... Chapter [09] follows ...
[09] 2 Thessalonians 2:7 KJB, detailed, from Scripture [KJB], SoP/ToJ and history
The texts:
2 Thessalonians 2:1 KJB - Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
Paul refers to the second Advent of Jesus Christ when he says
“by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” and further by adding,
“and [by] our gathering together unto him”, which are similar to the passages of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 KJB; [see also Matthew 24:31; Mark 13:27 KJB]:
Isaiah 11:12 KJB - And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 KJB - But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:14 KJB - For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
Compare:
1 Corinthians 15:20 KJB - But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
1 Corinthians 15:23 KJB - But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1 Thessalonians 4:15 KJB - For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 KJB - For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1 Thessalonians 4:17 KJB - Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:18 KJB - Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
The King James English word
“coming” is translated from
[G3952], “παρουσία”, “parousia”.and may be seen in many other passages [see also 1 Corinthians 16:17; 2 Corinthians 7:6-7, 10:10; Philippians 1:26, 2:12 KJB]:
Matthew 24:3 KJB - And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Matthew 24:27 KJB - For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Matthew 24:37 KJB - But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Matthew 24:39 KJB - And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
1 Corinthians 15:23 KJB - But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1 Thessalonians 2:19 KJB - For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
1 Thessalonians 3:13 KJB - To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
1 Thessalonians 4:15 KJB - For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 KJB - And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:1 KJB - Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 Thessalonians 2:8 KJB - And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2 Thessalonians 2:9 KJB - Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
James 5:7 KJB - Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
James 5:8 KJB - Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
2 Peter 1:16 KJB - For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
2 Peter 3:4 KJB - And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2 Peter 3:12 KJB - Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
1 John 2:28 KJB - And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
There are also many other words that also describe Jesus' visible, physical, audible, tumultuous, glorious, triumphant and literal return at the Father's appointed time:
[1] 'to come and/or arrive', [G2064], “ἔρχομαι” “erchomai” [Matthew 24:30, 26:64; John 14:3; 1 Corinthians 11:26; Revelation. 1:7 KJB],
[2] 'to appear visibly', [G3700], “ὀπτάνομαι”, “optanomai” [Hebrews 9:28 KJB],
[3] 'to return', [G360], “ἀναλύω”, “analyō” [Luke 12:36 KJB],
[4] 'to reveal', [G602], “ἀποκάλυψις”, “apokalypsis” [2 Thessalonians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:7; Luke 17:29-30 KJB],
[5] 'to manifest', [G2015], “ἐπιφάνεια”, “epiphaneia” [1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:8; Titus 2:13 KJB],
[6] 'make manifest', [G5319], “φανερόω”, “phaneroō” [1 Peter 5:4 KJB],
[7] 'come', [G2240], “ἥκω”, “hēkō” [Revelation 2:25 KJB],
[8] 'to return', [G5290], “ὑποστρέφω”, “hypostrephō” [Luke 19:12 KJB].
See also:
Matthew 24:37 KJB - But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Luke 17:26 KJB - And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Luke 17:30 KJB - Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
The next text:
2 Thessalonians 2:2 KJB - That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
Notice again, that Paul speaks of the 2nd Advent of Jesus Christ, by saying,
“as that the day of Christ is at hand.”, see:
Isaiah 2:12 KJB - For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
Isaiah 13:6 KJB - Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Isaiah 13:9 KJB - Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
Jeremiah 46:10 KJB - For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
Ezekiel 13:5 KJB - Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.
Ezekiel 30:3 KJB - For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.
Joel 1:15 KJB - Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Joel 2:1 KJB - Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joel 2:11 KJB - And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Joel 2:31 KJB - The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Joel 3:14 KJB - Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
Amos 5:18 KJB - Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
Amos 5:20 KJB - Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Obadiah 1:15 KJB - For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
Zephaniah 1:7 KJB - Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
Zephaniah 1:14 KJB - The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Zechariah 14:1 KJB - Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
Malachi 4:5 KJB - Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Luke 17:30 KJB - Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
Acts 2:20 KJB - The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
1 Corinthians 1:8 KJB - Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:13 KJB - Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1 Corinthians 5:5 KJB - To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
2 Corinthians 1:14 KJB - As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Philippians 1:6 KJB - Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Philippians 1:10 KJB - That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
Philippians 2:16 KJB - Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 KJB - For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
2 Timothy 4:8 KJB - Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
2 Peter 3:10 KJB - But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
The next text:
2 Thessalonians 2:3 KJB - Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Paul states that the 2nd Advent of Jesus Christ in the Clouds [Angels] of Glory, shall not happen, until
“there come a falling away first”, and this
“falling away”, is translated from [G646], “ἀποστασί”, “apostasia” [ie, “apostasy” or
“forsake” [Acts 21:21 KJB], see also John 6:66 KJB - “... disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”] of/from/within the Christian Church, and after this
“apostasy” happened, then would the
“man of sin” be
“revealed”.
Acts 20:29 KJB - For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Acts 20:30 KJB - Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
1 Timothy 4:1 KJB - Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1 Timothy 4:2 KJB - Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
1 Timothy 4:3 KJB - Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
2 Timothy 4:3 KJB - For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2 Timothy 4:4 KJB - And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
There is a dual falling away. The first happened in those days between the ascension of Jesus and the arising of the Papacy to power, and the last apostasy will soon [even now is] take place among Seventh-day Adventists.
This
“revealed” is translated from
[G601], “ἀποκαλύπτω”, “apokaluptō” and is the very same word in
2 Thessalonians 2:6,8 KJB; and see also
Matthew 10:26; 1 Corinthians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:5, 5:1 KJB. Paul is stating that the
“man of sin”, that
“son of perdition” [see also
John 17:12; and also
Philippians 1:28; 1 Timothy 6:9; Hebrews 10:39; 2 Peter 3:7; Revelation 17:8,11] would come in power, before Christ Jesus came in power.
Satan's Anti-Christ [yes, ultimately Satan himself will manifest to personate Christ Jesus], would manifest a counterfeit 2nd Advent before the real 2nd Advent of Jesus Christ, to deceive many, even almost the whole world.
The next text:
2 Thessalonians 2:4 KJB - Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
The word
“opposeth” is translated from
[G480], “ἀντίκειμαι”, “antikeimai” and it is used variously as
“opposeth” [2 Thessalonians 2:4 KJB],
“adversary[ies]” [Luke 13:17, 21:15; 1 Corinthians 16:9; Philippians 1:28; 1 Timothy 5:14 KJB], and
“contrary” [Galatians 5:17; 1 Timothy 1:10 KJB], basically meaning to stand up against and so oppose.
The word
“exalteth” is translated from
[G5229], “ὑπεραίρομαι”, “huperairomai” and is also used in
2 Corinthians 12:7 KJB, and those two words really define
“anti-christ”:
2 Corinthians 12:7 KJB - And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
We may see other examples of this
“exalt[ing]” that Paul speaks of, in the Scripture,
Jeremiah 51:9 KJB - We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
Side note:
[see also Jeremiah 51:13; Revelation 17:1,9,15 KJB [see also Leviticus 15:20,26; Zechariah 5:7 KJB] and compare to Genesis 1:2; Job 9:8; Psalms 29:3,10; Matthew 14:25 KJB]
Isaiah 14:12 KJB - How art thou fallen
from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Isaiah 14:13 KJB - 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 14:14 KJB -
I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds;
I will be like the most High.
Daniel 7:8 KJB - I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn
were eyes like the eyes of man, and
a mouth speaking great things.
Daniel 7:11 KJB - I beheld then because of
the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld
even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
Daniel 7:20 KJB - And of the ten horns that
were in his head, and
of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even
of that horn that had eyes, and
a mouth that spake very great things, whose look
was more stout than his fellows.
Daniel 7:25 KJB - And
he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints
of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Daniel 8:10 KJB - And
it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down
some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
Daniel 8:11 KJB - Yea,
he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily
sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
Daniel 8:25 KJB - And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and
he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many:
he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
Daniel 11:37 KJB - Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for
he shall magnify himself above all.
Ezekiel 28:2 KJB - Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because
thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said,
I am a God, I sit
in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou
art a man, and not God, though
thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
Ezekiel 28:3 KJB - Behold, thou
art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:
Ezekiel 28:4 KJB - With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
Ezekiel 28:5 KJB - By thy great wisdom
and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and
thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
Ezekiel 28:6 KJB - Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because
thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
Ezekiel 28:7 KJB - Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
Ezekiel 28:8 KJB - They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of
them that are slain in the midst of the seas.
Ezekiel 28:9 KJB - Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee,
I am God? but thou
shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.
Ezekiel 28:17 KJB -
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
When Paul speaks of those things which are
“called God”, he means not only devils and idols, which take the place of God for many, though they are no gods:
1 Corinthians 8:4 KJB - As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
1 Corinthians 8:5 KJB - For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
1 Corinthians 8:6 KJB - But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
He also and most especially means those that take the place of God on earth such as those that practice priest-craft:
Daniel 11:36 - "... he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods ...", notice the "exalt". "magnify', "against", but more so, notice that he would be "above every god", and this word "god" points to the priests (priesthood of believers and the rulers), see Exodus 22:28; Psalms 82:1,6, 138:1; John 10:34-35 KJB, etc.
Daniel 11:37 - "... he shall magnify himself above all ..."; which Paul cites in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 - "Who opposeth and exalteth above all that is called God, or that is worshipped ...", again in the context of priests, thus a person would arise out of them all, being "Lord over" the flock of God, usurping it, and that position would be held (grasped) by 'successors', and thus a whole line of Antichrist, culminating in a single position over the whole church of God.
Jesus also mentions "false Christ's", being 'pseudo-Christos' in Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:23, which were to arise.
Paul mentions in Acts 20:29 - "... grievous wolves enter in among you ...", which is in the context of Acts 20:28 - "... over the flock ...", "overseers" (being the place/office of bishop/elders).
Paul continues by saying, Acts 20:30 - "Also of your ownselves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.", so coming from without and from within to lead astray the flock, by taking leadership positions when the flock is asleep and not watching and praying.
Paul gives examples in 1 Timothy 1:29, "Hymenaeus and Alexander", "blaspheme", and see in 2 Timothy 2:17, "... their word will eat as doth a canker (cancer): of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus ...", of which context is in 2 Timothy 2:15-16,18, about the word of God, profane and vain babblings, increase unto more ungodliness, concerning the truth have erred.
2 Timothy 3:1-9, speaks about "... in the last days ...", "... blasphemers ...", having a "... form of Godliness, but denying the power thereof ...", "... creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts ...", which "houses" are Churches, Acts 2:46, 20:20, 1 Timothy 5:13, and the "women" are the foolish (Matthew 25), like Eve, who fell, listening to that wicked one who snuck into the garden, while Adam, the priest head of the garden homeschool, was not aware, Eve, then fell prey to diverse lusts; flesh, eyes, pride of life (1 John 2:6).
1 Timothy 4:1-5, "... in the latter times some shall depart from the faith ...", which is a "falling away" (2 Thessalonians 2:3), see also Luke 8:13, because of a 'drawing away' (like Eve from the side of Adam), in Acts 5:37; James 1:13-15; Genesis 4:5-8; Job 15:35; Psalms 7:14; Isaiah 59:4; Romans 5:12-21, 6:21-23.
"antichrists" in 1 John 2:18-19 is contextually linked to 1 John 2:20-24,26, which when seen in all the above is more clearly explained, though I will have to come to what the text means by denying that Jesus "c(a)me in the flesh", in a later post. Very serious business that. Roman Catholicism does that more than any other system of theology and practice on earth. To be demonstrated later.
Paul clearly spoke of the "mystery of iniquity" (lawless, sin) that was already at working in his own day, even as Daniel shows it would (Daniel 11:21, etc), and that it was already the "last time" (being the last 2 Cosmic Week days (days 5 & 6), the last 2,000 years from Christ Jesus. ( the Great Cosmic Week is 6,000 years of Gospel work, and 1,000 years (in Heaven) of Rest (being the Great 7th Day, the Day of the Lord, the Last Day); see Revelation 20; Isaiah 24; Genesis 1; 2 Peter 3:8; Isaiah 46:9,10; Matthew 13:35, etc.
2 John 1:7 - "... many deceivers are entered into the world ...", "... deceiver and Antichrist ...", see also 1 John 2:22, and 1 John 4:3, "... the spirit of antichrist ..."
"Anti -" in scripture [KJB], had a fee meanings, one of which means
[1]. "... in the room (position/place) of ...", see Matthew 2:22, wherein Herod Archelaus, ruled "in the room of" his father. See also, "in the room of" in 2 Samuel 19:13; 1 Kings 2:35, 5:1; 2 Kings 23:34; 2 Chronicles 6:10, 26:1. See also the phrase, "in the stead (standing/place) of" in Genesis 22:13; Jeremiah 29:26, and see also the phrase "anointed in his stead" in Leviticus 6:22.
"Anti -", also includes the meaning of "against", "opposing", see G480, the Koine Greek [Tr.] "antikeimai", meaning "adversaries", in Luke 13:17, 21:15; 1 Corinthians 16:9; Philippians 1:28. See also "contrary" in Galatians 5:17; 1 Timothy 1:10. See also "adversary" in 1 Timothy 5:14. See also "opposeth" in 2 Thessalonians 2:4. See also "Antioch" (meaning 'driven against') and see also "Antipas" (meaning 'against the (false) father' iow, against the one calling themselves 'father' over the churches') in Revelation 2:13, and see also "Antipatris" in Acts 23:31, etc.
The prefix "Anti -", is seen in many words throughout the scripture [KJB], see G464 unto G503 in KJC, oftentimes meaning, "oppose", "against", "resist", "adversary", "opposite (to)", etc.
Antichrist is again, as noted before, a Church & State unified position, see Daniel 11:45
Churchcraft & Statecraft
"tabernacles" & "palace" [Daniel 11:45 KJB]
Clay & Iron [Daniel 2:33-35,44,45 KJB]
Worshippeth/worshipped/great wonders/miracles/worship & War/power over/killeth with the sword/power/causeth [Revelation 13:4,7,8,10,12,15, 14:9,11 KJB]
Woman & Beast [Revelation 17:1-8 KJB]
Blasphemy & Crowns [Revelation 13:1,2,5,6, 17:3,18 KJB]
Understanding Dark Sentences & King of Fierce Countenance [Daniel 8:23 KJB]
Exalteth & Opposeth [2 Thessalonians 2:4 KJB]
Worshippeth & Sitteth (throne) [2 Thessalonians 2:4 KJB]
God service & Killeth you [John 16:2 KJB]
Peace (Gospel, Luke 2:14 KJB) & Safety (protection by king/state, Acts 5:23 KJB) [1 Thessalonians 5:3 KJB]
When Paul says,
“or that is worshipped”, he speaks of that which is in associated, or religiously held as part of worship towards those gods:
Acts 17:23 KJB - For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
When Paul says,
“so that he as God”, he means '
so that like as [or in comparison, or equality to] God', see also verses like: Matthew 6:10,12,29, 7:29, 8:13, 10:16,25, 12:13 KJB.
When Paul refers to this
“sitteth”, it is translated from
[G2523], “καθίζω”, “kathizō” [another related word,
[G2516], “εκαθεζομην”, “ekathezomen” in Matthew 26:55; Luke 2:46; John 4:6, 11:20, 20:12; Acts 6:15 KJB] though it can mean to simply sit down, rest upon [Matthew 5:1, 13:48, 26:36; Mark 9:35, 12:41, 14:32; Luke 4:20, 5:3, 14:28,31, 16:6, 24:49; Acts 2:3 KJB], it also refers to
a position of authority, seated, ruling over [such as a classroom [Mark 9:35; Luke 5:3; John 8:2 KJB], people, kingdom, domain], etc, see:
Matthew 19:28 KJB - And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Matthew 20:21 KJB - And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
Matthew 20:23 KJB - And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
Matthew 23:2 KJB - Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
Matthew 25:31 KJB - When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mark 10:37 KJB - They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.
Mark 10:40 KJB - But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.
Mark 11:2 KJB - And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.
See also:
Zechariah 9:9 KJB - Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Mark 11:7 KJB - And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.
Mark 16:19 KJB - So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
Luke 19:30 KJB - Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.
Luke 22:30 KJB - That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
John 12:14 KJB - And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,
Acts 2:30 KJB - Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
Acts 25:6 KJB - And when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down unto Caesarea; and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be brought.
Acts 25:17 KJB - Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth.
Ephesians 1:20 KJB - Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Hebrews 1:3 KJB - Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Hebrews 8:1 KJB - Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Hebrews 10:12 KJB - But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Hebrews 12:2 KJB - Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Revelation 3:21 KJB - To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Revelation 20:4 KJB - And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Furthermore, we may read from official Roman Catholic sources the following:
Online Roman Catholic Encyclopedia; section “C”, “Cathedra” -
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Cathedra
“Cathedra; (1) The chair or throne (thronos) of a bishop in his cathedral church, on which he presides at solemn functions. ... A good idea of the arrangement may be had from the catacomb frescoes representing Christ seated on a throne surrounded by the apostles ... By a definition "ex cathedra" is meant a formal infallible decision of the pope, obligatory on all the faithful. ...”
Online Roman Catholic Encyclopedia; section “C”, “Cathedral” -
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Cathedral
“The chief church of a diocese, in which the bishop has his throne (cathedra) and close to which is his residence; it is, properly speaking, the bishop's church, wherein he presides, teaches, and conducts worship for the whole Christian community. The word is derived from the Greek kathedra through the Latin cathedra, throne, elevated seat. In early ecclesiastical literature it always conveyed the idea of authority. ... the cathedra was the principal symbol of authority. ... The word cathedra, so expressive in the language of antiquity, has gradually been replaced in liturgical usage, by throne (thronus) or seat (sedes). ... Canonists compare to a spiritual marriage the union of a bishop with his church, and although this expression may be truer with respect to the church as understood in the moral sense than to the cathedral, it is nevertheless not inappropriate. They say that the bishop should love his cathedral, adorn and embellish it, and never neglect it. Metaphors apart, the bishop receives his cathedral as his "title" (titulus) or right; he is its governor (rector) and its head. He should take possession of it by a solemn entrance into his episcopal city and by the ceremony of enthronement (inthronisatio) as prescribed in the Roman Pontifical and the "Caeremoniale Episcoporum", (I, c. ii) in so far, at least, as custom will permit.”
Online Roman Catholic Encyclopedia; section “E”, “Ex Cathedra” -
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Ex Cathedra
“Literally “from the chair”, a theological term which signifies authoritative teaching and is more particularly applied to the definitions given by the Roman pontiff. Originally the name of the seat occupied by a professor or a bishop, cathedra was used later on to denote the magisterium, or teaching authority. The phrase ex cathedra occurs in the writings of the medieval theologians, and more frequently in the discussions which arose after the Reformation in regard to the papal prerogatives. But its present meaning was formally determined by the Vatican Council, Sess. IV, Const. de Ecclesiâ Christi, c. iv: “We teach and define that it is a dogma Divinely revealed that the Roman pontiff when he speaks ex cathedra, that is when in discharge of the office of pastor and doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, by the Divine assistance promised to him in Blessed Peter, is possessed of that infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed that his Church should be endowed in defining doctrine regarding faith or morals, and that therefore such definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves and not from the consent of the Church irreformable.””
Let us see that closer:
“... "from the chair" ... signifies ... authoritative teaching given by the Roman Pontiff ... when he speaks ex cathedra ... in discharge of the office of pastor and doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme ... authority ... is possesed of that infallibility ... in defining doctrine ... in faith or morals ... are of themselves and not ... irreformable.” [quoted/sourced above], and faith and morals, deals with what one believes [“...for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Romans 14:23 KJB] and God's Law [“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” [1 John 3:4 KJB]].
Notice where this 'pope' is sitting, on a throne between Two Cherubim, just as was the Shekinah Glory of God resting above the Ark [representing the Throne of God] in the Most Holy Place of the True Sanctuary:
http://oi39.tinypic.com/15yvlz9.jpg
See also:
VesperPeterPaul8.jpg (image)
9.jpg (image)
Pauline Year
Disputationes de Controversiis (aka: Disputationes de Controversiis Christianae Fidei adversus hujus temporis Haereticos) [Lectures Concerning the Controversies of the Christian Faith Against the Heretics of This Time], Tom. 2, “Controversia Prima,” Book 2 (De Conciliorum Auctoritate)[“On Authority of the Councils”], Chapter 17, (1628 ed.) Vol. 1, pp. 266-translated, by Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (Full Italian name: Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino (Canonized-1930 and Doctor of the Church (Jesuit))), -
http://cdigital.dgb.uanl.mx/la/1080015572_C/1080015573_T2/1080015573_21.pdf
In English: “All names which in the scriptures are applied to Christ, by virtue of which it is established that he is over the church, all the same names are applied to the Pope.”
In Latin: “Secundo probatur ratione, in Scripturis fundata; nam omnia nomina, quae in Scripturis tribuuntur Christo, unde constat eum esse supra Ecclesiam, eadem omnia tribuuntur Pontifici.”
Roman Catholic Online Encyclopedia; “A”; “Antichrist” - CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Antichrist
“Antichrist (Greek Antichristos). ... The word Antichrist occurs only in the Johannine Epistles; but there are so-called real parallelisms to these occurrences in the Apocalypse, in the Pauline Epistles, and less explicit ones in the Gospels and the Book of Daniel. ...”
Roman Catholic Online Encyclopedia; “S”; “Sacrifice” - CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Sacrifice
“... anti ... (in the place of …) ...”
Since the term
“AntiChrist” is also related to the
“man of sin” and there would be
“many”, a line of successions [as is indicated] which all stand 'in the place of, or takes the place of Jesus Christ on earth' then should not this name be easily applied to this Roman ecclesiastical system and that singular position on earth which is over it all?
It can readily and easily be applied by going from Greek to Latin:
Roman Catholic Online Encyclopedia; “V”; “Vicar of Christ” - CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Vicar of Christ
“(Latin Vicarius Christi).
A title of the pope implying his supreme and universal primacy, both of honour and of jurisdiction, over the Church of Christ. ...”
Roman Catholic Online Encyclopedia; “V”; “Vicar” - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15401a.htm
“Vicar
(Latin vicarius, from vice, “instead of”) …”
What do we immediately notice between the Greek and Latin?
Greek: Anti (in the place of, instead of) Christos (Christ, Anointed)
Latin: Vicarius (in the place of, instead of) Christi (Christ, Anointed)
Does Rome's own definition of the “Vicarius Christi”, “Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth” and “Vicarius Filii Dei” actually mean that the doctrinal and official position of the Pope is that he “stands in the place of Jesus Christ [the Son of God] on Earth”, or that the position of the Pope “takes the place of Christ [the Son of God] on earth”?
Yes it does.
Roman Catholic Online Encyclopedia; “C”; “Church” - CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: The Church
“... It will be enough, however, to refer to the evidence contained in the epistles of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, himself a disciple of the Apostles. In these epistles (about A.D. 107) he again and again asserts that the supremacy of the bishop is of Divine institution and belongs to the Apostolic constitution of the Church. He goes so far as to affirm that the bishop stands in the place of Christ Himself. …”
Roman Catholic Online Library; Church Documents; “Ad Sinarum Gentem (1954)”; Point 11. - CATHOLIC LIBRARY: Ad Sinarum Gentem (1954)
“...Supreme Pontiff, Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth ...”
Roman Catholic Online Library; Church Documents; “In Plurimis (1888)”; Point 2. - CATHOLIC LIBRARY: In Plurimis (1888)
“...We, indeed, to all men are the Vicar of Christ, the Son of God ...”
“
The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII”, Encyclical Letter June 20, 1894 - Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae - Papal Encyclicals
“But since We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty, ...”
Even the Glory, they sought to take:
Wikipedia,
“Halo”;
- Halo (religious iconography) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“Halos may be shown as almost any colour, but as they represent light are most often depicted as golden, yellow, white, or red when flames are depicted.”
“The halo and the aureola have been widely used in Indian art, particularly in Buddhist iconography[5] where it has appeared since at least the 1st century AD; the Kushan Bimaran casket in the British Museum is dated 60AD (at least between 30BC and 200AD). The rulers of the Kushan Empire were perhaps the earliest to give themselves haloes on their coins, and the nimbus in art may have originated in Central Asia and spread both east and west.[5] In Chinese and Japanese Buddhist art the halo has also been used since the earliest periods in depicting the image of Amitabha Buddha and others. Tibetan Buddhism uses haloes and aureoles of many types, drawing from both Indian and Chinese traditions, extensively in statues and Thangka paintings of Buddhist saints such as Milarepa and Padmasambhava and deities. Different coloured haloes have specific meanings: orange for monks, green for the Buddha and other more elevated beings,[6] and commonly figures have both a halo for the head, and another circular one for the body, the two often intersecting somewhere around the head or neck. Thin lines of gold often radiate outwards or inwards from the rim of the halo, and sometimes a whole halo is made up of these.[7] Elaborate haloes and especially aureoles also appear in Hindu sculpture, where they tend to develop into architectural frames in which the original idea can be hard to recognise. Theravada Buddhism and Jainism did not use the halo for many centuries, but later adopted it, though less thoroughly than other religious groups.”
“Plain round haloes are typically used to signify saints ...
... In the early centuries of its use, the Christian halo may be in most colours (though black is reserved for Judas, Satan and other evil figures) or multicoloured; later gold becomes standard, and if the entire background is not gold leaf, the halo itself usually will be.”
So far:
Gold for Light.
Orange for Monks.
Green for Buddha, or “elevated beings”
Basic/plain Halo for common figures, or 'saints'.
Black is for Judas, Satan and evil.
Would a “solar” or Sun [not just golden] halo be for a Sun god?
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...NrvgvzhlMtJGiYW8TrZi9GsQ23CM-7pJmgcaWVxoK5v3A
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/27/article-2380138-1B05A651000005DC-596_964x546.jpg
http://static.rappler.com/images/pope-francis-mass-clergy-20130727-1.jpg
http://s601.photobucket.com/user/MARITER_7/media/2011-1/110601-AUSSIE-GOVGEN-3.jpg.html
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HnaxaVZmJ70/U1UxFHOESdI/AAAAAAAAAxA/s0cbIH0COyk/s1600/John+23rd.jpg
See also another (upper left picture, who is between the Cherubim there? We will find that “Mary” is placed as High as well):
http://ststanschurch.org/content/iconic-monstrance
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2765/4102464783_9d1fc299a0_o.jpg
http://bp0.blogger.com/_YxeBwzO25J8/SFFRlqSD-WI/AAAAAAAAAFk/CfpZ7YVxNFY/s400/MaryMonstrance2.jpg
Consider the Gallery of Traditional Artwork, depicting Mary as High Priest/Priest - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.136257553079494.13461.135188603186389&type=3
ADIUTRICEM (Benefactress) (On The Rosary); ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON THE ROSARY; SEPTEMBER 5, 1895 -
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13adiut.htm or
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/l...nts/hf_l-xiii_enc_05091895_adiutricem_en.html
“... paid honor to her with lavish generosity; temples and basilicas built to her glory with regal splendor ...”
And when the Roman Catholic Rosary is recited and repeated it is said it is,
ON THE ROSARY; MAGNAE DEI MATRIS; Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII promulgated on September 8, 1892. -
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13ro2.htm
“... as though they were listening to the very voice of the Blessed Mother explaining the mysteries and conversing with them at length ...”
AUGUSTISSIMAE VIRGINIS MARIAE (August Virgin Mary); ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON THE CONFRATERNITY OF THE HOLY ROSARY; SEPTEMBER 12, 1897 -
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/l...2091897_augustissimae-virginis-mariae_en.html or
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13augus.htm
“... the Most August Virgin Mary ... this Divine Mother... Yet our manner of praying to the Blessed Virgin has something in common with our worship of God, so that the Church even addresses to her the words with which we pray to God: “Have mercy on sinners.” …
… the heavenly choirs, “above whom the Holy Mother of God is exalted.” ...”
ADIUTRICEM (Benefactress) (On The Rosary); ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON THE ROSARY; SEPTEMBER 5, 1895 -
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13adiut.htm or
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/l...nts/hf_l-xiii_enc_05091895_adiutricem_en.html
“... 8. The power thus put into her hands is all but unlimited. How unerringly right, then, are Christian souls when they turn to Mary for help as though impelled by an instinct of nature, confidently sharing with her their future hopes and past achievements, their sorrows and joys, commending themselves like children to the care of a bountiful mother. How rightly, too, has every nation and every liturgy without exception acclaimed her great renown, which has grown greater with the voice of each succeeding century. Among her many other titles we find her hailed as “our Lady, our Mediatrix,”[3] “the Reparatrix of the whole world,”[4] “the Dispenser of all heavenly gifts.”[5] …”
ON DEVOTION OF THE ROSARY; SUPREMI APOSTOLATUS OFFICIO; ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII SEPTEMBER 1, 1883 -
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13supre.htm
“... who is placed on the highest summit of power and glory in Heaven ...”
Official Roman Catholic Fides Press; Agenzia Fides - Palazzo “de Propaganda Fide” -
http://www.fides.org/en/news/19200?idnews=19200&lan=eng#.U4JiyVmL5xA
“Before reciting the Angelus, the Pope concluded his reflection by pointing out that the Gospel teaching has promoted an “active mentality” among Christian populations, even in the historical and social spheres, and yet “the central message regards the spirit of responsibility with which the Kingdom of God is to be accepted: responsibility toward God and toward humanity.” The perfect model of this attitude is found in the heart of the Virgin Mary, “who, receiving the most precious of gifts, Jesus himself, offered him to the world with great love.”
Roman Catholic Online Encyclopedia; Le Pelerinage de Lourdes; Encyclical Warning Against Materialism; His Holiness Pope Pius XII; Promulgated on July 2, 1957 -
http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_pi12lp.htm or
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius12/P12PELER.HTM or
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/p...enc_02071957_le-pelerinage-de-lourdes_en.html
“... Go to her, you who are crushed by material misery, defenseless against the hardships of life and the indifference of men. Go to her, you who are assailed by sorrows and moral trials. Go to her, beloved invalids and infirm, you who are sincerely welcomed and honored at Lourdes as the suffering members of our Lord. Go to her and receive peace of heart, strength for your daily duties, joy for the sacrifice you offer. … Amid dangers, difficulties, and doubts, think of Mary, invoke Mary's aid. ... If you follow her, you will not stray; if you entreat her, you will not lose hope; if you reflect upon her, you will not err; if she supports you, you will not fall; if she protects you, you will not fear; if she leads you, you will not grow weary; if she is propitious, you will reach your goal....” Second Homily on the Missus est: PL CLXXXIII, 70-71.” ...”
Roman Catholic Online Encyclopedia; “V”; “The Blessed Virgin Mary” -
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm
“... The first prophecy referring to Mary is found in the very opening chapters of the Book of Genesis (3:15): “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.” This rendering appears to differ in two respects from the original Hebrew text:”, “(2) The second point of difference between the Hebrew text and our version concerns the agent who is to inflict the mortal wound on the serpent: our version agrees with the present Vulgate text in reading “she” (ipsa) which refers to the woman, while the Hebrew text reads hu' (autos, ipse) which refers to the seed of the woman. According to our version, and the Vulgate reading, the woman herself will win the victory; according to the Hebrew text, she will be victorious through her seed. In this sense does the Bull “Ineffabilis” ascribe the victory to Our Blessed Lady. The reading “she” (ipsa) is neither an intentional corruption of the original text, nor is it an accidental error; it is rather an explanatory version expressing explicitly the fact of Our Lady's part in the victory over the serpent, which is contained implicitly in the Hebrew original. The strength of the Christian tradition as to Mary's share in this victory may be inferred from the retention of “she” in St. Jerome's version in spite of his acquaintance with the original text and with the reading “he” (ipse) in the old Latin version. ...”
Wikipedia; Lady of Guadalupe -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe#Name also see the Douay Rheims Jesuit Bible -
http://archive.org/stream/holybibletransla00bost#page/n9/mode/1up
“...Lady of Guadalupe... ...It has also been suggested that the name is a Spanish version of the Nahuatl term, Coātlaxopeuh [koaːt͡ɬa'ʃopeʍ], meaning “the one who crushes the serpent” and that it may be referring to the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl.[11] …”
Roman Catholic Online Encyclopedia; Ineffabilis Deus,
Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius IX on the Immaculate Conception (December 8, 1854) -
http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_pi09id.htm or
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9ineff.htm
or
http://www.ewtn.com/LIBRARY/PAPALDOC/P9INEFF.htm
In English: “... Hence, just as Christ, the Mediator between God and man, assumed human nature, blotted the handwriting of the decree that stood against us, and fastened it triumphantly to the cross, so the most holy Virgin, united with him by a most intimate and indissoluble bond, was, with him and through him, eternally at enmity with the evil serpent, and most completely triumphed over him, and thus crushed his head with her immaculate foot. ...”
In Latin: “... Quo circa sicut Christus Dei hominumque mediator, humana assumpta natura, delens quod adversus nos erat chirographum decretia, illud cruci triumphator affixit; sic Sanctissima Virgo, Arctissimo et indissolubili vinculo cum eo conjuncta, una cum illo et per illum, sempiternas contra venenosum serpentem inimicitias exercens, ac de ipso plenissime triumphans, illus caput immaculato pede contrivit. ...”
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/2713177618_17608131ca_z.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2067/2217117844_21595599b5_z.jpg
Like as satan from Heavenly body, this earthly body, this woman, The Roman Catholic Papacy, seeks to
“take the place of Jesus Christ”, the Mediator/High Priestly position. Even moreso, though Rome does not outwardly allow so many women-priests, they do primarily have one [Apparitional]
“Mary” [
“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel [messenger]
of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:14], whom calls herself
“Mediatrix”.
The Catechism of the [Roman] Catholic Church; Online section 969 -
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p6.htm
“969 “This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation . ... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.”512”
ADIUTRICEM (Benefactress) (On The Rosary); ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON THE ROSARY; SEPTEMBER 5, 1895 -
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13adiut.htm or
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/l...nts/hf_l-xiii_enc_05091895_adiutricem_en.html
““... If We have spent so large a share of our activities, in promoting the Rosary devotion, We can easily see with what benevolence the Queen of Heaven has come to Our aid when We prayed to her; and We express the confident conviction that she will continue to stand at Our side to lighten the burdens and the afflictions which the days to come will bring. …
... She was, in very truth, the Mother of the Church, the Teacher and Queen of the Apostles …
... 8. The power thus put into her hands is all but unlimited. How unerringly right, then, are Christian souls when they turn to Mary for help as though impelled by an instinct of nature, confidently sharing with her their future hopes and past achievements, their sorrows and joys, commending themselves like children to the care of a bountiful mother. How rightly, too, has every nation and every liturgy without exception acclaimed her great renown, which has grown greater with the voice of each succeeding century. Among her many other titles we find her hailed as "our Lady, our Mediatrix,"[3] "the Reparatrix of the whole world,"[4] "the Dispenser of all heavenly gifts."[5] …
... 9. ... "O Virgin most holy, none abounds in the knowledge of God except through thee; none, O Mother of God, attains salvation except through thee; none receives a gift from the throne of mercy except through thee."[7] …
… 10. It is no exaggeration to say that it is due chiefly to her leadership and help that the wisdom and teachings of the Gospel spread so rapidly to all the nations of the world in spite of the most obstinate difficulties and most cruel persecutions, and brought everywhere in their train a new reign of justice and peace. This it was that stirred the soul of St. Cyril of Alexandria to the following prayerful address to the Blessed Virgin: "Through you the Apostles have preached salvation to the nations. . . through you the priceless Cross is everywhere honored and venerated; through you the demons have been put to rout and mankind has been summoned back to Heaven; through you every misguided creature held in the thrall of idols is led to recognize the truth; through you have the faithful been brought to the laver of holy Baptism and churches been founded among every people."[8] …
… 13. No one will fail to remark how much the merits of the venerable Fathers and Doctors of the Church, who spent their lives in the defense and explanation of the Catholic Faith, redound to the Virgin Mother of God. For from her, the Seat of Divine Wisdom, as they themselves gratefully tell us, a strong current of the most sublime wisdom has coursed through their writings. And they were quick to acknowledge that not by themselves but by her have iniquitous errors been overcome. Finally, princes as well as Pontiffs, the guardians and defenders of the faith-the former by waging holy wars, the latter by the solemn decrees which they have issued- have not hesitated to call upon the name of the Mother of our God, and have found her answer powerful and propitious.
14. Hence it is that the Church and the Fathers have given expression to their joy in Mary in words whose beauty equals their truth: "Hail, voice of the Apostles forever eloquent, solid foundation of the faith,unshakable prop of the Church."[10] "Hail, thou through whom we have been enrolled as citizens of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church."[11]"Hail, thou fountain springing forth by God's design, whose rivers flowing over in pure and unsullied waves of orthodoxy put to flight the hosts of error."[12] "Rejoice, because thou alone hast destroyed all the heresies in the world."[13] …
… 15. The unexampled part which the Virgin most admirably played and still plays in the progress, the battles, and the triumphs of the Catholic Faith, makes it evident what God has planned for her to do. It should fill the hearts of all good people with a firm hope of obtaining those things which are now the object of our common desire. Trust Mary, implore her aid.
16. That the one self same profession of faith may unite the minds of Christian nations in peace and harmony, that the one and only bond of perfect charity may gather their hearts within its embrace-such is our prayerful hope! And may Mary, by her powerful help, bring this ardently desired gift into our possession! And remembering that her only begotten Son prayed so earnestly to His heavenly Father for the closest union among the nations whom He has called by the one Baptism to the one inheritance of salvation bought for an infinite price, will she not, for that reason, see to it that all in His marvelous light will strive as with one mind for unity? And will it not be her wish to employ her goodness and providence to console the Spouse of Christ, the Church, through her long-sustained efforts in this enterprise, as well as to bring to full perfection the boon of unity among the members of the Christian family, which is the illustrious fruit of her motherhood? …
… 17. A token that the fulfillment of these hopes may soon be a reality is to be seen in the conviction and the confidence which warms the hearts of the devout. Mary will be the happy bond to draw together, with strong yet gentle constraint, all who love Christ, no matter where they may be, to form a nation of brothers yielding obedience to the Vicar of Christ on earth, the Roman Pontiff, their common Father. …
… 21. There is another special reason why Mary will be favorably disposed to grant our united prayers in behalf of the nations cut off from communion with the Church: namely, the prodigious things they have done for her honor in the past, especially in the East. To them is due much of the credit for propagating and increasing devotion to her. From them have come some of the best- remembered heralds and champions of her dignity, who have wielded a mighty influence by their authority or by their writings-eulogists famed for the ardor and the charm of their eloquence;"empresses well beloved of God,"[16] who imitated the Virgin most pure in the example of their lives, and paid honor to her with lavish generosity; temples and basilicas built to her glory with regal splendor. …
… 25. The very origin of the Rosary makes that plain. When such faith is exercised by vocally repeating the Our Father and Hail Mary of the Rosary prayers, or better still in the contemplation of the mysteries, it is evident how close we are brought to Mary. For every time we devoutly say the Rosary in supplication before her, we are once more brought face to face with the marvel of our salvation; we watch the mysteries of our Redemption as though they were unfolding before our eyes; and as one follows another, Mary stands revealed at once as God's Mother and our Mother. …
… 27. For that reason We say that the Rosary is by far the best prayer by which to plead before her the cause of our separated brethren. To grant a favorable hearing belongs properly to her office of spiritual Mother. …
… 30. On the strength of this it has been decided to begin work on a scale proportioned to the size of the undertaking, and We have granted permission for the laying of the first stone of the shrine at an early date with solemn ceremonies. The temple will stand as a monument of ever lasting thanksgiving erected in the name of the Christian people to their heavenly Helper and Mother. There she will be invoked unceasingly in the Greek and the Latin rites that, ever more propitious, she will continue to heap new favors upon the ancient blessings. ...”
The Sacerdotal [Priestly] Virgin [Mary of Rome]:
http://vultus.stblogs.org/virgo sac imago.jpg
http://vultus.stblogs.org/assets_c/2010/06/Oratio Virg Sac Pii X-thumb-400x700-6735.jpg
Vultus.org; High Priest Mary - http://vultus.stblogs.org/index.php/2010/06/prayer-to-mary-the-sacerdotal/ -
“Marked by the priestly piety of the school of Bérulle, Pope Saint Pius X was singularly favourable to the invocation of Our Blessed Lady under the title of
Virgo Sacerdos. Already in 1875, Blessed Pius IX had manifested his approval of the same title in a letter addressed to Msgr Oswald Van den Berghe, author of
Marie et le Sacerdoce. Saint Pius X was pleased when an Italian translation of this work appeared.
When the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus, founded by
Blessed Marie de Jésus Deluil-Martiny, asked for permission to invoke the Mother of God, in their chapels, as
Maria Virgo Sacerdos, Saint Pius X wishing to extend the devotion to all the faithful, charged Cardinals Vanutelli and Vivès with composing a prayer that would make this Marian title better known. The prayer appeared, indulgenced by Pope Saint Pius X, on 9 May 1906.
O
Mary, Mother of Mercy,
Mother and Daughter of Him who is the Father of mercies
and the God of all consolation (1),
Dispensatrix of all the treasures of thy Son (2),
Minister of God (3),
Mother of Christ, our High Priest,
thou who art both
Offerer and
Altar together, (4),
Immaculate Temple of the Word of God (5),
Teacher of the Apostles and Disciples of Christ (6),
protect the Supreme Pontiff,
intercede for us and for our priests,
that Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest
may purify our consciences,
and that we may worthily, and with loving devotion,
approach His sacred banquet.
O Immaculate Virgin,
who not only hast given us Christ the heavenly bread
for the forgiveness of sins (7),
but who art thyself a most acceptable sacrifice offered unto God” (8),
and the glory of priests (9),
and who, as thy most blessed servant Saint Antoninius declares,
“without receiving the Sacrament of Order,
wert
full of whatsoever in dignity and grace is given by it”,
thou art therefore rightly acclaimed as
“Sacerdotal Virgin” (10).
Look upon us and upon the priests of thy Son,
save us, purify us, and sanctify us,
that we may receive the ineffable treasures of the Sacraments
in a holy manner
and so deserve to obtain
the eternal salvation of our souls. Amen.
Mother of Mercy, pray for us.
Mother of Jesus Christ, the Eternal Priest, pray for us.
Queen of the Clergy, pray for us.
Mary, Sacerdotal Virgin, pray for us.
[1] Richard of Saint Laurence
[2] Saint Bernardine
[3] Saint Bernard of Busto
[4] Saint Epiphanius
[5] Abbot Ludovicus Blosius
[6] Saint Thomas of Villanova.
[7] Saint Epiphanius
[8] Saint Andrew of Crete
[9] Saint Ephrem
[10] Letter of Blessed Pope Pius IX, 25 August 1873
We grant 300 day of indulgence to one who recites this prayer with piety and devotion.
9 May 1906.
Pius P. P. X.”
Women Priests.org; - http://www.womenpriests.org/mrpriest/m_why.asp
““
Mary performs
her sacrificial functions in two ways: in one way, which is more indirect and less specific, by
her providing the sacred victim . . . . and in a more direct, immediate and noble way by concurring with Jesus in this precious sacrifice. While
offering the same victim of propriation that belongs to her on the title of her motherhoood . . . .
she has become his priestess by offering her divine Son to God for the salvation of the world and thus meriting grace and glory for us by means of this sacrifice, not with the perfect merit and justice which only belongs to Jesus Christ, but with an imperfect merit, a merit of goodwill.”
Lazare Dassier (1692), 3e Sermon sur la Purification, l.c. p. 370.
“
Mary could not escape from Calvary because God had given her the mission
to remain there as priest,
victim and
mediatrix. She had to stay on Calvary, next to the cross and in the heart of her Son.
She stood up straight on Calvary and
undertook her function as priest. She stood next to the cross and
fulfilled the role of a victim. She stayed in the heart of Jesus and acquitted herself of
the task of mediatrix: strong in her first task, faithful to her second, devoted in her third . . .Mary had to fulfill her first task,
that of being a priest.”
St Antonio María Claret (1807 - 1870), Copiosa y vera collección de panegíricos, Rome 1860, vol. 3, pp. 390-391.”
“If the Saviour, as the Fathers of the Church assure us, is at
each Mass the principal priest and the one who offers himself to the Father and who delivers himself up to people,
the blessed Virgin shares in this function of the sovereign priesthood, accompanying the oblation and immolation which her Son makes of herself with her own agreement. For it is therefore that
St Epiphanius among other praises, calls the Virgin a priest and an altar.”
Jean de Machaut (1599 - 1676),
Le Thrésor, vol III, pp. 152-153.”
“Since the will of
the Virgin has cooperated with the will of the Son in the realisation of the Eucharist, we can with enough certainty declare and absolutely affirm that she has given us and has offered for us this heavenly bread. In fact, we recognise that the gift which is entrusted to us under these species - - that is : the body and blood of Christ the Lord -- is truly her gift and belongs to her.
The divine Epiphanus touched on this reason is his sermon ‘De Laudibus Virginis’.
What could we say or imagine that is more splendid ? He
says that
the Virgin is a priest in some way in the gift and in the offering of the celestial bread;
which is true precisely for this reason that together with her Son she gave and offered [this eucharistic bread], thus realising at the same time both the sacrament and the sacrifice.”
“. . . . “It was right that she who was present at the first act of giving, and of whom it was said that she had given and offered together with the Father and the Son, should also be present at the consummation and fulfilment of this donation, to such an extent that we can say that she has in the same way given and offered it (the Eucharist) with her Son. ”
. . “The manner in which the incarnation was achieved in the breast of the Virgin pleased Christ so greatly ...that he invented a new way of repeating it and reiterating it...-... that is, the Eucharist.
Ferdinand Chirino de Salazar (1575 - 1646), In Proverbiis, IX, no 148-149, vol. 1, 770D-771A.”
“Three elements belong to
the priesthood and
episcopacy: the call, the role of intercession, and sacrifice (Hebr 5, 1) . . . [With regard to intercession] as Son of God Christ has all power over God.
Our Lady too, because she is the true Mother of God,
has all power over God. And if the prayers and intercessions of Christ are heard on account of the fact that he is the Son,
those of Our Lady will not be less heard, and are even heard with more surety because of the fact that she is his Mother. Therefore
it is crystal clear that in Mary we find overwhelmingly the second quality required for the dignity of a bishop!”
Antonio Vieira (1608 - 1697),
Sermon on the Rosary, ib. p. 74.”
Conference of Mons. Norberto Rivera, Archbishop, Primate of Mexico; THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IN THE LIFE AND MINISTRY OF THE PRIEST -
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...nts/rc_con_cclergy_doc_19071997_conri_en.html
“The gesture with which Christ confided his disciple to his Mother and his Mother to the disciple (16) has defined an extremely close relationship between Mary and the Church. It is the will of the Lord that a Marian note mark the physiognomy of the Church, her road, her pastoral activity; and into the spiritual life of each disciple a "Marian dimension" is infused (17).” …
… Every priest knows that Mary, because she is a mother, is the eminent formator of the priesthood, since she is the one who knows how to shape the priestly heart; the Virgin, therefore, knows and wants to protect priests from dangers, exhaustion, and discouragement: with motherly solicitude she watches over the priest so that he may grow in wisdom, age, and grace before God and before men (34). …
...Finally, Mary is the "offering Virgin." The Church has perceived in the heart of the Virgin who carried the Child to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, a willing oblation that transcended the ordinary meaning of the rite (51). "You offer your Son, Holy Virgin, and you present to the Lord the blessed fruit of your womb. You offer the holy victim, pleasing to God, for the reconciliation of us all" (St Bernard). …
...This union of the Mother with the Son in the work of redemption reaches its culmination at Calvary, where Christ "offered himself, immaculate, to God" (52) and where Mary was beside the cross (53) suffering deeply with her Only Son and associating herself with motherly courage to his sacrifice, adhering lovingly to the immolation of the Victim engendered by her and offering herself as well to the Eternal Father. To perpetuate throughout the centuries the Sacrifice of the Cross, the Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice, memorial of his death and resurrection, and he confided it to his Spouse, the Church... who accomplishes it in union with the Saints in Heaven and, in the first place, with the blessed Virgin, whose ardent charity and unshakable faith she imitates (54).
Therefore the Church, with this same oblationary fervor and spirit lived by Mary, continually exhorts the priest to prepare himself and celebrate the Eucharist, center and summit of his interior life and apostolate. May his priestly hands elevate the consecrated bread and wine, Body and Blood of the Lord, just as Mary offered him as a child in the Temple, and having consummated the redemption at the foot of the cross, may he return it to the Father as an expiatory offering for our sins. …
… Priestly formation, finally, has an active dimension oriented to pastoral action. The figure of Mary, her operative presence in the life of the Church, is recognized as the soul of every apostolic or pastoral work. Her spirit of service inspires the priestly ministry as an expression of love and as a response to a received gift. The pastoral challenges of our times demand action inspired by Mary's life.”
Roman Catholic Online Encyclopedia; The Feast of the Holy Name of Mary -
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10673b.htm
“We venerate the name of Mary because it belongs to her who is the Mother of God, the holiest of creatures, the Queen of heaven and earth, the Mother of Mercy. The object of the feast is the Holy Virgin bearing the name of Mirjam (Mary); the feast commemorates all the privileges given to Mary by God and all the graces we have received through her intercession and mediation. ...”
And no marvel, for Satan transforms himself into an
“angel” [messenger] of light, even as an apparition of light. Look at the 12 Gem Stone Breastplate and who is wearing it, with the 7 branch Shepherds Rod, and the Dragon horned crown:
http://oi61.tinypic.com/t63xfq.jpg
Notice the 7 Candlesticks and where the 'pope' is sitting in front of and where they are located, just as was the 7 Branch Candelabra [representing Christ Jesus the Light of the World] was in the Holy Place of the True Sanctuary:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_71ZPiLxOV...C8/S08o4YSsBq8/s1600-h/PeterundPaul2008+5.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_71ZPiLxOV...8/-pLk7SocGaY/s1600-h/PeterundPaul2008+20.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_71ZPiLxOV...8/-pLk7SocGaY/s1600-h/PeterundPaul2008+20.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_71ZPiLxOV...s/ag5NXkoPJnw/s1600-h/PeterundPaul2008+18.jpg
Notice the Incense, just as there was an Altar of Incense in the Holy Place of the True Sanctuary, the True Tabernacle:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oTH9ebyg9qU/R006-PXtofI/AAAAAAAAARs/ttHeYse7A98/s400/pap_20071125_alt.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_71ZPiLxOV...Dlg/zYDF-tfRF5c/s1600-h/VesperPeterPaul14.jpg
http://wdtprs.com/images/07_12_31_vespers10.jpg
Notice the Giant Golden Censer, filled with Incense, just as there was seen in the True Sanctuary in Heaven [Hebrews 9:4; Revelation 8:3]:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qSdHJD_kZtg/TM63Tgb0FwI/AAAAAAAABq4/B23fjlmqXBI/S230/Incense.jpg
What/where shall we think of where the "bread" is being, 'in the place of'?:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c305/benodette/Q4%2009%20-%20Q1%2010/Dec31VespersGetty.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/francisjasondiazperez/2438231424/in/photostream/
Please notice the placement of the 'Holy'
Water Fonts just after or near the entryways [though some are greatly reduced in size to fit on a wall], and this very much like the "Laver" of the True Sanctuary:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7QcTC7NrXo4/TdKPwokMwYI/AAAAAAAAAIw/sifZG3ZqT8E/s1600/DSC_0049.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-EASFr7pb27M/TXuArHeR2vI/AAAAAAAAAe8/PR4IrUhOfnw/s1600/c.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6dKQTchkJaA/S6Br1NuxxHI/AAAAAAAAR2w/x7_M_rP3GaU/s1600/Mount%2BCarmel%2BChurch%2B(15).JPG
They had already “taken away” and hid/obscured “the daily” [Daniel 8:11-13, 11:31, 12:11 KJB] ministration of Christ Jesus in Heavenly places [see book of Hebrews] from all of Christianity once and now they are attempting to keep obscured the Most Holy Place. [1 Timothy 4:1 KJB].
A “Host” was given to him against the “Daily”:
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130228083733-cardinals-story-top.jpg
http://images-mediawiki-sites.thefullwiki.org/01/1/9/4/2398649184836916.jpg
On earth “another” High priest wearing the breastplate:
http://www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com/Paul_VI_pictures/ephod.jpg
http://www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com/Paul_VI_pictures/P6ephod.jpg
http://www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com/Paul_VI_pictures/ephodpaul6_dec2005.jpg
http://www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com/Paul_VI_pictures/
Catholic Priest forgive sins,
“The Catholic Priest” — Michael Muller, The Catholic Priest, page 78. - http://www.archive.org/stream/thecatholicpries00meuluoft/thecatholicpries00meuluoft_djvu.txt
“Seek where you will, through heaven and earth, and you will find but one created being who can forgive the sinner … That extraordinary being is the priest the Catholic priest.”
Roman Catholic Online Encyclopedia; section “A”; Absolution -
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01061a.htm
“Absolution … (Ab = from; solvere = to free) … Absolution proper is that act of the priest whereby, in the Sacrament of Penance, he frees man from sin. … Sin is the great obstacle to entrance into the kingdom, and over sin Peter is supreme. … this again implies supreme power both legislative and judicial: power to forgive sins, power to free from sin's penalties. … “Ego te absolvo”...”
St. Alphonsus Liguori C.SS.R. Doctor of the Church; “Dignities and Duties of the Priest”, Vol. 12, pp. 27; “Nihil Obstat. Arthur J. Scanlan, S.T.D., Censor Librorum - Imprimatur. + Patritius Cardinalis Hayes, Archiepiscopus Neo-Eboracensis - Die 24 Mar., 1927 - APPROBATION. - By virtue of the authority granted me by the Most Rev. Patrick Murray, Superior General of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, I hereby sanction the publication of the work entitled "DIGNITY AND DUTIES OF THE PRIEST," which is Volume XII of the complete edition in English of the works of St. Alphonsus de Liguori. JAMES BARRON, C.SS.R., Provincial” -
http://www.catholictradition.org/Priests/priesthood1-2.htm
“With regard to the mystic body of Christ, that is, all the faithful, the priest has the power of the keys, or the power of delivering sinners from Hell, of making them worthy of Paradise, and of changing them from the slaves of Satan into the children of God. And God Himself is obliged to abide by the judgment of His priests, and either not to pardon or to pardon, according as they refuse or give absolution, provided the penitent is capable of it. :“Such is,” says St. Maximus of Turin, “this judiciary power ascribed to Peter that its decision carries with it the decision of God.” The sentence of the priest precedes, and God subscribes to it, writes St. Peter Damian. Hence, St John Chrysostom thus concludes: The sovereign Master of the universe only follows the servant by confirming in Heaven all that the latter decides upon earth.” ...”
Another Shepherd on Earth:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UY_Kzptp8VY/U1e65DANO3I/AAAAAAAAHic/8T1p7NXjxFA/s1600/pope-lamb.jpg
It also has its own two part compartment, with a “Throne” [seat] with a veil separating the “priest” from the “sinner”:
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2013-06-14-p43milanconfession.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa256/Kiko21st/Confession.jpg
https://marayna.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/confession.jpg
http://nihilobstat.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/confession.jpg
http://wmasscatholicvoices.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/old-fashioned-confession-pix.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/08/article-2554748-1B4BF07200000578-358_634x848.jpg
The Papal Roman system, as taken all of that which belonged to Christ Jesus, and sought to place it upon itself, the Sacrifice [Mass], the Confessional and Two Room compartment [Auricular Confessional], High priest [Pontiff/Pope] and sub-priests, Altars, Incense, Repetitious Prayer [Rosaries, etc], another Mediator [Mary, Pope, Priests, etc], the Word of God [Word of Councils/Popes], Baptism [Lavers, Infusions/Aspersions/Infant, etc], Christ's Righteousness [Saints merits/works/penances], Heavenly Sanctuary [with an earthly system], Law of God [replaced by the traditions of men/Satan's counterfeit Sabbath, etc] etc.
When Paul says,
“in the Temple”, this
“in” is translated from
[G1519], “εἰς”, “eis” [menaing amidst, “among”, Acts 20:29, etc. KJB]. Thus Paul says that this power would rule in/among the
“Temple”, like as unto God.
When Paul uses the word
“Temple”, it is translated from
[G3485], “ναός”, “naos” it refers to the Sanctuary, the two part section with veils, and in this instance, Paul is referring to the Christian body of believers, and we know this, because the Anti-Christian power does not actually have access to the Heavenly Temple
[Exodus 25:40, 26:30, 27:8; Hebrews 8:5, 9:23; Revelation 11:19, etc. KJB and
“... I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Luke 10:18 KJB; and
“...the accuser of our brethren is cast down ...” Revelation 12:10 KJB
] and it is not ruling from an earthly Temple in Jerusalem of Palestine
[“Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Matthew 23:38; Luke 13:35 KJB; and
“... Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.” Matthew 21:19 KJB; and
“... No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever.” Mark 11:14 KJB and
“Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again ...” Job 12:14 KJB
] and it is not a ruling from a heathen temple, for no heathen temple is ever the actual Temple of God, therefore, it can only be and remain that it would rule by representation amongst the People of God, the Spiritual Temple, and by possession of the mind, in the individual persons [that Spirit of Anti-Christ]:
John 2:21 KJB - But he spake of the temple of his body.
Acts 7:48 KJB - Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
Acts 17:24 KJB - God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
1 Corinthians 3:9 KJB - For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
1 Corinthians 3:16 KJB - Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1 Corinthians 3:17 KJB - If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1 Corinthians 6:19 KJB - What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
2 Corinthians 6:16 KJB - And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Ephesians 2:21 KJB - In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
1 Peter 2:5 KJB - Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Revelation 3:12 KJB - Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Revelation 7:15 KJB - Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
Revelation 11:1 KJB - And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Revelation 11:2 KJB - But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
When Paul says,
“shewing himself that he is God”, the Greek word for
“shewing” is translated from
[G584], “ἀποδείκνυμι”, “apodeiknumi” and is also used in the following passages
[Acts 2:22, 25:7; 1 Corinthians 4:9 KJB] in the sense of
demonstration,
proving,
setting forth as example.
The next text:
2 Thessalonians 2:5 KJB - Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
Paul had been with the Thessalonians on several occasions
[Acts 17:1,11,13; Philippians 4:16 KJB] and he also had written a letter previously to them
[1 Thessalonians 1:1-5:28 KJB]. On one of these occasions, Paul had spoken to them,
“I told you these things”, even
“when I was yet with you” and asked them to
“remember” back to that point in time, even as later he wrote unto them in the first Epistle, and early in the Second:
1 Thessalonians 1:10 KJB - And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
1 Thessalonians 2:19 KJB - For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
1 Thessalonians 3:4 KJB - For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.
1 Thessalonians 3:19 KJB - To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 KJB - But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:14 KJB - For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1 Thessalonians 4:15 KJB - For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 KJB - For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1 Thessalonians 4:17 KJB - Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 5:1 KJB - But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 KJB - For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1 Thessalonians 5:3 KJB - For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1 Thessalonians 5:4 KJB - But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1 Thessalonians 5:5 KJB - Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1 Thessalonians 5:6 KJB - Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober.
1 Thessalonians 5:7 KJB - For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 KJB - And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:7 KJB - And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
2 Thessalonians 1:8 KJB - In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Thessalonians 1:9 KJB - Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
2 Thessalonians 1:10 KJB - When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed ) in that day.
As Paul had
“preached unto them” [Acts 20:7 KJB] at Troas, continuing
“his speech until midnight” [Acts 20:7 KJB] and even
“talked a long while, even till break of day” [Acts 20:11 KJB] before departing from them, we may be sure that he had also made known these things unto the Thessalonians, even as some of them were with him in his journeyings. “
...of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus ...” [Acts 20:4 KJB] and were waiting there at Troas already, having
“tarried” [Acts 20:5 KJB] there for him, and afterwards he had come to Miletus saying that he had
“kept back nothing that was profitable” [Acts 20:20 KJB] from those whom he preached unto:
Acts 20:29 KJB - For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Acts 20:30 KJB - Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Acts 20:31 KJB - Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
Paul, having heard of some argumentation from among the Thessalonians, that Christ Jesus was coming in their day, he sent his 2nd Epistle to them:
SoP/ToJ:
The Great Controversy, Chapter 3 – An Era Of Spiritual Darkness, by Ellen G. White; Page 49-50; internal page notation in brackets added by myself -
http://text.egwwritings.org/publica...ang=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=49
“... The apostle
Paul, in his second letter to the Thessalonians, foretold the great apostasy which would result in the establishment of the papal power.
He declared that the day of Christ should not come, “except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” And
furthermore, the apostle warns his brethren that “the mystery of iniquity doth already work.”
2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, 7. Even
at that early date he saw, creeping into the church, errors that would prepare the way for the development of the papacy.
Little by little, at first in stealth and silence, and then more openly as it increased in strength and gained control of the minds of men,
“the mystery of iniquity” carried forward its deceptive and blasphemous work. Almost imperceptibly
the customs of heathenism found their way into the Christian church. The spirit of compromise and conformity was restrained for a time by the fierce persecutions which the church endured under paganism. But as persecution ceased, and Christianity entered the courts and palaces of kings, she laid aside the humble simplicity of Christ and His apostles for the pomp and pride of pagan priests and rulers; and in place of the requirements of God, she substituted human theories and traditions. The nominal conversion of Constantine,
[Page 49-50] in the early part of the fourth century, caused great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ.
This compromise between paganism and Christianity resulted in the development of “the man of sin” foretold in prophecy as opposing and exalting himself above God. That gigantic system of false religion is a masterpiece of Satan’s power—a monument of his efforts to seat himself upon the throne to rule the earth according to his will. ...”
The Review and Herald; July 31, 1888; Cast Not Away Your Confidence, by Ellen G. White -
http://text.egwwritings.org/publica...=1&isLastResult=1&year=1888&month=July&day=31
“In the days of the apostle Paul, the Thessalonian brethren were laboring under the erroneous impression that the Lord would return in their day, and Paul wrote to correct this false impression, stating what events must transpire before the advent could take place. He declared: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” The man of sin was to arise, and do his work of exaltation and blasphemy, before the brethren could look for the coming of Christ. That great event was to be preceded by a falling away. There would be revealed a form of Antichrist, and the leaven of apostasy was to work with increasing power to the end of time. We are not to be surprised beyond measure to see the widespread declension of faith and piety. I have been bearing my testimony for the last forty years, that there would be those who would fall away from the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in. God has been sending warnings, reproofs, and encouragements to his people. He has warned them that some would depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits.”
The next text:
2 Thessalonians 2:6 KJB - And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
The Iron Roman Empire, and its persecutions of Christians, all Christians, whether apostates or not, were, for a time, holding back the growth of the
“mystery of iniquity” into a
“great power” and from spreading all over like a
“green bay tree” [Psalms 37:35 KJB].
Revelation 12:13 KJB - And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
The next text:
2 Thessalonians 2:7 KJB - For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
What was to be
“taken out of the way” and by whom? It was the
“mystery of iniquity” that was to be
“taken out of the way” at Christ's second advent, that we might finally see Jesus Christ, even
“face to face” [1 Corinthians 13:12 KJB].
The
“mystery of iniquity” had already been clandestinely working in the Christian Church in Paul's day, but had not yet manifested openly into full blown apostasy against all that is of God. It was like a Judas in the midst, a
“son of perdition” [2 Thessalonians 2:3 KJB], that would openly betray Christ Jesus, and would continue in various forms until the end.
The phrase
“only he who now letteth will let” [in other words, 'there is one, the Roman Empire, which is presently restraining the work of the mystery of iniquity, because it was persecuting all calling themselves Christian, without distinction of true or false'] is
parenthetical in the sentence, referring back to vs 6 [
“... ye know what withholdeth ...”], read it again and see, and then continue into the next text:
2 Thessalonians 2:7 KJB - “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work [parenthetical phrase] until he be taken out of the way.”
2 Thessalonians 2:8 KJB - And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
See the parallelism?
[A1] “For
the mystery of iniquity doth already work
[parenthetical phrase] until
he ...”
[B1] “... be taken out of the way.”
[A2] “
And then shall
that Wicked be revealed,
whom ...”
[B2] “ ... the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:”
Thus it was
not Daniel's
“the daily” that was
“taken away” in this verse, and therefore,
“the daily” of Daniel is
not Pagan Rome,
nor 'paganism' in general.
SoP/ToJ:
The Signs Of The Times; June 12, 1893, “Build The Old Waste Places”, by Ellen G. White -
http://text.egwwritings.org/publica...he+way&resultId=5&year=1893&month=June&day=12
“... The mystery of iniquity, which had already begun to work in Paul’s day, will continue its work until it be taken out of the way at our Lord’s second coming. The climax of the working of iniquity will soon be reached. When the land which the Lord provided as an asylum for his people, that they might worship him according to the dictates of their own consciences, the land over which for long years the shield of Omnipotence has been spread, the land which God has favored by making it the depository of the pure religion of Christ,—when that land shall, through its legislators, abjure the principles of Protestantism, and give countenance to Romish apostasy in tampering with God’s law,—it is then that the final work of the man of sin will be revealed. Protestants will throw their whole influence and strength on the side of the Papacy; by a national act enforcing the false Sabbath, they will give life and vigor to the corrupt faith of Rome, reviving her tyranny and oppression of conscience. Then it will be time for God to work in mighty power for the vindication of his truth. ...”
Sister White clearly understood the
“mystery of Iniquity” to be also
“the man of sin”, which is the
“the son of perdition”, the
“Papacy”, that
“Wicked” and “great Apostasy”:
The Great Controversy, by Ellen G. White; Page 356 -
http://text.egwwritings.org/publica...tery+of+iniquity+man+of+sin+papacy&resultId=5
“ … The apostle Paul warned the church not to look for the coming of Christ in his day. “That day shall not come,” he says, “except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed.”
2 Thessalonians 2:3. Not till after the great apostasy, and the long period of the reign of the “man of sin,” can we look for the advent of our Lord.
The “man of sin,” which is also styled “the mystery of iniquity,” “the son of perdition,” and “that wicked,” represents the papacy, which, as foretold in prophecy, was to maintain its supremacy for 1260 years. This period ended in 1798. The coming of Christ could not take place before that time. Paul covers with his caution the whole of the Christian dispensation down to the year 1798. It is this side of that time that the message of Christ’s second coming is to be proclaimed. ...”
The Great Controversy; by Ellen G. White, Pages 384-385; internal page notation in brackets added by myself -
http://text.egwwritings.org/publica...ng=en&collection=2§ion=all&pagenumber=384
“...
What was the origin of the great apostasy? How did the church first depart from the simplicity of the gospel? By
conforming to the practices of paganism, to facilitate the acceptance of Christianity by the heathen. The apostle Paul declared, even in his day,
“The mystery of iniquity doth already work.” 2 Thessalonians 2:7. During the lives of the apostles the church remained comparatively pure. But “toward the latter end of the second century most of the churches assumed a new form; the first simplicity
[Page 384-385] disappeared, and insensibly, as the old disciples retired to their graves, their children, along with new converts, ... came forward and new-modeled the cause.”—Robert Robinson,
Ecclesiastical Researches, ch. 6, par. 17, p. 51. To secure converts, the exalted standard of the Christian faith was lowered, and as the result “
a pagan flood, flowing into the church, carried with it its customs, practices, and idols.”—Gavazzi,
Lectures, page 278. As the Christian religion secured the favor and support of secular rulers, it was nominally accepted by multitudes; but while in appearance Christians, many “
remained in substance pagans, especially worshiping in secret their idols.”—
Ibid., page 278.
Has not the same process been repeated in nearly every church calling itself Protestant? As the founders, those who possessed the true spirit of reform, pass away, their descendants come forward and “new-model the cause.” While blindly clinging to the creed of their fathers and refusing to accept any truth in advance of what they saw, the children of the reformers depart widely from their example of humility, self-denial, and renunciation of the world. Thus “the first simplicity disappears.” A worldly flood, flowing into the church, carries “with it its customs, practices, and idols.” ...”
The next text:
2 Thessalonians 2:8 KJB - And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Compare:
2 Chronicles 26:16 KJB - But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
Job 21:30 KJB - That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
Job 31:3 KJB - Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
Proverbs 10:29 KJB - The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.
Proverbs 21:15 KJB - It is joy to the just to do judgment: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.
Isaiah 1:28 KJB - And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
The word
“revealed” is translated from
[G601], “ἀποκαλύπτω”, “apokaluptō” and means to be made manifest to the sight, to appear [even in glory], to be made openly known, consider the following texts:
The Serpent Revealed -
https://www.google.com/search?clien...8.1352...0j0i67k1j0i24k1j0i13k1.0.DDeVYerqVMw
Total KJB Occurrences: 26
revealed, 22
Matthew 10:26, 11:25, 16:17; Luke 2:35, 10:21, 12:2, 17:30; John 12:38; Romans 8:17-18 (3); 1 Corinthians 2:10, 3:13, 14:30; Galatians 3:23; Ephesians 3:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:3,6,8; 1 Peter 1:5,12, 5:1
reveal, 4
Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22; Galatians 1:16; Philippians 3:15
Satan will actually reveal himself by personating Christ Jesus, just before the Second Adent of Jesus Christ.
The next next:
2 Thessalonians 2:9 KJB - Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
Jesus comes after the false 'coming' of Satan, and his lying wonders:
Compare:
Revelation 13:13 KJB - And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Revelation 13:14 KJB - And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Revelation 16:13 KJB - And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
Revelation 16:14 KJB - For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Acts 8:9 KJB - But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
Acts 8:10 KJB - To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
Acts 8:11 KJB - And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.
2 Corinthians 11:13 KJB - For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:14 KJB - And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
The remaining texts:
2 Thessalonians 2:10 KJB - And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Side note:
The lost do not love the promise of the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, because of what it would cost them in the death of the sinful life, and so do not love the Truth, not only of Jesus Himself, He who is without sin, but they do not love the Truth of His Second Advent in what it means to be prepared for it, in the turning away from all sin.
2 Thessalonians 2:11 KJB - And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Side note:
The lost, because they did not love the truth, will choose instead to believe the lie of the false appearing, in the manifestation of Satan as [anti] Christ, because he teaches that they may live and continue in their sins, which is what they loved instead. See the next verse to confirm this.
2 Thessalonians 2:12 KJB - That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Subsection, what the 'church fathers' taught, what the 'pioneers' taught, and what Sister White taught on 2 Thessalonians 2:7:
2 Thessalonians 2:7 KJB - For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
What is cited from the 'church fathers' and/or from the 'pioneers' [of the Seventh-day Adventist movement] is
only cited for their
historical value.
The 'church fathers':
Roman Catholic Online Fathers Of The Church; On The Resurrection Of The Flesh
(Tertullian); “Chapter 24. Other Passages Quoted from St. Paul, Which Categorically Assert the Resurrection of the Flesh at the Final Judgment.” -
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0316.htm
“... Again, in the second epistle he addresses them with even greater earnestness: Now I beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that you be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, that is, the word of false prophets, or by letter, that is, the letter of false apostles, as if from us, as that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means. For that day shall not come, unless indeed there first come a falling away, he means indeed of this present empire, and that man of sin be revealed, that is to say, Antichrist, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or religion; so that he sits in the temple of God, affirming that he is God. Do you not remember, that when I was with you, I used to tell you these things? And now you know what detains, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity does already work; only he who now hinders must hinder, until he be taken out of the way. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-7 What obstacle is there but the Roman state, the falling away of which, by being scattered into ten kingdoms, shall introduce Antichrist ...”
Roman Catholic Online Fathers Of The Church; Homilies On Second Thessalonians
(Chrysostom); Homily 4 -
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/23054.htm
“... One may naturally enquire, what is that which withholds, and after that would know, why Paul expresses it so obscurely. What then is it that withholds, that is, hinders him from being revealed? Some indeed say, the grace of the Spirit, but others the Roman empire, to whom I most of all accede. Wherefore? Because if he meant to say the Spirit, he would not have spoken obscurely, but plainly, that even now the grace of the Spirit, that is the gifts, withhold him. And otherwise he ought now to have come, if he was about to come when the gifts ceased; for they have long since ceased. But because he said this of the Roman empire, he naturally glanced at it, and speaks covertly and darkly. For he did not wish to bring upon himself superfluous enmities, and useless dangers. For if he had said that after a little while the Roman empire would be dissolved, they would immediately have even overwhelmed him, as a pestilent person, and all the faithful, as living and warring to this end. And he did not say that it will be quickly, although he is always saying it— but what? “that he may be revealed in his own season,”... But he did not also wish to point him out plainly: and this not from cowardice, but instructing us not to bring upon ourselves unnecessary enmities, when there is nothing to call for it. So indeed he also says here. “Only there is one that restrains now, until he be taken out of the way”, that is, when the Roman empire is taken out of the way, then he shall come. And naturally. For as long as the fear of this empire lasts, no one will willingly exalt himself, but when that is dissolved, he will attack the anarchy, and endeavor to seize upon the government both of man and of God. For as the kingdoms before this were destroyed, for example, that of the Medes by the Babylonians, that of the Babylonians by the Persians, that of the Persians by the Macedonians, that of the Macedonians by the Romans: … And these things Daniel delivered to us with great clearness.”
Roman Catholic Online Encyclopedia; “A”; Antichrist; In The Pauline Epistles; [second option of 4 listed] -
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01559a.htm
“...The impediment is the Roman Empire; the main event impeded is the "man of sin" (most Latin Fathers and later interpreters) ...”
Roman Catholic Online Fathers Of The Church; The City of God (Book XX);
(St. Agustine); Concerning the last judgment, and the declarations regarding it in the old and new testaments.; Chapter 19.— What the Apostle Paul Wrote to the Thessalonians About the Manifestation of Antichrist Which Shall Precede the Day of the Lord. -
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120120.htm
“...I will nevertheless mention such conjectures as I have heard or read.
Some think that the Apostle Paul referred to the Roman empire, and that he was unwilling to use language more explicit, lest he should incur the calumnious charge of wishing ill to the empire which it was hoped would be eternal; … However, it is not absurd to believe that these words of the apostle, “Only he who now holds, let him hold until he be taken out of the way,” refer to the Roman empire, as if it were said, “Only he who now reigns, let him reign until he be taken out of the way.” “And then shall the wicked be revealed:” no one doubts that this means Antichrist. ...”
Horæ Apocalypticæ: OR A COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL INCLUDING ALSO AN EXAMINATION OF THE CHIEF PROPHECIES OF DANIEL ILLUSTRATED BY AN APOCALYPTIC CHART AND ENGRAVINGS FROM MEDALS AND OTHER EXTANT MONUMENTS OF ANTIQUITY BY THE REV EB ELLIOTT AM LATB VICAR OF TUXFORD AND FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE RORM APOCALYPTIC, by the Rev.
Edward. B. Elliott A.M.; Page 85 -
http://books.google.com/books?id=1lsGAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
“... I have observed on the Apostle's statement that the Thessalonian Christians knew what the hindrance was that prevented this Man of Sin's development: and we have the consenting testimony of the early Fathers, from Irenaeus, the disciple of the disciple of St John, down to Chrysostom and Jerome, to the effect that it was the Imperial power ruling and residing at Rome. 2 And assuming this to be correct, which we have indeed good reason to do, (for how could so extraordinary a point of knowledge, once received from the apostle have become lost in the age immediately succeeding?) the following striking similarities between this Antichristian power and the Little Horn of Daniel, or its equivalent the Apocalyptic Wild Beast from the abyss and sea, will at once present themselves. ...”
Romanism and the Reformation; H. Grattan Guiness; Pg 52-53; or Page 107 (1887) Ed. -
http://www.whitehorsemedia.com/docs/ROMANISM_AND_THE_REFORMATION.pdf
“… 5. The Fathers held that the Roman empire was the "let," or hindrance, referred to by Paul in 2 Thessalonians, which kept back the manifestation of the "man of sin." This point is of great importance. Paul distinctly tells us that he knew, and that the Thessalonians knew, what that hindrance was, and that it was then in existence. The early Church, through the writings of the Fathers, tells us what it knew upon the subject, and with remarkable unanimity affirms that this "let," or hindrance, was the Roman empire as governed by the Caesars; that while the Caesars held imperial power, it was impossible for the predicted antichrist to arise, and that on the fall of the Caesars he would arise. Here we have a point on which Paul affirms the existence of knowledge in the Christian Church. The early Church knew, he says, what this hindrance was. The early Church tells us what it did know upon the subject, and no one in these days can be in a position to contradict its testimony as to what Paul had, by word of mouth only, told the Thessalonians. It is a point on which ancient tradition alone can have any authority. Modern speculation is positively impertinent on such a subject.4 … From Irenaeus, who lived close to apostolic times, down to Chrysostom and Jerome, the Fathers taught that the power withholding the manifestation of the "man of sin" was the Roman empire as governed by the Caesars. The Fathers therefore belong to the historic, and not to the futurist school of interpretation; for futurists imagine that the hindrance to the manifestation of the man of sin is still in existence, though the Caesars have long since passed away. ...”
Sayer Rudd (1757), as quoted in LeRoy Edwin Frooms, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Volume 2, Chapter 30, Advances in Exposition, Lisbon Earthquake Noted, VII ... 1
Daily:
Removal of True Worship by Papacy, pages 681.4 - 681.5 -
“... 1. DAILY: REMOVAL OF TRUE WORSHIP BY PAPACY
In his Introduction Dr. Rudd goes to considerable pains to explain his view of the daily sacrifice. Here are his precise words: {1948 LEF, PFF2 681.4}
"And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. By the daily sacrifice here (as it alludes to the Jewish state) I understand, the pure worship of God under the gospel; and by its being taken away, the suppression or corruption of that worship, by the antichristian tyranny taking place on the rise of the papal apostacy. [682] This, I suppose, may be intended in the next words, which seem to me in a great measure explanatory of the last, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up. Abomination in scripture frequently signifies idols, and so here aptly represents the idolatry of the Romish church, by which a desolation is made in the pure doctrine and discipline of the gospel." 51 {1948 LEF, PFF2 681.5} ...”
Some of the 'pioneers' [of the Seventh-day Adventist movement] on Daniel's
“daily” and/or on 2 Thessalonians 2:7 KJB:
Those that were generally
not for
“the daily” of Daniel, being 'paganism':
Alonzo Trevier Jones, William Warren Prescott, James White [who had at first, understood, 'paganism'],
Ellen G. White, O.R.L. Crosier, Joseph Bates [who had at one point, understood, 'paganism'],
A. G. Daniels, W. C. White, and others [like
Uriah Smith for a time in
1854, see RH, March 28 1854, before taking up the 'paganism' idea over it] in the Millerite and early Advent movement
Those that were generally
for “the daily” of Daniel, being 'paganism':
William Miller, Stephen Haskell, Josiah Litch, Joshua V. Himes, Uriah Smith and others in the Millerite and early Advent movement
The following is non-exhaustive, but instead, only sampled:
William Miller:
Miller’s Works. Volume 1. Views of the Prophecies and Prophetic Chronology, Pages 48-49; internal page notation in brackets added by myself -
http://text.egwwritings.org/publica...ber=48&QUERY=taken+out+of+the+way&resultId=29
“... Then in the twelfth chapter of
Daniel 11th verse: “And from the time that
the daily sacrifice, (meaning abomination,) shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be 1290 days.” There is some difficulty in knowing what is here intended by “daily sacrifice” in this text. It cannot mean the Jewish sacrifices, for two good reasons:-
1. It has some immediate connection with “the abomination that maketh desolate,” i.e. Papacy, or papal power of Rome, that is “taken away, to set up,” etc. Now all must admit that Jewish sacrifices were taken away about five hundred years before Papacy was set up, or exalted.
2. If Jewish sacrifices are here meant, then in A.D. 1360 this papal power would have ended her setting up, or exaltation. But Papacy was then at the height of its power.
I have come to this conclusion: that this power, called “daily sacrifice,” is Rome pagan abomination; the same as Christ has reference to in
Matthew 24:15.
Luke 21:21. Certainly Christ could not have reference to papal abomination that maketh desolate until Christ’s second coming; for that was not set up until nearly five hundred years afterwards. Of course, it must have been the pagan abomination which would be taken away. This agrees with Paul,
2 Thessalonians 2:3-10: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition: who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped: so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked
[Page 48-49] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” Here Paul shows plainly, that there was one abomination then at work, which would hinder the rise of the last abomination, until the first was “taken out of the way.” Then the second would be revealed, whom the Lord would destroy with the brightness of his coming. The question then would be, when was Paganism taken out of the way? I answer, it must have been after the ten horns arose out of what is called the Western empire of Rome, which were to arise up and rule one hour,
1Revelation 17:10. (a little time,) with the beast, pagan: for this little horn was to arise or be “set up” among the ten horns. It could not be until after the year 476 after Christ, when the Western empire fell, and was divided into ten kingdoms. It could not come until “they,” the ten kings, had “polluted the sanctuary of strength,” (meaning Rome.)
Daniel 11:31: “And they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall
‘take away’ the daily sacrifice, and
they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.” Who shall do this? I answer, the ten horns, or kings.
Revelation 17:12, 13: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, (when John saw his vision,) but receive power as kings one hour, (a short time,) with the beast.” The beast here must mean Rome pagan, for we have been told that beast means a kingdom.
Daniel 7:23: “Thus he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth.” And as papal Rome had not yet been “set up,” we must of necessity call this beast Rome pagan. ...”
Joseph Bates:
Bate's Pamphlet #3 - An Explanation of the Typical and Anti-Typical Sanctuary by the Scriptures, Twnety-Three Hundred Days, pages 131.7 - 133.3 -
“... K. ANTI-TYPE OR SUBSTANCE
Now consider the Tabernacle and furniture in the buildings on the Chart, as a pattern of things in the heavens, and the High Priest to represent the Lord Jesus, as in Heb. 8:1; 9:1-5. {1850 JB, BP3 131.7}
When did Jesus ascend there? Ans. - A. D. 31. {1850 JB, BP3 131.8}
Where did he commence his daily Ministration as Mediator for all the world? Ans. - In the Holy Place.
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Proof - Paul, Heb. 9:12; John, Rev. 1:12,14; Jesus, Rev. 2:1. The proof is clear that he was in the Holy Place, where the Golden Candlesticks were, sixty-five years after his ascension, from A. D. 31 to 96, and that his daily ministration could not cease until the end of the appointed time, 2,300, "Evening, Morning," or "daily Sacrifice." {1850 JB, BP3 131.9}
The Ancient of Days, (God,) sets between the Cherubims, in the Most Holy Place. This is where he is sought unto when the National Atonement is made. Where then is His THRONE during the daily ministration? Ans. - In the type. See Exo. 29:42-44, and 30:6,36. In the anti-type, Jesus says he sets on his Father's Throne, Rev. 3:21. John in vision sees the throne in the Holy Place where the seven lamps of fire are. See Rev. 4:1,2 and 5; 5:1,7. God was thereon. {1850 JB, BP3 132.1}
How long will Jesus our High Priest Minister in the Holy Place? Answer - Until the appointed time ends. {1850 JB, BP3 132.2}
TWENTY-THREE HUNDRED DAYS
Where shall we begin? Ans. - In the 7th year of Artaxerxes, 457 years B. C. Add to this 1843 full years and we come to the end of the appointed time. {1850 JB, BP3 132.3}
If it be asked why the twenty-three hundred days ended on the 10th of the 7th month, 1844, we answer because the commandment did not go forth until the middle of B. C. 457, therefore the first six months of that year must be added to B. C. 1844, which brings us to the 10th of the 7th month, 1844, which two numbers add together, and the result is 2300 years, full and complete. {1850 JB, BP3 132.4}
The typical High Priests appointed time was unto 365 days [one year.] Our High Priest's appointed time to cleanse the Sanctuary was unto 2,300 days, [years,] the 10th day of the 7th month was the time in the year: never to be altered. "Every thing upon his day." Lev. 23:4,37. {1850 JB, BP3 132.5}
The work of the High Priest continued on in the type until Jesus was crucified and nailed, the sacrifice and oblation, to his cross, (Dan. 9:27; Col.2:14,) in the midst of the seventieth week. Here the work of the schoolmaster ceased, (Gal. 3:23-26,) when Christ ascended and entered the Holy, (Heb. 9:12,) then faith came. This was in the Spring of A.D. 31. {1850 JB, BP3 132.6}
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To this add the last half of the seventieth week, viz: Three and a half years, and we have the 7th month, A. D. 34. Here ends the 490 years of the seventy weeks. To this add 1810 years, and the 2300 years are complete, ending in the fall of 1844. {1850 JB, BP3 133.1}
Now to the 1810 years add the three and a half years the last of the seventy, and we have the whole time, viz. 1813 years, (save forty days,) for the time of the daily ministration of our High Priest in the Holy Place in Heaven. {1850 JB, BP3 133.2}
Here his work ceased; Ministering and Mediating for the whole world forever; and he like his pattern in the type, entered the Most Holy Place, bearing upon his breast plate of Judgment the twelve tribes of the House of Israel. See Exo. 28:29, and Rev. 7:4. Here the {1850 JB, BP3 133.3} ...”
Stephen N. Haskell:
Alonzo Trevier Jones:
The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection (1905); Chapter XIII, The Transgression and Abomination of Desolation; pages 98.1 - 103.1 -
“... Now let us read verses 11 and 12 of Daniel 8 and it will be plainly seen that here is exactly the place where Paul found the scripture from which he taught the Thessalonians concerning the "man of sin" and the "mystery of iniquity:" "Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced and prospered." {1905 ATJ, CWCP 98.1}
This plainly points out that which took away the priesthood, the ministry, and the sanctuary of God and of Christianity. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 98.2}
Let us read it again. "Yea, he [the little horn--the man of sin] magnified himself even to the Prince of the host ["against the Prince of princes"--Christ], and by him [the man of sin] the daily sacrifice [the continual service, the ministry, and the priesthood of Christ] was taken away, and the place of His sanctuary [the sanctuary of the prince of the host, of the Prince of princes--Christ] was cast down. And an host was given him [the man of sin] against the daily sacrifice [against the continual service, of the ministry of Christ, the Prince of the host] by reason of transgression cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered." {1905 ATJ, CWCP 98.3}
It was "by reason of transgression," that is, by reason of sin, that this power gained "the host" that was used to cast down the truth to the ground, to
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shut away from the church and the world Christ's priesthood, His ministry, and His sanctuary; and to cast it all down to the ground and tread it underfoot. It was by reason of transgression that this was accomplished. Transgression is sin, and this is the consideration and the revelation upon which the apostle in 2 Thessalonians defines this power as the "man of sin" and the "mystery of iniquity." {1905 ATJ, CWCP 98.4}
In Daniel 8:11-13; 11:31; and 12:11, it will be noticed that the word "sacrifice" is in every case supplied. And it is wholly supplied, for in its place in the original there is no word at all. In the original the only word that stands in this place is the word tamid, that is here translated "daily." And in these places the expression "daily" does not refer to the daily sacrifice any more than it refers to the whole daily ministry or continual service of the sanctuary, of which the sacrifice was only a part. The word tamid in itself signifies "continuous or continual," "constant," "stable," "sure," "constantly," "evermore." Only such words as these express the thought of the original word, which, in the text under consideration, is translated "daily." In Numbers 28 and 29 alone, the word is used seventeen times, referring to the continual service in the sanctuary. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 99.1}
And it is this continual service of Christ, the true High Priest, "who continueth ever," and "who is consecrated forevermore" in "an unchangeable priesthood"--it is this continual service of our great High Priest, which the man of sin, the Papacy, has taken away. It is the sanctuary and the true tabernacle in which this true High Priest exercises His continual
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ministry that has been cast down by "the transgression of desolation." It is this ministry and this sanctuary that the "man of sin" has taken away from the church and shut away from the world and has cast down to the ground and stamped upon and in place of which it has set up itself "the abomination that maketh desolate." What the former Rome did physically to the visible or earthly sanctuary, which was "the figure of the true" (Dan. 9:26, 27; Matt. 24:15), that the latter Rome has done spiritually to the invisible or heavenly sanctuary that is in itself the true." Dan. 11:31; 12:11; 8:11, 13. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 99.2}
In the footnote quotation on page 91 [see below] it is shown that in the apostasy, the bishops, presbyters, deacons, and the eucharist were made to succeed the high priest, priests, Levites and sacrifices of the Levitical system. Now by every evidence of the Scriptures, it is certain that, in the order of God it was Christ and His ministry and sanctuary in heaven and this alone, that in truth was the object of the Levitical system and that is truly the Christian succession to that system. Therefore when in and by the apostasy the system of bishops as high priests, presbyters as priests, deacons as Levites, and the Supper as a sacrifice was insinuated as the Christian succession to the Levitical system, this of itself was nothing else than to put this false system of the apostasy in the place of the true, completely to shut out the true, and finally, to cast it down to the ground and stamp upon it. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 100.1}
And this is how it is that this great Christian truth of the true priesthood, ministry, and sanctuary of Christ is not known to the Christian world today.
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The "man of sin" has taken it away and cast it down to the ground and stamped upon it. The "mystery of iniquity" has hid this great truth from the church and the world during all these ages in which the man of sin has held place in the world and has passed itself off as God and its iniquitous host as the church of God. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 100.2}
And yet, even the "man of sin," the "mystery of iniquity," itself bears witness to the necessity of such a service in the church in behalf of sins. For though the "man of sin," the "mystery of iniquity," has taken away the true priesthood, ministry, and sanctuary of Christ and has cast these down to the ground to be stamped upon and has completely hid them from the eyes of the Christian world, yet she did not utterly throw away the idea. No, she threw away the true and cast down the true to the ground but, retaining the idea in the place of the true, she built up in her own realm an utterly false structure. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 101.1}
In the place of Christ, the true and divine High Priest of God's own appointment in heaven, she has substituted a human, sinful, and sinning priesthood on earth. In the place of the continual, heavenly ministry of Christ in His true priesthood upon His true sacrifice, she has substituted only an interval ministry of a human, earthly, sinful, and sinning priesthood in the once-a-day "daily sacrifice of the mass." And in the place of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man, she has substituted her own meeting-places of wood and stone, to which she applies the term "sanctuary." Thus, instead of the one continual High Priest, the one continual
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ministry, and the one continual sanctuary in heaven, which God has ordained and which is the only true, she has devised out of her own heart and substituted for the only true, many high priests, many ministries, many sacrifices, and many sanctuaries, on earth, which in every possible relation are only human and utterly false. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 101.2}
And it can never take away sin. No earthly priesthood, no earthly ministry, no earthly sacrifice or service in any earthly sanctuary can ever take away sin. In the book of Hebrews we have seen that even the priesthood, the ministry, the sacrifice, and the service in the earthly sanctuary--the very service which the Lord Himself ordained on earth--never took away sin. The inspired record is that they never did take away sin, and that they never could take away sin. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 102.1}
It is only the priesthood and the ministry of Christ that can ever take away sin. And this is a priesthood and a ministry in heaven and of a sanctuary that is in heaven. For when Christ was on earth he was not a priest and if He had remained on earth until this hour, He would not yet be a priest, as it stands written, "If he were on earth, He should not be a priest." Heb. 8:4. Thus, by plain word and abundant illustration, God has demonstrated that no earthly priesthood, sacrifice, or ministry can ever take away sin. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 102.2}
If any such could take away sin, then why could not that which God Himself ordained on earth take away sin? If any such could take away sin, then why change the priesthood and the ministry from
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earth to heaven? Therefore, by the plain word of the Lord, it is plain that the priesthood, the ministry, the sacrifice, and the sanctuary which the Papacy has set up and operates on earth can never take away sin, but, instead, only perpetuates sin, is a fraud, an imposture, and the very "transgression" and "abomination of desolation" is the most holy place. {1905 ATJ, CWCP 102.3}
And that this conclusion and statement as to what the papal system really is is not extravagant nor far-fetched, is confirmed by the words of Cardinal Baronius, the standard annalist of the papacy. Writing of the tenth century, he says: "In this century the abomination of desolation was seen in the temple of the Lord; and in the See of St. Peter, reverenced by angels, were placed the most wicked of men; not pontiffs, but monsters." And the council of Rheims in 991 declared the papacy to be "the man of sin, the mystery of iniquity." {1905 ATJ, CWCP 103.1} ...”
Josiah Litch:
Judaism Overthrown;
with the Scripture Evidence of the Epoch of the Kingdom in 1843. By Josiah Litch. Boston: Published by Joshua V. Himes, 14 Devonshire Street.
1843. -
http://text.egwwritings.org/publica...mber=33&QUERY=taken+out+of+the+way&resultId=6
“... “the daily (or continual) and transgression of desolation.” The one is what Paul calls “the mystery of iniquity;” the other “that wicked, that man of sin.” The one hindered till he should be taken out of the way, then that wicked was to be revealed. The first was paganism, the second, popery. The one gave way to the other. But both were abominations, and crushed the church of God. ...”
Joshua V. Himes:
The First Report of the General Conference of Christians Expecting the Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, HELD IN BOSTON, OCT. 14, 15, 1840. by Joshua V. Himes; Pages 89-90 -
http://text.egwwritings.org/publica...ber=89&QUERY=taken+out+of+the+way&resultId=25
“ … Then in the
12th chapter of Daniel
11th verse, “And from the time that
the daily sacrifice (meaning abomination) shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be 1290 days.”
There is some difficulty in knowing what is here intended by “daily sacrifice” in this text. It cannot mean the Jewish sacrifices, for two good reasons: 1st. It has some immediate connexion with “the abomination that maketh desolate,” i. e., Papacy, or papal power of Rome, that is “taken away to set up,” etc. Now all must admit, that Jewish sacrifices were taken away about 500 years before Papacy was set up, or exalted. 2. If Jewish sacrifices are here meant, then in A. D. 1360 this papal power would have ended her setting up, or exaltation. But Papacy was then at the height of its power.
I have come to this conclusion: that this power, called “daily sacrifice,” is Rome pagan abomination; the same as Christ has reference to in
Matthew 24:15.
Luke 21:21. Certainly Christ could not have reference to papal abomination that maketh desolate until Christ’s second coming, for that was not set up until nearly 500 years afterwards. Of course, it must have been the pagan abomination which would be taken away. This agrees with Paul,
2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 …
… Here Paul shows plainly, that there was one abomination then at work which would binder the rise of the last abomination, until the first was “taken out of the way;” then the second would be revealed, whom the Lord would destroy with the brightness of his coming. The question then would be,
When was Paganism taken out of the way? I answer, it must have been after the ten horns arose, out of what is called the Western empire of Rome, which were to arise up and rule one hour
72Revelation 17:10. (a little time) with the beast, pagan: for this little horn was to arise or be “set up” among the ten horns. It could not be until after the year 476 after Christ, when the Western empire fell and was divided into ten kingdoms. It could not come until “they,” the ten kings, had “polluted the sanctuary of strength,” (meaning Rome.)
Daniel 11:31: “And they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall ‘
take away’ the daily sacrifice, and
they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.” Who shall do this? I answer, the ten horns, or kings.
Revelation 17:12, 13: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, (when John saw his vision,) but receive power as kings one hour (a short time) with the beast.” The beast here must mean Rome pagan, for we have been told that beast means a kingdom.
Daniel 7:23: “Thus he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth.” And as papal Rome had not yet been “setup,” we must of necessity call this beast Rome pagan. Then he tells us,
Revelation 17:13, “These (ten kings) have one mind,” that is, one faith, all being converted to the orthodox religion of the Catholic Roman Church, “and shall give their power and strength to the beast,” meaning Rome papal; for now this beast is “set up,” and the ten kings have given their power and strength to the pope of Rome, and the woman or Papacy sits upon the scarlet-colored beast having seven heads and ten horns.
Then the abomination that maketh desolate began his rule in the fourth kingdom, when “the dragon (emperor of the Eastern empire) gave him his power, his seat (Rome) and great authority,”
Revelation 13:2; and when the ten kings give their power and strength to him, and he (the pope) uses his authority over the kings of the earth. See
Revelation 17:18.”
Uriah Smith:
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herlad, Volume 5 (1854); March 28, 1854, Rochester, NY, Third-Day, No. 10, The Sanctuary, page 77.15 - 78.17 -
“... 2. HOW IS THE SANCTUARY CLEANSED? or, What is the nature of its cleansing, and how is it accomplished? With the earthly sanctuary there was connected a ministration, which Paul says served unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. By the ministration therefore of the earthly sanctuary, is shadowed forth the ministration of the heavenly Sanctuary. And when we see the work that was carried on on earth, we may understand the work that is carried on in heaven. We will then notice, briefly, {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 77.15}
The Ministration and Cleansing of the earthly sanctuary. This ministration was accomplished by the Levitical order of priest-hood, and consisted of two great divisions: the daily ministration in the holy place, and the work in the most holy place at the end of the year. The daily ministration embraced the regular morning and evening burnt-offering, [Ex.xxix,38-43,] the burning of sweet incense on the golden altar, every morning when the high priest dressed the lamps, and every evening when he lighted them; [Ex.xxx;] also, the additional work appointed
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for the Sabbaths of the Lord, and the annual sabbaths, new moons and feasts, [Num.xxviii; xxix,] besides the particular work to be accomplished for individuals as they should present their offerings throughout the year. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 77.16}
This latter was an important part of the service and was performed as follows: Whoever had sinned brought his victim, that was to be offered up for him, to the door of the tabernacle. He then laid his hand upon the head of the victim which signified that his sin was transferred to it; it was then slain on account of that transgression, and the blood borne in by the priest and sprinkled in the sanctuary. Lev.i;iii;iv. Thus the sin of the individual was transferred first to the victim, and then through his blood to the sanctuary itself. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.1}
This ministration went on continually through the year; and so through the sacrifices were the sins of the people transferred to the sanctuary; hence, the necessity of its being cleansed; which brings us to the second division of the ministration; namely, the yearly service, or cleansing of the sanctuary. To accomplish this, the work of the high priest was changed from the holy place, where he had ministered during the year, to the most holy within the vale. It took place on the tenth day of the seventh month. Lev.xvi,29. Here he entered with the blood of a bullock as a sin-offering for himself. Lev.xvi,3. He was then to take of the congregation of the children of Israel, (verse 5,) two kids of the goats for a sin-offering; upon these he was to cast lots, (verse 8,) one lot for the Lord and the other for the scape-goat. He then offered up the goat upon which the lot fell for the Lord, for a sin-offering for the people, (verse 15,) and bore his blood within the vale, and sprinkled it with his finger upon the mercy-seat eastward, and before the mercy-seat seven times, and made an atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins, etc. Verse 16. And when he had made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he brought the live goat, (that is the scape-goat,) and laid both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confessed over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat and sent him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness; and the goat bore upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited. Verses 20-22. This done, the cleansing of the sanctuary was finished; the sins of the people were borne away, and the yearly round of ministration in both the holy places was complete. In view of these facts, let us listen to the teachings of Paul in regard to {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.2}
The Ministration and Cleansing of the heavenly Sanctuary. "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the Sanctuary, and of the True Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man." Heb.viii,2. This settles the point that there is a minister in the heavenly Sanctuary as there were ministers or priests in the earthly sanctuary. Verse 3. "For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer." This fixes another fact; namely, that the minister of the heavenly Sanctuary has an offering to make as well as the priests of the earthly or typical sanctuary. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.3}
Who is this minister, and what is his offering? Chap. ix,11,12. "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." We have now learned that Christ is our great High Priest, and the minister of the heavenly Sanctuary; that he offers his own blood instead of the blood of goats and calves which the priests offered in the earthly ministration, and the earthly ministration is typical of the heavenly, as Paul says, [Heb.viii,5,] "Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things." {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.4}
Between them there was this difference: the earthly priests were many, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death; [Heb.vii,23;] and their ministration was many times repeated, one round being completed every year; but the priesthood of Christ is an unchangeable priesthood; [Heb.vii,24;] for he is made a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec; (verse 21
and once for all hath he offered up himself a sacrifice for our sins. Heb.vii,27; ix,25,26,28. On him was laid the iniquity of us all, [Isa.liii,6,] and he bare our sins in his own body on the tree. 1Pet.ii,24. In this connection study carefully Hebrews, chapters, vii-x. Christ, then, is the great antitype of the offerings connected with the typical sanctuary; and he who brought his victim to the door of the tabernacle, to be then slain on account of his transgression, through that sacrifice pointed to "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.5}
Here is made manifest the wisdom and goodness of God. Thus was instituted that system of types and shadows that through them the people of that dispensation might lay hold on the merits of a coming Saviour; and that we, while there is now no sanctuary on earth with its ministration carried on before us, might look back upon these, and thus learn the work of the heavenly Sanctuary where our great High Priest is now ministering for us. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.6}
By
our investigation, thus far, we have found that several important points are established by the Word of God; viz., 1. That
the Sanctuary, the pattern or antitype of the earthly building is in heaven. 2. That
Christ is the minister of that Sanctuary. 3. That the ministration of the priests connected with the earthly sanctuary,
pointed to the ministration of Christ in the heavenly Sanctuary. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.7}
We will now consider the time when the heavenly Sanctuary took the place of the earthly, when the type met its antitype, and the shadow was lost in the substance - and the events that marked the change. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.8}
In regard to the point of time there can be no dispute: the shadow ceases when the substance comes: the type cannot reach beyond the antitype: the offering of goats and calves was no longer serviceable when the great offering for the world, Christ the Son of God, had died on Calvary. Here then is the dividing point. Christ said as he departed from the temple. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold your house is left unto you desolate." Matt.xxiii,37,38. And when amid the terrific scenes of the crucifixion day, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, it was a solemn demonstration that its services were forever finished; for that blood was now shed that was to be ministered for us in the heavenly Sanctuary, and there from henceforth, the world was to look for salvation and pardon. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.9}
The sacrifice of the New Testament being offered up, at once connects us with that Tabernacle where his blood is to be ministered: it is impossible to disconnect the idea: we cannot unlink the chain and step off upon the land of Palestine or any other portion of the earth as the Sanctuary: those who attempt to do this destroy all the significancy of these types, and render the whole typical dispensation from Moses to Christ, void and of none effect. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.10}
We have now seen when the typical or earthly sanctuary gave place to the Sanctuary in heaven; and Christ, when he ascended, there began, as a minister of that Sanctuary, his mediation for us. He began his ministration in the first apartment, as we may learn from these facts: 1. That the Sanctuary in heaven has two apartments, or it was not, as declared to be, the pattern of the earthly. 2. If there are two apartments, they are both designed for some purpose. 3. As the blood of those sacrifices of which Christ was the antitype, was offered in both apartments of the earthly sanctuary, so his blood must be ministered in both apartments of the heavenly Sanctuary to fulfill the type. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.11}
Since, then, we are perfectly satisfied when the service commenced in heaven, and where it commenced, i. e., in the first apartment, we next inquire, How long will it thus continue? How long will that division of the ministration continue, ere the final work of cleansing the Sanctuary is commenced? {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.12}
This is that question which is graciously answered by the Word of God. Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed. But how do we know that this refers to the heavenly Sanctuary? We know from the fact that only 490 of the 2300 days are allotted to the Jews and the earthly sanctuary. "Seventy weeks are cut off upon thy people and upon thy holy city." Dan.ix,24. The Prophet then introduces the heavenly Sanctuary with these words, "To anoint the most Holy." This refers to an act preparatory to the commencement of the ministration in the sanctuary, which was to anoint both the holy places and all the sacred vessels. Ex.xl,9-11. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.13}
Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed. We are now prepared to understand the nature of the cleansing of the Sanctuary, and what is to be understood by that expression. Look back to the type ordained expressly to shadow forth the work in heaven, and what are we taught? We there see the high priest on the tenth day of the seventh month entering in within the vail into the most holy place, to make an atonement for the people and cleanse the sanctuary. Lev.xvi. Hence we learn that our great High Priest at the end of the 2300 days entered into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly Sanctuary, and there commenced the final work of cleansing that Sanctuary. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.14}
But it may be asked, How can there be anything in heaven that needs cleansing, anything that is impure? We would reply, that the expression, "then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed," does not imply that the Sanctuary is of itself impure. Look at the earthly sanctuary. Into the holiest of all, where God manifested his glory, the high priest alone entered, once only, every year. Was there any thing to make that literally impure? certainly not; yet it was, according to law, to be cleansed. Why? Because the sins of the people had been borne in there by the blood of sin-offering, and from these it must be freed: in this sense only it was impure. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.15}
So with the heavenly Sanctuary. The sins of all those who come to Christ for salvation and pardon, are through his blood transferred to the Sanctuary: from these it must be cleansed. All can understand this. Paul also bears direct testimony to this point. He says: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. Heb.ix,22,23. That is, the patterns of things in the heavens (the earthly holy places) were cleansed with the blood of goats and calves, but the heavenly things themselves (the True Tabernacle in heaven) with better sacrifices than these, that is, with the blood of Christ; and Paul here plainly states that both were cleansed for one and the same reason. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.16}
Again, we read in
Dan.viii,13, about treading the Sanctuary under foot; and it may be asked how
a Sanctuary in heaven can be trodden under foot. These expressions are figurative as will be seen by Heb.x,29, which speaks of treading under foot the Son of God. The Sanctuary can be trodden underfoot in the same sense that the Son of God, its minister can.
Thus the Pope has trodden under foot the Sanctuary, by calling his own sanctuary, or temple, the temple of God, and
turning away the worship of men from the temple of God in heaven to his own sanctuary at Rome. And he has trodden under foot
the Son of God, the minister of that Sanctuary, by exalting himself above all that is called God, and assuming to be the head of the church in the place of Jesus Christ. {March 28, 1854 JWe, ARSH 78.17} ...”
The Seven Heads of Revelation 12, 13, and 17, by Uriah Smith; Pages 26-27; internal page notation in brackets added by myself -
http://text.egwwritings.org/publica...pagenumber=26&QUERY=daily+Paganism&resultId=3
“... But Rome went through some very wonderful metamorphoses; and the prophecy undertakes to note these changes without destroying the unity of the symbol. It is all the while
one horn; but it appears in
two characters apparently antagonistic to each other. One phase which the empire had long maintained was suddenly met by a hostile influence which arose in the empire itself, and which completely changed it over into another phase; and this, though prompted by the same spirit, was apparently the deadly antagonist of the first.
The symbol is viewed as an oppressor of the church, and in its first phase is called “the daily” (desolation), and in its second phase, “the transgression of desolation.”
The first was pagan, the second professedly Christian. And this change could be accomplished only by the taking away of paganism by the corrupted form of Christianity which finally took possession of the Roman world. Rome in its pagan form was a persecutor of the people of God, first in the persons of the Jews, and, secondly, in the persons of Christians. And in its papal form, it persecuted more terribly still, true Christians who refused to follow the apostasy. But between the gradual undermining and overthrow of paganism, and the degeneracy of a professedly Christian church into a persecuting power, there must have been a period during which Christians ceased to be the
[Page 26-27] object of persecution and the state ceased to be a persecuting government. The prophecy describes this change in the following words: “And by him the daily sacrifice was
taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression,” etc. This language indicates a most remarkable transformation in the government. Now let it be borne in mind that John in
Revelation 17, is viewing the same power, covering the
same time, and noting the
same changes, and he describes this marvelous metamorphosis by saying, “The beast that
was, and
is not, and yet
is;” that is, a beast which for a time existed, and afterward for awhile ceased to be, and then again appeared, as an active, persecuting power. Thus
Revelation 18:8, becomes an
exact parallel to
Daniel 8:11, 12; and the course of history has filled out fully and impressively the picture drawn by both Daniel and John. Bearing in mind that it is the persecuting character of this power that gives it a place in prophecy, how would the scene appear to a beholder? He would see,
first, “the daily,” or paganism, oppressing the church; then, after a time he would see paganism undermined, restrained, and taken away, and the place of his sanctuary cast down. The oppression of the church under that phase, would be caused to cease, and so the beast as a persecutor would disappear and apparently cease to be. For a time, then, the beast “is not.” Then under apostate Christianity, it begins its work of persecution again, and thus reappears, so that it can be said of it, that it “yet is.” These facts very clearly meet the conditions set forth in the prophecy; and it seems very certain to the writer that they are the only ones in all the range of history to which the expression “was, and is not, and yet is,” can apply. ...”
Apollos Hale:
The Second Advent Manual, 1290 and 1335 Days, or Years; pages 70.3 - 70.4 -
“... All the arguments from analogy will be seen, we think, to be in favor of Mr. Miller's supposition that this "daily," or continual, denotes Paganism. {1843 ApH, TSAM 70.3}
By the different forms of Paganism,-which was the daily, or then existing abomination of Daniel's day, and the "transgression of desolation," Popery,-"the church has been trodden under foot "from the days of the kings of Assyria unto this day." {1843 ApH, TSAM 70.4} ...”
Ellet Joseph Waggoner:
The Signs of the Times, Volume 11 (1885); November 19, 1885, "The Little Horn of Daniel 8", The Signs of the Times 11, 44, page 694.8 -
“... If only one more point can be noted concerning this little horn, and that is to show the change from pagan to papal Rome, for that is expressly noted. We quote: "Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host [evidently referring to Christ, see verse 25, last clause], and by him the daily was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And a host was given him against the daily by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground, and it practice, and prospered." Dan. 8:11, 12. In this quotation we have purposely omitted the word sacrifice, because it is superfluous. There is nothing in the original that gives even the slightest hint of such a word. From verse 13 we learn what should be understood after "daily." "How long shall be the vision concerning the daily and the transgression of desolation?" The daily what? Why, the daily desolation, of course. So then we have in this chapter a mighty desolating power brought to view under two phases,-the daily desolation, and the transgression of desolation. These two expressions can refer to nothing else but the two great phases of Rome, paganism and papacy. {November 19, 1885 EJW, SITI 694.8} ...”
William Warren Prescott:
“The Daily” - A Brief Reply to Two Leaflets on This Subject; pages 1.1 – 23.1 -
“... A Brief Reply to Two Leaflets on This Subject
[W. W. Prescott]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The "Daily" in "Early Writings" 2
Wm. Miller's Exposition of the "Daily" 4
Some History Considered 6
A New Interpretation of the "Daily" 10
Christianity in Britain 11
Another "Square Contradiction" Examined 12
The Testimony of History 13
Authorized or Unauthorized Translations 16
The Interpretation of the Prophecy 17
What the Papacy Has Taken Away 20
What the Third Angel's Message Restores 22
1
DURING the past year two leaflets dealing with the "daily" of the eighth chapter of Daniel have been issued in which an effort has been made to maintain the view that the "daily" is paganism, and that it was taken away in a. d. 508. Against those who entertain a different interpretation of this prophecy, the serious charge is made in both leaflets that in their teaching they are squarely contradicting the plain statements of the spirit of prophecy. {ND WWP, THD 1.1}
These circumstances justify the appearance of this leaflet, the purpose of which is to present some facts bearing upon this question, and to establish the truth of the matter. Every interpretation of a fulfilled prophecy must be in harmony with facts; and questions of difference are to be settled, not by mere assertions or unwarranted claims, but by such evidence as will stand the closest examination. It should be our sincere aim to know and teach the truth, and we should be prepared to do what we are constantly asking others to do, viz., to accept evidence, and to change our views when they are proved to be incorrect. It is no discredit to a sincere man to be found mistaken, but he discredits himself when he refuses to correct a mistake which has been plainly pointed out. It is more important to know the truth than to cling to a traditional teaching. {ND WWP, THD 1.2}
The "Daily" in "Early Writings"
Inasmuch as an appeal has been made to the teaching of the spirit of prophecy as the basis for the claim that the "daily" of Daniel 8 is paganism, and that it was taken away in 508 a. d., it seems necessary to consider what is said in the spirit of prophecy concerning the "daily," in order that, if possible, the prejudice which has been created by the misinterpretation of a certain quotation may be removed. But instead of quoting one or two sentences out of their connection, and interpreting them in harmony with a preconceived opinion, we will quote more at length the passage in question, as found in "Early Writings" (edition of 1893), page 64 of the first part:- {ND WWP, THD 2.1}
I have seen that the 1843 chart was directed by the hand of the Lord, and that it should not be altered; that the figures were as he wanted them; that his hand was over and hid a mistake in some of the figures, so that none could see it, until his hand was removed. {ND WWP, THD 2.2}
Then I saw in relation to the "daily" (Dan. 8:12) that the word "sacrifice" was supplied by man's wisdom, and does not belong to the text; and that the Lord gave the correct view of it to those who gave the judgment-hour cry. When union existed, before 1844, nearly all were united on the correct view of the "daily;" but in the confusion since 1844, other views have been embraced, and darkness and confusion have followed. Time has not been a test since 1844, and it will never again be a test. {ND WWP, THD 2.3}
The Lord has showed me that the message of the third angel must go, and be proclaimed to the scattered children of the Lord, but it must not be hung on time. I saw that some were getting a false excitement, arising from preaching time; but the third angel's message is stronger than time can be. I saw that this message can stand on its own foundation, and needs not time to strengthen it; and that it will go in mighty power, and do its work, and will be cut short in righteousness. {ND WWP, THD 2.4}
The reading of this extract will make it clear to any unprejudiced mind that the topic under consideration
3
is the question of time. The application of the counsel here given will be understood more clearly by a consideration of the experiences of the Advent believers up to the time when this testimony was given in 1850. The orthodox interpretation of the little horn of the eighth chapter of Daniel was that it was a symbol of Antiochus Epiphanes; that the 2300 days were literal days, commencing with the time when Antiochus polluted the temple at Jerusalem; and that "the daily sacrifice" referred to the daily offerings made according to the ceremonial law. In harmony with this view the translators supplied the word "sacrifice" in the expression "the daily sacrifice." The Adventists, on the other hand, maintained that the little horn was a symbol of Rome, pagan and papal; that the 2300 days were prophetic days, fulfilled in literal years; and that this period commenced in b. c. 457 and ended in 1844. After the passing of the time in 1844, there was an effort made to readjust this period of 2300 years to some point in the future; and up to 1850 at least six different adjustments had been made, bringing much confusion into the Advent ranks. Then came this counsel through the spirit of prophecy, that the word "sacrifice" should not be supplied, and that, therefore, the interpretation which found in the work of Antiochus the fulfilment of this prophecy was incorrect; that the view entertained previous to 1844, which made the year 1844 the true termination of the prophetic period of 2300 years, was correct; and that a true time message would never again be proclaimed. "Time has never been a test since 1844, and it will never again be a test." {ND WWP, THD 2.5}
This same general statement was made later, and is found on page 107, second part of the same edition of "Early Writings," being the seventh paragraph of the article entitled "The Advent Movement Illustrated:"- {ND WWP, THD 3.1}
Jesus did not come to earth as the waiting, joyful
4
company expected, to cleanse the sanctuary by purifying the earth by fire. I saw that they were correct in their reckoning of the prophetic periods; prophetic time closed in 1844, and Jesus entered the most holy place to cleanse the sanctuary at the ending of the days. Their mistake consisted in not understanding what the sanctuary was and the nature of its cleansing. {ND WWP, THD 3.2}
That this is the right view of this instruction given through the spirit of prophecy, will appear more plainly when we remember that since 1844 there has been until recently no difference of opinion as to what the "daily" was, and that the confusion which arose after 1844 was not on account of a change of interpretation in this respect, but because of the many attempts to readjust the prophetic period of 2300 years and to set new times still in the future for the expiration of this period, and for the appearance of Christ in the clouds of heaven; therefore, it is said; "When union existed before 1844, nearly all were united on the correct view of the 'daily;' but in the confusion since 1844 other views have been embraced, and darkness and confusion have followed." The "other views" were with reference to the time, concerning which many different interpretations were brought forward, causing "darkness and confusion," but during all that period there was no controversy as to what the "daily" represented. {ND WWP, THD 4.1}
In interpreting this prophecy the early Adventists placed the emphasis upon the question, "How long shall be the vision concerning the 'daily'?" etc., and upon the reply, "Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings." This period of time and the date which marked its expiration were the subjects which claimed their chief attention, and concerning these matters they had the correct view. {ND WWP, THD 4.2}
Wm. Miller's Exposition of the "Daily"
That this is the true meaning of this passage in "Early Writings" becomes still more evident when we
5
state some views entertained previous to 1844 in the exposition of the "daily." An examination of William Miller's lectures and of the writings of other Advent believers in the publications of that time, shows that the following views were taught:- {ND WWP, THD 4.3}
- The first beast of Revelation 13 was a symbol of pagan Rome. 2. The two-horned beast of Revelation 13 was a symbol of the Papacy. 3. The six hundred sixty and six (Rev. 13; 18) represented the duration of the life of the pagan Roman beast. 4. The commencement of this period was placed in b. c. 158, when it was declared that the league with the Jews was made. 5. The termination of this period of 666 years was obtained by subtracting 158 from 666, thus giving 508 a. d. {ND WWP, THD 5.1}
It will be seen at once that if the statement in "Early Writings" that "when union existed, before 1844, nearly all were united on the correct view of the 'daily,'" means that they taught the correct interpretation of this subject, then we have some very serious readjustments to make in our present teaching. Since the rise of this third angel's message it has been taught that the first beast of Revelation 13 was not pagan Rome, but papal Rome; that the two-horned beast was not the Papacy, but the United States; that the 666 years was not the duration of the life of the pagan beast, but the number of the name of the beast; that the Jewish league was not made in b. c. 158, but rather in b. c. 161. Furthermore, granting every other position to be true, if the 666 years commenced in b. c. 158, they would end in a. d. 509, not in a. d. 508. {ND WWP, THD 5.2}
There are two leading ideas connected with the "daily" in Daniel 8; one is the meaning of the "daily," the other is the time period connected with the "daily" as indicated by the question, "How long shall be the vision concerning the daily?" etc. It is evident that this passage in "Early Writings" refers to the time
6
period, and testifies that the view which made this period end in 1844 was "the correct view of the 'daily.'" Any other interpretation of this instruction involves the most serious difficulties.
It will be shown later in this leaflet that any effort to use this passage in "Early Writings" to maintain the view that the "daily" was paganism, and that it was taken away in a. d. 508, arrays the spirit of prophecy squarely against the united testimony of history. {ND WWP, THD 5.3}
Some History Considered
It may be proper here to examine briefly the history which is adduced in support of the claim that paganism was taken away in a. d. 508. In the comments on Dan. 11:31, found in "Thoughts on Daniel," a quotation is made from the historian Gibbon to prove that "in 508 their [the adherents of the papal party] partisan zeal culminated in a whirlwind of fanaticism and civil war which swept in fire and blood through the streets of the Eastern capital." The passage reads as follows:- {ND WWP, THD 6.1}
The statues of the emperor were broken, and his person was concealed in a suburb, till, at the end of three days, he dared to implore the mercy of his subjects. Without his diadem, and in the posture of a suppliant, Anastasius appeared on the throne of the Circus. The Catholics, before his face, rehearsed their genuine Trisagion; they exulted in the offer which he proclaimed by the voice of a herald of abdicating the purple; they listened to the admonition that, since all could not reign, they should previously agree in the choice of a sovereign; and they accepted the blood of two unpopular ministers, whom their master, without hesitation, condemned to the lions. These furious but transient seditions were encouraged by the success of Vitalian, who, with an army of Huns and Bulgarians, for the most part idolaters, declared himself the champion of the Catholic faith. In this pious rebellion he depopulated Thrace, besieged Constantinople, exterminated sixty-five thousand of his fellow Christians, till
7
he obtained the recall of the bishops, the satisfaction of the Pope, and the establishment of the council of Chalcedon, an orthodox treaty, reluctantly signed by the dying Anastasius, and more faithfully performed by the uncle of Justinian. And such was the event of the first of the religious wars which have been waged in the name, and by the disciples, of the God of peace.-"Decline and Fall," Vol. IV, page 526. {ND WWP, THD 6.2}
The following extracts from Milman's "History of Latin Christianity," standard edition, book three, chapter one, state clearly the nature of this outbreak in Constantinople, and locate very definitely the time of the event referred to in this extract from Gibbon. The dates are given from the margin of Milman's work:- {ND WWP, THD 7.1}
a. d. 510. Worse than all, 200 Eastern monks, headed by Severus, were permitted to land in Constantinople; they here found an honorable reception. Other monks of the opposite faction, swarmed from Palestine. The two black-cowled armies watched each other for some months, working in secret on their respective partisans. At length (a. d. 511) they came to a rupture; and in their strife, which he either dared not, or did not care to control, the throne, the liberty, and the life itself of the emperor, were in peril. The Monophysite monks, in the Church of the Archangel, within the palace, broke out after the "Thrice Holy," with the burden added at Antioch by Peter the Fuller, "who was crucified for us." The orthodox monks, backed by the rabble of Constantinople, endeavored to expel them from the church. They were not content with hurling curses against each other, sticks and stones began their work. There was a wild fierce fray; the divine presence of the emperor lost its awe; he could not maintain the peace. . . . The emperor was reduced to the humiliation of receiving the Bishop Macedonius, whom he had prohibited from approaching his presence, as his equal, almost his master. {ND WWP, THD 7.2}
a. d. 512. The year after the exile of Macedonius, Constantinople, at the instigation of the clergy and monks, broke out again in religious insurrection. The blue and green factions of the Circus-such is the language of the times-gave place to these more maddening conflicts. The hymn of the angels in heaven
8
was the battle-cry on earth, the signal for human bloodshed. Many palaces of the nobles were set on fire; the officers of the crown insulted; pillage, conflagration, violence reigned throughout the city. A peasant who had turned monk was torn from the palace of the favorite Syrian minister of Anastasius, Marinus (he was accused of having introduced the preface burden of the angelic hymn); his head was struck off, carried on a pole, with shouts, "Behold the enemy of the Trinity!" The hoary emperor appeared in the Circus and commanded the heralds to announce to the people that he was prepared to abdicate the empire, if they could agree in the choice of his successors. The piteous spectacle soothed the fury of the people; they entreated Anastasius to resume the diadem; but the blood of two of his ministers was demanded as a sacrifice to appease their vengeance. {ND WWP, THD 7.3}
It will be seen that these quotations deal with the same subject as does the quotation from Gibbon, made in "Thoughts on Daniel," and that these events occurred in the years a. d. 510-12. Two things are evident from these quotations: First, that the disturbances referred to by Gibbon, were quarrels between the Monophysite monks and the orthodox monks, two factions in the one church, and not a conflict between the Papacy and paganism. And second, that the particular outbreak referred to in the quotation from Gibbon, as given in "Thoughts on Daniel," occurred after a. d. 508. {ND WWP, THD 8.1}
The following extract from Neander's Church History, Clark's edition, Vol. IV, page 257, deals with the same general subject and fixes the date of the insurrection of Vitalian, which is referred to in the latter part of the quotation from Gibbon, as given in "Thoughts on Daniel:"- {ND WWP, THD 8.2}
As the rumor spread that the emperor favored the addition to the church hymn [the Trisagion), and was prepared to remove the patriarch Macedonius, a violent tumult breaks forth. The houses of many grandees were burned; the monk who was supposed to be the author of the addition was seized by the infuriated populace,
9
murdered, and his head was carried about in triumph, stuck upon a pole. Then appeared the emperor at the Circus, before the assembled people, without his crown. He declared himself willing to lay down the government; but all could not reign at once, one must be sovereign. These words had their effect upon the excited multitude. The people besought the emperor to retain the government. The emperor took advantage of this movement; he caused Macedonius to be removed, and Timotheus, a presbyter, who accepted the Henoticon, was appointed his successor. Meanwhile the emperor saw himself under the necessity, for many reasons, of yielding to the fury of the exasperated party of the Chalcedonian council where this predominated. By this exasperation, aid and comfort were given to the insurrection of the military commander Vitalian, which broke out in the year 514; and Anastasius found himself compelled to enter into conditions of peace, to the joy of the adherents of the Chalcedonian council. {ND WWP, THD 8.3}
From these extracts from Milman and Neander it is plain that the events referred to in the quotation from Gibbon in "Thoughts on Daniel" occurred in the period a. d. 510-14, and it must be clear to all that even though the subject referred to was the taking away of paganism, it would not be historically correct to fix upon the date a. d. 508 as the time when these events occurred. When also the fact is taken into consideration that the history does not deal at all with the overthrow of paganism, but with the settlement of a quarrel between the factions in the church itself, it must be doubly plain that this history can not be used in order to establish the year 508 as the time for the taking away of paganism. {ND WWP, THD 9.1}
In another of our books we find the following statement:- {ND WWP, THD 9.2}
The last contest with paganism was in 508, when the French and Britons accepted Christianity; the "daily" spoken of in Daniel had been taken away. {ND WWP, THD 9.3}
No quotations are made from, or any reference given
10
to, any history as a basis for these statements, and we are, therefore, under the necessity of examining the record for ourselves. If the writer refers to the Franks and their conversion under Clovis, this took place in 496. In 508 Clovis was engaged in his war against the Visigoths. {ND WWP, THD 9.4}
The history of that period shows that in 508 the Britons were engaged in the defense of their country against the inroads of the Anglo-Saxons and Jutes. This war commenced in 449, and was continued into the sixth century. There is absolutely no foundation in history for the assertion that either the Franks or the Britons accepted Christianity in 508. {ND WWP, THD 10.1}
A New Interpretation of the "Daily"
In the second leaflet on this question (the one issued from Nashville), the history which is cited deals with the conversion of Clovis, and the warfare against Arianism under his leadership. This will appear simply by reading the extracts used, and is well stated in one paragraph, which we reproduce:- {ND WWP, THD 10.2}
It is evident from the language of Gregory of Tours that the conflict between the Franks and the Visigoths was regarded by the orthodox party of his own and preceding ages as a religious war, on which, humanly speaking, the prevalence of the Catholic or Arian creed in Western Europe depended. {ND WWP, THD 10.3}
In deciding the value of these extracts in relation to the question of an alleged downfall of paganism in 508, three things should be noted: 1. The campaign of Clovis against the Visigoths was an effort to overthrow Arianism and to establish the orthodox Catholic faith. But the Arianism of that period was not the paganism to which William Miller referred when he attempted to show that paganism was taken away in 508. If, therefore, as the writer of this leaflet emphatically asserts, those who gave the first message had
11
the correct view of the "daily," viz., that it was the religion of the pagan Roman empire, it is entirely incorrect to bring forward the downfall of Arianism as the taking away of the "daily," and according to his view, it would be in contradiction of the teaching of the spirit of prophecy. 2. But even granting that the overthrow of the Arian Visigoths was the taking away of the "daily," the conflict which determined the success of Clovis occurred in 507 "in the decisive battle of Voillé, near Poitiers." In the following year, 508, "Clovis met with a decisive repulse before Arles, the Visigothic capital." (See "Library of Universal History," Vol. IV, page 1200.) It is, therefore, incorrect to declare that the Visigoths were conquered in 508. 3. But more than all this, if the downfall of an Arian power constitutes the taking away of the "daily," why is the overthrow of the Arian Visigoths selected, and the time fixed for 508, instead of the overthrow of the Arian Vandals in 534? The evident answer must be that the date was selected before the history was read. {ND WWP, THD 10.4}
The claim that the warfare against Arianism fulfilled the prophecy concerning the taking away of the "daily" is a departure from the teaching in our standard publications, and is just as much a "new view" as that which we are presenting. The history cited in "Thoughts on Daniel "is entirely ignored, and passages are quoted to prove that the work of Clovis was the taking away of paganism. This is practically an admission that the argument in "Thoughts on Daniel" is unsound. {ND WWP, THD 11.1}
Christianity in Britain
Another advocate of the view that the "daily" was paganism, and that it was taken away in 508, states the following as the reason alleged by those who gave the judgment-hour cry:- {ND WWP, THD 11.2}
There was no claim made that any one act of the
12
Roman empire set aside paganism for the whole empire, and that in 508, when Britain accepted Christianity as their religion-they being the last to reject paganism,-marked the overthrow of that cult, and was the completion of the "taking away of the 'daily.'" {ND WWP, THD 11.3}
In reply to this claim, we will state that such historians as Hume ("History of England," Vol. I, chap. I, pages 25, 26), Mosheim ("Ecclesiastical History," Vol. II, part 1, chap. 1, par. 2), Neander ("General Church History," T. & T. Clark's edition, Vol. V, page 13), and "The Historian's History of the World" (Vol. VIII, page 532), all agree that Pope Gregory sent Augustine with forty Benedictine monks to Britain in 506, that they arrived in 597, and that the conversion of Britain to Christianity extended far into the seventh century. This is certainly sufficient to dispose of the unfounded assertion that Britain accepted Christianity in 508. {ND WWP, THD 12.1}
For the information of those interested in this subject, we will give the date of the conversion to the Catholic faith of some of the ten kingdoms. The complete statement may be found in Gieseler's "Ecclesiastical History," Vol. II, second period, div. 2, sec. 123. The dates are as follows; The Burgundians, 517; Suevi, 550-569; Visigoths, 589; Anglo-Saxons, after 596. {ND WWP, THD 12.2}
Another "Square Contradiction" Examined
In the last leaflet issued upon this subject a further attempt is made to cast discredit upon the view which we advocate by declaring that the position that paganism was taken away in the fourth century is "a square contradiction" to the spirit of prophecy. In proof of this claim a quotation is made from "Great Controversy," pages 49, 50, in which these words are found:- {ND WWP, THD 12.3}
The nominal conversion of Constantine, in the early part of the fourth century, caused great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked in a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly
13
progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church, her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ. {ND WWP, THD 12.4}
If this citation can properly be used to prove that paganism was not taken away in the fourth century, it can with equal force be used to show that paganism was not taken away in 508, inasmuch as the "doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions" of paganism continued through the Dark Ages, and have survived even to the present time. It is plain on the face of it that the paganism referred to in this extract is not that paganism which was the official religion of ancient Rome, but instead that it signifies the spirit of that religion which survived long after the downfall of the Roman empire. The use of this quotation for the purpose of forestalling any candid investigation of our teaching does not seem consistent with that spirit of fairness which opens the way for the unprejudiced consideration of Bible truth. {ND WWP, THD 13.1}
The Testimony of History
Inasmuch as the position that paganism, the official religion of ancient Rome, was taken away before 508 is thus denied, it is proper that we should submit a few brief extracts from history bearing upon this question. The subject of chapter 28 of Gibbon's "History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" reads thus: "Final Destruction of Paganism-Introduction of the Worship of Saints and Relics Among Christians." The time covered by this chapter as given in the table of contents is. a. d. 379-420, and the time covered under the heading "Destruction of the Pagan Religion" is 378-395. The first statement of this chapter is as follows:- {ND WWP, THD 13.2}
The ruin of paganism, in the age of Theodosius, is perhaps the only example of the total extirpation of any ancient and popular superstition; and may therefore
14
deserve to be considered as a singular event in the history of the human mind. {ND WWP, THD 13.3}
From another work we take the following interesting and decisive quotation:- {ND WWP, THD 14.1}
Among the most interesting historic memories associated with the Curia of the imperial period, is a transaction which marks a stage in the struggle between heathenism and Christianity at the national capital, where the results of the contest were so momentous. I have mentioned the altar and image of Victory in the vestibule of the Senate House, sacred to Minerva, before which image every senator had to throw incense on that altar as he passed into the hall of assemblage-an act of political rather than religious significance, but utterly inexcusable in the eyes of the primitive Christians. Altar and image acquired the character of a symbol and standard in the great conflict of principles carried on during the fourth century. The first emperor who removed both from their place in the Curia, about a. d. 357, was Constantius, the second son of Constantine, and sole ruler of the Roman world after the deaths of his two brothers. Both objects were replaced by Julian, his successor, probably in the first year, a. d. 360, of his short reign. Altar and image were again removed, in, or soon after, the year 382, by Theodosius, who was, in fact, through his stringent laws and more decided measures against the old superstition, the actual destroyer of pagan worship and suppressor of its priesthood. . . . Eugenius, a usurper proclaimed emperor by a military faction in Gaul a. d. 372, ordered the altar and image to be replaced during his short sojourn, after his irregular election, at Rome. His feeble effort to revive the ancient superstition was soon crushed by Theodosius, who defeated him in battle (a. d. 304) and sentenced him to death. Again, and for the last time, were the objectionable relics of heathenism set aside-the incense-cloud no more ascended to the Divine Victoria in Rome's Senate House.-"Historic and Monumental Rome." Charles Isidore Hemans, pages 244, 245. Published by Williams and Norgate, London, 1874. {ND WWP, THD 14.2}
In Milman's "History of Christianity," standard edition, Armstrong & Son, New York, the following quotation
15
is found. The title of chapter 8, book 3, page 63, is "Theodosius. Abolition of Paganism." The date given is the date printed in the margin of the text. Note the following important statements:- {ND WWP, THD 14.3}
a. d. 392. While this reaction was taking place in the West, perhaps irritated by the intelligence of this formidable conspiracy of paganism, with the usurpation of the throne [by Eugenius], Theodosius published in the East the last and most peremptory of those edicts which, gradually rising in the sternness of their language, proclaimed the ancient worship a treasonable and capital crime. In its minute and searching phrases, this statute seemed eagerly to pursue paganism to its most secret and private lurking-places. Thenceforth no man of any station, rank, or dignity, in any place in any city, was to offer an innocent victim in sacrifice; the more harmless worship of the household gods, which lingered, probably, more deeply in the hearts of the pagans than any other part of their system, was equally forbidden,-not merely the smoke of victims, but even lamps, incense, and garlands. To sacrifice, or to consult the entrails of victims, was constituted high treason, and thereby a capital offense, although with no treasonable intention of calculating the days of the emperor. {ND WWP, THD 15.1}
An indefinite number of quotations, all to the same effect, could easily be supplied if space permitted. Historians are unanimous in their testimony concerning this matter. We, therefore, unhesitatingly affirm that the forced and unnatural interpretation of the spirit of prophecy which attempts to make it teach that paganism was taken away in 508 brings it into direct conflict with the uniform testimony of historians, and that such dealing with the spirit of prophecy, instead of establishing confidence in it, will bring it into discredit, and will confuse the minds of the people concerning its authority. {ND WWP, THD 15.2}
Authorized or Unauthorized Translations
In our exposition of the eighth chapter of Daniel, we have used the text of the American Standard Revised Version, which in substance is the same as the English Revised Version, Leeser's Jewish Translation, and some of the latest and best foreign translations. These translations are based upon the best modern scholarship, and have commanded the respect of all Biblical scholars. In the effort, however, to maintain that the "daily" means paganism, and that it was taken away in a. d. 508, the writers of these two leaflets have presented special translations made by themselves for the purpose of sustaining their own views, and have attempted to make these translations overthrow our view of this prophecy. We do not deem it necessary to answer at length the arguments based upon these unauthorized translations, and we respectfully submit that we do not have among us Hebrew scholars of such a reputation as warrants us in discrediting the standard translations of the Bible, and in substituting others of quite different meaning, and especially when such translations have been made for the express purpose of sustaining the theological views of the translators. To follow such a course as this would certainly give some ground for the charge that Seventh-day Adventists require a Bible of their own in order to prove their doctrines. We think we are fully warranted in rejecting any such private translations and insisting upon the use of such versions of the Scripture as are based upon accredited scholarship. {ND WWP, THD 16.1}
In view of the fact that there is just as much difference of opinion as to the meaning of the passage quoted from "Early Writings" as there is concerning the meaning of the Scripture text, the question of the correct interpretation of this prophecy can not be settled offhand either by a private translation of the text, or by a private interpretation of an extract from the spirit of prophecy taken out of its proper connection. {ND WWP, THD 16.2}
The Interpretation of the Prophecy
From the facts which we have submitted, we think it is satisfactorily proved that it will not be possible to maintain longer that the "daily" of Daniel 8 refers to paganism, and that it was taken away in 508. The history of that period positively forbids such an interpretation, and there is nothing in the spirit of prophecy which requires it. Furthermore, we regard such an exposition of the prophecy as contrary to the sound principles of Scripture exegesis. To this proposition we now briefly invite attention, and in order that the reader may judge the better for himself, we print herewith the text according to the American Standard Revised Version:- {ND WWP, THD 17.1}
"And out of one of them [the four horns of the goat] came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them. Yea, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and it took away from him the continual burnt-offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And the host was given over to it together with the continual burnt-offering through transgression; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered. Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto that certain one who spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt-offering, and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Dan. 8:9-14. {ND WWP, THD 17.2}
That interpretation of this prophecy which maintains that the "daily" refers to paganism asserts that in this passage there are two different sanctuaries and two different hosts, and that while the little horn is the symbol for Rome, in both the pagan and papal phases of it, yet there are two phrases, viz., "the daily [desolation]"
18
and "the transgression of desolation," the first of which represents paganism and the second the Papacy; but such a method of interpretation as this does not rest upon a sound basis, and is both arbitrary and confusing. The two expressions, "the daily [desolation]" and "the transgression of desolation," are in no sense symbols, and there is no precedent for making them represent two great desolating powers. Furthermore, the expression "the transgression of desolation" would more correctly read, as in the Revised Version, "the transgression that maketh desolate" or "the desolating transgression," because the Hebrew word translated "that maketh desolate" is in form a participle, and in grammatical construction modifies the word "transgression." To render this participle as a noun, and then to make it into a symbol either of paganism or the Papacy, is altogether unwarranted. Such an arbitrary handling of the scripture opens the way for the unrestrained play of the imagination, and makes possible the most fanciful interpretations of prophecy. {ND WWP, THD 17.3}
The leading idea of this prophecy is found in the inquiry, "How long shall be the vision concerning the continual [mediation], and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?" Here the vision is defined as the one relating to "the continual [mediation], and the transgression that maketh desolate," and this is further explained as including the treading under foot of both the sanctuary and the host. It seems natural and consistent that the sanctuary here mentioned as being the one of the vision should be the same as the sanctuary mentioned in the earlier part of the prophecy, where the vision is fully set forth; and that the host mentioned in this inquiry should be the same as the host spoken of in the body of the vision; but all are agreed that the sanctuary mentioned in this inquiry, is the heavenly sanctuary, and that the host here mentioned refers to
19
the people of God. It, therefore, seems to be an arbitrary and contradictory distinction when the sanctuary as first mentioned is denned to be Rome, while the sanctuary mentioned in the question concerning the vision is declared to be the heavenly sanctuary; and to make the host of one verse the hordes of the barbarians, and in the other case, the people of God. {ND WWP, THD 18.1}
It seems more consistent to us to let the word "sanctuary" in this passage refer in every instance to the heavenly sanctuary, and the "host" to the people of God, and not to interpret certain phrases as representing what is already represented by the leading symbol of the prophecy. The word "continual" includes all the leading features of the priestly mediation typified by the morning and evening sacrifice (Ex. 29:38-42), the incense offering (Ex. 30:1-8, the word "perpetual" in this text being from the same Hebrew word as is elsewhere translated "continual"), and the shewbread. Num. 4:7. (Compare also 2 Chron. 2:4.) These were symbols of the great Mediator. To make this clear, we supply the word "mediation" in the text instead of the word "sacrifice," and apply the statement to the heavenly sanctuary rather than to the temple at Jerusalem. We, therefore, give to the prophecy, beginning with the tenth verse, the following interpretation:- {ND WWP, THD 19.1}
"And it [the little horn, the Papacy], waxed great, even to the host of heaven [the people of God]; and some of the host [the people of God], and of the stars [their leaders] it [the little horn] cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them. Yea, it [the little horn] magnified itself, even to the prince of the host [Christ]; and it [the little horn] took away from him [Christ] the continual [mediation], and the place of his [Christ's] sanctuary [the heavenly sanctuary] was cast down. And the host [the people of God] was given over to it [the little horn] together with the
20
continual [mediation] through transgression; and it [the little horn] cast down truth to the ground, and it [the little horn] did its pleasure and prospered. Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto that certain one who spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the continual [mediation], and the transgression that maketh desolate [the same transgression as in verse 12], to give both the sanctuary [the heavenly sanctuary] and the host [the peo0ple of God] to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand three Hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary [the heavenly sanctuary] Be cleansed." {ND WWP, THD 19.2}
What the Papacy Has Taken Away
The brief space at our command will prevent us from giving more than an outline of the many weighty reasons for adopting this interpretation of the prophecy. A more extended treatment of the subject must be deferred until another time, but attention is now invited to the following facts. {ND WWP, THD 20.1}
Christ is the only and exclusive mediator between God and men (1 Tim. 2:5), and to put any man in his place is to take from him his mediatorial work and to cast down the place of his sanctuary. The Papacy has done just this in making the Pope the vicar of God and the vicegerent of Christ. The vital doctrine upon which the whole Roman Catholic system rests is stated by Cardinal Newman (Roman Catholic) in these words:- {ND WWP, THD 20.2}
We observe that the essence of the doctrine that "there is one only Catholic and apostolic church" lies in this-that there is on earth a representative of our absent Lord, or a something divinely interposed between the soul and God, or a visible body with invisible privileges. All its subordinate characteristics flow from this description. {ND WWP, THD 20.3}
Upon this claim to be the vicegerent of God and
21
vicar of Christ is based the authority for the priesthood which derives all its power from the Pope:- {ND WWP, THD 20.4}
All the power of the Western priesthood is summed up in the Pope, who, according to the Roman dogma, by virtue of divine appointment, is head of the collective church, the viceroy of Christ upon earth.-Von Hase. {ND WWP, THD 21.1}
From these claims have been developed the whole system of the priesthood and the sacrificial service of Rome. By thus usurping the mediatorial work of Christ, and establishing upon earth a complete counterfeit of the true sanctuary service, the Papacy has taken away from Christ his continual mediation, and has established another way of access to God. This has been clearly expressed by another writer in the following language:- {ND WWP, THD 21.2}
Few of us have ever grasped the full significance of sacerdotalism as a papal device. It puts the priest between the soul and all else, even God, at every stage of development, in the most ingenious and subtle system ever imagined. . . . From cradle to grave, and even afterward [in masses for the dead], there is always a human mediator to interpose; and this alone accounts for the marvelous power of the priesthood wherever this eternal tribunal holds sway.-Dr. Arthur T. Pierson. {ND WWP, THD 21.3}
That the Papacy has actually accomplished the work described in this prophecy will hardly be denied by any Protestant who is familiar with its history. It has trampled upon the people of God and magnified itself in place of the Son of God. Instead of maintaining the teaching of the Scriptures concerning the heavenly sanctuary, and the mediatorial work of our great High Priest therein, it has established an earthly sanctuary with an earthly altar, an earthly offering, and an earthly priesthood, and claims to be "the medium of all intercourse between Christ and Christian people (the laity)-so that the gate of heaven is open to no
22
one to whom it is not opened by the priest." All this has been summed up in a remarkably forceful way by that eminent writer on the Papacy, Rev. J. A. Wylie:- {ND WWP, THD 21.4}
Popery has a god of its own-him, even whom the canon law calls the "Lord, our God." It has a savior of its own-the church, to wit. It has a sacrifice of its own-the mass. It has a mediator of its own-the priesthood. It has a sanctifier of its own-the sacrament. It has a justification of its own-that even of infused righteousness. It has a pardon of its own-the pardon of the confessional. And it has in the heavens an infallible, all-prevailing advocate unknown to the gospel-the "mother of God." It thus represents to the world a spiritual and saving apparatus for the salvation of men; and yet it neither sanctifies nor saves any one. It looks like a church. It professes to have all that a church ought to have, and yet it is not a church. It is a grand deception-"the all deceivableness of unrighteousness." {ND WWP, THD 22.1}
By such substitutions as these, the Papacy robbed Christ of his mediatorial function, and shut away from the people the knowledge of his intercession in the heavenly sanctuary, making, in fact, such an office entirely unnecessary by substituting another mediator and another intercessor. Thus did the man of sin sit in the temple of God, and set himself forth as God. {ND WWP, THD 22.2}
What the Third Angel's Message Restores
After such a work as this had been revealed to the prophet Daniel, he then heard the inquiry as to the limit of this usurpation of the mediatorial work of Christ, and the reply was given, "Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." This period extended to a. d. 1844, immediately after which this great threefold message had its rise. And in view of the facts already stated, it is of great significance that in this movement there was brought back to the people the knowledge of the mediatorial work of Christ in the heavenly
23
sanctuary. This is in perfect harmony with the prophecy that the Papacy would be allowed to tread down both the host and the sanctuary until the expiration of the period of the 2300 years. When the time came for our great High Priest to enter upon his final work of atonement in cleansing the sanctuary, then the knowledge of his mediatorial work must be restored to his people so that they may co-operate with him. {ND WWP, THD 22.3}
Inasmuch as the leading feature of the third message, which after 1844 would give the distinct character to the threefold movement, is its pronouncement against the worship of the beast and his image, it is certainly an essential part of this work to show clearly that the Papacy has taken from Christ the very means by which he would reconcile man unto God, and has substituted a merely human means of salvation. What the Papacy took away, this message is to restore; and for this reason the everlasting gospel must now be proclaimed in the sanctuary setting, in order that it may do its most effective work both among Roman Catholics and Protestants. Thus Christ is to be proclaimed again as the "minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man." This gives a significance to this great movement such as it derives from no other source; and this prophecy in the eighth chapter of Daniel, when correctly interpreted, is a most important means of apprehending an essential feature of the work which we are called upon to do. To rectify a mistake which has been made in the interpretation of the "daily" does not make any change in a fundamental doctrine of the third angel's message, but rather brings out with greater clearness the importance of that prophecy which has shaped this advent movement-the 2300 days. There is the most convincing evidence, both Biblical and historical, that this period commenced in b. c. 457 and terminated in a. d. 1844, at which time our great High Priest commenced
24
his ministry in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, and our interpretation of the "daily" only serves to emphasize the importance of this prophetic period in its relation to our work for this generation. It, therefore, seems a thousand pities that any effort should be made to withhold this knowledge from our people by attempting to maintain an interpretation of this prophecy which is contrary both to history and to sound principles of Scripture interpretation. W. W. Prescott. {ND WWP, THD 23.1} ...”
Owen Russell Loomis Crosier:
The Law of Moses, The Priesthood of Christ, pages 39.32 - 39.34 -
“... "Now when these things (the worldly Sanctuary with its two apartments and the furniture in each) were thus ordained, the priests went
always (daily, Hebrews 7:27; 10:11)
into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. "But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people." Hebrews 9:6,7. {1846 ORLC, LOM 39.32}
Here Paul divides the services of the Levitical priesthood into two classes -
one daily in the Holy, and the other yearly in the Holy of Holies. Their stated
daily services, performed in the Holy and at the brazen altar in the court before the tabernacle, consisted of a burnt-offering of two lambs,
one in the morning and
the other at even, with a meat-offering which was one tenth of an ephah of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil, and a drink-offering which was one-fourth of an hin of strong wine. The meat-offering was burnt with the lamb, and the drink-offering was poured in the Holy; Exodus 29:38-42; Numbers 28:3-8. In connection with this, they burned on the golden altar in the Holy, sweet incense, which was a very rich perfume, when they dressed and lighted the lamps every evening and morning. Exodus 30:34-38; 31:11; 30:7-9. The same was afterwards done at the Temple. 1 Chronicles 16:37-40; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 13:4-12; (13:3 see 2 Chronicles 31:3) Ezra 3:3. {1846 ORLC, LOM 39.33}
This did not atone for sins either individually or collectively.
The daily service described was a sort of
continual intercession; but the making of atonement was a special work for which special directions are given. Different words are used both in the Old Testament and New, to express the same idea as At-one-ment. {1846 ORLC, LOM 39.34} ...”
James White:
The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, by LeRoy Edwin Froom, Volume 4, Part III - Completing the Contribution of the Centuries by Retention, Restoration, and Advance, 1844-1875; Chapter 48: Raising Up the Foundations of Many Generations, IV. James White's Early Convictions on Prophecy, 7. Heavenly Sanctuary Trodden Underfoot; pages 1063.4 - 1064.2 -
“... 7. HEAVENLY SANCTUARY TRODDEN UNDERFOOT
White stood solidly with Crosier on the heavenly sanctuary as the one trodden underfoot (Dan. 8:11-14) when the "daily" was taken away. And from this he never veered. Because of this, his position is therefore recorded with some fullness: {1954 LEF, PFF4 1063.4}
"Those that teach that 'the promised land' is the Sanctuary must, therefore, admit that the words 'trodden under foot,' and 'trodden down,' are figurative expressions, and mean that the promised land has been overrun with 'the wicked agents of its desolation.' Then they should not object to our using the expressions figuratively, in applying the words 'trodden down' [Isa. Ixiii, 18] to the typical Sanctuary, and the words 'trodden under foot' [Dan. viii, 13] to 'the true Tabernacle' or 'Sanctuary' in heaven. {1954 LEF, PFF4 1063.5}
"It may be said that the heavenly Sanctuary is not 'capable of being trodden under foot.' But we ask, is it not as capable of being, trodden under foot as 'the Son of God,' who is the 'MINISTER' of the same Sanctuary? Says Paul: {1954 LEF, PFF4 1063.6}
"'Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath TRODDEN UNDER FOOT THE SON OF GOD, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace.'-Heb. x, 29. {1954 LEF, PFF4 1063.7}
"We say, then, that the Sanctuary in heaven has been trodden under foot in the same sense that the Son of God has been trodden under foot. In a similar manner has the 'host,' the true church, also, been trodden down. Those who have rejected the Son of God have trodden him under foot, and of course have trodden under foot his Sanctuary. {1954 LEF, PFF4 1063.8}
"The Catholic Church have trodden under foot, not only the 'Holy
1064
City,' but the Sanctuary, and its Minister, or Priest, 'the Son of God.' Rome has been called 'the Holy City,' and the 'Eternal City,' which can only be said of the City of the living God, the New Jerusalem. {1954 LEF, PFF4 1063.9}
"The Pope has professed to have 'power on earth to forgive sins,' which power belongs alone to Christ. The people have been taught to look to 'the man of sin,' seated in his temple, or as Paul says—'so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God,' &c.—instead of looking to Jesus, seated at the right hand of the Father, in the heavenly Sanctuary. In thus turning away from Jesus, who alone could forgive sins, and give eternal life, and in bestowing on the Pope such titles as MOST HOLY LORD, they have 'trodden under foot the Son of God.' And in calling Rome the 'Eternal City,' and the 'Holy City,' they have trodden down the City of the living God, and the heavenly Sanctuary. The 'host,' the true church that have looked to Jesus in the true Sanctuary for pardon of sins, and eternal life, has, as well as their Divine Lord and his Sanctuary, been trodden under foot. Yes, the true worshipers have been rejected and persecuted, and some of the brightest 'stars,' or gospel ministers, in the church have been 'stamped upon' by the little horn." 12 {1954 LEF, PFF4 1064.1}
So in 1851 James White held the unvarying position that the treading down of the sanctuary and the taking away of the "daily" typified the daring career of the Little Horn of Daniel 8. He also remarks that those Protestants who rejected the idea of the heavenly sanctuary and applied it to the holy land must, in order to be consistent, allow a typical sanctuary, since they believe in a figurative treading underfoot. {1954 LEF, PFF4 1064.2} ...”
It seems that those who took the same basic idea that
“the daily” was 'paganism', generally, and simply, followed William Miller into his understanding
2 Thessalonians 2:7 KJB, or at least made an honest mistake in comparing line upon line, attempting to combine the phraseology of Daniel's
“the daily” which was to be
“taken away” and the
2 Thessalonians 2:7 KJB passage and its
“taken out of the way” and [ incorrectly] concluded that it referred to the
“let[ting power]” therein.
Though
Ellen G. White agrees that the
“let” [hindrance] was Pagan Rome [through its persecutions of all claiming to be Christian], and the
“Mystery of Iniquity” was indeed, Papal Rome, please notice that she
did not say that the
“daily” of Daniel was 'pagan Rome/paganism' which was to be
“taken out of the way” in
2 Thessalonians 2:7 KJB. Instead, notice, whom she declares is to be removed [
“taken away”] and when it was to occur and by whom it was to occur:
The Signs Of The Times; June 12, 1893, “Build The Old Waste Places”, by Ellen G. White -
http://text.egwwritings.org/publica...he+way&resultId=5&year=1893&month=June&day=12
“... The mystery of iniquity, which had already begun to work in Paul’s day, will continue its work until it be taken out of the way at our Lord’s second coming. The climax of the working of iniquity will soon be reached. When the land which the Lord provided as an asylum for his people, that they might worship him according to the dictates of their own consciences, the land over which for long years the shield of Omnipotence has been spread, the land which God has favored by making it the depository of the pure religion of Christ,—when that land shall, through its legislators, abjure the principles of Protestantism, and give countenance to Romish apostasy in tampering with God’s law,—it is then that the final work of the man of sin will be revealed. Protestants will throw their whole influence and strength on the side of the Papacy; by a national act enforcing the false Sabbath, they will give life and vigor to the corrupt faith of Rome, reviving her tyranny and oppression of conscience. Then it will be time for God to work in mighty power for the vindication of his truth. ...”
It is the
“mystery of iniquity” which is to be
“taken out of the way” at Christ's Second Advent, by Jesus Christ Himself. Thus Miller in his interpretation, and the others which basically followed his connection between “taken away” in Daniel, and “taken out of the way” in 2 Thessalonians, is incorrect, and thus 2 Thessalonians 2:7 KJB, cannot be used to show that Daniel's
“the daily” is 'paganism'. They weren't and aren't wicked, just mistaken. It is God's grace that sustained them, even as He sustains us. Let us therefore be patient with one another in what we share, and so listening, testing, and shewing all things by the scriptures [KJB].
... Chapter [10] follows] ...