August 3: THE INTENT TO CHANGE TIMES AND LAW
Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.” Revelation 10:4
What? We have just been informed that Daniel’s sealed book has been opened for us, and now John hears something important that he wants to write down. Nevertheless, he obeyed the voice from heaven and did not write it. There is apparently an important revelation yet to come as we gain a better comprehension of Daniel’s writings. For centuries, the Protestant Reformers were discovering clues in Daniel that revealed operative methods of antichrists (1 John 2:18). The prefix “anti” means against, but it also means in the place of. The Reformers who spoke up regarding the papacy muscling its way into the place of Christ were from inside the church of Rome. With access to the Scriptures, it was inevitable that these literate and sincere studiers would find truths that exposed the unscrupulous dealings and doctrines of the apostate church. Many lost their lives as a result, but not before countless additional eyes were opened to the truth.
No one can take the place of Christ. But the papacy gained a deadly foothold in the minds and hearts of illiterate masses, instructing them that an occasional confession to a priest took the place of a daily (Daniel 8:11-13) relationship with Jesus, changing the reckoning of each day (from sunset-to-sunset, to midnight-to-midnight), and the day of rest from the seventh day to the first day of the week (see 7:25). Other alterations to the Ten Commandment Law were made also, such as deleting the second commandment, severely abbreviating the fourth (now third due to deleting the second), and splitting the tenth into two. Confusing? Yes!
History records that papal establishment was firm as of AD538, when the third of the three nations that stood up against it was completely destroyed. All three of these were plucked out by the roots (Daniel 7:8, see also v.24), meaning the people massacred and their written records and libraries were totally destroyed. This freed Rome to portray them as “unrighteous.”
There are seven mentions in Scripture of the 1260-year period of unfettered rampaging of the church of Rome: Daniel 7:25; 12:7; Revelation 11:2,3; 12:6,14; 13:5. Prophecy foretold and history confirms the 1260-year era that began in 538 and ended in 1798 (see July 30 entry).
Just after 1798 there was a surge of interest in the longest Bible prophecy. It is the 2300-day prophecy recorded in Daniel 8:14. Bible students from every denomination had done the math, based upon the beginning date specified in Daniel 9:25 and set in Ezra 7:7-13. The date was 457BC. Applying the day/year principle of prophetic time (Ezekiel 4:6 and others) led them to the year 1844. Let us look at the wording of this prophecy: “For two thousand three hundred days, then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.” (Daniel 8:14). A popular and widespread Protestant belief was that the cleansing of the sanctuary was equal to the day of Christ’s return. Thus, in the decades preceding 1844, there was much fervent preaching about the imminent return of Jesus!
The seven thunders from heaven uttered a complete message for those on earth. But John did not write it, as there was yet something for God’s people to unlearn…. Keep tuning in!
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” John 16:12