I have been asked to give a study on current events, on the Palestine situation, and on the separation caused by the slaughter that is forecast in Ezekiel’s vision.
I wish that I could tell you all you want to know, but I cannot say how soon the separation, the purification of the church, (Testimonies, Vol. 5, pg. 80), will take place. God alone knows the time. All I know is that it cannot take place before we prepare the way, before our God- given work in connection with Ezekiel 9 is done. Then it will come to pass that the Lord will suddenly come to His temple (the church) and purify the sons of Levi, the ministry (Mal. 3:1-3). But those who receive not the mark will fall under the slaughter weapons of the angels as did the unfaithful “first born” in the night of the Passover in the land of Egypt. 2 TG 41.3.2
I have been asked to give a study of the events current, of the situation in Palestine and on the separation made by the killing that is predicted in Ezekiel’s vision. • I wish that I can tell you everything they want to know, but I can’t say how soon the separation, purification of the church (Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, p. 75), it will happen. Alone God knows time. All I know is no it can happen before we prepare the way, before the work that God has given us in connection with Ezekiel 9 be done. Right now the Lord is advertising!
Right now the Lord is advertising for at least 144,000 life-savers, with headquarters on famous Mt. Zion — a greater post than was held by Joseph. Will you be one of them? There are greater opportunities today than ever before. Why not venture into something in which there is no chance-taking? Anyone can succeed if he is willing to pay the price. 1TG 2:27
“And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.” At last the foolish virgins saw themselves in darkness. Then they went to the wise and asked for oil as a gift; “But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.” The oil is sold and there must be something given in exchange to obtain the supply. The price they had to pay was to “sigh and cry for the abominations done in the midst thereof, ” give up sinning and obey the truth. Their receipt for the value of exchange would have been the seal of the living God in their foreheads. 2SR 183.1
Jacob’s Time of Trouble for the 144,000
Jer. 30:3-7 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
• 30:4 And these [are] the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
• 30:5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
• 30:6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
• 30:7 Alas! for that day [is] great, so that none [is] like it: it [is] even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it
Extent of the Land
Gen. 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
The people that have come to this antitypical time of trouble are returning to the homeland, are comforted. Apparently it is bad enough to frighten all, but God’s encouraging counsel is, “Fear not.” • Plainly, the burden of this chapter is concerning the antitypical returning to the homeland. Though terrible the trouble may seem, yet the outcome of it is to be the same as in the type. Right now we may not appreciate this study as we ought to, but the time is soon coming in which we will dig as fast and as hard for it as we would to get out from under an avalanche. Those who have but little faith in the Word of God though, the study will not do them much good. Now is the time to start cultivating the faith we need to have then. (1TG 47.14)
Our subject for this afternoon is found in Daniel, chapters 11 and 12. Chapter 12 contains the “time of trouble, ” but the time of the “time of trouble” is found in the eleventh chapter of Daniel. The twelfth chapter is, of course, a continuation of the eleventh chapter. We shall begin our study with– 2TG 7:3
Dan. 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Dan. 12:4 — “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” • Daniel was told to shut and seal the book even to the time of the end. The book, therefore, was not for the understanding of the people before the time of the end. So, then, when the book is unsealed and understood we may know that the time of the end is come. 2TG 7:3
Besides this sign, though, there is the sign of men running to and fro, and an increase of knowledge. The whole world knows that throughout the years of history, prior to our time, the horse was the means of man’s speediest transportation and communication, and this method continued throughout the centuries. The angel nevertheless informed Daniel that in the time of the end there would be a decided change, that men would then run to and fro. And touching the time of the end according to Nahum’s prophecy, Inspiration declares: “The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.” Nah. 2:4. 2TG 7 :4
That Only Which Should Be Taught. • The Bible and the books of the Spirit of Prophecy being the sole source of the Shepherd’s Rod message, therefore when the Rod is taught, the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy are taught. And since none but the Spirit of Truth, who transmitted the mysteries of Inspiration, can interpret them, then those who attempt to teach them without this inspired interpretational Authority, inevitably fall into the forbidden practice of private interpretation (2 Pet. 1:20) — the great evil which has brought Christendom into its present almost- boundless state of schism and consequent confusion, strife, and impotency. As we dare not follow in such a path, we must therefore, as teachers of The Shepherd’s Rod (the official publications of the D. S.D.A. Association), teach only in the light of the Rod those passages which in one way or another need to be interpreted. Thus only will all Present Truth believers ever become of the same mind, seeing eye to eye and speaking the same things (1 Cor. 1:10; 1 Pet. 3:8; Isa. 52:8). • (FB 35)
WHAT IS MEANT BY “THAT WHICH IS PUBLISHED”?
• “The Symbolic Code” says: “Teach only that which is published.” Will you please explain whether this restriction is Intended to include Bible, Spirit of Prophecy, and “The Shepherd’s Rod” literature, all together, or just the writings of the “Rod”?
• Answer: • The Bible and the books of the Spirit of Prophecy being the sole source of The Shepherd’s Rod message, therefore when the Rod is taught, the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy are taught. And since none but the Spirit of Truth who transmitted the mysteries of Inspiration can interpret them, then those who attempt to teach them without this Inspired interpretational authority inevitably fall into the forbidden practice of private interpretation (2 Pet. 1 :20)–the great evil which has brought Christendom into its present almost-boundless state of schism and consequent confusion, strife, and impotency. • As we dare not follow in such a path, we must therefore, as teachers of The Shepherd’s Rod (the official publications of the Davidian Seventh-day Association), teach only in the light of the Rod those passages which in one way or another need to be interpreted. Thus only will all Present-truth believers ever become of the same mind, seeing eye to eye and speaking the same things (1 Cor. 1:10; 1 Pet. 3:8; Isa. 52:8). • (5Ans. 55)
How to Maintain Unity
It is imperative, therefore, that every Present-truth believer teach and practice only Present Truth–teach not short of nor beyond what is published, weave not into it private interpretations or constructions, theories and ideas, and do nothing less or nothing more than what the message calls for. • Thus putting aside your own thoughts and your own ways, and availing yourselves of the Lord’s (Isa. 55:8, 9), in exclusive devotion to the Spirit of Truth, you will really see eye to eye, and speak the same things. Then only will you be able to dispel the spirit of confusion and to retain the spirit of love and unity. (4ANS 69)
Some teachers of the sealing message are taking an extreme position on health reform, dress reform, marriage, etc., and therefore, we request that all Present Truth followers refrain from reaching anything more or less than has been published in the Code, the books, and the tracts. The messages are plain in themselves, and you need not enlarge upon any point, but rather make sure that you, yourself, are walking in the light only as far as the light of Present Truth leads you, for which light and progress in the Christian pathway you, yourself, and those whom you teach, are responsible. Thus by precept and example, you will avoid all the pitfalls, whether they be in health reform, dress reform, or other doctrines, and will save yourself the embarrassment of having to put out the sparks of your own kindling, which only burn, wound, and lead astray instead of giving light and warmth. Says the Spirit of Prophecy:
Teaching that which is publish, does not restrict us to just quoting from a physical tract that copy right VT HOUTEFF. • Who teach the Rod message by just quoting Rod Tracts? • It means to teach in the LIGHT of what is written in the Rod tracts.
WHERE DOES THE IDEA COMES FROM THAT JACOB’S TROUBLE COMES AFTER EZEK. 9
First rule of interpretation • No one by beginning to study a subject from the middle, backward or forward, can learn its continuity and know what it is all about. If one is to learn the full truth of a subject, he must study it in its entirety. Dogs and cats, not civilized human beings, start eating the slice of pie from the center out. As intelligent human beings, as God’s people, we ought to eat the pie correctly. (1 TG 5;3)
No candid Bible student could from the above statements arrive at any conclusion which would lead him to base his interpretation of the subject on one scripture and wholly ignore the other, but would rather seek to make his final analysis in such a way as to be in perfect harmony with all inspired writings or else confess that he does not have the light on the Scriptures. 1SC 10 P8 •
Those who entertain the idea that there is only one sifting, and only first fruits, will never be able to harmonize every statement of the Bible and of the Spirit of Prophecy, for while their idea may perfectly harmonize in one instance, it will not in another. But the position of those who know the truth, and who all speak the same thing, will be in harmony with every inspired statement on the subject. • 2 SC12.7
IN ADDITION to these fundamental tenets of faith held in common with the Seventh-day Adventists, the Davidian Association holds:
1. That the prophetic gift in the Seventh-day Adventist church (through the medium of which the church was brought forth in 1844 and nurtured and preserved for seven decades) ceased its manifestation in 1915 and was not re-manifested until 1930; and that this cessation and this re-manifestation are paralleled by the cessation of the prophetic gift in the Old Testament and the re-manifestation of it in the New.
2. That the present manifestation was timed to the 430- year prophecy of Ezekiel 4, and that it is the “addition” anticipated in Early Writings, pg. 277.
3. That it was manifested anew in the closing work for the church to effect the sealing of the 144,000 servants of God (Testimonies, Vol. 3, pg. 266), and to give power and force (Early Writings, pg. 277) to the Third Angel’s Message (Rev. 14:6-11) so that the 144,000 might be empowered to accomplish the closing work for the world, and to gather all their brethren out of all nations (Isa. 66:19, 20; Rev. 18:4).
4. That the destruction of the tares from among the first fruits of the living (Matt. 13:30, 48, 49; Ezek. 9:6, 7) results in the purification of the church.
5. That immediately thereafter, the angels let loose the four winds (Rev. 7:1- 3), whereupon ensues the time of trouble and Michael’s standing up to deliver from it, all whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Dan. 12:1).
6. That the angels’ letting loose the four winds to blow over the four corners of the earth (Rev. 7:1), does not anticipate a world war but rather a world- wide decree enforced throughout Babylon by the image-beast, and that then no one may buy or sell save he who worships “the image.” Rev. 13:15-17. (2TG 10.29)
NOTE THAT THE GATHERING OF THE GREAT MULTITUDE IS MENTIONED AT NUMBER 3 BEFORE Eze 9 IN NUMBER 7
7. That subsequently, the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer. 30:7) for the 144,000, the sons of Jacob, logically develops on their way home (Gen. 32:1, 24) to the land of their fathers (Ezek. 36:28; 37:21, 25).
8. That the foregoing epochal event shall cause the 144,000 to have their names changed as did their father, Jacob (Gen. 32:28), and as a body receive a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name (Isa. 62:2).
WHEN WILL THE 144,000 BE CALLED BY A NEW NAME ?
NOTE THAT IT IS THE EVENTS No 7
( JACOB’S TROUBLE ) THAT WILL CAUSE THE 144,000 TO GET THE NEW NAME
The city” is figurative of Judah and Israel, the church in which are to be found the 144,000 servants of God (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 445) those who are to be called by another name after the unworthy servants are slain. And as the 144,000 are the first fruits (Rev. 14:4) of the harvest, they are the “escaped” of the Isaiah 66:19 and of Ezekiel 9. This separation of the tares from the wheat in the church is to signalize the beginning of the final harvest of earth — the end of the world. Then will have come the time for the denominational name to cease, for all her idols to be cut off, and for a new name (Isa. 62:2) to be given to those who escape. Then will these escaped ones proclaim God’s glory and His fame to the Gentiles, and bring out of all nations all their brethren (all that will be saved) to “the house of the Lord.” Isa. 66:16, 19, 20. 14 Tr 19
JACOB’S JOURNEY HOMEWARD
After twenty years of faithful service in Padan-Aram, in the sharp, overreaching employ of Laban, his uncle, Jacob at last turned his face and his steps homeward toward his father’s house in the land of promise.
But trouble overtook him. While grappling with his fears as to the outcome of his imminent meeting with Esau “there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.” Gen. 32:24 (1SR 36)
Here lay down the man Jacob and rose up the man Israel, exemplifying the agonizing experience through which his posterity must victoriously pass before they, too, receive a new name, pass from sons of Jacob to sons of God, become Israelites indeed. Having gained the victory over this test, “the time of Jacob’s trouble, ” they will reach home, the land of promise — the happy end of their long and troubled journey. (1SR 36)
On this trying and testing time the Spirit of Prophecy comments: “A decree went forth to slay the saints, which caused them to cry day and night for deliverance. This was the time of Jacob’s trouble” — Early Writings, pp. 36, 37. (See also Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 202, 203.) (1 SR 36)
DOES JACOB’S TROUBLE COMES BEFORE OR AFTER THE NEW NAME?
BEFORE
DOES THE SLAUGHTER COME BEFORE OR AFTER THE NEW NAME ?
BEFORE
LET US REMEMBER WE ARE NOT GOING TO WALK TO PALESTINE
We are therefore not to worry about a possibility of anyone’s hurting the work of God. Neither are we to worry about how we are to get to Mount Zion, but are to make sure to be ready to board the chariot of God when the angels cry out, “All aboard!” Let us ever remember that those who once wrecked the ancient kingdom and cast out its people, shall now come to build it up and to cast out the horns of the Gentiles who now rule the land, so even our enemies of yesterday God puts working for us today. 1TG 11; 13
Brethren, may you make the good and wise choice, make sure to stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb, ready to board Heaven’s flying saucer (Early Writings pp. 287, 288) at the sound of the trumpet, the blast which will be heard round the world as God finishes His judicial work with His people and with His ministry and its headquarters — the General Conference. (WHR 74)
TIME OF TROUBLE OF DANIEL 12:1
TWO APPLICATIONS
- ONE BEFORE Ezek. 9 —–JACOB TROUBLE FOR THE 144,000
- ONE AFTER Ezek. 9 ——MARK OF THE BEAST FOR THE GREAT MULTITUDE
Dan. 12:1 — And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Dan. 12:2 — “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. ” Here we are told that in the time of trouble these arise, some to live forever and some to die again. 2TG 7 ;11
Do you now realize that not only the time of trouble is at the door, but even this special resurrection? Do you actually see that in the time of trouble, while the living saints are being delivered these dead who rise “to everlasting life, ” are also delivered from their graves? Do you realize that this time of trouble is in “the great and dreadful day of the Lord, ” the day which the promised prophet Elijah announces? Do you actually know that he is to turn the hearts of the fathers and of the children toward each other? lest the Lord smite “the earth with a curse.” Mal. 4:5, 6. Do you see that the prophet appears in a day he can restore all things, everything that was lost through sin, even the Kingdom? 2TG 7 ;11
DANIEL 12: 1 – FOR 144,000
Sharing with the nations the guilt for marring the branches of His vineyard (His Kingdom), this modern Assyria must now share in the divine retribution while God is taking His people back to their own land. Inferentially, with the fall of the “Assyrians” (the Gentiles in possession of the Promised Land), “the time of the Gentiles” is fulfilled (Luke 21:24). • Looking forward to this time of deliverance the angel explained to Daniel: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Dan. 12:1. (14TR 25)
WHAT IS THE GREAT AND DREADFUL DAY OF THE LORD ?
Ezek. 9 SLAUGHTER • All these predictions come to pass in the time of the purification of the church, in the Judgment day of the living, during the great and dreadful day of the Lord. • (1TG 24.13)
Jacob, our type, well knew that God had directed his return from Padanaram to the homeland, yet he trembled when he heard that Esau, with four hundred men were on the way to meet him. Besides, he was led to wrestle with the angel all night long. He prevailed only because he would not let the Angel go until He blest him. The final result was that on the morrow, Esau, rather than destroying the whole company, very kindly greeted Jacob with a kiss, and cordially invited him to return home! So when it all worked itself out, Jacob plainly saw that there was no need at all to have ever feared. • 1TG47.15
In our study today we have travelled over the road the church has gone through its long history. Our journey brought us through the patriarchal period and then the temporal kingdom age and on through the sojourn of the church in the Gentile nations. It has brought us to the place we find ourselves now — on the verge of leaving for the Kingdom eternal, which also means that we are about to go through our time of trouble and have our name changed, then to be accepted into the Kingdom which God is about to set up that shall last forever. • 12SC5,16
We are not now living in the antitypical time of the changed name, Israel, but we are living in the antitypical “Jacob” time. You might say that Jacob is the fleshly name, a name that does not spell either prince or saint. Why are we still in the time portrayed by Jacob’s sin-denoting name? — Because we have not yet started for home. 12SC 5.15
When we start for home as did Jacob, we, too, shall meet with our time of trouble, even Jacob’s time of trouble. And at that time we shall become thoroughly converted to God forever, and our name will be changed as is foretold in Isaiah 61:6, and it will be a name that the Lord Himself will give us. When we demonstrate that we are truly converted, then this great promised blessing will come to us. And when our name has been changed it signifies that we are certain candidates for entrance into the Kingdom eternal. 12SC5,16
Some of us may think we have hardship now, but the fact is that we do not know what hardship is. We cannot now comprehend or even imagine how great the trouble will be. “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” The trouble actually is what saves him. Then the time of trouble is coming for the good of the latter-day Jacobites. It is coming to deliver them. through this most difficult time, it is the man who has the greatest faith in God that will fear the least. The more faith one has then the greater will be his deliverance.
144,000 will be protected after Ezek. 9
Or, literally stated, the unconverted who are now in the midst of the church, are to be slain and buried. The converted are then to be taken into the kingdom. Then will the dragon be “wroth with the woman, and…make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12:17.
Stirred to fury over her purification, the dragon will make war “with the remnant of her seed.” Against her personally, though, he will not war, because her communicants, the 144,000 (the first fruits — Rev. 7:3- 8; 14:4), those who go first into the kingdom, stand with the Lamb, the King, on Mount Sion (Rev. 14:1) His palace grounds. Thus being the rulers of the tribes, they are symbolized by the crowned woman. And being in their own land, they are protected from the dragon who consequently persecutes only the “remnant, ” those who are left behind, who are still in Babylon but who are finally called out of her (Rev. 18:4). • 12TR 44
GOING FURTHER INTO WHAT JACOB’S TROUBLE REALLY IS.
Jer. 30:4-6 — “And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?”
The cause of the fear here forecast is fundamentally needless and unnecessary, declares the Lord.
Jer. 30:7 — “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.“ 1TG 47, 13
30:7 Alas! for that day [is] great, so that none [is] like it: it [is] even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
30:8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, [that] I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: