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Series Code: RST
Program Code: RST000008S
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00:15 Well, we are in the process of studying the fourth trumpet.
00:18 We're on a roll, aren't we? 00:20 It's only the second day, 00:22 and we're already finishing the fourth trumpet. 00:27 But don't be too confident, because number five and six 00:30 are going to take us a long period of time. 00:33 And then we have several other things 00:35 that we're going to be dealing with as well. 00:37 So we are on page 107. 00:41 We read those quotations on page 107. 00:44 And we noticed that during the period of papal supremacy 00:49 there was darkness. 00:50 It's called, the Dark Ages. Why? 00:53 Because the sun was eclipsed, the moon was eclipsed, 00:58 and the stars were also eclipsed. 01:01 And of course, the sun represents whom? 01:04 Christ. 01:05 The moon represents the Scriptures. 01:08 And the stars represent God's people. 01:12 And, you know, we were reading statements from the chapter 01:15 in, Great Controversy, An Era of Spiritual Darkness. 01:19 That title itself of the chapter about 01:22 papal supremacy says a lot. 01:24 Now I'm not going to read all of the statements 01:27 under this section because we have a lot of material to cover. 01:30 But I want to highlight certain words, 01:33 beginning on page 107, the words that I have underlined 01:37 and in bold. 01:39 Do you notice the number of times that you have, 01:42 "dark," "dark ages," "darkness," "deepened," 01:46 then a little bit further down, "the prince of darkness," 01:49 and then the, "suppression of the Scriptures." 01:51 So the darkness comes because the Scriptures 01:54 are proscribed or suppressed. 01:57 Then at the bottom of the page, 01:59 "As times goes by, darkness seemed to..." What? 02:03 "...to grow more dense." 02:05 On the next page, "The advancing centuries 02:08 witnessed a constant increase of..." What? 02:11 "...of error..." 02:13 In the next statement, which is describing the 02:15 thirteenth century, it uses the expression, 02:19 "the prince of darkness." 02:21 And let's read the one from, Great Controversy, page 60. 02:25 "But the noon of the papacy was..." What? 02:28 the midnight of the world." 02:30 It gives a description of the period of papal supremacy. 02:33 Why was it the midnight of the world? 02:36 Ellen White states, "The Holy Scriptures were almost..." What? 02:40 "...unknown, not only to the people, but to the priests. 02:44 Like the Pharisees of old, the papal leaders hated 02:47 the light which would reveal their sins." 02:50 And then the next statement, at the very bottom of the 02:53 statement, you have, "the banishing of the word of God." 02:57 Great Controversy, page 586, 02:59 "The iniquity and spiritual darkness that prevailed under 03:03 the supremacy of Rome were the inevitable result 03:06 of her suppression of..." What? 03:08 "...of the Scriptures." 03:10 And, you know, you can notice at the top of the next page 03:14 you have mention of the Holy Scriptures, 03:16 ignorance of the Holy Scriptures. 03:18 "The Bible would exalt God and place finite men 03:22 in their true position..." 03:24 The Bible was "concealed and suppressed." 03:27 "...the circulation of the Bible was prohibited." 03:29 So in other words, during this period 03:32 people did not catch a glimpse of Jesus 03:34 because the lesser light was hidden and was suppressed. 03:41 The next statement speaks about William Miller 03:44 studying the Scriptures. 03:46 It says "the Scriptures were carefully searched." 03:49 And what happened as a result? 03:50 "...light poured in upon the darkness..." 03:54 And then the last statement that we have on this page 03:58 has to do with the end times. 04:00 Let's read that. 04:01 "Dear brethren and sisters: 04:03 As error is fast progressing, we should seek to be awake 04:07 in the cause of God, and realize the time 04:09 in which we live. 04:11 Darkness is to cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. 04:16 And as nearly all around us are being enveloped 04:19 in the thick darkness..." 04:20 What is the thick darkness? 04:22 "...of error and..." What? "...delusion..." 04:25 Is that the case during the period of papal supremacy? Yes. 04:29 "...it becomes us to shake off stupidity and live near to God, 04:34 where we can draw divine..." What? 04:37 "...rays of light and glory from the countenance of Jesus. 04:41 As darkness thickens and error increases..." 04:45 So notice, darkness is related to error. 04:50 "...we should obtain a more thorough knowledge of the truth 04:53 and be prepared to maintain our position from..." Where? 04:56 "...from the Scriptures." 04:59 And then at the top of page 110, Ellen White quotes Isaiah 8:20. 05:04 "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not 05:07 according to this word, it is because 05:09 there is no light in them." 05:10 In other words, they are in what? 05:12 They're in darkness. 05:14 "The people of God are directed..." Where? 05:16 "...to the Scriptures as their safeguard against the influence 05:21 of false teachers and the delusive power 05:24 of spirits of darkness." 05:25 So how is the darkness dispelled? 05:29 The darkness is dispelled by the Scriptures. 05:33 By the lesser light that leads to whom? 05:37 That leads to Jesus, the greater light. 05:40 Now let's talk about how the papacy 05:43 darkened the sun and moon. 05:45 We know that it was by the suppression of the Scriptures. 05:48 But let's be a little bit more specific. 05:52 In order to understand the darkening of the 05:54 sun and the moon during the fourth trumpet, 05:57 we need to study the "daily" that the little horn 06:01 took away from the Prince of the host. 06:05 And that should be fresh in your minds because two Sabbaths ago 06:08 we were studying Daniel 8 in our Sabbath School lessons. 06:11 Remember that the little horn attacked the Prince of the host, 06:15 and he attacked the host, 06:17 and he took away the "daily". 06:19 Now let's pursue this. 06:21 It is difficult to interpret the word, "daily," 06:25 unless we go to other places in the Bible 06:28 to explain what this word means. 06:31 The words is an adjective. 06:34 And in Daniel 8 it has no noun to qualify. 06:38 So the question is, the little horn took away the "daily" what? 06:44 You know, the word, "sacrifice," isn't there. 06:47 The meaning of the word, "tamiyd," in Hebrew 06:50 is simply something which goes on continuously 06:54 without interruption. 06:56 That's what the word, "tamiyd," means. 06:57 However, what is it in Daniel 8 that goes on 07:01 continuously without interruption? 07:04 Now you remember that the little horn of Daniel 8 07:07 represents what power? 07:09 The papacy. 07:10 The same power that's being described in the fourth trumpet. 07:12 Right? 07:14 Now, it is important to keep in mind that the word, "tamiyd," 07:18 "daily," has the definite article. 07:21 It is not simply, "daily". 07:24 It is, "the daily". 07:26 It is a specific "daily" that is taken away by the little horn. 07:31 As I mentioned before, the King James Version 07:33 translators added the word, "sacrifice." 07:38 But Ellen White has this statement in, Early Writings, 07:41 pages 74 and 75, where she wrote, 07:45 "Then I saw in relation to the 'daily'," of Daniel 8:12, 07:50 "that the word, 'sacrifice,' was supplied by man's wisdom, 07:54 and does not belong to the text, and that the Lord gave the 07:58 correct view of it to those who gave the judgment hour cry." 08:01 Now Heidi Heiks, whom I mentioned before, 08:05 wrote an entire book on this issue of the "daily". 08:08 There are two views. 08:09 One is that the "daily" is paganism 08:12 that was taken away. 08:13 The other view is the view that I'm going to share 08:15 which I believe that fits better with the context 08:18 of what we're studying here. 08:20 So at the bottom of page 110, what then does this word mean? 08:25 What does the word, "daily," mean? 08:27 We must allow other Old Testament text to explain 08:32 what the word means. 08:34 The Old Testament, when we examine other verses, 08:37 clearly indicates that this word refers to the daily ministration 08:42 of the priest in the court of the Sanctuary 08:46 and in the Holy Place of the Sanctuary. 08:49 And by the way, you know, because it's dealing with the 08:52 Sanctuary, you have to interpret the word, "daily," 08:55 in the context of the Sanctuary. 08:56 Right? 08:58 So this means that the little horn was going to attempt 09:02 to take away from the Prince, that is, from Jesus, 09:06 the Prince of the host, His ministration where? 09:10 In the court and in the Holy Place of the Sanctuary. 09:15 Now in order to comprehend how the little horn did this, 09:18 we need to answer two fundamental questions. 09:21 The first question is, in which sanctuary 09:25 did the Prince minister in at this point in 09:27 the vision of Daniel 8? 09:29 And also during the period of the fourth trumpet. 09:31 In which sanctuary was the Prince, 09:33 who is Jesus, ministering? 09:36 Some earthly sanctuary? 09:37 No. There was no earthly sanctuary. 09:40 The second question that we must answer is, 09:44 What does each piece of furniture in the court 09:47 and in the Holy Place represent? 09:49 What did the altar of sacrifice, the candlestick, 09:53 the table of showbread, and the altar of incense represent? 09:58 What did they symbolize, in other words? 10:00 Well, let's look for the answer to the first question. 10:05 Who is the Prince? 10:07 Well, let's go to Joshua 5:13-15. 10:13 Joshua 5:13-15 10:18 Here, Israel is about to conquer Jericho. 10:21 They have it surrounded. 10:23 And Joshua is on the outskirts of Jericho 10:26 and this majestic warrior shows up. 10:29 And let's read about it in verse 13. 10:55 Now you don't catch the connection with Daniel 8, but 10:57 there are only two places where you have the expression, 10:59 "Prince of the host," which is translated here, 11:02 "Commander of the Lord's army." 11:04 It's the identical Hebrew expression. 11:06 So it's the same Prince in Joshua as in Daniel 8. 11:21 Was this warrior God? 11:24 If he wasn't God, well Joshua is practicing idolatry, isn't he? 11:45 What other place in Scripture do we find 11:47 a command to take off the sandals? 11:50 In chapter 3 of Exodus where Moses is commanded 11:55 because he's in the presence of God. 11:57 So who is the Prince of the host? 11:59 The Prince of the host is none other than Jesus Christ. 12:04 Now the question is, where was Jesus serving 12:08 as Prince of the host during the period of the little horn 12:11 of Daniel 8 and the fourth trumpet 12:14 of the book of Revelation? 12:16 Well, let's pursue this. 12:18 Matthew 21:12-13 describes the triumphal entry of Jesus 12:24 into Jerusalem on what Christians call, Palm Sunday. 12:29 We're told there that He entered the temple of God, 12:32 and He called the temple what? 12:34 "My Father's house." 12:37 So when He enters, it's called the temple of God, 12:41 and it says that it is, "My Father's house." 12:45 However, a short while later, in chapter 23 12:49 the last two verses, Jesus now leaves the temple, 12:53 and as He's leaving He says to the Jewish leaders, 12:57 "Your house is left unto you desolate." 13:03 In other words, the Shekinah had left 13:06 and the temple was doomed. 13:10 Now because the Jewish nation rejected Christ, 13:14 in AD 70, as we've studied, the Romans destroyed 13:18 the Jerusalem temple. 13:20 And it has never been rebuilt. 13:24 In other words, during the period of the fourth trumpet 13:27 there was no Jewish temple. 13:30 That's very clear. 13:33 For this reason, it is not possible to conclude 13:36 that the sanctuary that the little horn trampled 13:39 during the Christian era was the Jerusalem temple 13:44 because there was no Jerusalem temple to trample. 13:47 During the Christian dispensation when the 13:50 little horn did its work, there was no earthly 13:54 Jerusalem temple in existence. 13:57 However, if the little horn did not do its work 14:01 in the Jerusalem temple, then where did it do its work? 14:06 The answer is two-fold. 14:09 First, upon His ascension Jesus began His ministry 14:14 as High Priest where? 14:17 In the literal heavenly Sanctuary, 14:20 personally, and what? 14:22 Physically. 14:24 He is the genuine High Priest who ministers in the 14:28 literal heavenly temple on the literal Mount Zion 14:33 in the literal heavenly Jerusalem. 14:36 Correct? 14:37 He is the minister of a better covenant 14:40 because He presents before His Father His own better blood 14:44 that runs where? 14:46 Does He literally present His blood? 14:49 You better believe it. It runs through His veins. 14:51 He says, "Father, My blood, My blood, My blood." 14:56 Second point, Jesus is also minister in the 15:00 spiritual temple on earth. 15:02 The spiritual temple is a reflection 15:04 of the heavenly temple. 15:06 On that temple on earth is what? 15:10 The Christian church. 15:12 This spiritual temple has spiritual foundations, 15:16 it has a spiritual cornerstone, 15:18 it has spiritual building stones, 15:20 and a spiritual Shekinah, which is what? 15:24 The invisible Holy Spirit. 15:26 Are you following me or not? 15:28 Did the apostle Paul identify the church as the temple 15:31 on earth, a spiritual temple? 15:33 All you have to do is read Ephesians 2:19-22. 15:38 He clearly identifies the church as the temple. 15:43 In other words, Jesus ministers in two places 15:46 at the same time. 15:48 Physically in heaven, and spiritually on earth 15:52 through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. 15:55 His heavenly hosts are the angels, 15:57 and His earthly hosts are His faithful followers. 16:00 Is this making sense? 16:03 So what does Daniel 8 mean when it states that 16:05 the little horn took away the "daily" from the Prince 16:09 and killed His hosts? 16:12 Obviously, it cannot mean that the little horn literally 16:16 and personally traveled to heaven and deposed Jesus 16:21 and that he destroyed the heavenly hosts 16:23 which are the angels. 16:25 It certainly cannot mean that. 16:26 What then does it mean? 16:28 We find the answer in Daniel 8:11 16:32 where the text tells us that the little horn, this is important, 16:36 cast down the place of the Prince's Sanctuary to the earth. 16:43 In other words, instead of the heavenly Sanctuary, 16:46 the little horn transfers it to the place on earth. 16:51 We have already identified the place as the Prince's Sanctuary 16:56 in the literal heavenly temple and in His church on earth. 17:01 The word, "place," "makown," in Hebrew, 17:04 is unusual. 17:07 There are some very common words in the Old Testament 17:10 for, "place," that are used multiple times, 17:13 but this is not one of those common words. 17:15 This word is used 17 times in the Hebrew Bible. 17:20 And in 16 of those 17 references it denotes the heavenly 17:26 Sanctuary as God's dwelling place. 17:30 Now, perhaps it will be good to consider 17:33 some of these references. 17:35 Now this is a long passage, but it's very important, 17:38 so I'm going to take the time to read it. 17:40 1 Kings 8:37-50 17:44 And I want you to catch the relationship here between 17:48 what is happening in heaven and what is happening on earth. 17:51 It says there, "When there is famine in the land..." 18:20 Speaking about the literal earthly temple, right? 18:26 Wait a minute now. 18:27 So they prayed towards the earthly temple, but what? 18:30 "...then here in heaven, 18:33 Your dwelling place..." that's the word, "makown". 18:36 And what does God do when He hears the prayer 18:39 in the heavenly temple that is uttered 18:40 toward the earthly temple? 18:43 "...and..." What? "...forgive..." 19:15 Which temple? 19:16 They pray toward the earthly temple, right? 19:19 But God hears where? 19:21 "...hear in heaven, Your dwelling place..." 19:24 There's "makown" again. 19:50 Notice, they're praying toward the city. 20:52 Where does God hear? 20:54 "...then hear in heaven, Your dwelling place..." 20:56 There's "makown" the third time. 21:05 And what happens? 21:06 What does God do from the heavenly temple? 21:08 "...and forgive Your people..." 21:17 What comes from the heavenly temple? 21:19 Forgiveness, and what? Compassion. 21:28 A long passage, but very interesting. 21:30 People pray to the earthly temple, 21:32 but they're really receiving an answer from where? 21:35 From the God who is in heaven. 21:38 There's a paradox in this passage. 21:41 Although God's people utter their prayers toward the 21:43 earthly temple, God hears their prayers and answers from heaven. 21:47 Notice also 1 Kings 8:30. 21:58 But where does God hear? 22:03 Once again, "makown". 22:09 Thus, the conclusion is there is an intimate connection 22:14 between the earthly and heavenly temples. 22:17 In a sense, God dwells in both. 22:20 For our purposes here, it is important to remember 22:24 that when Nebuchadnezzar came and destroyed 22:27 the Jerusalem temple, he was not able to touch 22:30 the heavenly temple. 22:32 Right? 22:33 So the earthly antichrist, is he able to interfere 22:36 with the earthly functions? 22:40 Yes. But is he able to interfere with the ministry of 22:42 Christ in the heavenly temple? 22:43 Absolutely not. 22:45 In a similar fashion, the little horn was able 22:47 to take over the Sanctuary functions from the Prince 22:50 and kill His hosts on earth. 22:53 But he was not able to take away the functions of 22:55 the Priest in heaven, nor destroy His angels. 22:59 The act of casting down the place of the Prince's Sanctuary 23:03 does not mean that the little horn demolished 23:06 mortar and stones of the heavenly Sanctuary. 23:10 The meaning is that the little horn usurped and placed 23:15 on earth the daily or continual ministration 23:18 of the heavenly Prince. 23:20 In other words, that which belonged to the Prince in heaven 23:23 the little horn usurped, and what? 23:25 And set up on earth. 23:27 He changes the place of the Sanctuary, in other words. 23:31 Significantly at this point in the flow of Christian history, 23:35 the little horn, this is an important point, 23:38 attempted to interfere mainly with what? 23:41 With the daily ministry of the Prince in the court 23:46 and in the Holy Place. 23:47 This is understandable because during that period 23:50 Jesus had not yet what? 23:52 Jesus had not yet entered the Most Holy Place. 23:55 So the little horn mainly interferes with the court 24:01 and the Holy ministration. 24:03 The central issue then is, who will control 24:07 the Sanctuary service in the court and in the Holy Place? 24:11 The Prince or the little horn? 24:14 Why is control of the Sanctuary such an important 24:18 and vital issue? 24:20 We find the answers to these questions by considering 24:23 the meaning of the altar of sacrifice in the court, 24:28 and the candlestick, the table of showbread, 24:31 and the altar of incense in the Holy Place. 24:35 So now we're going to take a look at the furniture 24:39 that was in the Sanctuary to understand in what sense 24:43 the place of the Sanctuary is cast down 24:46 and the earthly little horn takes over the functions 24:50 of the heavenly Prince. 24:52 Morning and evening... 24:54 Let's talk about the altar of sacrifice. 24:56 Morning and evening the priest offered a lamb 25:00 upon the altar of sacrifice in the court 25:03 for the sins of Israel. 25:04 As long as the Hebrew sanctuary stood, 25:08 there was never a time when the fire of the sacrifice 25:11 was not burning. 25:13 It burned continually. 25:15 This was the daily burnt offering. 25:18 Notice as an example Exodus 29:38. 25:23 "Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: 25:26 two lambs of the first year, day by day..." What? 25:31 Same word as in Daniel 8. "...continually." 25:33 Tamiyd. Continually. 25:35 "One lamb you shall offer in the morning..." 25:43 The sacrifice of the lamb, of course, represented what? 25:46 The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. 25:50 The priest offered the sacrifice daily. 25:54 Morning and evening. 25:56 Thus indicating that the death of Christ has enduring value. 26:03 He died how many times? 26:05 Once for all, and never needs to die again. 26:10 The book of Hebrews makes this clear. 26:12 Hebrews 7:26-27 26:38 So the sacrifice of Christ was what? 26:41 The daily indicates He was offered once for all 26:44 and that sacrifice is of value for everyone for all time. 26:50 Notice Hebrews 9:25-26 from the King James Version. 27:34 So how many times was Jesus going to die? 27:37 He was only going to die once for all. 27:40 Now how did the little horn hide this fact 27:44 that Jesus had died once for all? 27:48 Well, in the middle of the page we have the answer. 27:51 The Roman Catholic dogma of the sacrifice of the mass 27:56 counterfeits the once for all sacrifice 27:59 of Jesus Christ on the cross. 28:02 According to Roman Catholic theology, 28:04 according to the dogma, the priest sacrifices Jesus 28:08 repeatedly in every mass. 28:12 Instead of looking to the Lamb of God who takes away 28:15 the sin of the world and presents His own blood 28:18 before the Father, the Roman Catholic church teaches 28:22 believers to look at the wafer host, 28:25 and supposedly the real body of Jesus is found there. 28:30 It's called the ubiquity of the presence of Christ. 28:36 Instead of coming boldly to Jesus at the throne 28:39 of grace in heaven to claim His once for all 28:42 and sufficient sacrifice, Roman Catholic priests 28:46 teach the faithful that the host nourishes them 28:51 because they are feeding on the literal body of Jesus 28:54 and drinking His literal blood. 28:57 In fact, the priests store the host in a flower-like artifact 29:03 called the tabernacle. 29:05 At the center of the artifact is the circular wafer host 29:10 and coming forth from the edges of the host 29:14 are the rays of the sun. 29:16 When the priest brings the tabernacle 29:18 before the congregation, this is important, 29:21 which contains the host, he teaches the members 29:25 to bow and worship the host. 29:28 This is simply a deceitful form of sun worship. 29:33 Furthermore, the Roman Catholic theology teaches 29:36 that the priest on earth takes over the power and prerogatives 29:41 of Jesus Christ when the priest pronounces the words of 29:44 consecration, "hoc est corpus meum," 29:47 "This is my body." 29:49 The wafer, according to Catholic theology, 29:51 is no longer a wafer, but it is rather 29:55 the real physical body of Jesus. 29:57 Roman Catholic theology teaches that when these words 30:01 are pronounced, the earthly priest has the power to 30:04 transubstantiate the wafer into the real body of Jesus Christ. 30:10 That is to say, the earthly priest supposedly has the power 30:14 to create his Creator. 30:17 This is blasphemy to the fullest degree. 30:20 St. Alphonsus Liguori, one of the thirty-three doctors of the 30:25 Roman Catholic church, in the history of the church, 30:27 wrote about the transubstantiating power 30:31 that the Roman Catholic church believes the priest has. 30:35 This is in his book, The Dignity and Duties 30:37 of the Priest, or Selva, page 33 and 34. 30:41 "Thus, the priest may in a certain manner 30:43 be called the creator of His Creator 30:46 since by saying the words of consecration 30:49 he creates, as it were, Jesus in the sacrament 30:53 by giving Him a sacramental existence 30:56 and produces Him as a victim to be offered 30:58 to the eternal Father. 31:00 As in creating the world, it was sufficient for God to 31:04 have said, 'Let it be made,' and it was created, 31:07 He spoke, and they were made, 31:10 so it is sufficient for the priest to say, 31:13 'hoc est corpus meum,' 31:15 and behold the bread is not longer bread, 31:18 but the body of Jesus Christ. 31:20 The power of the priest, says St. Bernardine of Siena, 31:24 is the power of the divine person, 31:27 for the transubstantiation of the bread requires 31:30 as much power as the creation of the world." 31:35 Is that blasphemy? 31:38 Does it hide the once for all sacrifice of Christ? 31:41 Yes, because Jesus is presenting Himself in heaven; 31:44 His blood before the Father. 31:46 And where are people looking? 31:48 They're not looking to heaven, they're looking on earth. 31:50 They're looking at a host. 31:52 They think they'll be nourished by the physical 31:56 body of Jesus. 31:59 It totally hides the work of Jesus, 32:03 the greater light, in the heavenly Sanctuary. 32:07 Now what about the table of showbread? 32:10 Well as you know, the table of showbread 32:12 contains two stacks of bread. 32:15 Two stacks of six loaves on each side of the table. 32:21 And what did the twelve loaves represent? 32:25 Well, it represented that there was sufficient bread 32:28 to nourish all of Israel which had twelve tribes. 32:33 Now this bread is called the tamiyd bread; 32:38 the continual bread. 32:41 Numbers 4:7, I'm reading from the King James Version 32:45 because it's translated, "continual." 32:47 It's the word, "tamiyd." 32:48 Let's read there. 33:07 Now what does the bread represent? 33:10 The bread represents the word of God, right? 33:13 So let's notice some texts. 33:15 Isaiah 55:10-11 33:36 So what does the bread of the eater represent? 33:41 "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth." 33:45 So what does the bread represent? 33:48 The word that comes out of the mouth of God. 33:52 Notice Matthew 4:4. 33:54 "Man shall not live by bread alone..." 33:58 That is, by physical bread alone. 34:06 So what did the bread on the table of showbread represent? 34:09 It represents the word of God. 34:12 The number 12 indicates that it's sufficient 34:15 to feed all of God's people, indicated by the number 12. 34:21 Now after Jesus fed the 5000 with only five loaves of bread 34:27 and two fishes, He made a very controversial remark. 34:32 In John 6:53, Jesus said, "Most assuredly I say to you..." 34:47 Roman Catholics use this text to show that in each mass 34:52 people literally partake of the body, and the priest of course, 34:57 of the blood of Jesus. 35:00 Is this what Jesus really meant? 35:03 That His literal body and blood nourish 35:07 the members of the church? 35:08 Absolutely not. 35:10 In context, Jesus explained what He meant in John 6:63. 35:20 That does profit you at all to eat the flesh of Jesus. 35:32 So partaking of Christ is not literally partaking 35:36 of His body and His blood. 35:37 It simply means that we partake of His what? 35:40 Of His word. 35:42 What did the papacy do with the Word of God 35:43 during the 1260 years? 35:47 Eclipsed it, right? 35:49 So we have to relate Daniel 8 with the fourth trumpet 35:53 because they cover the same period. 35:55 That is to say, the words of Jesus have power to nourish 35:59 our spiritual life. 36:01 As literal bread sustains physical life, 36:04 the word of God sustains spiritual life. 36:07 Spiritually speaking, when we study the Word, 36:11 we assimilate whom? 36:13 Jesus. 36:14 And He becomes flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones, 36:18 spiritually speaking. 36:20 The ingested Word of God cleanses our life 36:25 and gives us the victory over sin. 36:28 David understood this when he wrote, 36:30 in verses that are very well known, 36:32 Psalm 119:9-11, "How can a young man cleanse his way?" 36:38 When the Bible uses the word, "way," symbolically it means 36:41 conduct or behavior. 37:02 See, in the Roman Catholic church they believe that 37:04 just by partaking of the little host, 37:06 you know, because that's the real literal body of Jesus, 37:09 it nourishes you spiritually. 37:12 Is that what is being taught by the showbread? 37:16 No, absolutely not. 37:18 What is it that nourishes us? 37:19 It's the Word of God. 37:21 Was the Word of God scarce during the 37:23 period of papal dominion? 37:24 Absolutely. 37:26 Notice John 15:3. 37:28 It's the Word that cleanses. 37:30 Jesus says to His disciples, "You are already..." What? 37:34 "...clean..." How are they made clean? 37:42 It's the Word that cleanses. 37:44 The bread, the spiritual bread; the Word. 37:47 Notice Ephesians 5:25-26. 38:09 So does the little host nourish us? 38:12 No, the little host doesn't nourish us. 38:14 What nourishes us? 38:15 It's the spiritual bread, the Word of God. 38:19 And during the period of the fourth trumpet, 38:21 the Word of God was eclipsed. 38:22 The two witnesses witnessed in darkness or in obscurity. 38:30 Eating a literal wafer certainly has no power to spiritually feed 38:34 and transform us. 38:35 The ingested Word of God cleanses our lives from sin. 38:41 So what does the table of the showbread teach us? 38:44 There are at least three lessons. 38:46 One, the bread represents Jesus as contained where? 38:51 In the written Word of God. 38:54 The bread is continually available 38:57 for all of God's people. 38:59 And finally, if assimilated, the Word will nourish 39:04 our spiritual life and provide victory over sin. 39:10 In what sense did the little horn cast down the meaning of 39:14 the table of the showbread? 39:16 That's the question. 39:17 The answer is not difficult to find. 39:20 The Roman Catholic church substituted what? 39:24 Traditions and philosophies of men 39:28 in place of the Word of God. 39:30 The word of a supposedly infallible magisterium 39:35 or teaching office of men took the place 39:38 of a, "Thus saith the Lord." 39:41 The number of unbiblical and anti-biblical traditions 39:47 in Roman Catholicism is legend. 39:50 Here are some of them that are never found in the Bible. 39:52 Purgatory, limbo, celibacy, auricular confession, 39:56 the immortality of the soul, an eternally burning hell, 39:58 lint, processions, the mass, relics, canonization of saints, 40:02 the rosary, bowing before images, 40:04 the immaculate conception, the assumption of Mary, 40:07 baptism of infants by aspersion, novenas, 40:10 the observance of Sunday. 40:11 Do you want me to continue? 40:15 What did the papacy do with the Word of God? 40:17 Totally obscured the Word of God. 40:20 And because it obscured the lesser light, 40:22 people could not see what? 40:25 They could not see the work of the greater light 40:27 in the heavenly Sanctuary. 40:29 What was the result of these traditions 40:31 replacing the Word of God? 40:33 Spiritual what? 40:34 Malnutrition and moral laxity that made the pagan 40:39 Romans look like saints. 40:41 It is no coincidence that the third and fourth seals 40:46 of Revelation describe this period as famine 40:48 for the Word of God. 40:50 Now we're not studying the seals, but in the seals 40:52 there's a tremendous scarcity of bread. 40:54 Because wheat and barley are exorbitantly expensive. 40:58 Eight to sixteen times more expensive than before 41:01 under the third seal. 41:04 So let's continue here. 41:05 In effect, during the period of the third horse, 41:08 that's the period of Constantine, 41:10 the church assimilated the unbiblical teachings 41:13 and practices of the pagans, and as a result 41:16 under the fourth horse, the period of papal dominion, 41:20 was a life threatening scarcity of bread. 41:25 Now this is also true of the period of the 41:28 fourth church of Revelation. 41:30 See, fourth trumpet, fourth church. 41:34 Under this church, who is mentioned as being in the 41:38 church and influencing the church? 41:41 Jezebel. 41:42 What happened during the period of Jezebel in the Old Testament? 41:46 It didn't rain. 41:48 It didn't rain for how long? 41:50 Three and a half years. 41:51 For how long did it not rain when spiritual Jezebel 41:54 ruled during the church of Thyatira? 41:57 Three and a half years. 41:59 But not literal years. What? 42:01 Symbolic years. 42:02 Time, times, and the dividing of time. 42:06 So what was literal in the Old Testament becomes 42:08 symbolic during the 1260 years. 42:12 So are you understanding this? 42:14 Now what about the candlestick? 42:16 We've talked about the altar of sacrifice, 42:18 we've talked about the table of the showbread. 42:21 What about the candlestick? 42:23 According to Leviticus 24:1-4, one of the roles of the 42:28 high priest was to trim the wicks and to replenish the oil 42:33 in the seven branched candlestick in the Holy Place. 42:38 Thus, he would make sure that the light of the 42:41 candlestick burned, what? 42:43 Tamiyd. Continually. 42:46 Let's read Leviticus 24:1-4. 42:49 "Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying..." 43:02 Tamiyd. "...continually." 43:12 What's the next word? 43:13 Tamiyd. "...continually." 43:24 Once again, tamiyd. "...continually." 43:27 What did the seven branch candlestick symbolize? 43:31 Well, let's interpret the symbols. 43:33 The number seven represents what? 43:36 Totality or fullness. 43:38 So the seven candlesticks represent the totality of 43:41 the history of the Christian church. 43:43 The oil is a symbol of what? 43:46 Of the Holy Spirit. 43:48 And the candlesticks where the oil goes in 43:52 so that the candlesticks give light represents what? 43:56 Represents the seven churches. 43:58 And the seven churches are seven what? 44:00 Seven periods of church history. 44:04 Now let's notice Revelation 1:20 that makes this clear. 44:08 "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches," 44:12 that is the messengers, "and the seven lampstands 44:15 which you saw are..." What? 44:17 "...the seven churches." 44:19 Now notice Ellen White's explanation of the seven lamps. 44:24 It says there in, Acts of the Apostles, page 585, 44:29 "The names of the seven churches are symbolic 44:32 of the church of the different periods of the Christian era. 44:37 The number seven indicates..." What? 44:39 "...completeness, and is symbolic of the fact 44:43 that the messages extend to the end of time..." 44:47 So they cover from the apostolic period to the end of time. 44:49 The fullness of church history, in other words. 44:52 She continues, "...while the symbols used reveal the 44:56 condition of the church at different periods 45:00 in the history of the world. 45:02 Thus, the candlestick represents the witness of the church 45:07 to the world through the power of the Holy Spirit 45:11 in different periods of Christian history. 45:14 The period of papal dominion was one of..." What? 45:18 "...darkness. 45:19 The light of the church shone but dimly, 45:22 for it was the dark ages. 45:26 At times it looked like the light of the church 45:28 was going to be extinguished. 45:30 Particularly during the period of Thyatira 45:33 the light burned dim." 45:37 So are you following me? 45:39 Now, what about the golden altar of incense? 45:43 Did the papacy also blur and hide the meaning 45:47 of the altar of incense? 45:49 Especially, yes. 45:51 The altar of incense is also called the 45:56 tamiyd altar of incense. 45:59 The incense was to be presented continually 46:03 morning and evening. 46:05 Let's read Luke; and some of this we covered before, 46:08 so we don't have to cover all of the details. 46:10 In Luke 1:8-11 you have Zacharias serving in the temple. 46:17 And it says... 46:44 So notice that the people are praying, 46:47 and Zacharias is offering the incense. 46:49 Now what does that represent? 46:51 That represents the fact that we pray, 46:54 and who receives our prayers and mingles them with 46:57 the merits of His perfect life? 47:00 Jesus does. Right? 47:02 Psalm 141:2 also relates the incense 47:06 to the prayers of the saints. 47:15 We read the introductory scene to the trumpets. 47:19 It says in Revelation 8:3-4... 47:44 I read this statement before, but it's so beautiful 47:47 I've got to read it again. 47:48 Review and Herald, October 30, 1900. 47:51 "There is an inexhaustible fund of..." What? 47:55 "...of perfect obedience accruing from His obedience." 48:01 So is there an inexhaustible fund? 48:04 Yeah. 48:05 Based on what? On His obedience. 48:08 "In heaven His merits, His self-denial and 48:12 self-sacrifice are treasured up as incense 48:16 to be offered up with the prayers of His people. 48:20 As the sinner's sincere, humble prayers ascend 48:24 to the throne of God..." What does Jesus do? 48:26 "...Christ mingles with them the merits of His life 48:30 of perfect obedience. 48:32 Our prayers are made fragrant by this incense. 48:35 Christ has pledged Himself to intercede on our behalf, 48:39 and the Father always hears the Son. 48:42 Pray then, pray without ceasing. 48:45 An answer is sure to come." 48:49 And then I spoke about the veil. 48:50 The veil was embroidered with angels, right? 48:53 Ascending and descending on the veil. 48:55 It represents the fact that our prayers go up to the 48:57 presence of God and the answers come back. 49:00 We talked about the ladder that Jacob saw in his dream. 49:04 Not Jacob's ladder, but the one that he saw in his dream. 49:06 Angels ascending and descending. 49:08 They take our prayers to Christ, and then they bring back 49:12 the answers from Him. 49:14 So at the bottom of page 123, in what sense then 49:17 did the little horn take away this function from the Prince? 49:22 Roman Catholicism has established a counterfeit 49:26 priesthood to whom the faithful confess their sins. 49:30 Is that correct? 49:32 I know Don and Debbie used to be, well at least Don 49:34 used to be a Catholic, not Debbie. 49:37 Debbie kind of set him straight. 49:43 Roman Catholicism has established a counterfeit 49:45 priesthood to whom the faithful confess their sins. 49:49 That is to say, instead of the faithful directing their prayers 49:52 to Jesus in heaven for forgiveness, 49:55 they utter them to a human priest on earth 50:00 who cannot forgive. 50:02 In this way, the little horn cast down the intercessory 50:05 ministry of Jesus in heaven and places it, where? 50:09 On earth. 50:10 Even the faithful in Roman Catholicism 50:13 offer their prayers to whom? 50:15 Their petitions to Mary and the saints instead of to Jesus. 50:20 In consequence, the attention of the faithful shifts away 50:24 from Jesus who can truly hear their petitions 50:28 and forgive their sins. 50:31 Are you catching the picture? 50:33 What did the papacy do? 50:36 It totally obscured the work of Jesus Christ. 50:41 His sacrifice, His word, His intercession, 50:47 the fact that He gives the Holy Spirit for the church 50:49 to shed forth the light. 50:51 Everything was obscured by the papacy, 50:54 darkened by the papacy. 50:56 That's why the sun, the moon, and the stars are eclipsed. 51:00 Are you with me or not? 51:02 The Bible is clear that there is one mediator 51:06 between God and men; the man Christ Jesus. 51:10 Jesus assured us that He is "the way, the truth, 51:13 and the life, and no man comes unto the Father," 51:16 no person comes unto the Father except by Him. 51:21 The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:34 51:23 that Jesus makes intercession for us. 51:27 Furthermore, in words that are impossible to misunderstand, 51:31 the book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus 51:34 "is also able to save to the uttermost 51:38 those who come to God through Him, 51:40 since He always lives to make intercession for them." 51:45 And 1 John 2:1 says that we have an advocate with the Father; 51:50 Jesus Christ the righteous, 51:53 and that we have one Mediator between God and man. 51:58 Why do we need mere human intermediaries 52:02 when we can come boldly to the throne of grace 52:04 through Jesus, the God-Man? 52:07 The confessional in Roman Catholicism focuses 52:10 the attention of the people upon a man on earth 52:13 instead of directing them to Christ in heaven. 52:18 So in summary, two princes are struggling 52:21 for the souls of human beings. 52:24 One Prince, Jesus, performs a continual ministry of 52:28 salvation in the heavenly Sanctuary 52:31 by pleading the blood of His one and only sacrifice 52:35 before the Father. 52:37 That's the altar of sacrifice. 52:38 That Prince feeds His people with what? 52:41 With the Word of God, the table of showbread, 52:44 keeps the light of the church burning by the power 52:47 of the Holy Spirit, the candlestick, 52:50 and forgives those who come to Him in penitence and prayer, 52:53 the golden altar of incense. 52:55 The other prince, Satan, unable to overthrow 53:00 the heavenly ministry of the Prince, establishes 53:04 a counterfeit continual ministry on earth; 53:08 the mass, tradition, the confessional, the pope, 53:13 in the earthly temple, the church, because 53:15 he can't do it with the heavenly temple. 53:17 By shifting the attention of the people from 53:20 heaven to earth, he casts down the place 53:24 of the Sanctuary and prevents human beings 53:28 from discerning, what? 53:30 The saving work of Christ in heaven. 53:33 Not being able to discern the saving work of Christ in heaven, 53:36 what happens with souls? 53:38 Souls perish, because in no one is their salvation 53:43 other than in Jesus. 53:45 No other name given to men on earth. 53:49 Now let's talk briefly in conclusion about the 53:52 darkening of the stars. 53:54 The vision of Daniel 8 portrays a ram with two horns, 53:58 a he-goat with a notable horn, and then four horns that 54:02 come out when the notable horn is broken. 54:06 Then the little horn attacks the host, 54:09 and finally the Prince of heaven. 54:11 So you have a sequence of powers. 54:13 You have the ram with two horns, the he-goat with a notable horn, 54:17 four horns that come up when the notable horn is broken, 54:20 then you have the little horn that extends, first of all, 54:23 geographically, and then it extends to the host of heaven 54:28 and it attacks the Prince of the host in heaven. 54:32 Now who is the host that this little horn attacks? 54:38 Well, the host that it attacks, it can't be the angels 54:40 because these angels are in heaven. 54:43 You see, in Daniel 8 you have an explanation of the vision. 54:47 What I just described is in the first half of Daniel 8. 54:51 The second half of chapter 8 tells us what is represented 54:56 by the host of heaven. 54:58 It's not the angels. 54:59 It's the host of Jesus living on earth; the saints. 55:03 Notice the last paragraph, or the next to the last paragraph. 55:07 The angel interpreter at the end of the vision explained 55:10 that the two-horned ram represents what? 55:14 The Medes and Persians. 55:15 He then stated that the he-goat represents Greece, 55:19 and its notable horn is its first king. 55:22 Who is that? 55:23 Alexander the Great. 55:25 Next he informs us that the four horns represent 55:28 the divisions of Greece after the death of the first king. 55:33 Those are the four generals of Alexander 55:35 that fight for the territory that he left. 55:38 And finally, the explanation portion of Daniel 8 55:42 tells us that a king will arise... 55:46 Which is parallel to what? 55:48 The little horn. 55:49 ...who will "destroy the mighty and holy people." 55:53 That's in the same position as casting down the stars 55:56 in the vision portion. 55:58 In the explanation portion it says, 56:00 "destroy the mighty and holy people." 56:02 So what do the stars represent? 56:04 The mighty and holy people. 56:06 And then do you remember that also it said 56:08 in the vision part that he would attack the Prince of the host? 56:13 The explanation part says in verse 25, 56:16 "And he will stand up against..." Whom? 56:19 "...the Prince of princes." 56:22 So what is represented by trampling upon the host? 56:25 It represents destroying God's people. 56:31 And by the way, in the vision portion of the vision 56:33 it says that he takes the stars and he casts them to the ground. 56:37 So the explanation part tells us that the stars 56:40 that the little horn throws to the ground represents what? 56:43 Represents, according to this, "the mighty and holy people." 56:50 Even a passing glance of Daniel 8 indicates that the 56:53 "the host and the stars of heaven" in the vision 56:57 is found in the same identical place 57:00 as "the mighty and holy people" 57:02 in the explanation of the vision. 57:05 Thus, the stars represent what? 57:08 They represent God's people. 57:11 Are you understanding this point? 57:13 So now we've studied the first four trumpets. 57:15 The first trumpet is what? 57:18 The destruction of Jerusalem. 57:19 The second? 57:21 The fall of the Roman Empire. 57:23 The third? 57:24 Ah, apostasy begins to enter the church 57:27 in the period of Constantine. 57:29 The fourth trumpet? 57:30 The period of papal dominion. 57:34 And this is going to lead us to the fifth trumpet 57:37 which describes the French Revolution 57:40 and the deadly wound that is given to the papacy in 1798. 57:46 So tomorrow I'm hoping that in two sessions 57:49 that we have in the morning we will be able to cover 57:52 the fifth trumpet. 57:53 And then we'll get into the most exciting part, 57:56 which is the sixth trumpet of the book of Revelation. |
Revised 2020-08-24