TIME OF THE END!

7- The Great Escape

By Jeff Pippenger

HE shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon." Daniel 11:41.

In Daniel 11:40-42, there is symbolized within each verse a specific area of conquest for the Papacy. In previous articles we have noted that in verse 40 the Soviet Union is symbolized as the king of the south, and in verse 41, the United States is symbolized as the glorious land. In verse 42, the entire world is symbolized as Egypt, which we will discuss in a future article. The word countries is found in each of these verses, but in 41, it is italicized, thus identifying a word which has been supplied by the translators.

In verse 40, the Papacy sweeps away the many countries which made up the former Soviet Union, and in verse 42, the Papacy brings all the countries of the world under its dominion. But in verse 41, when the Papacy enters the glorious land of the United States, many (people) are overthrown--but not many countries. Inadvertently, the translators of the King James Version minimized an important distinction within these verses by their addition of the word countries in verse forty-one. First, the Papacy enters into the countries of the former Soviet Union; then, he enters the United States; then, every country on the globe is brought into subjection.

The Onward March

In Daniel 11:40-45 we see the Papacy marching as it ascends to the throne of the world, and ultimately to its final destruction. These verses portray the king of the north moving through a progression of events. In verse 40 he comes against the king of the south; then he enters the countries; and then, he passes over. In verse 41 he enters the glorious land; then in verse 42 he moves into Egypt, and by verse 43 all the countries are marching with him. In verse 44 he goes forth to destroy, and, eventually, he plants his tent in verse 45, where he is identified as coming to his end. These unfolding events provide a setting which illustrates that the information symbolized within these verses is a progression. The events associated with the approaching Sunday-law test, symbolized in verse 41, are also a progressive series of events.

The Twofold Division

As the Papacy spiritually enters the glorious land at the passage of a national Sunday law, those who "escape out of his hand" are contrasted by those who are "overthrown." The division between those who are overthrown and those who escape first takes place among God's people, and then progresses into the world. The Sunday-law test is the ending of the process of separating of God's people, and the beginning of the process of separating the people of the world. This first separation occurs within God's church and determines those who will receive the latter rain from those who will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils:

"The great issue so near at hand [the Sabbath test] will weed out those whom God has not appointed and He will have a pure, true, sanctified ministry prepared for the latter rain." Selected Messages, book 3, 385.

"I saw that none could share the 'refreshing' unless they obtain the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action. We should, therefore, be drawing nearer and nearer to the Lord and be earnestly seeking that preparation necessary to enable us to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. Let all remember that God is holy and that none but holy beings can ever dwell in His presence." Early Writings, 71.

"When the law of God is made void the church will be sifted by fiery trials, and a larger portion than we now anticipate, will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils." Selected Messages, book 2, 368.

The second separation begins when God's purified bride begins to call His "other sheep" out of Babylon.

"When those that 'believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness' (2 Thessalonians 2:12), shall be left to receive strong delusion and to believe a lie, then the light of truth will shine upon all whose hearts are open to receive it, and all the children of the Lord that remain in Babylon will heed the call: 'Come out of her, my people.' Revelation 18:4." Maranatha, 173.

The persecution accompanying the Sunday-law test divides God's people into those who "receive strong delusions," and those who are "prepared for the latter rain."

"In the absence of the persecution there have drifted into our ranks men who appear sound and their Christianity unquestionable, but who, if persecution should arise, would go out from us." Evangelism, 360.

"As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition." The Great Controversy, 608.

A Change for the Worse

As the United States will form an alliance with Catholicism in Daniel 11:40, it will cease to uphold the definition and the principles of Protestantism. This change will be a progressive growth leading to a national Sunday law, symbolized by the joining of hands. Beyond the Sunday law, this alliance continues to develop to the point where the United States will force the whole world to make an image to the beast, and then ultimately be instrumental in issuing the worldwide death decree.

"How the Roman Church can clear herself from the charge of idolatry we cannot see. . . . And this is the religion which Protestants are beginning to look upon with so much favor, and which will eventually be united with Protestantism. This union will not, however, be effected by a change in Catholicism; for Rome never changes. She claims infallibility. It is Protestantism that will change. The adoption of liberal ideas on its part will bring it where it can clasp the hand of Catholicism." Review and Herald, June 1, 1886.

Before the Sunday law is "strictly enforced," as the United States moves closer to Catholicism and farther from her Protestant heritage, the divine protection, which the principles of Protestantism have secured for this nation, will begin to be withdrawn. This withdrawal of divine favor brings calamities and troubles in proportion to the lessening distance between the United States and Catholicism. These troubles contribute to the initial persecution, which in turn, contributes to the division of God's people.

"It will be declared that men are offending God by the violation of the Sunday-sabbath; that this sin has brought calamities which will not cease until Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced; and that those who present the claims of the fourth commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sunday, are troublers of the people, preventing their restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity. Thus the accusation urged of old against the servant of God will be repeated and upon grounds equally well established." The Great Controversy, 590.

The people of this land will desire a "restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity." Their desire for a return to "prosperity" indicates that economic distress precedes the Sunday law.

"The very means that is now so sparingly invested in the cause of God, and that is selfishly retained, will, in a little while, be cast with all idols to the moles and to the bats. Money will soon depreciate in value very suddenly when the reality of eternal scenes opens to the senses of man." Welfare Ministry, 266.

Increasing economic instability with escalating calamities will contribute to the demand for Sunday observance, while also accelerating the persecution of God's people, thus further dividing God's people. Our work of warning will then be restricted by persecution, economic trials, increasing calamities, and apostasy from our ranks:

"The work which the church has failed to do in a time of peace and prosperity she will have to do in a terrible crisis under most discouraging, forbidding circumstances. The warnings that worldly conformity has silenced or withheld must be given under the fiercest opposition from enemies of the faith. And at that time the superficial, conservative class, whose influence has steadily retarded the progress of the work, will renounce the faith and take their stand with its avowed enemies, toward whom their sympathies have long been tending." Testimonies, vol. 5, 463.

The Shaking

This separation process is called "the shaking." The shaking finishes its work for God's people soon after the passage of the national Sunday law in the United States, and then it proceeds to the inhabitants of the world. The Sunday law is the finish line for those who profess to be Seventh-day Adventists, but it is also the starting line for the shaking to move from Adventism to the world. The issue of Sabbath/Sunday sacredness will form the final dividing line between the obedient and the disobedient in this world:

"The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. While the observance of the false sabbath in compliance with the law of the state, contrary to the fourth commandment, will be an avowal of allegiance to a power that is in opposition to God, the keeping of the true Sabbath, in obedience to God's law, is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator. While one class, by accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers, receive the mark of the beast, the other choosing the token of allegiance to divine authority, receive the seal of God." The Great Controversy, 605.

Rising to the Occasion

As persecution increases, those who have only professed the truth, yet not experienced it, will continue to flee the ranks of Adventism. At that time those who have not only professed but also experienced the truth will become more zealous in proportion to the apostasy in the world and in the church:

"When the law of God is being made void, when His name is dishonored, when it is considered disloyal to the laws of the land to keep the seventh day as the Sabbath, when wolves in sheep's clothing, through blindness of mind and hardness of heart, are seeking to compel the conscience, shall we give up our loyalty to God? No, no. The wrongdoer is filled with a Satanic hatred against those who are loyal to the commandments of God, but the value of God's law as a rule of conduct must be made manifest. The zeal of those who obey the Lord will be increased as the world and the church unite in making void the law. They will say with the Psalmist, 'I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.' Psalm 119:127. This is what will be sure to occur when the law of God is made void by a national act. When Sunday is exalted and sustained by law, then the principle that actuates the people of God will be made manifest, as the principle of the three Hebrews was made manifest when Nebuchadnezzar commanded them to worship the golden image in the plain of Dura. We can see what our duty is when the truth is overborne by falsehood." Manuscript Releases, vol. 13, 71.

The Time of Destructive Judgments

The division of God's people who "escape" the king of the north and those who are "overthrown" by him, reaches its climax when the law of God is made void "in a special sense." This act of national apostasy is followed by national ruin, as God's destructive judgments are poured out:

"A time is coming when the law of God is, in a special sense, to be made void in our land. The rulers of our nation will, by legislative enactments, enforce the Sunday law, and thus God's people be brought into great peril. When our nation, in its legislative councils, shall enact laws to bind the consciences of men in regard to their religious privileges, enforcing Sunday observance, and bringing oppressive power to bear against those who keep the seventh-day Sabbath, the law of God will, to all intents and purposes, be made void in our land; and national apostasy will be followed by national ruin." Review and Herald, December 18, 1888.

"Protestants will work upon the rulers of the land to make laws to restore the lost ascendancy of the man of sin, who sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Roman Catholic principles will be taken under the care and protection of the state. This national apostasy will speedily be followed by national ruin. The protest of Bible truth will be no longer tolerated by those who have not made the law of God their rule of life." Review and Herald, June 15, 1897.

The Closed Door

When the Sunday law is enforced, "national ruin" will follow "speedily" upon its heels. This time of "destructive judgments" will be the time when probation will close for Seventh-day Adventists in the United States.

"Many who have known the truth have corrupted their way before God and have departed from the faith. The broken ranks will be filled up by those represented by Christ as coming in at the eleventh hour. There are many with whom the Spirit of God is striving. The time of God's destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who have no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter. Large numbers will be admitted who in these last days hear the truth for the first time." This Day With God, 163.

Those in Babylon "with whom the Spirit of God is striving," will respond to the loud cry message and replace the Adventists who "corrupted their way before God." For those who have corrupted their way, the time of "national ruin" will be the "time of God's destructive judgments," while for those who have had "no opportunity to learn what is truth," it will be a "time of mercy." The time of mercy and time of judgment are determined by our personal response to the light which has been made available to us.

What They Might Have Done

Seventh-day Adventists, more than any other people, will have no excuse for not upholding the Sabbath when the Sunday law is enforced, for we are not simply judged by what we know but also by what we could have known had we availed ourselves of every opportunity for enlightenment:

"The punishment of those who have had abundant opportunity to know the truth, but who in blindness and unbelief have contended against God and His messengers, will be proportionate to the light they have rejected. God greatly favored them, giving them peculiar advantages and gifts, that they might let their light shine forth to others. But in their perversity they led others astray. God will judge them for the good they might have done, but did not. He will call them to account for their misused opportunities. They turned from God's way to their own way, and they will be judged according to their works. By walking contrary to the principles of the truth, they greatly dishonored God. They became fools in His sight by turning His truth into a lie. As they have been distinguished by the mercies bestowed on them, so they will be distinguished by the severity of their punishment." Review and Herald, June 25, 1901.

As the issue moves through Adventism into the world the same testing requirements will be used upon those in the world as was used upon Adventists. The test will be determined on how we respond to truth once we are informed of the issues. The reception of the "mark of the beast" requires an informed choice regarding God's Sabbath. See The Great Controversy, 449.

None will receive "the mark of the beast," until "the issue is thus plainly set before them." This issue had been plainly set before Seventh-day Adventists long before the Sunday law. They have been "enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath," and for them to then "transgress the command of God," and "obey a precept which has no higher authority than that of Rome," is to "acknowledge the supremacy" of the Papacy, receive the mark of the beast, and close their probationary time.

The Great Escape

In verse 41, we see those who "escape out of his hand." In this phrase the word "hand" is a prophetic symbol which portrays the power and authority exercised by a conqueror.

"Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life." Jeremiah 44:30. See also Zechariah 11:6.

When the king of the north enters the glorious land there are some who escape his hand and some who are overthrown. The word "hand," is used to represent the power and authority exercised by the Papacy when it enters the United States and overthrows many. The authority of the Papacy is Sunday observance:

"As the sign of the authority of the Catholic Church, papist writers cite 'the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; . . . because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin.'--Henry Tuberville, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, page 58. What then is the change of the Sabbath, but the sign, or mark, of the authority of the Roman Church--'the mark of the beast'?" The Great Controversy, 448.

"The sign, or seal, of God is revealed in the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, the Lord's memorial of Creation. . . . The mark of the beast is the opposite of this--the observance of the first day of the week. This mark distinguishes those who acknowledge the supremacy of the papal authority from those who acknowledge the authority of God." Testimonies, vol. 8, 117.

When Daniel 11:41 is understood in this context, Daniel's use of the word "hand," represents the assumption of spiritual authority in the United States by the Papacy at the passage of the Sunday law. John's testimony in Revelation 13:16 that "all" should receive a mark in their "right hand" also uses the hand to identify the mark of the Papacy's authority. The enforcement of the Sunday law is symbolized by the United States coming into the "hand" of the Papacy in Daniel 11:41. It is at the passage of the Sunday law that those who escape will escape his grasp, for until then, it is not a legal issue.

When Protestantism clasps hands with Catholicism it is in reality a subjugation to the spiritual authority of the Papacy. The symbolic use of the word hand and the movement or march of the king of the north are also used by the Spirit of Prophecy when addressing these identical issues and time periods. Notice how the word "hand" is used:

"When our nation shall so abjure the principles of its government as to enact a Sunday law, Protestantism will in this act join hands with popery." Testimonies, vol. 5, 712.

"By the decree enforcing the institution of the Papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near." Testimonies, vol. 5, 451.

"It is Protestantism that will change. The adoption of liberal ideas on its part will bring it where it can clasp the hand of Catholicism." Review and Herald, June 1, 1886.

"The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience." The Great Controversy, 588.

"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" Amos 3:3.

Not only does Sister White apply the "hand" as a symbol of when the authority of Rome is sustained in the United States by the enforcement of the national Sunday law but she also portrays the Papacy at this time in history as on a spiritual conquest. Daniel describes the king of the north marching through the Soviet Union, then into the United States, and then into the entire world. Sister White also portrays these scenes as a march when she states, "this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience."