Brother Victor T. Houteff wrote 5 “Answerer” Tracts. They composed a total of 165 questions submitted to him during his Ministry. We would like to post question no. 48 in Track 3. Be blessed and enlightened!
“Question No. 48:
Does the word “cleansing” spoken of in Daniel 8:14 refer to a cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary? If so, what polluted it?
Answer:
Though the sanctuary in heaven and the one on earth are in two different locations, yet the one necessarily involves the other, for both deal with the same sins and sinners. Hence, for one sanctuary to become polluted will as a consequence affect the other. For instance, if some of the members of the church on earth should backslide after once being converted (as did Achan King Saul, Judas, Ananias and Sapphira, and many others whose names were once written in the Book of Life but who though failing to continue in the faith became unworthy of life eternal), they would of course at the same time pollute both sanctuaries. The earthly they pollute by their actual deeds and influence; the heavenly, by having their unworthy names in its books; for while the earthly sanctuary harbors the people, the heavenly houses their records.
So while there is need of cleansing the earthly sanctuary from backsliders and hypocrites there is need of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary from the sinners’ names in its books. And the proper term for such a work is Investigative Judgment-the work portrayed in Daniel’s prophecy (Dan. 7:9, 10) and in Christ’s parables of the harvest, net, talents wedding garment, and the goats and the sheep.
However, as the Bible plainly teaches that this special work takes place only once during probationary time (Heb. 9:26), it follows that the records of those who have died throughout the centuries will be the first to pass in review before God, the Great Judge (Dan. 7:9, 10). After these have been examined, then the examination of the records of the living will begin. And as we are told that there are two classes of people in the church (‘’wheat”) and “tares”—(Matt. 13:30), it is evident that the Investigative Judgment (“harvest”) of the dead affects only the heavenly sanctuary.
This is doubly evident when it is remembered that “the dead know not anything” (Eccles. 9:5) but are lying unconscious while waiting in their graves for the resurrection day. But when the Judgment (“harvest”) of the living shall begin, then of necessity the sanctuary on earth will be cleansed from the hypocrites, and the sanctuary in heaven from their names in its records. Both sanctuaries are therefore affected. The cleansing of the earthly is further borne out by Malachi’s prophecy:
“Behold I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s sope: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Mal. 3:1-3.
Furthermore, the treading under foot of both the sanctuary and the host, and the casting “down the truth to the ground,” projected in Daniel 8:12, must also be considered. By substituting a pagan priesthood for the priesthood of Christ, and unconverted pagans for the host of God, also by introducing a pagan festal day in place of God’s Sabbath, not only both the heavenly and the earthly sanctuaries but also the doctrines were polluted. So while the two sanctuaries are being cleansed from sinners, Bible Truth is being winnowed from man’s theories and ideas.”
“Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.” (Test. for the Church, vol. 9, p.11)
Do you have your seat belts on? The world is soon to be jolted by TWO big events happening concurrently. What are they you ask?
The Lord’s final message of Elijah tells us plainly —
“O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.”
Here in prophetic utterance is not only a promise to purify the church when modern Assyria is being crushed, but also a suggestive statement as to what constitutes “meat in due season” for men today; and as to what movement they are to enlist in if they would make sure of salvation. They are enjoined to fix their vision upon the feet of him who brings “good tidings” (message from the Lord), who publishes “peace” (the peace of Christ’s Kingdom), andwho declares that while the powers of earth are engulfed in a gigantic war, the wicked in the church shall be cut off, no more to pass through her. Specifically, the prophet exhorts all penitently to turn unto the house of Judah (the latter-day Kingdom of Judah — Mic. 4; Ezek. 37:16-22), the church in the purification of which are to be sealed 12,000 out of each of the 12 tribes, as firstfruits. And he urges the subjects of the kingdom to perform their religious duties and to keep their promises to the Lord. In short, he admonishes them to give heed to the message of the hour — the message which announces the imminence of the church’s purification, after which, as the promise is, “the wicked shall no more pass through” her, for “he is utterly cut off.” (See also Matt. 13:30, 47-50, Isa. 66:16, 19, 20). (Tract 14, p.22)
Let us slowly, prayerfully and deeply concentrate on the red highlighted words. There is, as we know, a big focus on the middle east now. Since Oct. 7 of 2023 the world has kept it’s eye upon the seriousness of the middle east happenings. This is God’s plan being developed. There is to be a gigantic world war over the middle east, let us read —
“Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand fon the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from ithe earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.”(Zech. 14:1-5)
What is the purpose of this war? God must fulfil His promises —
“And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.“Thus says the Lord God: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.” (Ezekiel 28:24-26)
Very few know what the above really means, but let that not be us. Believe in His word, it shall come to pass,
“Isa. 60:10 — “And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in My wrath I smote thee, but in My favour have I had mercy on thee.”
In Ezra and Nehemiah’s time the people of God, the Jews, themselves had to build against great odds, but for the church purified, the Gentiles shall gladly build. Not only the common people but even their kings are to minister to the servants of God. Kings are now the bosses, but the day is almost here in which God’s servants shall boss the kings, and the kings shall be glad to be bossed by them.
Isa. 60:11 — “Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought.”
Because of our response to God’s call and because of our rising to shine for Him, many people shall say: “…Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Isa. 2:3. For this very obvious reason the gates as it were, would have to stay open day and night in order to accommodate the traffic — the incoming saints, the wealth of the Gentiles, and their kings. Plainly, then, the great need is not the “Harvest Ingathering” campaign, not the multiple collections, not the book sale days — not any goal-raising campaigns — but to take this “golden oil” for our lamps and to “arise and shine” is what the church needs today.
Isa. 60:12, 13 — “For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious.” (1 TG, no. 40, p.19-20)
The two big events shall be a world war over the middle east, and the Ezekiel 9 SDA church purification.
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF, MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS SABBATH, FEBRUARY 22, 1947 MT. CARMEL CHAPEL WACO, TEXAS
TEXT FOR PRAYER
I shall read from “The Mount of Blessing,” page 187, the second paragraph. This paragraph is based on the scripture which says: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
M.B., pg. 187 — “The Lord specifies no conditions except that you hunger for His mercy, desire His counsel, and long for His love. ‘Ask.’ The asking makes it manifest that you realize your necessity; and if you ask in faith, you will receive… When you ask for the blessings you need, that you may perfect a character after Christ’s likeness, the Lord assures you that you are asking according to a promise that will be verified. That you feel and know you are a sinner, is sufficient ground for asking for His mercy and compassion. The condition upon which you may come to God is not that you shall be holy, but that you desire Him to cleanse you from all sin, and purify you from all iniquity. The argument that we may plead now and ever is our great need, our utterly helpless state, that makes Him and His redeeming power a necessity.”
How reassuring to us sinful human beings ought this thrice-repeated promise be! The Lord lays down no complicated and hard-to meet conditions. He merely says, “Ask.” By asking for the blessings we need in order to perfect our characters in Christ, we manifest our desire for His counsel and His help, we thereby demonstrate that we actually realize our helplessness without Him. When we do this, then we need have no fear that the Lord will fail us. Indeed not, for He is the Person of His word.
In view of this, what shall be our prayer this afternoon? — Simply that we may realize our needs, that we may desire to be cleansed from all sin, and that we may in faith ask, knowing for certainty that we shall receive.
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A TRODDEN-DOWN KINGDOM RISING TO PROMINENCE AND PEACE
We are now to study the book of Isaiah, beginning with the first chapter, and continuing on into the second chapter. The first part of chapter one, you well know, deals with the sins of ancient Israel, while the latter part of the chapter, along with the second chapter, deals with the re-establishment of the Kingdom in the latter days. Specifically, it is this latter subject that we are to study today.
The prophet Isaiah’s being instructed to record what was to befall the people of God in the early days as well as in the latter days of their history, quickly unfolds the fact that the Lord at the same time had in mind not only His people in ancient time, but also His people in our time. (This same dual-view practice on the subject you will detect throughout the Bible.)
In this connection we should raise the question, Is our record as a people better or worse than that of the Jews? This can be readily settled by reading “Testimonies,” Vol. 3, pp. 252, 253.
We shall read right now–
“The message to the church of the Laodiceans is a startling denunciation, and is applicable to the people
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of God at the present time.
“‘And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.’
“The Lord here shows us that the message to be borne to his people by ministers whom he has called to warn the people, is not a peace-and-safety message. It is not merely theoretical, but practical in every particular. The people of God are represented in the message to the Laodiceans as in a position of carnal security. They are at ease, believing themselves to be in an exalted condition of spiritual attainments. ‘Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.’
“What greater deception can come upon human minds than a confidence that they are right, when they are all wrong! The message of the True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that deception. They know not that their condition is deplorable in the sight of God. While those addressed are flattering themselves that they are in an exalted spiritual condition, the message of the True Witness breaks their security by the startling denunciation of their true condition of spiritual blindness, poverty, and wretchedness. The testimony, so cutting
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and severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True Witness who speaks, and his testimony must be correct.
“It is difficult for those who feel secure in their attainments, and who believe themselves to be rich in spiritual knowledge, to receive the message which declares that they are deceived and in need of every spiritual grace. The unsanctified heart is ‘deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.’ I was shown that many are flattering themselves that they are good Christians who have not a ray of light from Jesus. They have not a living experience for themselves in the divine life. They need a deep and thorough work of self-abasement before God, before they will feel their true need of earnest, persevering effort to secure the precious graces of the Spirit.” — “Testimonies,” Vol. 3, pp. 252, 253.
I need not read more. Inspiration plainly states that today there is to be a message borne to the people of God; that that message is to be borne not by ordinary men, but by ministers called especially for that purpose; and that it is not a message of peace and safety as the ministry in general would naturally have it. The author endeavors to impress us with the fact that the people of God are deceived in imagining that they are in an excellent condition. Yes, God’s people at this time are every bit as deceived as were the Jews in the days of Christ’s first advent. In fact, they are perhaps even worse, for they have had the types and the examples of the past as well as added light shining on their pathway which the ancients did not have.
The prophet Isaiah had sad news for God’s people in his day: He told them that if they continued in their erroneous ways, all of them, good and bad alike,
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would be dispersed and assimilated by the nations. But for the faithful of today, he has good news:
Isa. 1:24-26 — “Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease Me of Mine adversaries, and avenge Me of Mine enemies: and I will turn My hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: and I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.”
Rather than let all as a people suffer the consequences of sin, the Lord at this time promises to avenge only His enemies, His adversaries that are within His church. He will purge and purify His church, and then restore His judges and counsellors as at the first. Then she will indeed be called “The city of righteousness, the faithful city.”
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord.
“In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.” Jer. 31:27-30.
Isa. 1:27, 28 — “Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners
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shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.”
In these verses a distinction is made between the transgressors and the sinners. No doubt the sinners are those who continually live in sin, while the transgressors must be those who sin only occasionally. Nevertheless their end shall be the same: Both the habitual and the occasional sinners shall be destroyed together.
Isa. 1:29-31 — “For they shall be ashamed of the oaks [the great and popular men] which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.”
This is just what the wicked may rightly expect. It is the best God can give them, for they do not make it possible to have something better.
Now we shall go on to the second chapter of Isaiah’s prophecy, for it is a continuation of the first. Since verse one is but an introduction to what the prophet is to say, I shall omit reading it, and begin with–
Isa. 2:2 — “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.”
Out of the ruins of both Judah and Israel, is to emerge a Kingdom and a people which shall be exalted
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above the nations.
The Prophet Daniel, too, plainly declares: “…In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Dan. 2:44.
Note that the Kingdom which Daniel is speaking of is to be set “in the days of these kings,” not after their days. Moreover, note that it is this Kingdom (the church purified) that breaks the great image. To this coming Kingdom (the church “cleansed,” purified) “shall the gathering of the people be” (Gen. 49:10).
When the Headquarters of the gospel are thus established, then it becomes certain that the work is to be finished without delay. The gospel of Christ is then to reap an abundant harvest, and the converted multitudes rather than beat their plowshares and pruning hooks into instruments to kill human beings, shall instead beat their spears and swords into farm implements — rather than work to kill, they shall farm to feed.
The prophecies are simple and logical, instructive and enlightening. Certainly God cannot save the world by a lost church. The very thought will appear unreasonable if we ask ourselves these questions: How can He possibly by His church lead the world out from its sins while sin is flourishing in the midst of His church? How can He lead the world into all Truth while those whom He is using to teach advancing Truth till He comes imagine that they are rich and in need of nothing more when in fact they are in need of everything? — even blind and naked, and themselves about to
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be spued out. How can He say to His people that are in “Babylon,” “Come out of her My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues,” if He is to bring them into a church wherein sin is practiced? In view of the fact that the church with sin and sinners in her midst is just as vulnerable to the plagues as is Babylon, how much worse off would His people be if they were left in Babylon?
The answer to all these questions is simply this: There must be an awakening to spiritual poverty and earnestness in searching Truth. There must be a stop to sin, there must be a sinless place and people — an ark of safety, so to speak, if we are ever to be saved from the plagues. “Achans,” too, must be put away before Israel can triumph and take the land. God in His wisdom knows that it is better to destroy comparatively few enemies of Truth, than to lose the whole world. All the stumbling blocks must be removed.
Then the church will have a second Pentecost. Then every church member will be filled with the Spirit: “And it shall come to pass afterward [after the “latter rain”], that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit.” Joel 2:28, 29.
Let us now solemnly and diligently heed the Lord’s plea to His people at this very time:
Isa. 2:5 — “O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.”
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Very obviously this verse implies that heretofore God’s people have been walking in the light of man.
Isa. 2:6 — “Therefore thou hast forsaken Thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.”
His people as an organization are forsaken of Him, but as individuals who come to walk in His light to follow Him in Truth and righteousness are re-accepted. When the present controversy over the message of the hour is ended, then those who survive the purifying process, the Judgment for the Living in the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17), the cleansing of the sanctuary (Dan. 8:14), will be the inhabitants of Zion and of Jerusalem, the members of the church, the body of Christ.
Isa. 2:7 — “Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.”
Of all the nations in the world today, America, the nation in which are the headquarters of the church is the richest. Especially so at this particular time the time in which this Truth is unfolding. Moreover, no other nation has as many church leaders (horses) and as many churches (chariots). No other nation in the world has for every one of its citizens room in its “chariots.” These are the designating marks which the Lord employs to point out the land and the people to whom He is speaking.
Isa. 2:8-10 — “Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: and the mean man boweth
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down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty.”
The nation referred to, evidently brags much about her achievements. The great and small are all alike in this respect, says Inspiration. True, there is nothing wrong in progress but progress should never become our God. Eventually all will come to the end of their idolatry, for when the Lord manifests His power, they will leave their idols and run for the rocks.
Isa 2:11 — “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.”
Those who now exalt themselves will have to be humbled.
Isa. 2:12-19 — “For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols He shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”
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Though men are now exalting themselves even above God, the day is upon us in which they will see themselves as they actually are. They will feel very small as they behold the power of a Great God.
Isa. 2:20, 21 — “In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”
Those who do not now cast their idols to the moles and to the bats, as it were, will have to do so later, but it will then be too late to profit them.
Isa. 2:22 — “Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?”
Here is God’s simple remedy for His people. They should cease listening to “soothsayers,” they should instead hear what Inspiration has to say. They should study God’s Word for themselves with the aid of actually inspired teachers of God, and make their own decisions — never, never rely upon the decisions and judgments of others, no matter what they are, or who they be.
Just recently a certain sister gave her reason for leaving one man’s teachings and embracing another. Said she: “So and so prays more, and has more of the Spirit than so and so, and I intend to stay by him. Never again will I trust in a man.”
It is obvious that this sister chooses to stay by one’s teaching, not because of the teachings themselves,
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but because of the man’s appeal to her. Then her statement, “Never again will I trust in a man,” positively proves that she does not know herself, and that she knows even less what it means to “trust in a man.”
We believe in the Bible writers not for what they were, but for what they wrote. Men that are deceiving are all praying men, for the Devil knows that the more they put themselves and their religion on display, the more will the people fall for them. They have nothing else anyway. The majority do not pay much attention what the Bible really says and, therefore, know not that the Jews who crucified the Lord were deceiving the common people by much praying where they could be seen, that none of the prophets endeavored to thus sell themselves to the people; that what they were anxious to sell to the people was not themselves, but God and His Truth; that they all were very careful not to make a display of themselves. Jesus Himself reaffirmed the same pattern: He did not pray with Nicodemus, or with the rich young ruler, but plainly told them what Truth is. There is no record that He prayed with anyone. On the contrary, though, I know a man making a prayer room in the corner of a public toilet! Anything to sell himself to the people for that is what people are looking for rather than Truth.
It is because the laity are as a rule quick to listen to men that appeal to their taste, that because of this the enemies of Truth carefully and studiously try to pin something against the characters of those who bear the message of the hour. The adversaries well know that the laity are making their choice on the face value of men’s purported reputation rather than on the weight of Truth. For this reason the adversaries
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of Truth are taking advantage of the situation. And so, since they cannot refute the Truth, they desperately resort to Pharisaical falsehoods with which to char the characters of those with whom they disagree.
We nevertheless have good cause for great and solemn rejoicing that we are privileged to be living in a day when out of the ancient ruins of Judah and Israel, shall emerge a Kingdom and a people that shall be exalted above all the kingdoms and nations of the earth. When the Headquarters of the gospel are established in “the mountain of the Lord,” then the work will be finished without delay. To repeat, converted nations will beat their swords into farm implements. They will turn from warring to farming.
After God’s church passes through the purifying process, then it shall be clearly seen by all that a lost church could not save a lost world. During the second Pentecost every church member will be filled with the Spirit, and as a result thousands will without hesitancy embrace the Truth for this time.
There is no time to lose. The day is upon us when men shall see themselves as they actually are. True, those who do not now cast aside their idols, will do so later, but as we said before, it will then be too late to profit them. Now is the time to turn from men, and to make our own decisions in accordance with the promise that to any God-trusting and Truth-searching one God will give His Spirit to lead him into all Truth.
Even though the enemies of Truth may resort to every perfidy to harm the cause, yet Truth always triumphs, and God’s people with It. Nothing can hurt
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the Truth. It is like an anvil: When the hammers of the adversaries are all worn out, the Anvil will still stand.
Let us give undivided attention to the scriptures which record the things that are to take place just before the thousand years begin — the things which will bring about the millennial age of peace, as revealed to John:
“…I saw…a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True…. He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God…. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written,
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KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Rev. 19:11, 13, 16.
Here Christ reveals Himself, not as a priest or as a lamb, but as the King of kings, treading “the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” Rev. 19:15. This is His
Slaying of the Wicked.
The “angel standing in the sun…cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.
“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant [the “kings” and “captains” and “mighty men” and “horses” and “them that sit on them” and “all men, both free and bond, both small and great”] were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the
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horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh” (Rev. 19:17-21) — a final work from which it is readily seen that the wicked are
Slain Just Before the Millennium.
Since after the millennium, the wicked are not slain and their flesh is not eaten by the fowls, but rather destroyed with fire (Rev. 20:9), Revelation 19:17-21 is seen to refer to a pre-millennial destruction.
Decisively, therefore, the King of kings is to slay, just before the millennium, all except the righteous — except those who get “the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.” Rev. 15:2. Then shall the righteous dead be raised, whereas the wicked dead remain in their graves and, along with the wicked living, all of whom are then slain by the Lord, live “not again until the thousand years” are “finished.” Rev. 20:5.
Since, moreover, at the commencement of the millennium, when the wicked are slain, the heaven and the earth pass away, then, as a result,
The Saints Remove to Another Sphere.
As The Revelation says that “they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4), Christ does not therefore,
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live with them on the earth, but rather they live with Him in “the place” which He prepared for them, and of which John says (after seeing “the first heaven and the first earth were passed away” and replaced with “new heaven and a new earth” — Rev. 21:1): “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Rev. 21:2.
The wicked being then hid in their graves, and the righteous being gone to live with Christ, hence
Satan Is Left Alone.
Wandering in the earth until the resurrection of the wicked (Rev. 20:13), Satan is confined to a thousand years of solitaire! Bound by this chain of circumstances, he is unable to “deceive the nations” (Rev. 20:3), till the dead who “lived not again until the thousand years were finished,” arise to life, following the
Judgment During the Millennium.
If an earthly judge does not convict and condemn a criminal without benefit of trial by jury, certainly, then, the all-just God of Heaven will not. He will not pass final sentence upon the wicked, convicting them of sin and condemning them to die “the second” death (Rev. 20:14), until after He has given the saints (the jury) opportunity to witness for themselves the judgment of the wicked — the husbands, wives, children, relatives,
Tract 9 page 34
friends, and acquaintances then missing from the mansions above — and to examine their records which show why they are not there, but instead are moldering in their graves below.
That no excuse be left to anyone for ignorance or error on this truth, John was shown not only the great white throne on which sits the Judge Eternal, “from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away” (Rev. 20:11), but also other thrones, or seats, on which evidently sit the jury. And instead of only “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (Rev. 5:11) of angels as witnesses, he saw present on this occasion also “the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years… This is the first resurrection.” Rev. 20:4, 5.
The fact, though, that “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished” (Rev. 20:5), shows that those present before the throne were resurrected.
But the dead, “small and great,” who do not rise in the first resurrection (Rev. 20:6), John saw figuratively “stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the
Tract 9 page 35
Book of Life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Rev. 20:12. With the close of this work, come the events
After the Judgment.
When the judgment was over and the thousand years gone, “the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. ” Rev . 20: 13.
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Rev. 21:2-4.
Having descended with the saints, who are to reign forever with Him on the earth made new Christ calls forth the wicked dead from their graves, while simultaneously, “a great voice out of heaven” is heard, “saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He
Tract 9 page 36
will dwell with them” (Rev. 21:3), whereas during the thousand years, they have “lived” with Him (Rev. 20:4). Whereupon,
Satan Is Loosed For a Little Season.
By the resurrection of the wicked dead, “…Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.” Rev. 20:7, 8.
Concerning this “little season” in which Satan will be allowed to deceive the nations, the prophet Isaiah heard the Lord say:
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.” Isa. 65:17-20.
The reader will observe that when the Lord creates the new heavens and the new
Tract 9 page 37
earth, then from the time that the wicked arise from their graves to the time that they are destroyed forever by the second death, — the “little season,” — “there shall be no more thence [among them] and infant of days [no more births], nor an old man that hath not filled his days [no more deaths before man’s days are fulfilled]: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.” Both the old and the young (that is, those who remain in their graves during the millennium) will afterward come forth together, each to live “an hundred years” — “the little season” in which Satan will again deceive them. There will be neither death nor birth, but all the wicked will then be forever accursed by
The Second Death.
That portion of the new earth which the feet of the wicked have trodden and defiled during the “short season,” will be purified by the fire’s coming “down from God out of heaven” and burning them and their works, while those who will inhabit the new earth for eternity, will be shielded in and about “the holy city.” Rev. 21:2.
“And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil
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that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever…. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:9, 10, 14, 15.
Since not only Satan, but also “whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life, was cast into the lake of fire,” the fire in the lake simply continues the same destruction wrought by the fire which comes “down from God out of heaven.” Rev. 20:9. After the thousand years, in other words, the fire which comes “down from God out of heaven,” results in “the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:10) and in eternal extermination of all sinners. Of this final destruction, a pre-millennial demonstration is to be given when the beast and the false prophet are cast into the “lake of fire” — their grave for the thousand years. And as the fire does not, of course, keep burning during the thousand years, the statement, “the devil…was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are” (Rev. 20:10), shows therefore that there are both a typical and an antitypical destruction; the lake of fire before the millennium, being a type of the one after the millennium.
“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,” says the apostle,
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“What Manner of Persons Ought Ye To Be?”
The Scriptures exhort that those in the Truth be “in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless” (2 Pet. 3:11-14), and the more so now while He is SETTING UP HIS KINGDOM. (Tract 9, p. 31-40)
There have been over 500,000 views on YouTube of the series entitled “The Pinnacle of Prophecy” and over that viewership on Facebook. Pastor Doug Batchelor, who needs no introduction, has produced a series of 14 studies on different end-time prophecies. It is supposed and implied that Amazing Facts and their leader are authorities enough to give us a “pinnacle” or top-rated and knowledgeable explanation of these prophecies. But is that so? In our analysis of some of this series, we’ll carefully look at what Doug interprets from these prophecies.As present truth believers, we know the message of the hour says —“..the two golden pipes, which carry the golden oil from the trees to the bowl, are the only two mediums which God has employed since 1844 A.D. to interpret the Scriptures.” ( 5 SC, no. 1-5. p.3)
Is Doug one of those pipes? Does he have the light of God to interpret the prophecies for us? We shall carefully examine his studies and see first hand.
In our first report, we’ll examine report no. 14, entitled “Satan’s Mark of God’s Seal?” We’ll quote his comments and then compare them to what the message says. We’ll discuss the high points or noteworthy remarks and label him –DB.
To prep his speech and explain the “Key” to knowing prophecy, DB begins by telling us how you and I can interpret prophecy–
DB –“We’ve told us along the way, the key to understanding these prophecies in Revelation are the stories in the Bible. Out of 404 verses in Revelation 278 are found in the Old Testament. That’s where the keys are.”
We need to point out something profound right here. The Scriptures say something completely different concerning unlocking prophecy, let us read —
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”(2 Peter 1:19-21)
So are we to think that everyone is “holy”, a prophet of God, able to interpret the prophecies? Apparently, DB thinks so. For he makes no distinction between who is private (not a prophet) and God’s prophets. In other words, God’s very important “Key” is thrown out for DB’s — any and all can privately interpret the prophecies with studious effort! This sets the stage for great error to come in.
DB– “In the days ahead everybody is going to be marked one way or another…. There are only two roads… We want to know what God’s seal is. We either have the seal of God in our foreheads or the mark of the beast.”
We know this is not accurate here because many (those within the SDA who fail to get the mark of Ezekiel 9) will get neither the mark nor the seal, but are to be slayed. So not “everybody” will get one or the other. Doug bypasses the very important prophetic event of our Lord’s next “sudden” coming (Mal. 3:1-5) and subsequent church judgment (Ezekiel 9 and Isaiah 66:15-21). This leaves a large prophetic hole in his study of the seal/mark as we shall see.
DB then brings up Isaiah 4:1 —
“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.”
DB then goes on to explain this Scripture applying to today’s multitude of Christian sects. This is true for today’s application of the prophecy to the world due to the hypocrisy. Yet DB fails to state the context or REASON why God places this worldly hypocritical setting there. This prophecy helps us to know the “time of the season” we are living in today to prepare us for what God is soon to do with our church! The context as seen in verses 2 to 6 shows WHY we should know the time we are living in. The full contextual explanation is found in 1 TG, no. 30 —
“SEVEN WOMEN TAKE HOLD OF ONE MAN”
Today we are to continue our study of the book of Isaiah, beginning with the first verse of the fourth chapter.
Isa. 4:1 — “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by Thy name, to take away our reproach.”
The first thing we need to know is the time indicated by the term “in that day.” The antecedent of the words “that day” is found in verses 13 and 14 of the preceding chapters of which the fourth chapter is a continuation. These verses point out that “that day” is the Judgment day, the day in which the sanctuary (the church) is cleansed — the harvest day. So, pointing to the day in which we are now living, to the Judgment day, the scripture figuratively reveals that all (for that is what the Biblical number “seven” indicates) the churches have arrived at the place where by their actions they are in reality saying to the Lord: “We want nothing from you but Your name. Just let us be called Christians is all we want from You. We want Your name because it takes away our reproach; that is, if we be called Christians, then what we do can be blamed on You; You get the credit for it.”
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 30, page 17
Accordingly, the world has reached the day when God, in order to save the Church, is finally compelled to do something as great and as revolutionary as brought about by the first Advent of Christ. And what could that be? — The remaining verses of the chapter give the answer.
Isa. 4:2 — “In that day [when seven women take hold of one man] shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.”
This verse shows that the time is now ripe for this glorious revolutionizing of the church and of the world. Let us remember that history repeats, and that a dark cloudy day is always followed by a bright one. So this great apostasy is to be followed not by chaos, but by glorious revival and reformation, by glory and prosperity for all the saints who escape the vengeance of a great God. The faithful shall reap a harvest of souls as did the Apostles on and after the Pentecost.
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days [in the Christian era] Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Jer. 23:5, 6.
This very message, therefore, is the message of “Righteousness by Faith” to them that believe. In the day the “righteous branch” is raised, Judah and Israel shall be saved, and they shall dwell safely.
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 30, page 18
Yes, the day is here when God’s vengeance is to fall upon His adversaries, and the once trodden-down kingdoms of Judah and Israel are to rise to prominence and power. “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.” Jer. 23:7, 8.
Plainly this is the final harvest of the earth, the gathering of the people from all countries. It is the day in which to sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. This is to be the second and last Exodus Movement. So great will it be that it will entirely eclipse the Movement of Moses’ day. Do we, then, realize that we are on the verge of a new day? — a great day for the faithful and a dreadful one for the unfaithful?
Isa. 4:3 — “And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem.”
This verse clearly shows that while none of the wicked in the church will survive the purification, yet none of the righteous will perish. Indeed, all that are left, will be called holy, and will enjoy even greater security than did His ancient people at the time they left Egypt.
“Behold,…the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 30, page 19
coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Mal. 3:1-3.
Isa. 4:4-6 — “When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.”
“For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.” Zech. 2:5.
Anyone who knows the Bible can see that all these events are premillennial. So it is that this present apostasy is to bring forth the “Lord’s fruitful branch”; that the wicked who are among God’s people are to be taken out of the way, and the faithful, those that escape, are to be the servants of God and reap a harvest of souls, of “such as should be saved,” that the day of vengeance is already at the threshold of the house; that His faithful ones are to be raised to prominence and power; that the greatness and the glory of the movement is to cause the wonders of the Exodus Movement and of the early Christian church to fade into insignificance.”
Instead of applying the context of Isaiah 4:1 to our church and the soon-to-come church purification, he cuts out God’s intended meaning and simply applies it to the world with no applicable lesson to our SDA church. Clearly proving God’s word — “knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
Next DB asks– “What is the seal? We want to know that.” “Seal the Law among my Disciples (Isaiah 8:16). Have you noticed the connection between the seal and the Law? The seal of God can be found in the Law of God.”
DB then goes into the point that the seal of God is found in the 4th Commandment. A well known SDA doctrinal teaching. True, we as Adventists have always taught this basic doctrine but the scroll has unrolled since our prophetess’ time. There is a “present truth” understanding here on the seal or mark for us today, let us read more about present truth–
“In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation. The old truths are all essential; new truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it. It is only as the old truths are understood that we can comprehend the new. When Christ desired to open to His disciples the truth of His resurrection, He began “at Moses and all the prophets” and “expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Luke 24:27. But it is the light which shines in the fresh unfolding of truth that glorifies the old. He who rejects or neglects the new does not really possess the old. For him it loses its vital power and becomes but a lifeless form. ” (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 127)
So while DB does accurately describe the “old” understanding of the seal for God’s people, an understanding held for over a century by our church, he neglects to expound upon the present truth of this seal upon God’s people today. To his credit he does mention Ezekiel 9 but he neglects the application God would have us to understand today. But God is faithful! He indeed made sure we understand this seal or mark.
“WHAT IS THE SEAL?
Question No. 21:
What is the seal of God upon the foreheads of the 144,000 (Rev. 7:3)? Is it the Sabbath seal or something else?
Answer:
Being sealed in Christ “with that Holy Spirit of promise,” after having “heard the word of truth” (Eph. 1:13; 4:30), the saints are consequently sealed by Present Truth–the truth preached in their own day.
“The seal of the living God,” the Truth, by which the 144,000 are sealed (Rev. 7:2), is a special seal, being the same as “the mark” of Ezekiel 9. (See Testimonies to Ministers, p. 445; Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 267; Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 211). It demands one’s sighing and crying over the abominations which defile him and which desecrate both the Sabbath and the house of God, especially against selling literature and raising goals during Sabbath services. As the saints have this seal or mark on their foreheads, the angels will pass over them, not slay them. It is equivalent to the blood on the door post on the night of the Passover in Egypt. The angel is to place a mark upon the foreheads of all who by sighing over their own sins, and over the sins in the house of God, show fidelity to the Truth. Then the destroying angels will follow, to slay utterly both old and young who have failed to receive the seal. (See Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 505.)
So, the former seal enables the receiver to rise from the dead in the resurrection of the just, while the latter seal enables the sighing-crying one to escape death and forever to live for God.” (2 Answerer, p. 31-33)
DB then goes on to emphasize that the Sunday Law is coming and all, including the SDA must have God’s seal or mark. However this again is falsely leading our people to a comfort or should we say, ignorance of that secretive coming of Mal. 3:1-5 and His judgment of Ezekiel 9 and Isaiah 66:15-21. Thus many SDA won’t be around to even see and experience God’s sealing or marking. A false leading of the SDA chain of prophetic events!
DB — “So what is this seal, we want to know that. As a matter of fact, I think it’s more important that we know what the seal is than the mark. Because you don’t want to be an expert in the mark and get the mark, you want to be an expert in the seal, amen.”
No, the final message of Elijah tells us all about the mark. This mark must be disquished from the Sunday law mark! Let us read —
“Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a [deadly weapon in his hand.” And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn [at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill;[do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. Utterly[slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple. Then He said to them, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” And they went out and killed in the city. So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?”
Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’ And as for Me also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head.”
Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, “I have done as You commanded me.”(Ezekiel 9:1-11)
Yes, we want to know all about this mark because God sent us , by way of His prophetess, the following counsel on this mark —
“Study the 9th chapter of Ezekiel. These words will be literally fulfilled; yet the time is passing, and the people are asleep. They refuse to humble their souls and to be converted. Not a great while longer will the Lord bear with the people who have such great and important truths revealed to them, but who refuse to bring these truths into their individual experience. The time is short. God is calling; will you hear? Will you receive His message? Will you be converted before it is too late? Soon, very soon, every case will be decided for eternity.(Manuscript Releases, p. 260)
Instead of just quoting Ezekiel 9 about the mark as DB does and then applying it to the coming of Jesus in the clouds, we are to KNOW about it for it will affect EVERY SDA , before the Lord’s coming in the clouds and even before the mark of the Beast (Sunday Law). Once again we can see that DB fails to instruct us as to the lessons God has for His people in these last days. The prophetic timelines are incorrectly pointed out and will only lead to us failing to obtain that “extra oil” (Matt. 25:8-9).
Summary —
There is little doubt that Pastor Doug Batchelor has not “rightly divided the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). Showing that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20). God’s intended lessons concerning the seal or mark MUST be rightly understood by us SDA because —
“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17)
“The class who do not feel grieved over their own spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be left without the seal of God. The Lord commissions His messengers, the men with slaughtering weapons in their hands: “Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.”
Here we see that the church—the Lord’s sanctuary—was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God’s power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus “Peace and safety” is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God’s people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together.” (Testimonies, volume 5, p.211)
In giving his presentation did DB give our church warning of this beginning judgment in God’s church? Did DB give us a warning that we must study and know what the end time “mark” will be for us SDA? No. Instead, assumptions and false teachings are given that “everybody”, including ALL SDA members will soon experience the times of the Sunday Law and be able to say yes or no. Not true, the message of God through His Elijah prophet is that the soon-to-come Ezekiel 9 judgment is come upon His church PRIOR to the Sunday Law, and only those who “sigh and cry for all the abomination done in the church” will escape. They are to be the — 144,000. Solemn and the Truth.
“Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those “that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done” in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in agony, even sighing and crying. Read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel.” (Testimonies, volume 3, p.267)
Can you tell us the Hebrew New Year’s day, and the days of their sacred feasts, in terms of our Roman calendar?
Answer:
While leading the Hebrew host from bondage to freedom, the Lord was firmly establishing them in the truth of all things, including the truth of the day on which the year begins, of the day on which the month begins, and of the day on which the week begins. Obviously, the Hebrew religion had largely to do with the days of the week, of the month, and of the year.
The Hebrews were forever to keep holy, (1) not a seventh, but the seventh, day of each week, the Sabbath; (2) the days from the fifteenth to the twenty-first day of the first month, the Passover week; (3) the fiftieth day after the sheaf of the first fruits was offered, the Pentecost; (4) the tenth day of the seventh month, the Atonement; (5) the days from the fifteenth to the twenty-first day of the same month, the Feast of Tabernacles; and (6) the feasts of the new moons. Thus the All-knowing One, He who created the heavenly bodies and knows the very moment He set them in motion to govern the day, the month, and the year, decreed that the holy feasts
Answerer Book 3, page 9
be observed in the very month and on the very day on which they were first ordained.
And He appointed the “lights in the firmament… for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Gen. 1:14), by the movements of which He fixed each solar and each lunar date, so that it could never be lost sight of. Then to make doubly secure against such a loss. He “spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” Ex. 12:1, 2.
Thus we see that His great and never erring timepiece for earth, the earth’s own invariable movements, fix the day and the year; whereas the moon’s revolving round the earth makes the months.
But the Roman New Year, January 1, finds its establishment, not in the movements of the solar system, but in the notions of mythology. Consequently, as the date does not coincide with either the vernal or the autumnal equinox, or with either the summer or the winter solstice, then should earth’s inhabitants ever lose count of the day, and need to recover it, they would be helpless to do so.
To prevent His people from bringing upon themselves such a catastrophe, and to have them intelligent as to the time the year begins, the Lord gave to Moses the sacred yearly calendar, which cannot be lost or miscalculated
Answerer Book 3, page 10
so long as the earth remains. He told him that the day which preceded the exodus was the fourteenth day of the first month; and that forever thereafter, they were to commemorate the Passover on that very night each year, the night following the fourteenth day. Thus was the Lord re-stablishing the creation calendar, reaffirming that the year begins on the day of the vernal equinox, on which spring, the first season of the year, commences, and on which the sun and the moon were created (the fourth day from the beginning of creation)–the only point in time at which, in the very nature of things, the year could begin. And so it is that the Passover, the Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles (the three most important feasts in the year), besides other feasts, are controlled by the solar year and by the lunar month; the weekly Sabbath by the day on which creation began; and the year itself by the vernal equinox, the immovable sign-post.
Beginning its first month of the year with the first new moon, at, or after, the vernal equinox, March 20-21, it puts the fourteenth day, that on which the Passover lamb was to be slain, on April 3. Once for all, is seen the utter impossibility of the Roman month’s having the slightest thing to do with fixing the time of either the Passover or the sheaf offering, and thus not the slightest thing to do with reckoning the time of either the crucifixion or the resurrection of Christ.
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This is more graphically seen from the corre- spondence of the sacred events which came in the spring of the year A.D. 31, the year Christ was crucified, with the sacred events which came in the fall of the year A.D. 27, the year in which He was baptized, as viewed diagrammatically:
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This chart enables us to see that just as one solar season matches another (the vernal eguinox matches the autumnal equinox, and the summer solstice, the winter solstice), in like fashion the sacred feasts of one season match the sacred feasts of another season: the tenth day of the first month, the separation of the unblemished lamb from the flock (Ex. 12:3), corresponding to the tenth day of the seventh month, the work of Atonement, the separation of the righteous from the unrighteous, signifying in both events a day of judgment, a day of separating the holy from the unholy; the sixteenth of the first month, the day Christ was crucified, corresponding to the sixteenth of the seventh month, the day He was baptized, showing that His watery grave foreshadowed His grave in the tomb; the eighteenth day of the first month, the resurrection, corresponding to the eighteenth day of the seventh month, the first day of the wilderness temptation; His forty days of victorious ministry to His disciples, corresponding to His forty days of victorious conflict with Satan; and His disciples’ preaching the gospel after the Pentecost, corresponding to His preaching the gospel after the wilderness temptation.
To establish the date of His baptism as the sixteenth day of the seventh month, we need only to consider, aside from the coincidences the fact that the “more sure word of prophecy’ certifies that He was to
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preach three and a half years, and then be “cut off.” Dan. 9:26. And as He was crucified on the sixteenth of the first month, he must have been baptized for the ministry just three and a half years before, on the sixteenth day of the seventh month.” (3 Answerer Book, p. 9-14)
“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
So in keeping with this counsel, our Ministry is holding its second convocation this Sabbath (Sept. 2, 2023). We would like to invite everyone to attend via our Zoom platform. We shall have songs, Sabbath School, testimonies, health discussion and the sermon. As the Lord has blessed us we wish to worship and praise Him. Some may be curious to know how we worship as Davidian Seventh-day Adventists, and as such you are welcome to join our service. Be Blessed.
Time: 7:30 Western, 9:30 Central, and 10:30 Eastern (USA time) Length: All day event (closing at 6:30 pm Central)
As we near our SDA probation’s close, the thought occurred that some truth seekers may be able to join our Sabbath studies we have every Sabbath. The Word says —
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim: 2:15)
It is important we continue to study and do more study, why? Let us read —
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” (Hosea 4:6)
Meeting info —
Date: Every Sabbath Time: 1 pm Western, 3 pm Central, 4 pm Eastern (USA time) Subject: Bible studies on prophecy, health studies, testimonies, questions and answers
Login: by computer or handheld : brotharrison By phone: 951-981-7783 or 605-313-4492
Today’s study (April 29) and program is as follows:
1) Testimony by a Russian sister who accepted the message of the hour 2) Health presentation
3) Main Bible study “Current events and Bible prophecy”
For those who cannot make the live presentation, we will add a recording link later on this post, so check back again.
We are inviting you to join their FreeConferenceCall Meeting Room.
“And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon He was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
“And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.” Ezek. 9:2-6.
Here the people are shown to be in a mixed state (tares and wheat commingled), with the time just ahead of them when on the one hand those who have sighed and cried for the abominations in their midst shall receive the mark of deliverance, while on the other hand those who have
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not sighed and cried shall be left without the mark, to perish (in their sins) under the angels’ slaughter weapons.
From this separation — the one in the church — come forth the first fruits.
Then follows the separation from among the nations, as seen in the parable of Matthew 25, prophetically describing Christ’s coming, though not the one viewed in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17, for at the time of the latter, “the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air”; whereas at the time of the former, “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 [the kingdom-church, which up to this point consists only of the first fruits].
“And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand [these being the second fruits], Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world….Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into
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everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matt. 25:31-34, 41.
From this separation — the one among the nations — come forth the second fruits.
The angels who are round about the throne in the heavenly sanctuary during the judgment of Daniel 7:9, 10 and of Revelation 5:11 shall, as the parables explain, descend with “the Son of man” when He comes “to His temple” (His church) to separate by judgment “the wicked from among the just,” and to purge as gold and silver those “who may abide the day of His coming…that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Mal. 3:2, 3.
In graphic demonstration that He will come to earth with all His angels to execute judgment upon the living, the Lord revealed Himself prophetically to Ezekiel as being brought enthroned to earth by four living creatures just before the slaughter of the hypocrites in the church takes place. And as each of the living creatures has the face of a lion, the face of a calf, the face of a man, and the face of an eagle (Ezek. 1:10), — the same judicial insignia as have the beasts who are before the throne in the heavenly sanctuary (Rev. 4:7) in the time of the judgment of the dead, — and as they descend to earth, they thereby symbolically show that the work of the mediatorial-judicial throne which convenes and
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presides over the judgment of the dead is extended to earth.
This extension, so far as we are able to know now, must take place at the opening of the seventh seal (Rev. 8:1), for at that time the celestial voices, which opened the judgment of the dead, cease in the heavenly sanctuary and begin, after the half hour’s silence, to sound on earth. In other words, just as in heaven at the opening of the judgment of the dead, there were “lightnings and thunderings and voices” (Rev. 4:5), likewise on earth at the opening of the “judgment of the living,” there are “voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” Rev. 8:5.
With the judgment of the dead, however, the work of separation takes place in the books in the heavenly sanctuary; whereas with the judgment of the living, the separation takes place among the people in the church as well as among their names in the books in the heavenly sanctuary, thus showing that both sanctuaries will finally be cleansed.
Inescapably, therefore, the Lord’s coming to His temple (Mal. 3:1-3), His coming with all His angels (Matt. 25), and His coming enthroned above the living creatures (Ezek. 1), — all three representing the same event as has been shown, — take place at the beginning of the judgment of the living: the time in which the judicial activities of the heavenly sanctuary
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extend to the earthly sanctuary — the church.
“And I looked, and behold a white cloud,” exclaimed John the Revelator, envisaging the same coming variously described by Malachi, Matthew, and Ezekiel, “and upon the cloud One sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in Thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.” Rev. 14:14-16.
This coming of the Son of man is plainly, therefore, not when the resurrected and the living righteous are caught up together to meet Him in the air: for verses 17-20, following the ones quoted in the paragraph above, reveal that after He came and reaped the earth, “another angel…having a sharp sickle” came and reaped a second harvest before the wrath of God — the seven last plagues (Rev. 15:1) — was poured out upon the wicked.
Thus again and for the fourth time it is seen that there are two different comings of the Son of man: the one to “sever the wicked from among the just” in the church (Matt. 13:49), and then immediately to call the just from among the wicked in
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Babylon (Rev. 18:4); the other to take the saints, both the resurrected and the living, to the mansions which He has prepared for them (1 Thess. 4:16; John 14:1-3).
THE NOATIC MOVEMENT was ordained to build the ark both as a warning of the impending deluge and as a refuge from it. The special block of stumbling which Satan cast in the way of the multitudes at that time, he devised from the fact that never in all nature had man seen anything that lent the remotest evidence to the possibility of there ever materializing such a phenomenon as rain. Accordingly, leaning upon their finite knowledge of nature and its potentialities, they scoffed and scorned Noah’s science and his warning of doom, and continued their “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away.” Matt. 24: 38, 39.
Their exalting human science and disregarding divine science, therefore, was the special snare which took the antediluvians. Their fate solemnly warns us carefully to avoid their mistake.
IN THE ABRAHAMIC MOVEMENT, the father of the faithful was called to depart from the cities of the ancient world, in the hope that someday the movement would triumphantly possess the promised land. Fully aware of this fact, Satan worked mightily to sidetrack the movement into the cities of the nations along the way. On this block of stumbling Lot fell, with the result that when the Lord finally snatched him from the destruction of Sodom, as a brand plucked from the burning, he came out the poorest of the poor.
Thus the worldly cities were the quicksands to the first postdiluvians. May we not lose all therein, as did Lot.
THE MOSAIC MOVEMENT was led out of Egypt to possess the land of promise, and there to become a kingdom. Cunningly suiting his temptations to their predispositions, Satan inspired those who were of age when they left the land of Pharoah, to continuous murmuring, complaining, office-seeking and rebelling, and finally to fearing the giant inhabitants of the promised land. Failing to see that their strength was the strong hand of the Lord, they were consequently forced to wander forty long years in the desert, and there to leave parching the bones of all but two of their members who were of age when they left Egypt.
Unbelief, stiffneckedness, distrust of divine leadership, and office seeking, therefore, were the four-headed monster that devoured the people of the Exodus. And these will devour every Present Truth believer who strays into their lair.
THE CANAAN MOVEMENT UNDER JOSHUA was ridded of all sinners and commissioned to possess the land, drive out the heathen, and set up an everlasting kingdom. Knowing that its continuance was contingent on their obedience to the Lord’s instructions through His prophets, Satan moved upon the people to mock the messengers of God, despise His words, and misuse His prophets, “until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy” (2 Chron. 36:16), and He gave them back to captivity.
Hence to the subjects of the kingdom, the prophets were the great rock of offense—a rock upon which no age before or since has been free from stumbling. The wise today, therefore, will “despise not prophesyings.” 1 Thess. 5:20.
THE APOSTOLIC MOVEMENT was brought forth to proclaim the transferring of the earthly sanctuary service to the heavenly “tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (Heb. 8:2), and to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matt. 28:19) all who should repent of their sins. But to frustrate its purpose, Satan set to work to fashion another deception, and with the departure of the Apostles he quickly succeeded in causing the church completely to lose sight both of the truth of the priesthood of Christ and the truth of baptism, and to establish in their stead an earthly priestcraft and infant baptism.
Thus being led to disbelieve and disregard the sanctuary services and baptism, their very salvation, the Christian church fell through Satan’s trapdoor into error. And that door is still set to take the feet of the unwary—all who disregard or lightly esteem the ever advancing truth unfolded in the special sealing message for today.
THE PROTESTANT MOVEMENTS were raised up to declare and to exploit the primacy of the Bible, because thepre-reformation world was bound in darkness by uninspired man’s religious rule, disallowing the common people the right to possess a Bible, and making them dependent upon his private interpretation of it. Hence came the Protestant churches in their succession, to restore the down-trodden Truth, each protesting against these abuses and usurpations of human rights, each being called forth to make the Christian world realize the need of true Inspiration and of freedom of religion, the right to own a Bible and to study for themselves, and the duty to make the Bible and the Bible only, the rule of their faith.
Being determined, though, to bring the Reformation to naught, Satan has from its beginning constantly worked to cause every church member to revel in private interpretation of the Scriptures and in extra-Biblical theories. Consequently, Protestantism today finds itself following not merely in the way of the uninspired Bible interpretations of one man but in the ways of the uninspired interpretations of thousands of men! And the result is that Christendom teems with schism and confusion unrivaled in history—evidence that the great work of the founding fathers of the Protestant Reformation has been perverted and turned into an undermining force for the frustration of God’s special design for the church today.
Thus we see that the Reformation, which, originally under the direction of inspired men, lifted the church out of one morass, later under the
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direction of uninspired men, plunged her into another, wherein she has been floundering ever since. And unless we let the truth extricate us from this fatal bog of confusion, we cannot defeat the enemy of Inspiration in his tireless and powerful efforts to pervert the implements of our salvation into weapons for our destruction.
THE S.D.A. MOVEMENT was appointed to declare the sanctuary message: “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment [the harvest] is come” (Rev. 14:7) upon all the dead who, from Adam’s time on, failed to get the extra oil (truth) in their vessels (Matt. 25:4), double their talents (verses 15-30), or put on “the wedding garment.” Matt. 22:11. These shall have their names blotted from the Lamb’s Book of Life.
This proclamation concerning the dead was to prepare the living for their impending judgment. For this reason, Satan has employed his every device to lull Adventists into being merely hearers and preachers but not doers of the Word; into tithing mint and anise and cummin, as it were, but omitting the weightier matters of the law. In short, he has made them to become wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked by failing on the one hand to be faithful themselves in doing what they teach others to do, and by failing on the other hand to keep themselves free from doing what they teach others not to do. And to prevent them from awakening to this “terrible deception” (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 254), he keeps them lukewarm, complacently dreaming of being rich in truth and of having need of nothing, though in fact they are in misery and in need of everything.
Clearly, then, lukewarmness and the hallucination of being rich are the faults peculiar to the Laodiceans, and are the dangers which if not recognized and removed are finally to result in God’s spuing them out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16). Thus again the Lord mercifully pleads with Present Truth believers to walk in the light and shun lukewarmness, lest they fall back into thinking themselves rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing, and again become poor and in need of everything.
THE ELEVENTH-HOUR MOVEMENT affects us today most immediately and intimately. Being the last gospel effort, it must “give power and force” to the Third Angel’s Message and “lighten the earth with his glory” (Rev. 18:1); it must triumph, though every movement before it has failed. It is destined, not to “prophesy again to many nations” (Rev. 10:11), but to “all.” And as it is to go to those who have not heard of His fame, and to bring to the house of the Lord all the saints “out of all nations” (Isa. 66:19, 20), it is consequently foreordained to endure. To effect this predetermined purpose, God is now taking the reins in His own Hands (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 300), to purify the church by removing from it the tares, and to preserve it free from them henceforth, so that it may stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb (Rev. 14:1).
Indeed, in the very nature of the case, the Eleventh-Hour movement must triumph, for, being the last, the one to garner in the harvest, then should it fail, everyone in the world today would forever remain lost. Double, therefore, are the reasons that the Lord purposes it to stand. Thus the Davidians have been called to “the Kingdom for such a time as this.”
“For,” declares the Word, “by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.…And I will send them that escape of them unto the nations.…And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations.” Isa. 66:16-20.
“And they [the Gentiles] shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord.” Isa 62:12.
“But who may abide the day…? Who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap.” Mal. 3:2.
All the more reason, then, that its adherents must be tested and proved worthy. What, therefore, is the first and gravest danger con-fronting Present Truth believers today?
With the end of the long journey in view, the work was never so great, the time in which to do it never so short, and the laborers never so few, as now. Self-evident, therefore, is the fact that Satan’s supreme effort at this hour must be to cause the time to be wasted and the work to go undone.
Rouse, then, O Present Truth believer! Rise speedily to the task set, and “whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” Eccles. 9:10. No longer let a moment be wasted, for every precious one is vital to the salvation of your own soul and to the souls of others.” (Sym Code, no.8, p.7-8)
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