TIME OF THE END!

11- Tidings of Trouble

by Jeff Pippenger

BUT tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many." Daniel 11:44. (All emphasis supplied unless otherwise noted.)

The word translated as trouble in verse 44 is used also in Daniel 5:6, 9:

"Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. . . . Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied." In Strong's Concordance the definition primarily conveyed is to tremble inwardly, or to be suddenly alarmed, agitated, afraid, or dismayed. The king of the north in Daniel 11:44 recognizes a message which brings forth a reaction within himself, which parallels Belshazzar's reaction when the mysterious writing appeared upon the wall.

"Tidings" represent a message which will greatly disturb the king of the north. The key to the message which alarms and infuriates him is identified in the prophetic symbolism of east and north. These directions are associated with Christ. East symbolizes Christ's coming, and north is the direction from which the enemies of God's people launched their attacks, as they were used by God to deliver His retributive judgments against Israel's apostasy. North symbolizes a judgment message.

"Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the size of a man's hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Saviour and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of man." The Great Controversy, 640.

"The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; the which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, . . . Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations." Jeremiah 25:1-2, 9.

"He who presides over His church and the destinies of nations is carrying forward the last work to be accomplished for this world. To His angels He gives the commission to execute His judgments. Let the ministers awake, let them take in the situation. The work of judgment begins at the sanctuary. '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 brazen altar.' Read Ezekiel 9:2-10. The command is, '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.' Saith God. 'I will recompense their way upon their head.' " Testimonies to Ministers, 431-432.

North also identifies the controversy between Satan and Christ which began in heaven, for Satan has longed to take God's position in the heavenly courts:

"For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north." Isaiah 14:13.

The "sides of the north" is God's church, or His holy mountain:

"Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King." Psalm 48:2.

The king of the north's reaction to a message from the north is an allusion to Satan's attempt to usurp God's position.

Not only do east and north represent a message of judgment and the return of Christ, but they identify Christ Himself:

"Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. . . . I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay. Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words. The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings." Isaiah 41:2, 25-27.

This passage of Isaiah identifies Christ as the One who would be raised up from the east and the north. It is the message of Christ's righteousness, which is the last message of mercy to a dying world--the message of Christ's character. See Christ's Object Lessons, 415. In Daniel 11:44 is found the same "good tidings" of Isaiah 41, as well as the "good tidings" which Christ announced at the beginning of His ministry:

"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn." Isaiah 61:1-2.

The difference with the "tidings" of Daniel 11:44 and the message of Christ while He was on earth is that it was not then "the day of vengeance of our God." It is the recognition of the "vengeance" connected with the tidings of Daniel 11:44, which makes the king of the north tremble and fear.

The "good tidings" of Christ's righteousness is always accompanied with an outpouring of His Spirit:

"What was the result of the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost? The glad tidings of a risen Saviour were carried to the uttermost parts of the inhabited world." The Acts of the Apostles, 48.

This message of glad tidings will soon be proclaimed once again. This time it will not be in the context of the "risen Saviour," but in the context of the return of Christ and the close of judgment which precedes "the day of the Lord's vengeance." Isaiah 34:8. This message will bring a response of fear and retaliation from the forces associated with the king of the north.

Daniel 11:40-43 portrays the infliction of the deadly wound upon the Papacy in 1798, followed by a three-step returning of the Papacy to its former position of power. It first retaliates against the forces of the king of the south, and then enters the glorious land of the United States. Then all the nations of the world, as symbolized by the land of Egypt, are brought into captivity. After these three obstacles are overcome, we see the king of the north controlling all the finances of the earth, identifying that the Papacy has fully returned to the position which it possessed during the 1260 years of Papal supremacy.

After this, in verse 44, Daniel switches our attention to the final battle between the Papacy and God. The sealing of God's people begins in verse 41as the Sunday law is enacted in the United States, but verse 44 more directly identifies the sealing message, while also illustrating the Satanic reaction to that message. The sealing message is the message from the east:

"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Revelation 7:2-3.

The message of the sealing angel is the third angel's message:

"I then saw the third angel. Said my accompanying angel, 'Fearful is his work. Awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select the wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly garner. These things should engross the whole mind, the whole attention.' " Early Writings, 118.

Through the third angel's message the church, and then the world--will be tested. It is the message which enrages the king of the north:

"When the third angel's message closes, mercy no longer pleads for the guilty inhabitants of the earth. The people of God have accomplished their work. They have received 'the latter rain,' 'the refreshing from the presence of the Lord,' and they are prepared for the trying hour before them. Angels are hastening to and fro in heaven. An angel returning from the earth announces that his work is done; the final test has been brought upon the world, and all who have proved themselves loyal to the divine precepts have received 'the seal of the living God.' Revelation 7:2. Then Jesus ceases His intercession in the sanctuary above. He lifts His hands and with a loud voice says, 'It is done;' (Revelation 21:6) and all the angelic host lay off their crowns as He makes the solemn announcement: 'He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.' Revelation 22:11. Every case has been decided for life or death. Christ has made the atonement for His people and blotted out their sins. The number of His subjects is made up; 'the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,' (Daniel 7:27) is about to be given to the heirs of salvation, and Jesus is to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.

"When He leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth. In that fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wicked is removed, and Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent. God's long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected His mercy, despised His love, and trampled upon His law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose. The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible than that which came upon Jerusalem of old.

"A single angel destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians and filled the land with mourning. When David offended against God by numbering the people, one angel caused that terrible destruction by which his sin was punished. The same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God commands, will be exercised by evil angels when He permits. There are forces now ready, and only waiting the divine permission, to spread desolation everywhere.

"Those who honor the law of God have been accused of bringing judgments upon the world, and they will be regarded as the cause of the fearful convulsions of nature and the strife and bloodshed among men that are filling the earth with woe. The power attending the last warning has enraged the wicked; their anger is kindled against all who have received the message, and Satan will excite to still greater intensity the spirit of hatred and persecution.

"When God's presence was finally withdrawn from the Jewish nation, priests and people knew it not. Though under the control of Satan, and swayed by the most horrible and malignant passions, they still regarded themselves as the chosen of God. The ministration in the temple continued; sacrifices were offered upon its polluted altars, and daily the divine blessing was invoked upon a people guilty of the blood of God's dear Son and seeking to slay His ministers and apostles. So when the irrevocable decision of the sanctuary has been pronounced and the destiny of the world has been forever fixed, the inhabitants of the earth will know it not. The forms of religion will be continued by a people from whom the Spirit of God has been finally withdrawn; and the satanic zeal with which the prince of evil will inspire them for the accomplishment of his malignant designs, will bear the semblance of zeal for God.

"As the Sabbath has become the special point of controversy throughout Christendom, and religious and secular authorities have combined to enforce the observance of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a small minority to yield to the popular demand will make them objects of universal execration. It will be urged that the few who stand in opposition to an institution of the church and a law of the state ought not to be tolerated; that it is better for them to suffer than for whole nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness. The same argument eighteen hundred years ago was brought against Christ by the 'rulers of the people.' See Acts 4:8. 'It is expedient for us,' said the wily Caiaphas, 'that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.' John 11:50. This argument will appear conclusive; and a decree will finally be issued against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment and giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to put them to death. Romanism in the Old World and apostate Protestantism in the New will pursue a similar course toward those who honor all the divine precepts.

"The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress described by the prophet as the time of Jacob's trouble. 'Thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. . . . All faces are turned into paleness. 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.' Jeremiah 30:5-7." The Great Controversy, 613-616.

The loud-cry message begins to be proclaimed in earnest at the passage of a national Sunday law. Persecution increases from that point forward--eventually including martyrdom:

"When this grand work is to take place in the battle, prior to the last closing conflict, many will be imprisoned, many will flee for their lives from cities and towns, and many will be martyrs for Christ's sake in standing in defense of the truth." Maranatha, 199.

"The whole world is to be stirred with enmity against Seventh-day Adventists, because they will not yield homage to the Papacy, by honoring Sunday, the institution of this anti-Christian power. It is the purpose of Satan to cause them to be blotted from the earth, in order that his supremacy of the world may not be disputed." Review and Herald, August 22, 1893.

The Most Vivid Presentation

"The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger--a faith that will not faint though severely tried. . . . The 'time of trouble, such as never was,' (Daniel 12:1) is soon to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess and which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal." The Great Controversy, 621-622.

When probation for the world closes there will be no more martyrs:

In verse 44 the pope and his allies go out "to destroy and utterly make away many." The Hebrew text indicates an infinitive of these two words, (destroy and make away), leaving the verb shall go as primarily identifying intentions rather than actual actions. The intended actions which never occur during this sequence of events are referring to the worldwide death decree. With this insight we also recognize that the phrase "utterly to make away" comes from the Hebrew word charam. Strong's Concordance indicates that it means "to devote to religious uses, especially destruction." We conclude from this phrase that the king of the north has an underlying religious motivation in attempting to destroy God's people.

The message from the east and the north, the third angel's message, comes to a close as probation for the world closes, and the enemies of God's people are totally brought under the control of the spirit of Satan:

"I was pointed down to the time when the third angel's message was closing. The power of God had rested upon His people; they had accomplished their work and were prepared for the trying hour before them. They had received the latter rain, or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and the living testimony had been revived. The last great warning had sounded everywhere, and it had stirred up and enraged the inhabitants of the earth who would not receive the message." Early Writings, 279.

We shall see in the final article of this series that Daniel 11:45 describes where the king of the north, God's church, and the inhabitants of the earth stand in relation to each other when probation closes.

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