Chapter 10
#10_01
This tenth Chapter of the educational seminar series, Prophecies of Jesus, begins with a most basic discussion (#10_01) about Your Relationship with Jesus. A forever friendship with Jesus, our Father in heaven, and Holy Spirit, is best spoken about in the wonderful song: Getting to know you, getting to feel free and easy, Getting to know you, getting to feel you know me? – that is the essence of friendship. Think through the counsel in this document.
Scripture: John 17:3
Title: Your Relationship with Jesus
Many people, even Seventh-day Adventist Christians, are afraid of last-day events and “bury their heads in the sand” as it were, fearing to even study them. That need not be. The great day of God is to be a time of deliverance for God’s people. The Bible refers to this event as the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). The whole world may be in convulsion just before that great event, but the Christian is to be full of assurance at that time, because of his relationship with God. The most important thing each of us can do, as we prepare for the climactic events unfolding before our very eyes today, is to develop a deep, abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. It is that abiding relationship that I want to explore with you today.
How do we abide in Him? How can we build that relationship? You have accepted Jesus as your Saviour. I hope you have also accepted Him as your Lord – your King. This is an on-going process of overcoming sin begun by making your Covenant with Him in baptism. This is the first step you must take.
It is important for you to have declared to Him at your baptism that you do not want to sin, any sin, any more, and to have asked Him to help you to overcome by giving you Holy Spirit. On His part of the Covenant, He has promised to be your God, and make you His child. You must receive His Holy Spirit to dwell with you, in you, as Christ’s representative and your teacher of righteousness. [You may need re-baptism if you didn’t make this Covenant with God because of lack of Bible preparation for your baptism].
As you make conscious decisions to submit to His will, Jesus overcomes your sinful, fallen human nature, and thus you keep His Commandments through submission to Him. This we must do, till He comes in the clouds of heaven, or until we fall asleep in Jesus, and He resurrects us to eternal life!
But there is more to our relationship with Him. We submit to His will, and keep His Commandments, because we are every day learning to love Him more and more, both for what He has done for us upon that cruel cross, and for what He is accomplishing in us and through us every day! Yet there is still more to be enjoyed in this relationship.
The second step is, you want to get better acquainted with Him, whom to know is eternal life! John 17:3 – “And this is eternal life, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” The great news is, Jesus also wants to get better acquainted with you! You see, that’s how wonderful God is. He not only desires you to come to Him, but He wants to come to you. He not only wants you to learn about Him, but He wants to learn about you. He is the God of relationships.
Developing a relationship with Jesus is done in the same way as developing a deep relationship with a human being. It means taking time together, listening to your friend, talking together. As a Christian desiring a deeper relationship with Jesus, you will need to allow sufficient time to spend with your best Friend. The often neglected ingredient to this relationship is to listen to the God-head, all three of Them. It is difficult, even for Them, to form a deep relationship with us if we are always talking!
God speaks to us through His Word, the Holy Scriptures. That’s why Christians need to set aside time each day for the study of God’s Word.
Develop a study program of your own choice; not just to get knowledge, but rather to learn more about your God. Don’t study just to discover a text that you can use to prove a point to someone, but instead always ask the question: “What is God saying to me in this passage?” Listen quietly for the voice of God. Don’t just read – listen as you read. Hear His voice. The best anyone, in my experience, has described it, is mental telepathy. Is that too “science fiction” for you to accept? Think about it. Don’t you send your prayers direct to the throne of God by mental telepathy? You do not, most of the time, speak out your requests or joys to God, but you inherently know that They can hear your thoughts. (See Mt.6:6-8). Is it so inconceivable that you might hear Their thoughts back to you? Listen: and you will find that thoughts, and especially relevant texts of Scripture, will enter your mind! Holy Spirit often leads you, as you study, from text to text to help you present truth to others. This is marvelous in my eyes!
When you are struggling with untruth clothed in religious garb, He can bring to your mind the answer that will free you from error! To illustrate, one time I was taught, in a small group, that saints that had passed away after the beginning of the Judgment hour in 1844, would be “regenerated” – meaning that people living on the earth at the time for the Second Coming of Jesus, would suddenly realize that they were that other person, “regenerated” in them! This was to explain to us (note: a false theory!) how these people, who were true saints, shall be alive to see Jesus come. Good people told me that this was heresy: yet they could not tell me what was wrong about it. I went home and agonized about it in silent prayer, and even then (I was only a short time an Adventist) I had learned to listen for God’s answer. Strongly impressed on my mind, immediately, was the text, “The dead know not any thing!”
I could not see any connection between that text and my question! I continued to pray. Again the thought was impressed on my mind, so loudly (without any sound) that it almost shocked me! So I took my Bible and looked up the text to see if that answer made sense of my problem. I found it by using my Cruden’s Concordance, looking up the key word in the text, “dead.” It’s in Ecclesiastes 9:5. As often happens, I was taught, the context, the verses in the immediate vicinity of the text in question (I try to read about the size of an average chapter around the text because of this) the context revealed the connection. Verse 6: “…neither have they any more a portion for ever [till resurrection] in any thing that is done under the sun!” The Bible teaches that death is a sleep (read John, chapter 11) and the heresy was that what was termed “regeneration” was simply “re-incarnation” hidden behind a new term! [There will be an early resurrection of some saints, and some of the murders of Jesus and God’s children – Daniel 12:2].
Each person will be judged by his own life, and will not “become” someone who lived in the past. We sleep till Jesus “wakes” us in resurrection, and not before. But note: we only sleep! When we awake, it will be to continue life in eternal life, as Jesus has promised those who are His at His Coming (or, sadly, eternal death after having been Judged, if we did not make God our Saviour). And so, it was heresy that I had been taught, and I thereafter sought to expose it for what it was! God had spoken, telepathically if you will, and I heard Him. Now, I ever seek to communicate with them, in prayer, listening as well as talking to Them! Won’t you seek to do that too?
I also found that Holy Spirit does other things to communicate truth to us. Have you ever had a text seem to stand out on the page when you have had a Bible question you have pondered, and that text “loudly” reveals the answer? Truly Communicating with God can be exciting! If you can’t find an answer to your question, tell Jesus you are putting that question on a shelf in your mind, and will re-visit it till He brings you an answer! He loves you to do that, so that you know it when He answers your question! One time it took 2 weeks, and the answer was in our daily lesson study. He knew it was there, and made it stand out like it was in bold print.
We do, of course, need to talk to God. They have invited us to come right into Their very presence, by faith, and talk to Them. See Hebrews 10:19-22. What a wonderful God! True prayer, however, is not formal words, but a message to Them directly from our heart. We need to speak to God as we would to our best and closest friend, confiding to Them all that troubles us, all that we hope for, how we feel about Them and what They mean to us, our joys, our desire to work with Them for others; everything to do with our life with Them. We can and must communicate with the infinite God of the universe!
May I suggest that you get better acquainted with Jesus by reading about His life here on earth from the gospels, followed by reading Desire of Ages. Then, perhaps, read the exciting story of the beginning of Christianity in the book of Acts, followed by reading Great Controversy, and move on to the writings of John and Paul. Then study a pamphlet Bible study series that gets you into the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, and follow that up with Daniel and the Revelation, by Uriah Smith.
The third step you need to take for this relationship is to make time to spend with Them. In our busy schedules today, it is too easy to skip our special time with God. Yet, if we do not take this time, like any relationship, it will begin to slip away from us. Since this is the most important relationship in our lives (our eternal life depends on it!) we must make time every day for it.
A SPECIAL DAY FOR BUILDING THE RELATIONSHIP While a half hour or more each day is essential to build a relationship with our God, They have indicated that we also need to devote one whole day each week exclusively to that relationship. In the beginning of human history, before sin entered this world, God set aside a specific day of the week which would be dedicated exclusively to fellowship between God and the men and women They had created.
Notice the record of the day after They had created Adam and Eve: “And on the seventh day, God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: Because that in it He had rested from all His work Which God created and made.” Genesis 2:2,3. God had spent six days creating the vast world that Adam and Eve now inhabited. In the cool of that Friday evening, God came down to Adam and Eve and introduced them to the Sabbath – the memorial of all His creative activity. (In the whole Bible, the “day” begins with the evening {at sunset} and continues with the rest of the day {daylight hours} called the “morning,” which ends at sunset. Genesis 1, verse 5 states it this way: “The evening and the morning were the first day.” Leviticus 23:32, states clearly, “…from even unto even shall you celebrate your Sabbath.”) God did not give Adam and Eve the Sabbath because they needed to rest; they hadn’t even worked yet! Nor did God give the Sabbath because He needed to rest. God gave the Sabbath at this critical time in Eden so that the beings whom He had created could spend this time with Him, celebrating what He had done, with Him! In this way, every week, God and man could become better acquainted and get to really know each other.
Note that God’s purpose in giving the Sabbath was not for sleep (though we may enjoy and even need part of it for that) but it was for the development of a deep and abiding relationship between God and mankind. Our God is a God of relationships. They really want to know us. Each one of us: even an infinite number of us. So, He has set aside one day each week for the purpose of getting to know the beings He had created. [re-read this sentence!].
After God had brought the Israelite nation out of the house of bondage in the land of Egypt, and saved them from the Egyptians, He brought them to Himself, and gave them instructions – torah – translated “the law” in our Bibles. The term refers to all of God’s instructions whether moral, civil, social, or religious – even laws of health! Most basic to His instructions, and specially to do with our relationship with Him, He offered a Covenant to each of us, that contained various requirements that would be crucial for maintaining the special relationship He seeks with the beings He has created. “And He declared unto you His Covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even ten Commandments; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone.” (Deuteronomy 4:13).
Yet, in their fallen humanity, they could not keep the sacred law; they needed, as we do, a divine relationship to enable them to live a life in harmony with the Ten Commandments. So, in the very heart of the Commandments, He put the Sabbath Commandment. God knew that only by keeping the fourth Commandment and thereby developing a deep, spiritual relationship with Them, would it be possible for us to keep the other nine Commandments.
Many people today feel that they do not need to keep the Sabbath Commandment. They call it “the Jewish Sabbath,” even though the origin of the Sabbath is at Creation, not Sinai. But God has not left this choice to us. They decided that we need this special time with Them. Do we know better than God does? The last days of human history demand the deepest relationship with God that mankind has ever experienced. They need to warn us of the terrific danger that we will be deceived by the “beast” and his “image” and by Satan Himself, into losing the gift of God, which is eternal life. The wages of sin (breaking the Commandments) is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23).
Satan caused the church of the Dark Ages to think to change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, so that people would lose that deep relationship with their Creator. Then they withheld the Bible from the people as well. The real relationship with God was almost lost. But, at the darkest hour, God brought the Reformation, and took the “man of sin” “out of the way” (2 Thessalonians 2:3 and 7). This “man of sin” is the head of the “beast” power. Its “mortal wound was healed:” and today, “all the world wonders after the beast!” Rev.13:3.
We have arrived at the end of time. It is important that the great Sabbath truth once again be restored to God’s people. This is not the legalistic keeping of a day, such as the Jewish Pharisees taught, but rather the keeping of a special day each week in order to maintain a spiritual relationship with our God. This is a bulwark against the “beast” power, who is about to gain full control of the world as the leader of the New World Order.
The only ones who will stand on the Lord’s side in that crisis hour are those who have a deep, obedient relationship with Jesus. Such a relationship can be gained only by daily Bible study and prayer, and by weekly Sabbath keeping. This is why the Sabbath is one of the crucial issues in last-day events! The “remnant” people of God, “which keep the Commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 12:17) will be ready to stand at the Second Coming of Jesus, only because they have taken adequate time to build this solid relationship. They not only have daily time with God, but they also keep God’s Sabbath for the purpose of intensifying that relationship. Theirs is not a legalistic obedience, springing out of obligation, but a loving experience developed out of their ever deepening, abiding relationship! [But NOTE WELL, they must have “the testimony of Jesus,” which is prophetic knowledge given by the Spirit of Prophecy! They will know their Message given in Rev. 14:6-11].
Many people, even many who are keeping the Sabbath, but legalistically, will be swept away by the deceptions of the last days. Jesus Himself tells us, “For false Christs [Satan himself will counterfeit the Second Coming of Jesus!] and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.” (Mark 13:22.) I like Mark’s gospel, because he writes certain slightly different wordings of statements by Jesus that are very helpful to our study of the Bible. Note the next verse that Mark includes. Jesus states, “But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.” How can we be kept from being deceived by the deceptions of the last days? Jesus has foretold us all things that we need to know. If we will study His testimony in the prophetic books of the Bible, Holy Spirit will teach us what prophecy reveals! That is the biggest part of our protection. The testimony of Jesus is defined by Revelation 19:10. “…for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy.” Not only do we get to know Jesus by Bible study, but we learn from prophecy what He knows about the future for our protection from deception!
History is racing toward the climax of the ages – the Second Coming of Jesus! Are you ready? If you develop and deepen your relationship with God through regular Bible study, prayer, and weekly Sabbath keeping, and Sabbath Bible Study with other believers, (especially Sabbath School for adults) then you too will rejoice in the blessed hope of the glorious and soon appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Our father in heaven, Holy Spirit, and Jesus, our High Priest and Saviour, thank You that You want us to be your sons and daughters, side by side with our “brother” Jesus. It is a great privilege to be a part of the Family of God, and we are learning to live that truth day by day! Please speak to us. We are constantly trying to hear You, and wanting to hear Your voice. Thank you for returning to us your written Word, to help open our conversation with You! Help us to apply what we have learned today, and re-study it often so as to keep improving our Relationship with Jesus and with You Father, through communication by Holy Spirit. Amen.
Document #10_02, God’s Eternal and Temple Thrones, starts a series that takes a serious look at preconceptions used by Satan to confuse God’s remnant people. You will meet and must be ready to answer this one.
Scripture: Daniel 7:9,10
Title: God’s Eternal Throne And God’s Throne in the Heavenly Sanctuary
The Judgment (blotting out of sins) began in the heavenly Sanctuary, in 1844, fulfilling the prophecy of Daniel 7, verses 9 and 10. As should be expected, at the fulfillment of this prophecy, the First Angel’s Message was proclaimed: “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His Judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Rev.14:6,7, (which quotes from the 4th Commandment). Thus, the SANCTUARY and SABBATH truths have been restored to their proper place since 1844-1846.
Because of a preconception (“An idea or opinion formed or conceived in advance of careful investigation.” – Dictionary definition) that God’s throne has always been in the Sanctuary, and that Christ, after ascending on high, sat there at the right hand of His Father, men have put forth every effort possible to prove that Christ entered “within the veil” immediately after He left His disciples, which would negate our whole belief in 1844! But all such efforts are not supported by the teaching of the example Sanctuary on earth.
We must, therefore, diligently entreat the Lord for the promised Comforter to lead us into all truth, and to save us from taking things for granted. “…prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:19-21. Therefore we must seek His help to discern truth, for “Thus saith the Lord, ‘Cursed be the man who trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm.'” Jeremiah 17:5. Beware of Commentaries, for they lead our mind, and we may misapprehend foundational truths! This is a foundational truth, hidden behind their preconception, supported by some Commentaries.
The Sanctuary is God’s temporary, not eternal, throne room. It is a “lower court” designed for dealing with sin. From it, while sin exists, the Lord carries on the work of removing sin and sinners from the universe. Not until after sin came into the universe could the Sanctuary have existed in Heaven. Since earthly beings, themselves having never been in Heaven, are naturally strangers to Heaven’s realities (I Cor. 2:9, 10) then in order for God to make heavenly truth known to them, He must reveal it by means of earthly realities with which they are familiar. Hence, through the Sanctuary work on earth is seen the Sanctuary work in Heaven (See Heb. 9:1-9). Indeed, the Sanctuary above being the pattern of the one below, the services of the former are therefore definitely revealed in the services of the latter. And the fact that the earthly was appointed as a place for confession and for forgiveness of sins shows that the throne room in the heavenly Sanctuary is only temporary.
Now: let us consider John the revelator’s vision of the heavenly Sanctuary, about 96 A.D.: “I looked,” he exclaimed, “and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, ‘Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.'” Rev. 4:1. (Please here read Revelation 4:2-6; 5:6, 11.) These verses bring to view a twofold scene. On the one hand, before the throne are “seven lamps burning” and the “Lamb as it had been slain,” showing that the throne was “set” there to serve still in time of probation. The light from the seven lamps represents the light of truth in the Church while the blood of the Lamb is atoning for sinful beings. On the other hand, upon the throne sits the Ancient of days, the Judge, surrounded by the jury of twenty-four elders – great leaders from the unfallen worlds of God’s universe (crowned kings) who sing a new song of praise to Jesus, the Lamb who can open the seals of the great scroll that will outline the prophetic events leading to the establishment of the kingdom of Jesus. They praise Jesus, Who is worthy of opening the scroll “because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God…” (Rev. 5, v.9 NIV Bible) “‘redeemed’… out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” KJV Bible. Please NOTE WELL: The translators of the KJV mistranslated this verse because of their own belief, rather than be true to the text. Not aware that there could be other life in the universe, that has not fallen, (a belief still held by many today, that man is a unique Creation never Created before) they made these people some of those who are redeemed from the earth. See the descriptions of Divine Meetings in the book of Job; – – Meetings attended by the representatives of the worlds of the universe. Satan came among them, and God challenged Satan’s right to be there, as earth’s representative, because there are those on earth who are not Satan’s followers, but God’s followers. (Job as example).
Therefore, replace verses 9 and 10 with those verses from the NIV Bible. Besides the Father God, and these 24 “Jurists,” at this important meeting, there are the four “beasts”, (better – “living creatures”) plus the angelic witnesses numbering “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,” with the Lamb, our Advocate, in the midst. Rev.5:6 All this shows the combined mediatorial-Judicial work of the Sanctuary first apartment.
This point bears review. We have seen that when John in vision beheld the door-the word “door” here refers to the “hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation” (see Exodus 26:36, Numbers 3:25; 4:25) – as it therefore opened to the first apartment of the heavenly Sanctuary, he was permitted to look within, and that the [prophetic] things which he saw were to take place “hereafter” from his time, showing thereby that at the time of his vision (about 96 A.D.) the Most Holy apartment ministry was still closed. It is not opened until the Seventh Seal is opened [after the French Revolution], and in Rev. 8:1 and 2, at the time for the TRUMPETS, when Jesus, the High Priest with the golden censer, is doing the Day of Atonement work in the Most Holy Place. (The Judgment throne is there on the Day of Atonement.)
In addition to this, we shall now see from Daniel’s prophecy, Daniel 7:9,10,26, that the Judgment throne was set up in the Most Holy apartment of the heavenly Sanctuary, at the earliest, after the “little horn” of Daniel 7 came up: “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. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, [put in place] and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool: His throne was like the fiery flame and His wheels as burning fire.” [Why do you think His throne has wheels, hm?] “A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him; the Judgment was set, and the books were opened.” Both John’s and Daniel’s visions reveal that the final Judgment throne (in the Most Holy place) was not “set up” until somewhere in the days of ecclesiastical Rome (Dan. 7:21,22,26).
Hence, elsewhere than in the Sanctuary is God’s eternal throne room.
Because the Judgment throne in the Most Holy place was not yet in existence therein in the days of the early Christian Church, therefore the throne upon which Stephen saw Christ at the “right hand of God” (Acts 7:56) could not have been the Judgment throne which is in the Most Holy place but rather had to be the throne which is in Paradise, whence flows “the river of water of life,” and on either side of which is “the tree of life.” Rev. 22:1,2. Very obviously, therefore, the throne which Stephen saw is “the throne of God and of the Lamb,” the throne permanent and eternal. Round about this glory seat are no beasts, no witnesses, no jury, and before it is “no candle,” and no blood to be offered. In short, it stands, not in the sin-laden Sanctuary, but in Paradise. It is the sovereign administrative throne from which the Infinite eternally governs His universe of immortal sinless beings!
To this throne, then, which is from everlasting to everlasting, Christ ascended and thereat sat down at the right hand of His Father (from thence ministering in the Holy Place) until the time came when, in fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy and of John’s Revelation, Jesus and the Father moved from the Holy Place to the Most Holy. There, Jesus does not sit as the King at the right hand of God, but rather is brought before God as a High Priest Intercessor, pleading for us sinful human beings in the Judgment. Hence, when, after His ascension, His mediatorial work commenced, it was in the Holy Place, and it did not move into the Most Holy until at the commencement of the antitypical Day of Atonement; – the “cleansing of the Sanctuary” at the end of the 2300 day prophecy.
Just as in the earthly Sanctuary the high priest (typifying Christ) officiated first, as we know, in the Holy apartment throughout the year, then upon the Day of Atonement, the day of cleansing the Sanctuary and Judging the people, he officiated in the Most Holy, the earthly services disallow Christ’s entering the Most Holy apartment of the heavenly Sanctuary immediately after His ascension.
From the foregoing facts, the only admissible conclusion is that Christ, immediately after His ascension, rather than entering within the veil in the Sanctuary, sat down at the right hand of His Father, conjointly with His Father on the eternal Sovereign Throne (“the Throne of God and the Lamb”). From there, They rule the sinless universe.
From there, also, both of them, with a moveable Sanctuary Throne (wheels on it) went and worked in the Holy apartment ministry of the Sanctuary, [NO VAIL THERE – Rev. 4:5,6 and Rev. 5:6 – the Lamb] until They entered the Most Holy in 1844. Hebrews chapter 8:1 and 2: “…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.” “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Indeed, “…now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And, as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the Judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them without sin [after the cleansing of the Sanctuary] that look for Him shall He appear the second time unto salvation.” (Heb. 9: 24, 26-28). To the Jewish Christian writer of Hebrews (probably the apostle Paul) “…in the end of the world” was, in his understanding, the end of the 70 weeks (490 years allotted to the Jews before their Judgment hour began – Daniel 9:24). After that, the church was waiting for Jesus to return. Concerning the commencement of the final work of Judging and cleansing, the angel said unto Daniel, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Dan.8:14.
Since, accordingly, the cleansing takes place at the termination of the twenty-three hundred days, and since it is, as we have seen, the Judgment, which the writer of the book of Hebrews knew takes place in “the end of the world” (Heb. 9:26), consequently the termination of the twenty-three hundred days (years), and the beginning of the mediatorial-Judicial work of Christ are, upon the authority of Inspiration Itself, timed to the end of the world.
Now, armed with the truth about the two thrones and the proper timing of the activities there, let us tackle Hebrews chapter 9, KJV, where the critics are so certain that Christ entered into His Day of Atonement ministry in the Most Holy, upon His ascension.
Hebrews 9:24 to 26 are used to uphold their theory. “For Christ is [entered into the heavenly Sanctuary] …now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others [blood for others’ sins]: For then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
First, let us notice some of the defining verses in the chapter so that we don’t look to the chapters of Leviticus for their definition, when the definitions are right here in the chapter. At the end of verse 2, the writer defines the first apartment of the Sanctuary as simply “the Sanctuary.” Note well: “hagia” – no article – holy place – singular. Next, verse 3, he defines the apartment after the second veil as the tabernacle (tent) which is called “the Holiest of all.” – Holy [singular]- (hagia – no article) of Holies [plural] -hagiown. Because of these definitions, when we read “holy place” we should think first apartment, and when we read “holiest of all” only then may we think second apartment, where the Judgment throne for the Day of Atonement is.
The writer then speaks of the earthly Sanctuary, saying, vs. 6-8, “Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always 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: the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing” [yet having standing or effect – first apartment ministry is still in effect]. Notice v. 8. The formula “holiest of all” is used for the second time: definitely meaning after the second veil [but only using the second word, “hagiown” of the formula.] Compare Heb. 10:19.
Also, the formula “first tabernacle” is used for the second time, so that is referring to the first apartment. In it, the writer continues, both gifts (No gifts are used in the Day of Atonement ritual) and sacrifices were offered, “which stood only in meats and drinks…and carnal ordinances (first apartment offerings) imposed on them until the time of reformation” [when Christ would begin His work as High Priest]. Verse 11 comes forward in history to that point, when Christ became High Priest.
“But Christ being come an High Priest…by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Notice above, the term is; “holy place.”(KJV) The Greek here is definitely plural, “holy places,” (ta hagia – with the article) but the translators chose to name it singular, because the “redemption” is a first apartment requirement. We will see, however, that both heavenly holy places is here correct, when we compare “line with line” verses 12 and 24 (ta hagia).
Then, the writer turns to a new emphasis – Jesus is the mediator of the New Testament – verse 15. His death is the true redemption.
The writer’s next emphasis needs to be noted very carefully; for it is the context for what follows. Verse 18 begins this new emphasis. “Where-upon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.” The meaning of the whole rest of the chapter is dependent on this context. When Moses dedicated the first Sanctuary, note verse 21, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. “Line upon line” compare verse 23: “It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified (think dedicated) with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”
The following verse, verse 25, if you compare KJV to NIV, is problematic to the context, except when you refer to the Greek. Rather than referring to the once a year entering of the high priest into the “Holiest of all,” – NIV – it is referring to all of the work of the high priest throughout the year, including the yearly Day of Atonement. Remember the definition for the second apartment? It must be “the Holiest of all,” … right? The Greek word used here is instead the plural for “holies” (ta hagia) that refers to both apartments, as we have seen. “Line upon line” cements this as so. Compare Heb.7, verse 27 with Heb. 9:25, and we see that the high priest both daily and yearly dealt with sacrifices in the temple services.
Interestingly, Heb. 9:25 does not include the Day of Atonement blood “which he offered for himself” of verse 7, but only refers to the blood of others, for their sins. You can see that the emphasis is on the whole year work of the high priest, rather than on the Day of Atonement work only.
So, when Jesus ascended into heaven, the first work He had to do was to symbolically dedicate with His own blood the Sanctuary and all of the vessels of the ministry (Heb.9:18 and 21). The writer’s point is that the blood of Jesus is applied only once, at the dedication of the New Testament Sanctuary, that would be dedicated [purified, anointed] in Hebrews 9:12!
Finally, I would like to do one more “line upon line” regarding the dedication of the Sanctuary by Jesus after His ascension. Dan. 9:24. “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression and to make reconciliation for iniquity…and to anoint the Most Holy.” This text makes most sense, when you see it as referring to the dedication of the entire Sanctuary in heaven! You will find that the “Tabernacle, and all that is therein,” are “anointed” with oil (Exodus 40:9) to “sanctify” them (Dan. 9:10-13) and that they were sprinkled with blood as well, at the dedication ceremony. (See Heb 9:21.) Dan.9:24 uses the whole formula for “Holy of Holies” (very similar to the Greek formula) to introduce the holier heavenly Sanctuary that would be anointed. Similarly, Hebrews 8:2, translated “minister of the Sanctuary” introduces the heavenly Sanctuary using the abreviated formula (t’own hagiown) for Holy of Holies, which, according to the idea repeat phrase “which the Lord pitched, and not man,” here means the whole Sanctuary.
Now that we have let the text itself speak, allow me to back it up with the conclusions of the large number of Bible scholars who grappled with these questions back in the 1980’s and 1990’s, when the heresy preconception was shaking things up. These are summarized in the number of volumes of Selected Studies of Prophetic Interpretation written by the Daniel and Revelation Committee appointed by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
They conclude, first, that Christ’s death, as the antitypical fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrificial system, includes all of the Old Testament sacrifices, even those of the Day of Atonement, because Psalm 40:6-8 teach that all of the sacrifices were to coalesce into the one Sacrifice. Second, they conclude that when Christ ascended in 31 A.D. He inaugurated the entire heavenly sanctuary. The Greek word egkainizo “inaugurate,” [dedicate] is employed both in Heb. 9:18 and 10:20! Further, the continuing first- century work of Christ is compared with the daily work of the earthly priest. Finally, they conclude that the Sanctuary scene of Rev. 4-5 focuses on the first apartment “daily” or “continual” work there. Richard M. Davidson, Journal, Adventist Theological Society (1991).
Document #10_03
Introduction: Three more documents follow that reveal more of Satan’s efforts to confuse the followers of Jesus. Be careful to THINK them through, asking Holy Spirit to help you receive what you need to know, in these perilous times when Satan wants to trip you up and weaken your MESSAGE! Document #10_03, More About Jesus, may open your mind to an understanding of the metaphors used by Jesus in His parables of the King and His Son’s wedding, and His Son’s new (vast!) Kingdom. See Daniel chapter 7, vs. 13, 14. We must consider things “outside the box” – of our superficial thinking. Our Holy Spirit-led imagination must grasp things inferred by the metaphors and expanded upon by His last days prophet, Ellen White. Do not make this one your message, but simply allow it to expand your mind’s picture of heavenly realities.
Scripture: John 1: 1-3
Title: More About Jesus I Would Know
Many people take for granted that they know all that they need to know about Jesus, learned from others as they grew up in a Christian family. Let’s check out some of the preconceptions we seem to so blithely accept. Remember that a preconception is “An idea or opinion formed or conceived in advance of careful investigation.” (according to the Dictionary.)
First, Jesus is the only begotten of the Father. What does that mean? “That’s obvious,” you say. “Jesus is the Son of God.” Many of you will add, “Jesus has ever been, from eternity,” as you quote John 1:2. “The same was in the beginning with God.” I ask, “If Jesus is the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, was there not a time when Jesus was not yet born?” Now you are thinking, “So what?” Well, it’s important, because it has to do with the very background of the Great Controversy between Christ and Satan.
Jesus is not a created being. He is begotten. The only begotten of the Father. Satan is a created being, an angel. As the Son of God, Jesus had a right to be a God in His own place, when He, as the Prince born of the King of the Universe, was ready to rule as a God. But, unlike a king as we are familiar with, the Father is never going to die, and leave His kingdom to His Son, the Prince! Therefore, the real teaching of the Scriptures is that Jesus is building His own Kingdom, outside of the realm of His Father’s Kingdom, in limitless space! Daniel chapter 7 reveals that Jesus is to receive a kingdom of His own, the one that He created, (but lost to Satan through deception,) a people redeemed back to His service as citizens of His kingdom, that He would finally receive as His, after He had put down the usurper prince, Satan. Daniel 7, verses 13, 14. (read).
Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, but was conceived (how that happened, we can only speculate, as that must have been done differently than we procreate) somewhere in time, and had become ready to rule as a God. It was at that point in time, just before the creation of earth, that the envy of Satan was kindled against Jesus. You may read the exciting record of God the Father’s setting Jesus to work building His own Kingdom in a book I am sure few of you have read, The Story of Redemption, written by Ellen White, the true prophet. (pages 13 and 14, the first two pages of the book proper).
It is my contention that John chapter 1, when it says, “In the beginning” as also in Genesis chapter 1, means, not the beginning of eternity time, but rather the beginning of the creation of our earth and all of its environs in the heavens. Even the star systems that we see with our own eyes in the night sky, were created specifically for the sake of this world. The Constellations, like the Big Dipper, the Southern Cross and Orion are all a part of a big, revolving picture-book in the sky telling the plan of salvation devised to deal with the sins of this fallen planet. You see, as it states in John chapter 1, “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (repetition is used for emphasis of the point.) Verse 10 makes the point absolute: “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, but the world knew him not.” Jesus was the Creator of our heaven and earth. It was in the purpose of both Jesus and the Father, that Jesus would do the creating of our heaven and earth, because only the Creator could pay the penalty for our sin, to redeem us from death. If the Father had sent even His mightiest angel to earth, to die upon that cruel cross, that angel could only redeem the life of one fallen human being. Only the Creator could redeem every one of His Created beings.
Through foreknowledge of Adam’s fall, both Father and Son had prepared a plan to save the kingdom of Jesus from being taken forever from Him by Satan, before Satan even conceived his rebellion!
The other preconception you may believe, that I want to discuss with you today, is the idea that Jesus became the only begotten of the Father when He was conceived in the womb of Mary. The writer of the book of Hebrews in the Bible, reveals that Jesus was pre-existent as the Son of God, before He was conceived in Mary’s womb. In speech by Jesus, overheard by the writer, and written down for us to read, is the following: “Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, ‘Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.'” Hebrews 10:5 to 7.
Friends, the great Son of God, our Jesus, left His position next to the Father in the Throne of the Universe, to come to this earth and take on the form of a man, in order to save us from hopeless oppression by Satan. This world is not the insignificant speck that so many would have you believe. We are, instead, the beings of the beginning of the kingdom of Jesus, the Son of God! The Scripture is certain. Jesus will receive His kingdom back from the usurper prince. Choose you this day which kingdom you want to be in! Jesus loves you so much that He risked His very existence to save you. Satan only wants to keep you in his kingdom, out of spite against Jesus. As for me, I have chosen the Kingdom of Jesus.
With this knowledge of how really important our loyalty to Jesus is, for His Kingdom’s sake, God grant us zeal for the kingdom of Jesus, that we might endure unto the end against Satan’s rule.
The following is the content of pages 13 and 14 of the book by Ellen White, The Story of Redemption, for your edification. See for yourself that what I have shown you today is true!
Lucifer, in heaven, before his rebellion, was a high and exalted angel, next in honor to God’s dear Son. His countenance, like those of the other angels, was mild and expressive of happiness. His forehead was high and broad, showing a powerful intellect. His form was perfect; his bearing noble and majestic. A special light beamed in his countenance and shone around him brighter and more beautiful than around the other angels; yet Christ, God’s dear Son, had the pre-eminence over all the angelic host. He was one with the Father before the angels were created. Lucifer was envious of Christ, and gradually assumed command which devolved on Christ alone.
The great Creator assembled the heavenly host, that He might, in the presence of all the angels, confer special honor upon His Son. The Son was seated on the throne with the Father, and the heavenly throng of holy angels was gathered around them. The Father then made known that it was ordained by Himself that Christ, His Son, should be equal with Himself; so that wherever was the presence of His Son, it was as His own presence. The word of the Son was to be obeyed as readily as the word of the Father. His Son He had invested with authority to command the heavenly host. Especially was His Son to work in union with Himself in the anticipated creation of the earth and every living thing that should exist upon the earth. His Son would carry out His will and His purposes but would do nothing of Himself alone. The Father’s will would be fulfilled in Him.
Lucifer was envious and jealous of Jesus Christ. Yet when all the angels bowed to Jesus to acknowledge His supremacy and high authority and rightful rule, he bowed with them; but his heart was filled with envy and hatred. Christ had been taken into the special counsel of God in regard to His plans, while Lucifer was unacquainted with them. He did not understand, neither was he permitted to know, the purposes of God. But Christ was acknowledged sovereign of heaven; His power and authority to be the same as that of God Himself. Lucifer thought that he was himself a favorite in heaven among the angels. He had been highly exalted, but this did not call forth from him gratitude and praise to his Creator. He aspired to the height of God Himself. He gloried in his loftiness. He knew that he was honored by the angels. He had a special mission to execute. He had been near the Great Creator, and the ceaseless beams of glorious light enshrouding the eternal God had shone especially upon him. He thought how angels had obeyed his command with pleasurable alacrity. Were not his garments light and beautiful? Why should Christ thus be honored before himself? He left the immediate presence of the Father, dissatisfied and filled with envy against Jesus Christ.
Document #10_04
Another Gospel, attacks, head on, a Satan-inspired diversion from our MESSAGE that is invading our reform movement. We have studied the teaching of the Feasts of the Lord. Should we, for the sake of reform, be keeping the feasts? Are they, or are they not still to be kept? The answer comes from the Bible itself – the teaching against “the Judaizers” during the apostolic times. This problem is too similar to miss. Use this document (photocopy it) to help those who are being led astray by this deception!
Title: Another Gospel
Scripture: Galatians 1:6,7
Many Seventh-day Adventists are today being persuaded by offshoot groups that they must keep the Feasts of the Old Testament. This is become the message of these offshoot groups. Is it a necessary reformation back to Bible religion, as they claim, or is it instead a divisive doctrine that is a perversion of (“to lead astray from” – pervert – Dictionary) the gospel of Christ? I have been very concerned about the effect of this teaching that we must keep the feasts of the Old Testament. In seeking the answer from the Bible, I was led by Holy Spirit to a direct parallel to our problem.
Turn again to our Scripture text for today, Galatians, chapter one, verses 6 and 7. (read) The early New Testament church proclaimed the wonderful gospel, or “good news,” that Jesus had died in our place for our redemption, and that His victory over sin could be ours (sanctification) by faith in His side of the New Covenant, that Christ takes the throne in your Temple within your soul as your Priest and King. By submission to His will, you can overcome sin!
Satan, continuing his warfare against Christ, caused the Judaizers to arise with a divisive doctrine. That doctrine, that Gentile Christians should be made to practice circumcision, as well as keep all of the law of Moses “contained in ordinances,” which includes the Feasts, became their message, their gospel. “Ordinances” are “religious rites or ceremonies” – Dictionary definition. It did not seem to be another gospel to Jewish Christians, for it was fully a part of the first Covenant under Moses. Any Jewish Christian was easily convinced of its validity and would zealously keep the Mosaic law.
But Paul taught in many places in the Scriptures, that keeping “the law contained in ordinances,” exemplified by circumcision, is not required of anyone, Jew or Gentile, as a requirement for salvation! Turn to the book of Acts, chapter 15, to see the problem clearly. Have your pen handy, because you should underline a couple of important key words in what we will choose out of the text.
The book of Acts 15:1 (read). Underline in your Bible the words “you cannot be saved.” Next, look to verses 5 and 6. (read). Continuing, read verses 7 to 11 (read). James, the brother of Jesus, decided the issue, in verse 19, and wrote unto them, verse 20, (read). The action was taken beginning in verses 23 to 29, but I want you to first underline the word “subverting” in verse 24. Remember that word of similar meaning, in our text from Galatians 1? Similar to “pervert,” to “subvert” means: “to undermine the faith of.” – Dictionary Definition.
Are you ready? Let’s read verses 23 to 29 (read). No one is saved by works. Turn to Ephesians 2:8-18 (read). Salvation is by the cross of Christ, not by works of the law, be it Mosaic law or even the Moral Law! Turn back just a page or two, to Galatians 5: 1 & 6 (read). We are saved only by faith – that works by love of Jesus! Jewish Christians continued to keep all the Law, including both the Ten Commandments and the “law contained in ordinances” (except the sacrifices). But the Gentiles were not required to become Jews, and thus were not required to keep the “law contained in ordinances,” including circumcision, ritual cleansings, and the Festivals! Note that James, in His decree, did not stipulate that Gentiles must keep the feasts!
Now, turn to Acts 21:18-26 (read). Paul did not tell the Jewish Christians that they should not keep the “law contained in ordinances,” written by Moses, but he did teach them that they were not saved by keeping them. Therefore, no Gentile was required to become a Jew (be circumcised) and keep all of the law of Moses.
Now turn to Colossians 2:10-16. Carefully note verses 11 and 12. Baptism, at least for the Gentile, takes the place of circumcision!
Since 1888, the Advent Movement has taught the same Everlasting Gospel as was preached by the apostles in the 1st century. Waggoner and Jones taught righteousness by faith in Jesus: righteousness imputed – Jesus’ righteousness “put” to your account : and righteousness imparted to us (sanctification) through Christ in you. By submission to the will of His Holy Spirit, we can refuse to sin and thus overcome sin. Jesus thus causes us to not sin, so He becomes our righteousness, imparted to us. Note: The true Gospel is: “Christ our righteousness.” Jeremiah 23, v. 6. [Re-read this paragraph till you are sure you understand it: then apply it in your decisions from now on, when tempted].
But Satan is still at war with the true Everlasting Gospel. He especially wants to destroy the faith of Seventh-day Adventists! So once again he is bringing in doctrines that pervert the Everlasting Gospel! Paul taught that the Gentiles were not to be made to keep the law of Moses, as we have already read from Acts 21:25. Are you a Jew or a Gentile? Is it a requirement for salvation that either Jew or Gentile keep the law of Moses “contained in ordinances?” No! A thousand times No! All are saved by Grace, through faith, and not by works of any law!
Why, then, did Paul, and all of the other apostles, continue to keep the Festivals? – because they were Jews, and as Jews, they could keep them properly, without detracting from the Everlasting Gospel, if they now understood that they were under the New Covenant, built on better promises. [Their promise in the Old Covenant, made with God at Sinai, was, “All that Thou hast said, we will do!” Exodus 19:8. Their Covenant, of works, failed, and was therefore replaced by the NEW Covenant. The NEW Covenant is based on obedience by LOVE (because of the cross Jesus endured for all of us) even loving SUBMISSION to the Holy Spirit-revealed WILL of God! Jesus did not want that the Gentiles be burdened with having to literally become Jews, tying them to the OLD Covenant, of works, as they sought to understand salvation by faith! Again, I say: are you a Jew or a Gentile Christian? Must you keep the Festivals? (which mainly reminded them of the Jewish Exodus, so that they would not forget the marvelous works of God on behalf of the Israelite nation. However, the Festivals also taught everyone the way-marks of Salvation history).
I say unto you, this teaching by offshoot groups that you must keep the Festivals is a Satan-inspired attempt to pervert the gospel of Christ! It is a good thing to have knowledge of the Festivals, as they reveal the major way-marks of Salvation history, but new Gentile Christians are not to be made to keep the Festivals, nor other ordinances of the Law of Moses (circumcision, ritual washings, animal sacrifices, etc.). No man is saved by works of his own will! And, as you see today, and even in Christ’s time, they were divisive! Is it not dividing your church? This doctrine that you should be made to keep the Festivals is a deceptive attempt to take your focus away from the Everlasting Gospel, and the warnings against deceptions from that Gospel inspired by the “beast,” which are given in the Three Angel’s Messages!
Satan wants Seventh-day Adventists to be drawn away from learning and proclaiming the Four Angel’s Messages. WE are the people God has called to proclaim the Everlasting Gospel and the Four Angel’s Messages. The prophet of the Lord wrote the following in the book Evangelism, and we had better take heed. “The trumpet is to give a certain sound [ – an authoritative sound]. The attention of the people is to be called to the Third Angel’s Message. …In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watch-men and light-bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the Word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import – the proclamation of the First, Second, and Third Angel’s Messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention.” Evangelism pp.119, 120. (emphasis mine).
People, we are to allow nothing else to turn us away from the work of proclaiming the Present Truth messages of Revelation 14. The teaching that we must keep the Festivals is a divisive doctrine. Is it not dividing your church? It is dividing the leaders of our denomination. All animal sacrifices, including those attached to the festivals, ended at the cross of Christ. Since antitype Pentecost, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Tabernacles and 8th Day continue after the cross, the festivals remain to teach us the way-marks of Salvation history.
Though not required, they may be kept by Jew and Gentile Christians, thus enhancing the teaching; but being careful not to impose them on anyone, nor be against the keeping of them. Here is Paul the apostle’s final teaching regarding the issue. Colossians 2:16: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of an holyday [feasts] or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body [that casts the shadow] is of Christ.”
No new convert is to be made to keep the festivals. That is “another gospel;” a divisive doctrine. Their message is designed to “lead you astray” from your real Message. Do not be drawn away from your God-given Message into such controversies.
Further Study: Satan is presently at war with the Everlasting Gospel on another front also. He has brought in a heresy among us known today as Celebrationism. I want to make sure that you are not deceived by this heresy either. It has invaded our Movement at even leadership levels. A number of years ago, at Camp Meeting here at Hope, B.C, the main speaker taught Celebrationism. Here is the essence of that heresy: “Jesus did it all for you. You don’t have to strive to perfectly keep the Ten Commandments, just accept that Jesus perfectly kept them for you. Celebrate your complete freedom in Him.” NO WAY. That heresy leads to carelessness about obedience to the Ten Commandments. God said through Paul: “Work out your own salvation, with fear and trembling [that you might fail of the standard set by God] for it is God that works in you, both to will, and to do of His good pleasure.” Philippians 2: 12 and 13. Think about it…Can the murderer, or the thief, or the adulterer, inherit eternal life unless he/she turns from their sin and keep the Law? Check out Mt. 19:16 to 19. (read). Can the worshippers of the “beast,” who keep his commandments, while they knowingly break the Commandments of God, attain eternal life unless they come out of Babylon into the kingdom of God? Beware of false gospels! You may have noticed that most of the saints of the Remnant are not fooled by this deception, which has come to us from ecumenism. This too shall pass. Watch that you are not deceived by such winds of doctrine.
Document #10_05, is called Another Gospel II.
Satan is desperately trying to sidetrack our MESSAGE. Have you heard of the offshoot groups who are advocating we should call God by His Hebrew (“holy language”) name? They say, “Now that we know God’s holy name, shouldn’t we be addressing Him by that holy name? Aren’t we even offending Him by failing to reform the church regarding this?” A new version of the Bible has been produced too. The Holy Name Bible. We are not to do this, for the same reason as we are not to keep the Feast days.
Moreover (beyond that reason) they have applied the “holy name” to the wrong person of the God-head! Who is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? What is the meaning of the statement by God, “I am that I am?” Is that His name?
Scripture: Galatians 1:6,7
Title: Another Gospel II
This is the second message concerning the problem of offshoot groups who advocate a new doctrine that attempts to take the place of the Three Angel’s Messages as the Message for our time in history. By the Three Angel’s Messages, we are brought to the final reformation back to Bible religion started by the Reformation. We are to proclaim the true Everlasting Gospel, and the warnings of Jesus against the falsehoods of the “beast,” his “image,” and his “mark.” Do we need to also reform back to exclusively using “the Holy name of God?” Those who are advocating its use are saying we fail to reverence our God by failing to use His “Holy name.” They are even saying that we may be saved or lost according to our use or rejection of the true Biblical name of God.
Most Seventh-day Adventists are seeking to be very close to our God, in a personal relationship. And, we do very much want to reverence our three-person God. Most are easily convinced that God the Father is YAHWEH, Jesus, His Son, is Yahshua, and perhaps we should not refer to “the Holy Spirit,” but rather we should address the Third Member of the God-head directly as, “Holy Spirit.” He is, after all, a separate person in the God-head.
Where do we get the Biblical names for the God-head? We all have no trouble remembering that Jesus gave us Holy Spirit to be our “Comforter” and teacher in His place when He returned to His Father in heaven. John 14:26 is our clear choice: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost (better translated as Holy Spirit) Whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
The correct Hebrew name of Jesus is a little more difficult to discover. Of course, we only find the name Jesus in the New Testament Scriptures, which are written in the Greek language. The Hebrew parents of the Son of God would certainly not name their son Jesus, which is a Greek name, most likely derived from the two words Ea and Sous (Zeus). Ea, as best as can be found, seems to have been the name of a Greek “god of healing.” Zeus, is the name of the greatest of the gods of the Greeks. I too am amazed that the writers of the Greek New Testament, who were Jews, probably in Alexandria in Africa, would use such a Greek name for our Saviour. We must remember that by then, the gospel was going mainly to the Gentiles, and Hellenism, the spread of Grecian culture and language throughout the Roman Empire, caused this Grecianizing of the name of our Saviour.
God has, however, through inspiration of the writer of the book of Hebrews, helped us out. Please turn with me to the book of Hebrews, chapter four. Actually, for the context, we will drop back to chapter 3, verses 17 and 18. “But with whom was He grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware He that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?” (The context is the exodus, after the Israelites refused to go into the Promised Land because of unbelief). In that context, Hebrews 4:8 refers to Joshua, who led their children, when they had grown and their fathers had died in the wilderness: Joshua led them finally into the Promised Land. But what does it say in verse 8 of chapter 4? The English translation says, “For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.”
It is obvious that the translators were translating a Hebrew word with a very similar sound to the English name Joshua. A Bible Dictionary tells us that Joshua’s Hebrew name would have been written Yehoshua, meaning “Yahweh is salvation.” The fact that the translators of the book of Hebrews used the name “Jesus,” here instead of “Joshua,” when they meant Joshua, not the Saviour, has led many to believe that the Hebrew name given to the Saviour had the same sound to the English translators as the name for Joshua! Archaeology has since helped us to know that the name given to Jesus was indeed Yahshua, a slightly shorter name, meaning “Saviour sent from God (Yah).” Yahshua was a name commonly given to Jewish boys which expressed the parents’ faith in God and in His promise of One who would bring salvation to Israel.
Today, the language has been slightly modified, and the name “Yahshua,” in the Hebrew, has become “Yeshua.” About the year 2000, in Toronto, Ontario, a Jewish man who died was refused burial in a Jewish cemetery because he was a Messianic Jew, a believer in “Yeshua.” That very word was used by the reporter on the 6 o’clock news, but without explanation! I really felt that he failed his duty to inform the public!
That Jewish man believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and Jesus’ name, translated back into the Hebrew of our day, is “Yeshua!” Jews are taught to hate the name of our Saviour, and vehemently reject belief that He was the Messiah, so they refused to bury a Jew in their cemetery who believed in “Yeshua!”
I believe that God used that event, which seems so insignificant, to reveal that truth, that Jesus is the Messiah, to both Jew and Gentile of today!
Now: we have identified Holy Spirit (even from the old English, “Holy Ghost,”) and the Hebrew name for Jesus, “Yahshua.” How about the Father’s Hebrew name? Where do we find His Hebrew name? (YAHWEH). Exodus 3:13-16. Please turn to Exodus, chapter 3, in your Bible. Exodus, chapter 3, verses 13 to 16. (read carefully). Now you may have a version other than the King James Version in your hand. You must realize that most of the newer versions are from texts other than the one used by the translators of the KJV, almost always including extensive use of the Vulgate, the Latin translation made by Jerome in the 4th century A.D.- the text used by Catholic scholars to develop the Roman Catholic Bible. There are so very many changes of words in all other versions of the Bible except the King James Version, that the Bible Study Method given by Holy Spirit Himself, through Isaiah the prophet, Isaiah 28: 9 and 10, “line upon line, here a little, there a little,” won’t work perfectly in any other version! This Bible study method is the great pillar upon which the Seventh-day Adventist church was built, after William Miller discovered it in the King James Bible, the Bible that GOD Provided for the Great Awakening.
If you have the NIV in your hand, be aware that Adventists would never have been able to find out what the “cleansing” of the Sanctuary was, if they had only that version! In the NIV, Daniel 8:14 ends with, “…the Sanctuary will be reconsecrated.” That word is used only that once in the NIV, according to a Concordance to that version.
The key-word “cleanse,” in the same text in the KJV, leads you to Leviticus 16:30 and its context (by use of a Concordance). My point is, use your KJV for your study Bible. It is by far the most correct, as further revealed by comparison to the Dead Sea Scrolls, which pre-date all other manuscripts by hundreds of years! Now: let’s read Exodus 3:13 and 14 again, as it is in the KJV. We will see its sensible wording in its clarity. (read verses 13 and 14). Now I want you to notice that verses 15 and 16 have repetition of the term “the God of your fathers.” As I have emphasized before, the writers of the original Scriptures didn’t have underlining, or italics, to emphasize a point. So they used repetition. Let’s read verses 15 and 16. (read carefully, remembering that repetition is emphasis!).
I wish they could have underlined the word “that” in the name “I AM that I AM” so that you would see the point without my having to point it out to you. The point is there. It’s so simple! I AM is the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob! He is that I AM! At the end of verse 14 it is made clear: “I AM hath sent me unto you!” YAH is I AM – not a short form of YAHWEH, as they claim. YAHWEH is I AM THAT I AM, THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS!
So there we have all three of the God-head: Holy Spirit; Jesus, or Yahshua; and the Father, Yah, or, in English, the great I AM. Wrong. That’s what I said; “Wrong!” The text we just studied, Exodus, chapter 3, verses 13 to 16, does not tell us the Hebrew name of the Father! It is the Hebrew name of Jesus, not the Father! Before the incarnation, Jesus was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
Now I really need some proof of that one, don’t I? We only need to consider Jacob for the answer. In Jacob’s night of wrestling with the “angel” before he was to meet his brother Esau, he was wrestling with Jesus! Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 197, middle of the page, “It was Christ, ‘the Angel of the covenant,’ who had revealed Himself to Jacob.” Near the bottom of the page, a cross-reference to Hosea 12 is given. Hosea 12: 4 and 5 are illuminating. “Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed, he wept, and made supplication unto Him: He [Jesus] found him in Bethel, and there He spake with us; Even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord is His memorial.” Look at the last phrase. Do you remember it? Exodus 3, verse 15, “This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial.” YAHWEH, I AM that I AM is the Lord God of hosts. In the next phrase, the translators replaced YAHWEH with “Lord” (done throughout the Bible). YAHWEH, meaning I AM the God of Your Fathers, is His memorial. Hosea 12: 5 (above).
When Moses met God at the burning bush, he was told, (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 251, bottom), “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” “It was He who, as the Angel of the covenant, had revealed Himself to the fathers in ages past.” We read just above, from p. 197, “It was Christ, ‘the Angel of the covenant,’ who had revealed Himself to Jacob.” John 1:18: “No man hath seen God [the Father – same verse] at any time.” It is not the Father who is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is Jesus! It is Jesus who is YAHWEH.
Now follow my reasoning closely. This part is difficult. Both the Father, and Jesus, the Son, have the name I AM. Do you get that? Both have ever been, from the beginning, according to John, chapter 1. Isn’t that so? Now: this is important to our deliberation. How do you figure out which is being spoken of as Lord, throughout the Bible? The holy name that these offshoot groups claim is the name of the Father, they have misunderstood! Let me read it to you directly from their materials. Quoting from Mt. 28:19, they say, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father [Yahweh] and of the Son [Yahshua] and of the Holy Spirit.” (-their brackets). Where do they put the name Yahweh in their Holy Name Bible, as referring to the Father? Hundreds of places that are really referring to Jesus! When people see this mistake, this becomes divisive. The groups of Holy Name believers become confused, and divided over the accuracy of the very Bible they espouse! I have one of their Holy Name Bibles. It is not based on the King James Version. It is not accurate. It is inconsistent. It causes confusion and becomes divisive. Acts 15:24, again states the problem with divisive doctrines (of devils): “Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls” (to subvert means “to undermine your faith”) and, from Galatians 1, verse 7, in the same context, “…but there be some that trouble you (see the connection?) and would pervert (to pervert means ‘to lead astray from’) the gospel of Christ.”
Why did God not correct the name of Jesus, at least, to Yahshua? It is because words, in any language, have meaning. “Run!” means pick up your feet and put them down in a hurry, isn’t that right? Names, especially in the Bible, all have meanings. That is what God is emphasizing, not the words themselves! Elijah means “El is my Yah.” The Mighty One is my Yah, my “I AM.” YAHWEH means “I AM THAT I AM.” Michael means, “One who is like God.” Jesus, which is only probably YAHSHUA, has meaning. “He will save His people from their sins!” Mt. 1:21. People, Hebrew is a language. It evolved from another language. It had evolved into a language different enough to be called another name, “Aramaic,” by the time of Jesus. Much of the Hebrew language had been lost! It is not a “heavenly language” or something like that! What counts to God is the meaning of words! Friends, offshoot groups “went out from us” to bring back to us doctrines of devils, divisive doctrines, to turn you away from learning your true Message. Your true Message is the Everlasting Gospel and the warnings of Jesus against being deceived into worship of the “beast” and his “image” and against the receiving of his “mark.”- Revelation 14, the Three Angel’s Messages. With passion I exhort you to turn away from hearing divisive doctrines. When you find out that such things are divisive, beware, even if something has some merit for our learning. Don’t let anything else absorb your attention, and take you away from learning and knowing your true Message for this Judgment hour, the Three Angel’s Messages. From the book Evangelism, pp.119, 120, we read these words about our Message: “There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention.” May God help you, with copies of this material from this teaching seminar, to bring people back into your fellowship who have been deceived by Satan through these divisive doctrines.
The final document of the seminars, 10_06, is called, appropriately, the Last Trumpet. The seven Trumpets will sound. They warn, and they announce. To the wicked, they warn that these Judgments are leading up to the final “Day of Atonement” when the decree will go forth that the door of probation has closed! The final Trumpet announces the end of the Great Controversy between good and evil. Probation has closed. God will now deliver His people by the Seven Last Plagues. He will destroy Great Babylon! Jesus Himself is Coming!! Lo, this is our God: we have waited for Him, and He will save us! This is the Lord: we have waited For Him! We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation! Isaiah 25:9.
You will now have completed this educational seminar series. Whether you receive an “A” from God when the tests come, will depend on you repeatedly studying the material to make it your own. When you, and thousands of others, world-wide, know your MESSAGE, the Latter Rain will be poured out on you, so that you will have power from Holy Spirit to “prepare the Way of the Lord!” Holy Spirit will not be poured out until we know our Message, for it is to give power to the Message! See Early Writings, p. 86.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:52,53
Title: The Last Trumpet
The Bible teaches that there will be more than one resurrection from the dead. These resurrections occur at different points in time, and encompass different groups of people. The book of Revelation makes clear the time-frame of each resurrection. Notice what John records in Revelation 20:6: “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” The first resurrection is a resurrection to immortality, and occurs before the Millennium – the 1000-year reign of Christ and the saints in heaven. The Apostle Paul described this event to the Corinthian church, telling them that it would occur “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (I Corinthians 15:52, 53).
What is the last trumpet? The book of Revelation describes a series of seven supernatural trumpets to be sounded at the end time. These trumpet blasts signal the intervention of Almighty God [against “the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders” -2 Thessalonians 2:9]. These trumpets also herald His judgments on a rebellious world. Revelation 8 records the blowing of the first four of these angelic trumpets and the terrible-beyond-imagination natural disasters that follow each blast. Revelation 9 tells of the blowing of the fifth and sixth trumpets and of the warfare and destruction that follow those blasts.
In Revelation 11:15 we read: “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!'” The seventh and final trumpet heralds the return of Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of the righteous dead! Paul emphasized this in I Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump [Trumpet] of God [compare Exodus 19:16] and the dead in Christ will rise first.” In the following verses, he explained that Christians still living at the time of this awesome event would also be changed to immortality, and would rise up to meet Christ [in the sky] with the resurrected saints.
This first resurrection is one to glory and immortality, and consists only of those who are Christ’s. Hebrews 11:35 calls this the “better resurrection.” Revelation 20:5, makes plain that the rest of the dead – those who were not in the first resurrection – do not live again until the conclusion of the millennial reign of Christ and the saints [preparing the judgments against those who rejected Jesus and the gospel.- see 1 Corinthians 6:2 and 3.]
An extra subject: The Trap of Ecumenism In January 2002, John Paul II hosted a historic gathering of leaders representing the major religions of the world in the Italian town of Assisi, birthplace of the medieval monk known as Saint Francis. As they prayed together, the pontiff urged religious leaders to condemn violence and war and work in unity to promote peace. Ironically, at the close of the remarkable ecumenical decade of the 1990’s, the Vatican office in charge of doctrine issued an official document declaring that the Catholic faith is the sole path to salvation; that non-Christian faiths are “gravely deficient” in their beliefs; that Protestant churches are not “sister churches” and that “the one holy Catholic and apostolic Church [Rome] is not sister, but MOTHER [my emphasis] of all of the particular [Christian] churches (Los Angeles Times, Sept. 6, 2000). In a remarkable prophecy given more than 2700 years ago, the prophet Isaiah describes the judgment of a mysterious woman called a “daughter of Babylon…the Lady of Kingdoms” who says in her heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” (i.e., that she is the one true church – in Bible prophecy a woman symbolizes a church) “I shall not sit a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children” (Isaiah 47:1-11). She is making an effort to regain her lost or separated children (daughters) right now. See Rev. 17:5. But Isaiah’s prophecy says, “But these two things shall come to thee, in a moment, in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood.” (v.9.) A “widow?” “…none shall save thee.” – no husband/protector – Isaiah 47:15, compare with Daniel 11:45, and Revelation 18:7 and 8, and the rest of the chapter.