INTRODUCTION
Isaiah 28: 9,10. “Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.”
“It is too late in the day to feed with milk. If souls a month or two old in the truth, who are about to enter the time of trouble such as never was, cannot hear all the straight truth, or endure the strong meat of the straightness of the way, how will they stand in the day of battle? Truths that we have been years learning must be learned in a few months by those who now embrace the Third Angel’s Message.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, p. 33.
Isaiah 41:21-23 “Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong [reasons], saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring [them] forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they [be], that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye [are] gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold [it] together.”
CALAMITIES OF THE LAST DAYS
“On one occasion, when in New York City, I was in the night season called upon to behold buildings rising story after story toward heaven. These buildings were warranted to be fireproof, and they were erected to glorify their owners and builders. Higher and still higher these buildings rose, and in them the most costly materials was used.
“I thought: ` Oh, that those who are thus investing their means could see their course as God sees it! They are piling up magnificent buildings, but how foolish in the sight of the Ruler of the universe is their planning and devising. They are not studying with all the powers of heart and mind how they may glorify God. They have lost sight of this, the first duty of man.
“As these lofty buildings went up, the owners rejoiced with ambitious pride that they had money to use in gratifying self and provoking the envy of their neighbors. The time is coming when in their fraud and insolence men will reach a point that the Lord will not permit them to pass, and they will learn that there is a limit to the forbearance of Jehovah.
“The scene that next passed before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly fireproof buildings and said: `They are perfectly safe.’ But these buildings were consumed as if made of pitch. The fire engines could do nothing to stay the destruction. The firemen were unable to operate the engines.
“I am instructed that when the Lord’s time comes, should no change have taken place in the hearts of proud, ambitious human beings, men will find that the hand that had been strong to save will be strong to destroy. No earthly power can stay the hand of God. No material can be used in the erection of buildings that will preserve them from destruction when God’s appointed time comes to send retribution on men for their disregard of His law and for their selfish ambition.” {Testimonies to the Church, vol. 9, pp. 11, 12, 13}.
“While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence.” {The Great Controversy, p. 589, 590}.
There are many un-precedented crises that are transpiring in the world today, that are baffling the minds of great men, within and without the church. As for us who are in the SDA church many of these incidents seem not to be correlating with our prophetic expectations. The escalating Mid East crisis has been very outstanding for decades, but seeing that it, apparently has nothing to do with the Mark of the Beast or the #666 it seems not to catch much attention. The attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 has caught us all off guard, so much so that it led the country to cry out to God. This barbarous act has sent a shock wave throughout the world. With America and her allies involved in a war against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, and an ever ongoing conflict between Israel Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, many news media are now labeling this as the beginning of World War III. In previous publications we have explained in detail the prophecies which predict a World War, with Israel at the epicenter. We will endeavor again to address this issue hoping that you will see the validity and significance of our warning message. We are very much concerned about the prophecy of Daniel 11:44, 45 in relation to current events.
Daniel 11:45. “And he (the king of the north) shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.” (Brackets added).
Daniel 12:1, 2 .“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: …”
Here it says the King of the North will plant the Tabernacles of his palace between the seas of the Glorious Holy Mountain (Palestine) and he shall come to his end and none shall help him. In the booklet by Sister White and James White entitled: “A Word To The Little Flock,” pp. 8, 9, it is clearly stated that the King of the North in Daniel 11:45 is the Two Horn Beast (Rev. 13:11-18) – the USA), and we quote:
“That Jesus rose up, and shut the door, and came to the Ancient of days, to receive His kingdom, at the 7th month, 1844, I fully believe. See Luke 13:25; Mat. 25:10; Dan. 7:13, 14. But the standing up of Michael, Dan. 12:1, appears to be another event, for another purpose. Michael is to stand up at the time that the last power in chapter 11, comes to his end, and none to help him. This power is the last that treads down the true church of God: and as the true church is still trodden down, and cast out by all Christendom, it follows that the last oppressive power has not `come to his end;’ and Michael has not stood up. This last power that treads down the saints is brought to view in Rev. 13:11-18. His number is 666.”
Some un-authoritatively teach that the King of the North in Dan. 11:45 is the Papacy but that does not fit into current events nor the prophecy. Daniel 11:45 is pointing to a major Arab, Israeli/USA war–World War III. A war in which overall Daniel 11:45 is saying, is that the USA/England (King of the North) will eventually get themselves bogged down and humiliated in a military confrontation in the Middle East, from which no one will come to their help. They will be humiliated. This is not because they are outmatched, but because God so dictates. Their humiliation and non reception of help suggests that the USA will eventually become estranged from the United Nations. The U.N. thus having become non-effective may ultimately be replaced by the woman BABYLON THE GREAT (Rev. 17) the supposed remedy for the world’s problems. This woman Babylon represents the forthcoming predicted One-World, religio-political-commercial empire to be instigated by the USA in the time of the Mark of the Beast. (Rev. 13:15, 16). This will then bring about the great Time of Trouble in Daniel 12:1, at which time Michael will have to stand up to deliver the saints whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. What will the President’s road map to peace (some Palestinian refer to it as the road map to hell) in the Mid-East evolve into? Only time will tell. Stay with us now as we view the present world crisis through the super lenses of the “more sure Word of prophecy.”