?
"And He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know ______________________: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables." Mark 4:11.
16. In what confession did the wise men of Babylon deny any knowledge of this essential doctrine of Christianity?
"And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can show it before the king, except ________________________________________." Dan. 2:11.
NOTE.-The union of the divine and human in the person of Christ is "the mystery of godliness," or "the mystery of the kingdom of God." In the case of the seed which is sown in the field, this same principle is illustrated by the union of the reproducing power with the material form. As the seed is thus capable of multiplying itself, so Christ reproduces His own character in believers, by making them partakers of the divine nature. At His coming He bestows upon the subjects of the kingdom the gift of immortality (1 Cor. 15:51-53), and so the kingdom will stand forever. It is quite likely that the wise men of Babylon did not understand about the incarnation of God in the flesh in the coming Messiah, but in their statement that the dwelling of the gods was not with flesh they announced the fundamental error of Babylon, both ancient and modern, and really denied the vital principle of Christianity. This was the essential secret, or mystery, of the kingdom of God, which needed to be known in Babylon, and which is still to be proclaimed throughout the world.
17. Concerning what did Daniel and his companions pray?
"Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven ________________________." Verses 17,18.
18. What would have been the result of failure on their part to obtain a knowledge of this mystery?
"That Daniel and his fellows should not _________________________." Verse 18, last part.
19. How was the secret concerning the king's dream revealed, and thus the mystery of the kingdom of God made known in Babylon?
"Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel ___________________. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven." Verse 19.
NOTE.-The most vital truth of the gospel of the kingdom of God was denied in the religion of Babylon. This made it necessary that this very truth should be preached in Babylon. This mystery of the kingdom of God was the real and essential secret which the wise men of Babylon could not make known to the king, and which could be learned only by revelation. This is the mystery which "from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God" (Eph. 3:9); and the "riches of the glory of this mystery" is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27), or "the mystery of the gospel " (Eph. 6:19).
20. How did Nebuchadnezzar acknowledge God as the revealer, and thus Daniel's intimate fellowship with Him?
"The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that ________________ ___________." Verse 47.
21. When the gospel of the kingdom has been fully preached, and Christ appears as King, what invitation will be extended to those who have learned "the mystery of the kingdom"?
"When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations. . . . Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, ____________________." Matt. 25:31-34.
________________________________________
Thy kingdom come. Thus day by day
We lift our hands to God, and pray;
But who has ever duly weighed
The meaning of the words He said?
Copyright © 2003-2008
www.preparingforeternity.com
All rights reserved.
BIBLE STUDY: CHAP.48 -- NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM
Chapter 48.
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
(The Great Image of Daniel 2)
or the kingdoms of the world and the kingdom of God
1. WHAT statement did Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, make to his wise men whom he had assembled?
"And the king said unto them, __________________________________." Dan. 2:3.
2. After being threatened with death if they did not make known the dream and the interpretation, what did the wise men say to the king?
"The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, ________________________: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and ________________________________________." Verses 10,11.
3. After the wise men had thus confessed their inability to do what the king required, who offered to interpret the dream?
"Then _____________went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation." Verse 16.
4. After Daniel and his fellows had sought God earnestly, how were the dream and its interpretation revealed to Daniel?
"Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel ________________. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven." Verse 19.
5. When brought before the king, what did Daniel say?
"Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king; but ________________, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these." Verses 27,28.
6. What did Daniel say the king had seen in his dream?
"Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; . . . Thou, O king, sawest, and behold ________________. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible." Verses 28-31.
7. Of what were the different parts of the image composed?
"This image's head was of ____________, his breast and his arms of _______, his belly and his thighs of ___________, his legs of __________, his feet ___________." Verses 32,33.
8. By what means was the image broken to pieces?
"Thou sawest till that ____________ was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces." Verse 34.
9. What became of the various parts of the image?
"Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and _________________________________, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." Verse 35.
10. With what words did Daniel begin the interpretation of the dream?
"Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. _____________________." Verses 37,38.
NOTE.-The character of the Babylonian Empire is fittingly indicated by the nature of the material composing that portion of the image by which it was symbolized-the head of gold. It was " the golden kingdom of a golden age." The city of Babylon, its metropolis, according to history towered to a height never equaled by any of its later rivals. "Situated in the garden of the East; laid out in a perfect square sixty miles in circumference, fifteen miles on each side surrounded by a wall three hundred and fifty feet high an eighty-seven feet thick, with a moat, or ditch, around this, of equal cubic capacity with the wall itself; divided into six hundred and seventy-six squares, laid out in luxuriant pleasure-grounds and gardens, interspersed with magnificent dwellings,-this city, containing in itself many things which were themselves wonders of the world, was itself another and still mightier wonder. . . . Such was Babylon, with Nebuchadnezzar, youthful, bold, vigorous, and accomplished, seated upon its throne."
11. What was to be the nature of the next kingdom after Babylon?
"After thee shall arise another kingdom __________________." Verse 39, first part.
12. Who was the last Babylonian king?
"In that night was __________________ the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old." Dan. 5:30,31. See also verses 1,2.
13. To whom was Belshazzar's kingdom given?
"Thy kingdom is divided, and given to ____________________." Verse 28.
14. By what is the Medo-Persian Empire represented in the great image?
The __________________________. Dan. 2:32.
15. By what is Grecia, the kingdom succeeding Medo- Persia, represented in the image?
"His belly and his thighs of _______________." Verse 32. "And another __________________________, which shall bear rule over all the earth." Verse 39.
16. What is said of the fourth kingdom?
"And the fourth kingdom ____________________: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise." Verse 40.
17. What scripture shows that the Roman emperors ruled the world?
"And it came to pass in those days, ______________________________." Luke 2:1.
NOTE.-Describing the Roman conquests, Gibbon uses the very imagery employed in the vision of Daniel 2. He says: "The arms of the republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of gold or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome."-"Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," chap. 38, par. 1, under " General Observations," at the close of the chapter.
18. What was indicated by the mixture of clay and iron in the feet and toes of the image?
"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, _______________________________." Dan. 2:41.
19. In what prophetic language was the varying strength of the ten kingdoms of the divided empire indicated?
"And as the toes of the feet were ___________________, so the kingdom shall be ________________________ [margin, brittle]." Verse 42.
20. Were any efforts to be made to reunite the divided empire of Rome?
"And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, _______________________: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay." Verse 43.
NOTES.-Charlemagne, Charles V, Louis XIV, and Napoleon all tried to reunite the broken fragments of the Roman Empire, but failed. By marriage and intermarriage ties have been formed with a view to strengthening and cementing together the shattered kingdom; but none have succeeded. The element of disunion remains. Many political revolutions and territorial changes have occurred in Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D.; but its divided state still remains.
This remarkable dream, as interpreted by Daniel, presents in the briefest form, and yet with unmistakable clearness, the course of world empires from the time of Nebuchadnezzar to the close of earthly history and the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of God. The history confirms the prophecy. The sovereignty of the world was held by Babylon from the time of this dream, B.C. 603, until B.C. 538, when it passed to the Medes and Persians. The victory of the Grecian forces at the battle of Arbela, in B.C. 331, marked the downfall of the Medo-Persian Empire, and the Greeks then became the undisputed rulers of the world. The battle of Pydna, in Macedonia, in B.C. 168, was the last organized effort to withstand a world-wide conquest by the Romans, and at that time therefore the sovereignty passed from the Greeks to the Romans, and the fourth kingdom was fully established. The division of Rome into ten kingdoms is definitely foretold in the vision recorded in the seventh chapter of Daniel, and occurred between the years 351 A.D. and 476 A.D.
21. What is to take place in the days of these kingdoms?
"And in the days of these kings shall __________________________________: . . . but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." Verse 44.
NOTE.-This verse foretells the establishment of another universal kingdom, the kingdom of God. This kingdom is to overthrow and supplant all existing earthly kingdoms, and is to stand forever. The time for the setting up of this kingdom was to be "in the days of these kings." This cannot refer to the four preceding empires, or kingdoms; for they were not contemporaneous, but successive; neither can it refer to an establishment of the kingdom at Christ's first advent, for the ten kingdoms which arose out of the ruins of the Roman Empire were not yet in existence. It must therefore be yet future.
22. In what announcement in the New Testament is the establishment of the kingdom of God made known?
"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, __________________________________; and He shall reign forever and ever." Rev. 11:15.
23. For what have we been taught to pray?
"__________________. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Matt. 6:10.
24. What event is closely associated with the establishment of God's everlasting kingdom?
"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at ____________________ and His kingdom." 2 Tim. 4:1.
25. With what prayer do the Scriptures close?
"He that testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. ________________________________________." Rev. 22:20.
________________________________________
Look for the way-marks as you journey on,
Look for the way-marks, passing one by one:
Down through the ages, past the kingdoms four,-
Where are we standing? Look the way-marks o'er.
First, Babylonia's kingdom ruled the world,
Then Medo-Persia's banners were unfurled;
And after Greece held universal sway,
Rome seized the scepter,-where are we today?
Down in the feet of iron and of clay,
Weak and divided, soon to pass away;
What will the next great, glorious drama be?-
Christ and His coming, and eternity.
F. E. BELDEN.
Copyright © 2003-2008
www.preparingforeternity.com
All rights reserved.
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
(The Great Image of Daniel 2)
or the kingdoms of the world and the kingdom of God
1. WHAT statement did Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, make to his wise men whom he had assembled?
"And the king said unto them, __________________________________." Dan. 2:3.
2. After being threatened with death if they did not make known the dream and the interpretation, what did the wise men say to the king?
"The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, ________________________: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and ________________________________________." Verses 10,11.
3. After the wise men had thus confessed their inability to do what the king required, who offered to interpret the dream?
"Then _____________went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation." Verse 16.
4. After Daniel and his fellows had sought God earnestly, how were the dream and its interpretation revealed to Daniel?
"Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel ________________. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven." Verse 19.
5. When brought before the king, what did Daniel say?
"Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king; but ________________, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these." Verses 27,28.
6. What did Daniel say the king had seen in his dream?
"Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; . . . Thou, O king, sawest, and behold ________________. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible." Verses 28-31.
7. Of what were the different parts of the image composed?
"This image's head was of ____________, his breast and his arms of _______, his belly and his thighs of ___________, his legs of __________, his feet ___________." Verses 32,33.
8. By what means was the image broken to pieces?
"Thou sawest till that ____________ was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces." Verse 34.
9. What became of the various parts of the image?
"Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and _________________________________, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." Verse 35.
10. With what words did Daniel begin the interpretation of the dream?
"Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. _____________________." Verses 37,38.
NOTE.-The character of the Babylonian Empire is fittingly indicated by the nature of the material composing that portion of the image by which it was symbolized-the head of gold. It was " the golden kingdom of a golden age." The city of Babylon, its metropolis, according to history towered to a height never equaled by any of its later rivals. "Situated in the garden of the East; laid out in a perfect square sixty miles in circumference, fifteen miles on each side surrounded by a wall three hundred and fifty feet high an eighty-seven feet thick, with a moat, or ditch, around this, of equal cubic capacity with the wall itself; divided into six hundred and seventy-six squares, laid out in luxuriant pleasure-grounds and gardens, interspersed with magnificent dwellings,-this city, containing in itself many things which were themselves wonders of the world, was itself another and still mightier wonder. . . . Such was Babylon, with Nebuchadnezzar, youthful, bold, vigorous, and accomplished, seated upon its throne."
11. What was to be the nature of the next kingdom after Babylon?
"After thee shall arise another kingdom __________________." Verse 39, first part.
12. Who was the last Babylonian king?
"In that night was __________________ the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old." Dan. 5:30,31. See also verses 1,2.
13. To whom was Belshazzar's kingdom given?
"Thy kingdom is divided, and given to ____________________." Verse 28.
14. By what is the Medo-Persian Empire represented in the great image?
The __________________________. Dan. 2:32.
15. By what is Grecia, the kingdom succeeding Medo- Persia, represented in the image?
"His belly and his thighs of _______________." Verse 32. "And another __________________________, which shall bear rule over all the earth." Verse 39.
16. What is said of the fourth kingdom?
"And the fourth kingdom ____________________: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise." Verse 40.
17. What scripture shows that the Roman emperors ruled the world?
"And it came to pass in those days, ______________________________." Luke 2:1.
NOTE.-Describing the Roman conquests, Gibbon uses the very imagery employed in the vision of Daniel 2. He says: "The arms of the republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of gold or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome."-"Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," chap. 38, par. 1, under " General Observations," at the close of the chapter.
18. What was indicated by the mixture of clay and iron in the feet and toes of the image?
"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, _______________________________." Dan. 2:41.
19. In what prophetic language was the varying strength of the ten kingdoms of the divided empire indicated?
"And as the toes of the feet were ___________________, so the kingdom shall be ________________________ [margin, brittle]." Verse 42.
20. Were any efforts to be made to reunite the divided empire of Rome?
"And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, _______________________: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay." Verse 43.
NOTES.-Charlemagne, Charles V, Louis XIV, and Napoleon all tried to reunite the broken fragments of the Roman Empire, but failed. By marriage and intermarriage ties have been formed with a view to strengthening and cementing together the shattered kingdom; but none have succeeded. The element of disunion remains. Many political revolutions and territorial changes have occurred in Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D.; but its divided state still remains.
This remarkable dream, as interpreted by Daniel, presents in the briefest form, and yet with unmistakable clearness, the course of world empires from the time of Nebuchadnezzar to the close of earthly history and the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of God. The history confirms the prophecy. The sovereignty of the world was held by Babylon from the time of this dream, B.C. 603, until B.C. 538, when it passed to the Medes and Persians. The victory of the Grecian forces at the battle of Arbela, in B.C. 331, marked the downfall of the Medo-Persian Empire, and the Greeks then became the undisputed rulers of the world. The battle of Pydna, in Macedonia, in B.C. 168, was the last organized effort to withstand a world-wide conquest by the Romans, and at that time therefore the sovereignty passed from the Greeks to the Romans, and the fourth kingdom was fully established. The division of Rome into ten kingdoms is definitely foretold in the vision recorded in the seventh chapter of Daniel, and occurred between the years 351 A.D. and 476 A.D.
21. What is to take place in the days of these kingdoms?
"And in the days of these kings shall __________________________________: . . . but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." Verse 44.
NOTE.-This verse foretells the establishment of another universal kingdom, the kingdom of God. This kingdom is to overthrow and supplant all existing earthly kingdoms, and is to stand forever. The time for the setting up of this kingdom was to be "in the days of these kings." This cannot refer to the four preceding empires, or kingdoms; for they were not contemporaneous, but successive; neither can it refer to an establishment of the kingdom at Christ's first advent, for the ten kingdoms which arose out of the ruins of the Roman Empire were not yet in existence. It must therefore be yet future.
22. In what announcement in the New Testament is the establishment of the kingdom of God made known?
"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, __________________________________; and He shall reign forever and ever." Rev. 11:15.
23. For what have we been taught to pray?
"__________________. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Matt. 6:10.
24. What event is closely associated with the establishment of God's everlasting kingdom?
"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at ____________________ and His kingdom." 2 Tim. 4:1.
25. With what prayer do the Scriptures close?
"He that testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. ________________________________________." Rev. 22:20.
________________________________________
Look for the way-marks as you journey on,
Look for the way-marks, passing one by one:
Down through the ages, past the kingdoms four,-
Where are we standing? Look the way-marks o'er.
First, Babylonia's kingdom ruled the world,
Then Medo-Persia's banners were unfurled;
And after Greece held universal sway,
Rome seized the scepter,-where are we today?
Down in the feet of iron and of clay,
Weak and divided, soon to pass away;
What will the next great, glorious drama be?-
Christ and His coming, and eternity.
F. E. BELDEN.
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www.preparingforeternity.com
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BIBLE STUDY: CHAP.47 -- PROPHECY, WHY GIVEN
Chapter 47.
Prophecy, Why Given
1. WHY were the Sacred Writings given?
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written _______________." Rom. 15:4.
2. By what means is all scripture given?
"All scripture is given ______________________." 2 Tim. 3:16, first part.
3. For what is it profitable?
"And is profitable for ______________________________________________." Same verse, last part.
4. How was the prophecy given?
"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but _________________ ____________________________________________." 2 Peter 1:21.
5. What is the Lord able to do regarding the future?
"Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: ________ ______________________________________________." Isa. 42:9.
6. How far-reaching is God's ability to reveal the future?
"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, . . . and there is none like Me, _____________________________, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done." Isa. 46:9,10.
NOTES.-In contrast with this, note the following confession of a noted modern historian as to man's inability to reveal the future:-
"History has yet made so slight progress toward the scientific basis that she is able to foretell nothing that is to be hereafter. As to the future, she is stone-blind. There is not a philosopher in the world who can forecast the historical evolution to the extent of a single day. The historian is as completely dumb before the problems of 1895 as a charlatan weather-prophet ought to be with respect to the meteorological conditions of the next season. The year will come and go. It will fulfill its purpose in the great calendar of man-life. Its events and issues will be evolved with scientific exactitude out of antecedent conditions. But no man living can predict what the aspect and event will be. The tallest son of the morning can neither foretell nor foresee the nature of what is to come in the year that already stands knocking at the door."-John Clark Ridpath, in Christian at Work, Dec. 27, 1894.
Knowing all things, the future is present with God. More, perhaps, than any other one thing, the prophecies of the Bible and their fulfillment bear witness to its divine inspiration.
7. To whom does God reveal the secrets of the future?
"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants ____________________." Amos 3:7.
8. To whom do the things which have been revealed belong?
"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong ______________________________________." Deut. 29:29.
9. What testimony did the apostle Peter bear concerning his experience on the mount of transfiguration?
"__________________________________, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, _______________________________." 2 Peter 1:16.
10. When did he say he saw the majesty of Christ, and heard the voice from heaven?
"And this voice which came from heaven we heard, ________________________ ________________." Verse 18.
11. How does he emphasize the reliability of prophecy?
"And we have the word of prophecy ____________." Verse 19, R.V. "Now more confirmed." Boothroyd's translation.
NOTE.-Every fulfillment of prophecy is a confirmation of the truth- fullness and reliability of prophecy.
12. What admonition is therefore given?
"Whereunto ye do well that ye ___________________, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts." Verse 19, last part, R.V.
13. What has ever been the theme of God's prophets?
"Receiving the end of your faith, even _____________________. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you." 1 Peter 1:9,10.
14. Whose spirit inspired their utterances?
"Searching what, or what manner of time ____________________________ did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." Verse 11.
15. In what prophecy did Christ recognize Daniel as a prophet?
"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by __________ ____________, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)." Matt. 24:15.
16. To what time were the prophecies of Daniel, as a whole, to be sealed?
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to ______________: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Dan. 12:4.
17. What assurance was given by the angel that these prophecies would be understood in the last days?
"And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; ______________________." Verses 9,10.
18. What is the last book of the Bible called?
"_________________________________, which God gave unto Him." Rev. 1:1.
19. What is said of those who read, hear, and keep the things contained in this book?
"_________________ is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." Verse 3.
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Prophecy, Why Given
1. WHY were the Sacred Writings given?
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written _______________." Rom. 15:4.
2. By what means is all scripture given?
"All scripture is given ______________________." 2 Tim. 3:16, first part.
3. For what is it profitable?
"And is profitable for ______________________________________________." Same verse, last part.
4. How was the prophecy given?
"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but _________________ ____________________________________________." 2 Peter 1:21.
5. What is the Lord able to do regarding the future?
"Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: ________ ______________________________________________." Isa. 42:9.
6. How far-reaching is God's ability to reveal the future?
"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, . . . and there is none like Me, _____________________________, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done." Isa. 46:9,10.
NOTES.-In contrast with this, note the following confession of a noted modern historian as to man's inability to reveal the future:-
"History has yet made so slight progress toward the scientific basis that she is able to foretell nothing that is to be hereafter. As to the future, she is stone-blind. There is not a philosopher in the world who can forecast the historical evolution to the extent of a single day. The historian is as completely dumb before the problems of 1895 as a charlatan weather-prophet ought to be with respect to the meteorological conditions of the next season. The year will come and go. It will fulfill its purpose in the great calendar of man-life. Its events and issues will be evolved with scientific exactitude out of antecedent conditions. But no man living can predict what the aspect and event will be. The tallest son of the morning can neither foretell nor foresee the nature of what is to come in the year that already stands knocking at the door."-John Clark Ridpath, in Christian at Work, Dec. 27, 1894.
Knowing all things, the future is present with God. More, perhaps, than any other one thing, the prophecies of the Bible and their fulfillment bear witness to its divine inspiration.
7. To whom does God reveal the secrets of the future?
"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants ____________________." Amos 3:7.
8. To whom do the things which have been revealed belong?
"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong ______________________________________." Deut. 29:29.
9. What testimony did the apostle Peter bear concerning his experience on the mount of transfiguration?
"__________________________________, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, _______________________________." 2 Peter 1:16.
10. When did he say he saw the majesty of Christ, and heard the voice from heaven?
"And this voice which came from heaven we heard, ________________________ ________________." Verse 18.
11. How does he emphasize the reliability of prophecy?
"And we have the word of prophecy ____________." Verse 19, R.V. "Now more confirmed." Boothroyd's translation.
NOTE.-Every fulfillment of prophecy is a confirmation of the truth- fullness and reliability of prophecy.
12. What admonition is therefore given?
"Whereunto ye do well that ye ___________________, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts." Verse 19, last part, R.V.
13. What has ever been the theme of God's prophets?
"Receiving the end of your faith, even _____________________. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you." 1 Peter 1:9,10.
14. Whose spirit inspired their utterances?
"Searching what, or what manner of time ____________________________ did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." Verse 11.
15. In what prophecy did Christ recognize Daniel as a prophet?
"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by __________ ____________, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)." Matt. 24:15.
16. To what time were the prophecies of Daniel, as a whole, to be sealed?
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to ______________: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Dan. 12:4.
17. What assurance was given by the angel that these prophecies would be understood in the last days?
"And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; ______________________." Verses 9,10.
18. What is the last book of the Bible called?
"_________________________________, which God gave unto Him." Rev. 1:1.
19. What is said of those who read, hear, and keep the things contained in this book?
"_________________ is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." Verse 3.
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www.preparingforeternity.com
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BIBLE STUDY: CHAP.46 -- THE OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT
Chapter 46.
The Outpouring of the Spirit
1. FOR what did Christ, just before His ascension, tell His disciples to wait?
"And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, _____________________." Luke 24:49.
2. With what did He say they would be baptized?
"Ye shall be baptized _______________ not many days hence." Acts 1:5.
NOTE.-John the Baptist had foretold this baptism. He said: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." Matt. 3:11.
3. For what work was this baptism to prepare them?
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ___________________________ both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8.
4. What were some of the results of the preaching of the gospel under the outpouring of the Spirit?
"Now when they heard this, __________________, and said . . . Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. . . . Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: ________________________________." Acts 2:37-41. "And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; . . . and _______________________________________, multitudes both of men and women." Acts 5:12-14. "And the word of God increased; and ________________; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith." Acts 6:7.
5. How did persecution affect the preaching of the gospel?
"And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. . . . Therefore ___________________." Acts 8:1-4.
NOTE.-"Persecution has only had a tendency to extend and establish the faith which it was designed to destroy. . . . There is no lesson which men have been so slow to learn as that to oppose and persecute men is the very way to confirm them in their opinions, and to spread their doctrines."-Dr. Albert Barnes, on Acts 4:4.
6. What words of Peter seem to indicate another outpouring of the Spirit?
"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, ___________________________________." Acts 3:19.
7. What event does he speak of as immediately following these times of refreshing?
"________________________, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive [Syriac, retain] until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." Verses 20,21.
NOTE.-From this it seems evident that we may look for another outpouring of the Spirit for a final proclamation of the gospel to all the world just before Christ's second advent and the restitution of all things.
8. What prophecy was fulfilled in the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit in the time of the apostles?
"But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said, . . . These are not drunken, as ye suppose, . . . but __________________________; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy." Acts 2:14-18. See Joel 2:28,29.
9. What expressions in the prophecy of Joel seem to imply a double fulfillment of this outpouring of the Spirit?
"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the _______________ moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the ________________, and the ______________ in the first month." Joel 2:23. See also Hosea 6:3.
NOTE.-In Palestine the early rains prepare the soil for the seed sowing, and the latter rains ripen the grain for the harvest. So the early outpouring of the Spirit prepared the world for the extensive sowing of the gospel seed, and the final outpouring will come to ripen the golden grain for the harvest of the earth, which Christ says is "the end of the world." Matt. 13:37-39; Rev. 14:14,15.
10. For what are we told to pray at this time?
"__________________________; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain to everyone grass in the field." Zech. 10:1.
NOTE.-Before the apostles received the baptism of the Spirit in the early rain on the day of Pentecost, they all "continued with one accord in prayer and supplication." Acts 1:14. During this time they confessed their faults, put away their differences, ceased their selfish ambitions and contentions for place and power, so that when the time for the outpouring came, "they were all with one accord in one place," ready for its reception. To be prepared for the final outpouring of the Spirit, all sin and selfish ambition must again be put away, and a like work of grace wrought upon the hearts of God's people.
11. How is the closing work of the gospel under the out pouring of the Spirit described by the revelator?
"After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and _______________________." Rev. 18:1.
12. What does this angel say?
"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, ________________________, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Verse 2.
13. What did Peter on the day of Pentecost tell his hearers to do?
"And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, _______________." Acts 2:40.
14. What similar call and appeal will be made under the final outpouring of the Spirit?
"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, _______________________, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." Rev. 18:4,5.
NOTES.-A great work will be accomplished in a short time under the final outpouring of the Spirit. Many voices all over the earth will sound the warning cry. Signs and wonders will be wrought by the believers, and, as at Pentecost, thousands will be converted in a day.
Those who fail to heed this final gospel call, like the unbelieving Jews, will be doomed to destruction. The seven last plagues will overtake them, as war, famine, death, and destruction overtook the Jews, who, not believing in Christ, failed to heed His call to flee, and shut themselves up in Jerusalem to their doom. Those who heed the call, and separate themselves from sin and from sinners, will be saved.
________________________________________
Come, Holy Spirit, come,
Let Thy bright beams arise,
Dispel the sorrow from our minds,
The darkness from our eyes.
Convince us all of sin,
Then lead to Jesus' blood,
And to our wondering view reveal
The mercies of our God.
Revive our drooping faith,
Our doubts and fears remove,
And kindle in our breasts the flame
Of never-dying love.
'Tis Thine to cleanse the heart,
To sanctify the soul,
To pour fresh life in every part,
And new-create the whole.
Come, Holy Spirit, come,
Our minds from bondage free;
Then shall we know, and praise, and love
The Father, Son, and Thee.
JOSEPH HART.
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All rights reserved.
The Outpouring of the Spirit
1. FOR what did Christ, just before His ascension, tell His disciples to wait?
"And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, _____________________." Luke 24:49.
2. With what did He say they would be baptized?
"Ye shall be baptized _______________ not many days hence." Acts 1:5.
NOTE.-John the Baptist had foretold this baptism. He said: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." Matt. 3:11.
3. For what work was this baptism to prepare them?
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ___________________________ both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8.
4. What were some of the results of the preaching of the gospel under the outpouring of the Spirit?
"Now when they heard this, __________________, and said . . . Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. . . . Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: ________________________________." Acts 2:37-41. "And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; . . . and _______________________________________, multitudes both of men and women." Acts 5:12-14. "And the word of God increased; and ________________; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith." Acts 6:7.
5. How did persecution affect the preaching of the gospel?
"And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. . . . Therefore ___________________." Acts 8:1-4.
NOTE.-"Persecution has only had a tendency to extend and establish the faith which it was designed to destroy. . . . There is no lesson which men have been so slow to learn as that to oppose and persecute men is the very way to confirm them in their opinions, and to spread their doctrines."-Dr. Albert Barnes, on Acts 4:4.
6. What words of Peter seem to indicate another outpouring of the Spirit?
"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, ___________________________________." Acts 3:19.
7. What event does he speak of as immediately following these times of refreshing?
"________________________, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive [Syriac, retain] until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." Verses 20,21.
NOTE.-From this it seems evident that we may look for another outpouring of the Spirit for a final proclamation of the gospel to all the world just before Christ's second advent and the restitution of all things.
8. What prophecy was fulfilled in the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit in the time of the apostles?
"But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said, . . . These are not drunken, as ye suppose, . . . but __________________________; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy." Acts 2:14-18. See Joel 2:28,29.
9. What expressions in the prophecy of Joel seem to imply a double fulfillment of this outpouring of the Spirit?
"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the _______________ moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the ________________, and the ______________ in the first month." Joel 2:23. See also Hosea 6:3.
NOTE.-In Palestine the early rains prepare the soil for the seed sowing, and the latter rains ripen the grain for the harvest. So the early outpouring of the Spirit prepared the world for the extensive sowing of the gospel seed, and the final outpouring will come to ripen the golden grain for the harvest of the earth, which Christ says is "the end of the world." Matt. 13:37-39; Rev. 14:14,15.
10. For what are we told to pray at this time?
"__________________________; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain to everyone grass in the field." Zech. 10:1.
NOTE.-Before the apostles received the baptism of the Spirit in the early rain on the day of Pentecost, they all "continued with one accord in prayer and supplication." Acts 1:14. During this time they confessed their faults, put away their differences, ceased their selfish ambitions and contentions for place and power, so that when the time for the outpouring came, "they were all with one accord in one place," ready for its reception. To be prepared for the final outpouring of the Spirit, all sin and selfish ambition must again be put away, and a like work of grace wrought upon the hearts of God's people.
11. How is the closing work of the gospel under the out pouring of the Spirit described by the revelator?
"After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and _______________________." Rev. 18:1.
12. What does this angel say?
"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, ________________________, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Verse 2.
13. What did Peter on the day of Pentecost tell his hearers to do?
"And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, _______________." Acts 2:40.
14. What similar call and appeal will be made under the final outpouring of the Spirit?
"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, _______________________, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." Rev. 18:4,5.
NOTES.-A great work will be accomplished in a short time under the final outpouring of the Spirit. Many voices all over the earth will sound the warning cry. Signs and wonders will be wrought by the believers, and, as at Pentecost, thousands will be converted in a day.
Those who fail to heed this final gospel call, like the unbelieving Jews, will be doomed to destruction. The seven last plagues will overtake them, as war, famine, death, and destruction overtook the Jews, who, not believing in Christ, failed to heed His call to flee, and shut themselves up in Jerusalem to their doom. Those who heed the call, and separate themselves from sin and from sinners, will be saved.
________________________________________
Come, Holy Spirit, come,
Let Thy bright beams arise,
Dispel the sorrow from our minds,
The darkness from our eyes.
Convince us all of sin,
Then lead to Jesus' blood,
And to our wondering view reveal
The mercies of our God.
Revive our drooping faith,
Our doubts and fears remove,
And kindle in our breasts the flame
Of never-dying love.
'Tis Thine to cleanse the heart,
To sanctify the soul,
To pour fresh life in every part,
And new-create the whole.
Come, Holy Spirit, come,
Our minds from bondage free;
Then shall we know, and praise, and love
The Father, Son, and Thee.
JOSEPH HART.
Copyright © 2003-2008
www.prparingforeternity.com
All rights reserved.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
BIBLE STUDY: CHAP.45 -- THE GIFT OF PROPHECY
Chapter 45.
The Gift of Prophecy
1. How did God communicate with man in Eden?
"And the Lord God __________________________, Where art thou?" Gen. 3:9.
2. Since the fall, by what means has God generally made known His will to man?
"I have also spoken ________________, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, ________________________." Hosea 12:10.
3. What things belong to God, and what to us?
"__________________ belong unto the Lord our God; but ________________ belong unto us and to our children forever." Deut. 29:29.
4. How fully and to whom does God reveal His purposes?
"Surely the Lord God will do ____________, but _____________________." Amos 3:7.
5. Can the wise men of the world foretell the future?
"Daniel answered before the king, and said, ________________________, show unto the king." Dan.2:27, R.V. See notes on question 6. of chapter 47 of this book.
6. Who did Daniel say could reveal secrets?
"But _____________________ and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days." Verse 28.
7. How did the prophet Daniel acknowledge the insufficiency of human wisdom?
"____________________________________, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart." Verse 30.
8. After revealing and interpreting the dream, what did Daniel say?
"The great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass __________." Verse 45.
9. How does God show His foreknowledge?
"Behold, the former things are come to pass, and ___________________________." Isa. 42:9.
10. How does the Lord reveal Himself to His prophets?
"If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a ____________, and will speak unto him in a ___________." Num. 12:6.
11. Under what influence did the prophets of old speak?
"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake _________________________." 2 Peter 1:21. See 2 Sam. 23:2.
12. How are both the origin of prophecy and the means of communicating it still further shown?
"The revelation of Jesus Christ, ________________, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and __________________________________." Rev. 1:1.
13. What angel revealed to Daniel his visions and dreams?
"Whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man ____________, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And _____________________________, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding." Dan. 9:21,22. See also chapter 10, and Rev. 22:9,10.
14. What Spirit was in the prophets inditing their utterances?
"O which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time ________________________ did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." 1 Peter 1:10,11.
15. How were the Lord's words to the prophets preserved?
"Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then _______________, and told the sum of the matters." Dan. 7:1. See Jer. 51:60; Rev. 1:10,11.
16. By whom has God spoken to us in these last days?
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us ___________." Heb. 1:1,2.
17. What was one of the offices to be filled by the Messiah?
"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee ____________ from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall harken." Deut. 18:15.
18. What was foretold through the prophet Joel?
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and ____________________________________________________." Joel 2:28.
19. When did this prediction begin to be fulfilled?
"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in ______________, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." Acts 2:16,17.
20. What were some of the gifts Christ gave to His church?
"When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. . . . And He gave some, ______________; and some, __________; and some, ________________; and some, __________ and __________." Eph. 4:8-11.
21. By what means did God deliver and preserve Israel?
"______________ the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and _______________ was he preserved." Hosea 12:13.
22. When Moses complained of his slowness of speech, what did God say Aaron should be to him?
"And he shall be thy ______________ unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of _____________, and thou shalt be to him instead of God." Ex. 4:16.
23. What did God afterward call Aaron?
"And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be ____________." Ex. 7:1.
24. What is one test by which to detect false prophets?
"When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, __________________________, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him." Deut. 18:22.
25. What other test should be applied in determining the validity of the claims of a prophet?
"If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, __________________, which thou hast not known, and _______________; thou shalt not harken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. _______________________________________, and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him." Deut. 13:1-4.
NOTE.-From these scriptures it will be seen that, in the first place, if a prophet's words do not prove to be true, it is evidence that God has not sent that prophet. On the other hand, even though the thing predicted comes to pass, if the pretended prophet seeks to lead others to break God's commandments, this, regardless of all signs, should be positive evidence that he is not a true prophet.
26. What rule did Christ give for distinguishing between true and false prophets?
"______________ ye shall know them." Matt. 7:20.
27. What general rule is laid down for testing all prophets?
"____________________: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isa. 8:20.
28. How did God's prophets anciently use the words of former prophets in exhorting the people to obedience?
"__________________________, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity?" Zech. 7:7.
29. What is the promised result of believing God's prophets?
"Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; ____________________." 2 Chron. 20:20.
30. What admonition is given regarding the gift of prophecy?
"________________________. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." 1 Thess. 5:20,21.
31. What will characterize the last, or remnant, church?
"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, ______________________________________________." Rev. 12:17.
32. What is the "testimony of Jesus"?
"The testimony of Jesus is _________________________." Rev. 19:10. See Rev. 1:9.
33. What results when this gift is absent?
"Where there is no vision, ____________________: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." Prov. 29:18. See also Ps. 74:9.
________________________________________
What poor, despised company
Of travelers are these,
Who walk in yonder narrow way,
Along the rugged maze?
Ah! these are of a royal line,
All children of a King,
Heirs of immortal crowns divine;
And lo! for joy they sing.
Why do they, then, appear so mean,
And why so much despised?
Because of their rich robes unseen
The world is not apprized.
But why keep they that narrow road,-
That rugged, thorny maze?
Why, that's the way their Leader trod,
They love and keep His ways.
Why do they shun the pleasing path
That worldlings love so well?
Because that is the road to death,
The open road to hell.
What! is there then no other road
To Salem's happy ground?
Christ is the only way to God,
No other can be found.
Copyright © 2003-2008
www.preparingforeternity.com
All rights reserved.
The Gift of Prophecy
1. How did God communicate with man in Eden?
"And the Lord God __________________________, Where art thou?" Gen. 3:9.
2. Since the fall, by what means has God generally made known His will to man?
"I have also spoken ________________, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, ________________________." Hosea 12:10.
3. What things belong to God, and what to us?
"__________________ belong unto the Lord our God; but ________________ belong unto us and to our children forever." Deut. 29:29.
4. How fully and to whom does God reveal His purposes?
"Surely the Lord God will do ____________, but _____________________." Amos 3:7.
5. Can the wise men of the world foretell the future?
"Daniel answered before the king, and said, ________________________, show unto the king." Dan.2:27, R.V. See notes on question 6. of chapter 47 of this book.
6. Who did Daniel say could reveal secrets?
"But _____________________ and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days." Verse 28.
7. How did the prophet Daniel acknowledge the insufficiency of human wisdom?
"____________________________________, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart." Verse 30.
8. After revealing and interpreting the dream, what did Daniel say?
"The great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass __________." Verse 45.
9. How does God show His foreknowledge?
"Behold, the former things are come to pass, and ___________________________." Isa. 42:9.
10. How does the Lord reveal Himself to His prophets?
"If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a ____________, and will speak unto him in a ___________." Num. 12:6.
11. Under what influence did the prophets of old speak?
"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake _________________________." 2 Peter 1:21. See 2 Sam. 23:2.
12. How are both the origin of prophecy and the means of communicating it still further shown?
"The revelation of Jesus Christ, ________________, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and __________________________________." Rev. 1:1.
13. What angel revealed to Daniel his visions and dreams?
"Whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man ____________, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And _____________________________, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding." Dan. 9:21,22. See also chapter 10, and Rev. 22:9,10.
14. What Spirit was in the prophets inditing their utterances?
"O which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time ________________________ did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." 1 Peter 1:10,11.
15. How were the Lord's words to the prophets preserved?
"Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then _______________, and told the sum of the matters." Dan. 7:1. See Jer. 51:60; Rev. 1:10,11.
16. By whom has God spoken to us in these last days?
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us ___________." Heb. 1:1,2.
17. What was one of the offices to be filled by the Messiah?
"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee ____________ from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall harken." Deut. 18:15.
18. What was foretold through the prophet Joel?
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and ____________________________________________________." Joel 2:28.
19. When did this prediction begin to be fulfilled?
"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in ______________, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." Acts 2:16,17.
20. What were some of the gifts Christ gave to His church?
"When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. . . . And He gave some, ______________; and some, __________; and some, ________________; and some, __________ and __________." Eph. 4:8-11.
21. By what means did God deliver and preserve Israel?
"______________ the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and _______________ was he preserved." Hosea 12:13.
22. When Moses complained of his slowness of speech, what did God say Aaron should be to him?
"And he shall be thy ______________ unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of _____________, and thou shalt be to him instead of God." Ex. 4:16.
23. What did God afterward call Aaron?
"And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be ____________." Ex. 7:1.
24. What is one test by which to detect false prophets?
"When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, __________________________, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him." Deut. 18:22.
25. What other test should be applied in determining the validity of the claims of a prophet?
"If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, __________________, which thou hast not known, and _______________; thou shalt not harken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. _______________________________________, and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him." Deut. 13:1-4.
NOTE.-From these scriptures it will be seen that, in the first place, if a prophet's words do not prove to be true, it is evidence that God has not sent that prophet. On the other hand, even though the thing predicted comes to pass, if the pretended prophet seeks to lead others to break God's commandments, this, regardless of all signs, should be positive evidence that he is not a true prophet.
26. What rule did Christ give for distinguishing between true and false prophets?
"______________ ye shall know them." Matt. 7:20.
27. What general rule is laid down for testing all prophets?
"____________________: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isa. 8:20.
28. How did God's prophets anciently use the words of former prophets in exhorting the people to obedience?
"__________________________, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity?" Zech. 7:7.
29. What is the promised result of believing God's prophets?
"Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; ____________________." 2 Chron. 20:20.
30. What admonition is given regarding the gift of prophecy?
"________________________. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." 1 Thess. 5:20,21.
31. What will characterize the last, or remnant, church?
"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, ______________________________________________." Rev. 12:17.
32. What is the "testimony of Jesus"?
"The testimony of Jesus is _________________________." Rev. 19:10. See Rev. 1:9.
33. What results when this gift is absent?
"Where there is no vision, ____________________: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." Prov. 29:18. See also Ps. 74:9.
________________________________________
What poor, despised company
Of travelers are these,
Who walk in yonder narrow way,
Along the rugged maze?
Ah! these are of a royal line,
All children of a King,
Heirs of immortal crowns divine;
And lo! for joy they sing.
Why do they, then, appear so mean,
And why so much despised?
Because of their rich robes unseen
The world is not apprized.
But why keep they that narrow road,-
That rugged, thorny maze?
Why, that's the way their Leader trod,
They love and keep His ways.
Why do they shun the pleasing path
That worldlings love so well?
Because that is the road to death,
The open road to hell.
What! is there then no other road
To Salem's happy ground?
Christ is the only way to God,
No other can be found.
Copyright © 2003-2008
www.preparingforeternity.com
All rights reserved.
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