ARME 2: Canby, OR - May 2010

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ARME Bible Camp

Revelation 10 and Daniel's Little Book

Stephen Bohr

Revelation 10 and Daniel’s Little Book, Part 1

Basically, this chart will give you a bird's eye view of what we're going to be studying in the next 6 sessions.

It has a synthesis, chronological synthesis, of what we're going to take a look at here in this class.

We are going to not study separate subjects.

We're going to build at each additional session onto what we study in the previous session.

So in other words, you need to plan to be here all the way through or else you're only going to have half of the story.

And I'd like to underline also that what we're going to study is very much in depth.

It's not a study of Daniel 2, which we know very well.

It's a complex subject, so it will be helpful if you have some knowledge, particularly of the prophecy of Daniel 8 and actually the prophecies of Daniel 2, 7, 8 and 9 and 11 and 12.

I just like to say before we get into our material that you have in your syllabus what we're going to be studying.

Today we're going to study about Daniel's little book and I'm going to follow the material very closely that you have in your syllabus and I'll add a few thoughts here and there but I've written it out so that you have it there for future reference so that you can continue studying it.

Before we do get into our study, I would like to ask all of you to remember to pray for our school, our university in the country of Venezuela.

I just finished a week of prayer there and got home on Tuesday.

As you know, Venezuela has a president that was elected constitutionally.

However, he has become a dictator in office.

And he's expropriated several pieces of land that belong to rich people right around our school.

And there are all sorts of rumors swirling around that he's about to lay hands on our university and expropriate it.

Basically, what that means is the government comes in with troops, and they steal the school.

And then they give it to the poor people in the community.

You know, so it's basically Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to give to the poor.

And so let's pray that the Lord will put his protecting hand upon our school.

It has about 1, 200 university students and that's a beautiful, phenomenally beautiful school.

I have several pictures in my phone if you would like to look at them.

I actually have several hundred pictures.

Wonderful people, wonderful students, but we need to pray that the angels will stand guard over our University and that it will continue to function to prepare young people to share the gospel.

Now let's have a brief word of prayer and then we'll get right into our material.

Father in heaven, thank you for the privilege of being here at Army.

There's no better place to be in the world.

We thank you Father for the spirit of fellowship, for the spirit of love that we've sensed here at this place.

And we ask Lord that as we study these very intense prophecies that your Holy Spirit will be with us to instruct us.

Give us understanding, Father, and not only understanding but also give us willing hearts to realize that we are a people of destiny that you have chosen to share your end time message with the world.

And we thank you Father for hearing us, for answering our prayer, for we ask it in the precious name of Jesus, Amen.

What I'd like to finish today, if possible, is the first section of your syllabus which is titled Daniel's Little Book.

And as I mentioned, I'm going to go through this material quite closely and as we go along I might add something here and there.

Now the book of Daniel is actually 2 books in 1, The book of Daniel contains actually 2 books and I believe that the first book is contained in Daniel 1 through 7, that is a complete unit in itself, Daniel chapter 1 through chapter 7.

And these 7 chapters are organized in what is known as a chiastic structure.

And so I want you to examine a candelabrum that has of course 3 branches and we'll make Daniel chapter 1 the foundation or the introductory chapter and then when you get to Daniel chapter 2 and 7 these chapters deal with the same subject matter.

Daniel 2 deals with metals and Daniel 7 covers the same material using beasts.

And then when you get to Daniel 3 and Daniel 6 those chapters have a very close thematic link, because in Daniel chapter 3 you have persecution of the 3 young men over worship.

And in Daniel 6 you also have persecution of Daniel because of worship.

Actually these 2 stories illustrate the establishment clause and the free exercise clause of our Constitution.

Because in Daniel chapter 3 the civil power is trying to establish religion.

In other words it's saying you have to worship this way.

In chapter 6 it's a little different because the king is forbidding the free exercise of religion.

He's saying you can't pray for a period of 30 days to anyone else.

So this clearly illustrates what happens when the civil power establishes religion and forbids the free exercise of religion.

And that's why I say that the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was almost divinely inspired, I believe.

Because the First Amendment not only guarantees that Congress will not make a law establishing religion or forbidding the free exercise of religion, but also the First Amendment contains full civil rights.

It continues by saying that people have freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and freedom to request that the government redress grievances.

And so really you have in the First Amendment the 2 horns like a lamb that are mentioned in Revelation 13 and verse 11.

So these 2 chapters are very closely linked, and then chapters 4 and 5 are also closely linked because they deal with the fall of Babylon and Babylon's leader.

In Daniel chapter 4 you have the fall of the leader because of his pride, in Daniel chapter 5 you have the fall of the kingdom because of the pride of another king, Belshazzar.

And so basically what we have in Daniel 1 through 7 is a complete unit in itself.

Daniel 8 through 12 is another unit in itself and probably you're aware of the fact that Daniel 8 through 12 is in Hebrew and Daniel chapter 2 verse 4 approximately through Daniel 7 is in Aramaic.

That itself shows that there's a distinction between Daniel 2 through 7 and Daniel chapter 8 through 12.

So the first part of Daniel is what I call the first book within the book of Daniel.

We're not going to talk about this particular book, we're going to talk about the second book, about the book that is found in Daniel chapter 8 through chapter 12.

Now having said that I would like to say that the last portion of Daniel chapter 7 introduces the second book in the book of Daniel, it introduces the judgment aspect and you'll notice in your material that I have here reviewed Daniel 7 with its emphasis on the sequence of powers.

And we'll do this quickly in Daniel 7 we have a lion which is which kingdom?

Babylon, then we have a bear which kingdom?

Medo-Persia, then we have a leopard that represents Greece, then we have a dragon beast which represents what?

Rome, then that dragon beast sprouts 10 horns, what does that represent?

The fact that Rome was divided into 10 kingdoms by the barbarian invasions and then among the 10 you have the little horn that rules 1260 years, that represents which Rome?

That represents Papal Rome and Papal Rome falls which date?

Now immediately after speaking about the work of the little horn we have this passage that is found in your material, this passage Daniel chapter 7 verses 9 and 10.

It says I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated.

His garment was white as snow, and the hairs of his head was like pure wool.

His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire.

A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him.

A thousand thousands ministered unto him, 10000 times 10000 stood before him, and then it says the court was seated and the books were opened.

It's taking place in heaven where the angels are 10000 times 10000 and thousands of thousands, this is taking place in the presence of God.

Sure, because the immediately preceding verses speak about the work of the little horn for 1260 years so this has to be happening after 1798.

But is it happening before the second coming of Jesus?

The father moves into the most holy place and there the judgment sits, the books are open, but now Jesus comes.

I was watching in the night visions, and behold, 1 like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven.

And of course the Millerites they didn't read it real carefully because the clouds of heaven meant the second coming of Jesus according to their way of thinking, but clearly the text says He came where?

Then to him was given dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the 1 which shall not be destroyed.

So very clearly in Daniel 7 we have 2 clear points of time with regards to the judgment.

The first point of time is when the Father goes into the judgment chamber, sits, the books are open, and then Jesus comes to where the Father went in heaven and you begin the investigative phase of the judgment in heaven.

But then verse 14 says that a kingdom is given to Jesus that His kingdom would last forever and it would be of universal extension, and that takes place when?

So very clearly in the last part of Daniel 7 you see that the judgment is not 1 event as is assumed by most Christians.

See most Christians the judgment is when Jesus comes to punish the wicked and to take his people home.

The Adventist Church is unique in the sense that we believe that before that executive state segment of the judgment you have an investigative stage of the judgment and Daniel 7 the last portion of the chapter makes it very clear that you have 1 part of the judgment in heaven where the Father and Jesus are and they're opening the books to examine the records and then you have the moment when Jesus Christ is given the kingdom and He establishes a kingdom that will rule forever and that will be universal in extension.

Revelation 10 and Daniel’s Little Book, Part 2

Okay, we're dealing with the internal evidence of Daniel 8 through 12.

We notice that in Daniel chapter 8, oh by the way somebody asked about the name of the person who wrote that book, 508, 538, 1798, and 1843.

And by the way, Heidi Jenks is a man, not a woman.

I thought that this was the correct spelling.

Yeah, maybe this is just a transliteration or something.

I think on the cover of the book, I think this is the name that's there.

And by the way, he's amplified it now into 3 volumes.

And basically the whole idea is to show that the traditional view of the Adventist church, that the 1260 days are 538 to 1798, the 1290 are 508 to 1798, and the 1335 are 508 to 1843.

He shows through extensive documentation that that traditional view is the correct view and I agree with him because there are many people who are trying to project these time periods to the future you know they're establishing time for the national Sunday law and the universal Sunday law the beginning of the time of trouble you know people establishing dates right and left yes I thought it was Heidi Jenks anyway the name of the book is 508-538, 1798 and 1843.

I thought that on the cover of the book this is the name.

If I'm mistaken, at least you have the title of the book, just go to Google.

I know it's available at the ABC in Central California and I think it's probably available also at our booth.

It's a small book, probably about a hundred plus pages and it's very, very reasonably priced.

It's a hardback book, really, really good.

Okay, Let's go back here then to Daniel 8.

Daniel chapter 8 gives you, it speaks about the 2300 day period.

Does Daniel 8 give you a beginning point for the 2300 days?

There is only 1 symbol, we covered this in Daniel 8 for both pagan and papal Rome, a little horn.

The horn first spreads out horizontally, then vertically to heaven.

In other words it first extends politically and then religiously.

It is rather clear that the introduction of another beast into Daniel 8 to represent pagan Rome would have spoiled the symmetry of the chapter which emphasizes the 2 beasts of the sanctuary service.

And then the fourth difference between Daniel 2 and 7 and Daniel 8 is that in Daniel 8 there is no reference to the establishment of Christ's everlasting kingdom.

In Daniel 2 it says that the stone smites the image and breaks it into smithereens and then the stone becomes a mountain and fills the whole earth, that's the kingdom.

In Daniel chapter 7 it says that the time came when the saints inherited the kingdom after the judgment, but in Daniel 8 you have no reference to the setting of Christ's everlasting kingdom.

The vision stops all of a sudden and of course we know the reason why, this is due to the fact that Daniel got sick before Gabriel was able to explain the entire vision.

This is the reason why Gabriel came back in Daniel 9 through 12 to explain the things that had remained unexplained in chapter 8.

Now, so what is the purpose of Daniel Chapter 8?

The purpose of Daniel 8 is to give you the framework for the 2300 days, it says unto 2300 days and the sanctuary shall be cleansed which is the judgment.

But Daniel chapter 8 doesn't give you a starting point for the 2300 days, so the question is when do the 2300 days start?

Well, where would you expect to find the answer?

Well it starts out with a prayer, a long prayer where Daniel is pouring out his heart to the Lord.

He said Lord we've sinned, we've blown it, we don't deserve any mercy, We deserve to be destroyed.

But then Daniel says remember be merciful to us, and it's a prayer of repentance, corporate repentance if you please.

And so at the end of his prayer the same angel that had come to him in Daniel chapter 8 now comes back and he says I've come back to give you understanding.

He says understand the vision, which vision?

There was no vision in Daniel 9 to this point.

And so he says I've come back to help you understand the vision, and then he gives the prophecy of what?

Does the prophecy of the 70 weeks provide a starting point for the 2300 days?

So does Daniel 9 have a very close connection with the prophecy of the 2300 days?

The whole purpose of giving the prophecy of the 70 weeks, maybe not the whole purpose, but 1 of the great purposes of giving the prophecy of the 70 weeks was to provide a starting point for the 2300 days from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem.

And by the way if you want a detailed study on Daniel 9 you can go to our website secretsunsealed.org and when you go click on study materials there's a whole study of about 30 plus pages going into all the little details of Daniel chapter 9.

We just assume many times that restore and build Jerusalem means the same thing to restore and to build, it doesn't mean the same thing.

They are 2 different words that need to be understood within their context.

But anyway the purpose of Daniel 9 is to give the prophecy of the 70 weeks in order to give us a starting point for the 2300 day prophecy.

In other words the central theme of Daniel 8 is the 2300 days, the central theme of Daniel 9 is the 2300 days, the starting point.

And then in Daniel chapter 10 you have a very interesting battle going on.

Let me ask you for the prophecy of the 2300 days to be fulfilled, prophecy of the 70 weeks also to be fulfilled, did certain decrees need to be given in order for these prophecies to begin to be fulfilled?

Did a decree have to be given for God's people to go back to their land?

Did a decree have to be given for them to rebuild their temple?

Did a decree have to be given for them to be able to build and to restore Jerusalem, to establish the Hebrew theocracy?

Now what would happen if these decrees were not given as God said that they were going to be given?

The beginning of the 2300 day prophecy would be totally frustrated, it would remain unfulfilled.

Do you think the devil knew that these decrees were going to be given?

Do you think that the devil did everything in his power to keep these decrees from being given?

Because he did not want the 2300 day prophecy to begin to fulfill on time.

In fact let's read what I have here, let's just go through this.

Daniel 9 where it says Daniel 9, Daniel 8 mentions the 2300 day prophecy but does not provide a starting point.

In Chapter 9 the starting point for the 2300 days is given.

The 70 weeks constitute the first 490 of the 2300 day prophecy and those years begin during the kingdom of what?

This is the real reason why the kingdom of Babylon is not mentioned in Daniel chapter 8.

Under which kingdom do the 2300 days begin?

Do you understand now why Babylon wasn't included?

If they included Babylon in the vision it would have given the impression that the 2300 days were supposed to begin during the period of Babylon.

So God was wise in saying let's start with Persia, and by the way in Daniel 11 you also begin with Persia.

In order for the prophecy of the 2300 days to be fulfilled, especially the 70 weeks, it was necessary for the kings of Persia to give certain decrees for Israel to go back to their land and rebuild their temple city walls and to restore a functioning Hebrew theocracy.

Satan the prince of Persia who's mentioned in chapter 10 knew this and therefore he worked on the minds of the Persian kings to try and prevent them from allowing Israel to return to their land.

Revelation 10 and Daniel’s Little Book, Part 5

Father in heaven, what a beautiful day this is.

We just enjoy the fresh air so much, the rain that makes everything green.

Father we ask that the rain of your spirit, the cool breeze of your spirit, might be manifested in this place.

Give us clear minds and willing hearts and we ask that you will empower us to proclaim the special message that you have given to your church to the world.

We ask Lord that you will guide our thoughts, that you will guide our every action this day and we thank you for hearing our prayer for we ask it in Jesus name.

All right, if you want to come a little bit further forward that would be good.

My eyes are not as good as they used to be.

So I'd like to see your beautiful faces a lot closer.

All right, let's review what we studied yesterday.

I'm assuming that most everybody that's here this morning was there yesterday for the session.

You have an introduction at the end of Chapter 7, the judgment scene, mainly Chapter 8 through 12, but not so much the succession of events, but what particular aspect?

On to 2300 days the sanctuary shall be cleansed.

That is the 1 point, the 1 thread that we saw in all 4 chapters right?

Chapter 8, 9, 10, 11, of course 12 through verse 4, the rest is an epilogue to the book.

Okay now the question is, where in the Bible do we find the unsealing of this book?

In Revelation Chapter 10 you have a mighty angel that descends from heaven who is that mighty angel?

That mighty angel is Jesus Christ himself and what does he have in his hand?

He has a little book, The 1 having been opened is the tense of the verb.

So when he's about to descend he opens the book.

And so he opens this book and then he plants 1 foot on the sea and 1 foot on the land.

It represents that it's a global worldwide message to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.

And now I'm going to present the message to the world so that everybody can know that this is mine.

And then when he comes down with the open book, by the way, what date does that book open?

Ah, We read a clear statement from Ellen White, also Daniel 12, indicates that the little book is opened in 1798 when the papacy falls at the conclusion of the French Revolution, the little book is opened.

And then you have many people that begin preaching the judgment.

Ellen White mentions Joseph, Wolf, La Cunza, and many others leading up of course to the Millerite movement from 1831 and following.

And then when he arrives he lets out a roar, and what happens when he lets out a roar like a lion?

Is this common ordinary thunder or are these words that he spoke?

What was it that he spoke that he then told John, seal it?

He was explaining that there was gonna be what?

There was gonna be a miscalculation of the figures.

And that happened between 1842 and 1844, the spring, you know, when they originally thought that Jesus was gonna come in the spring of 43, and then they thought he was going to come in the spring of 44, and then of course Samuel Snow in the summer discovered that they had miscalculated when the Day of Atonement was, and so they said it's going to be the fall of 1844.

So in other words, the sealing of the 7 thunders, the 7 thunders uttered that there was going to be a disappointment and John was told not to write that and a mistake was covered and what was the purpose of that?

The purpose was to test the people to see who really longed for the coming of Jesus and who didn't.

Remember we read from John 12 yesterday where Jesus, where the voice said I have glorified you and I will glorify you again and some people thought that it had thundered but other people said it's the voice of an angel and so that's another example from early writings you know it's the thunder is not simple thunder it's really declaring the day and hour of the coming of Jesus.

And of course this is after the close of probation, this is right before the coming of Jesus.

So the text that says no 1 knows the day or the hour doesn't really is immaterial at this point in history.

And then this angel who is Jesus Christ after uttering the 7 thunders he raises his right hand to the heavens and what does he do?

So where are we at when he raises his hand and swears that time will be no longer?

We've moved from the 7 thunders, the preliminary events that lead to the first couple of disappointments because they miscalculated, then now with the oath you're at October 22, 1844.

And so he raises his hand and he says that time will be no longer, and then you have that verse that speaks about the finishing of the mystery of God, which is really out of chronological order.

It says when the seventh angel is about to blow his trumpet, the mystery of God will be finished.

But there's something that happens before that, And that is the episode that has to do with the little book, right?

And he eats the little book and it's what?

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Revelation 10 and Daniel's Little Book

Revelation 10 and Daniel’s Little Book, Part 3

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Parts

Revelation 10 and Daniel’s Little Book, Part 1

43m

Revelation 10 and Daniel’s Little Book, Part 2

59m

Revelation 10 and Daniel’s Little Book, Part 5

49m

Revelation 10 and Daniel’s Little Book, Part 6

44m

Revelation 10 and Daniel’s Little Book, Part 3

45m

Revelation 10 and Daniel’s Little Book, Part 4

46m

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