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The Crossin

Volume 22, Number 12 December 2007

The Seventh-day Sabbath Christ Our Righteousness The Immutable Law of God

The Non-Immortality of the Soul The Three Angels’ Messages The Sanctuary



J o e O l s o n

“A nd the temple was lledwith smoke from theglory of God, and from

his power; and no man was able toenter into the temple, till the sevenplagues of the seven angels werefullled.” Revelation 15:8.

Chapter 15 of Revelation talksabout the redeemed standingupon the sea of glass, having got-

ten the victory over the beast, hisimage, his mark and the numberof his name. They are all praisingthe Lord and singing.

Aer that, John looks upon an-other scene and he sees the templeand the ark of the covenant:

“. . . John saw the temple of Godopen in heaven, and in the templethe ark of his covenant. ‘I looked,and, behold, the temple of the tab-ernacle of the testimony in heaven

was opened; . . . and the templewas lled with smoke from theglory of God, and from his power;and no man was able to enter intothe temple, till the seven plaguesof the seven angels were fullled.’” ST, March 12, 1896.

Then the angels come out of thetemple and they have the seven lastplagues, given to them by one ofthe four beasts. Then John sees thetemple ll with smoke and no onewas able to enter it, not until the

seven last plagues were fullled:“…no man was able to enter into

the temple, till the seven plaguesof the seven angels were fullled.”Revelation 15:8 (last part).

As I considered what the mean-ing was for the smoke, my mindwent to Jesus during His cruci-xion. Remember when He washanging upon the cross and thedarkness came? God brought the

darkness so no one could see HisSon’s nal agonies:

“In the thick darkness, Godveiled the last human agony ofHis Son. . . . Through long hoursof agony Christ had been gazedupon by the jeering multitude.Now He was mercifully hidden bythe mantle of God.” DA 754.

Even now it brings tears to

my eyes as I consider what Jesuswas going through, and what HisFather was also going through. Itwas so bad, so painful, so agoniz-ing, that the Father could not allowanyone to see His Son suer anymore. And so the darkness en-veloped Jesus. Even the angels inheaven refused to look upon Jesus’expiring agony:

“Angels witnessed with amaze-ment the despairing agony of the

Son of God, so much greater thanhis physical pain that the laerwas hardly felt by him. The hostsof Heaven veiled their faces fromthe fearful sight.” 3SP 163.

Nature itself also: “Inanimatenature expressed a sympathy withits insulted and dying Author. Thesun refused to look upon the aw-ful scene. Its full, bright rays wereilluminating the earth at midday,when suddenly it seemed to be bloed out.” Ibid.

God would not, could not, letHis Son be seen during His lastsuering hours. God used thedarkness to veil His Son.

Now we have a new scene inwhich the Father has to nally letgo of His children, those that haverefused, aer every evidence has been given, to yield to Him andcome home. Now the punishmentsof the seven last plagues are about

to fall. And just before the plaguesstart, the temple, where God re-sides, lls with smoke where noman can enter.

Could it be that God does notwant anyone to see His agony?Can you imagine the pain He isabout to feel, and the agonizedexpression upon His face as Hesees His wayward children, who

have refused Him over and over, begin to suer from the resultsof the plagues?

What pain does He feel? Whateects does the suering of Hiscreated children have upon Him?How does God look as He wit-nesses these things?

Even we sinful beings, whenwe are in anguish, wish to hideour faces. We want no one to lookupon our suering countenance

and turn away from view.Is that what the Father is doingwith the smoke in His temple, Hisdwelling place? I don’t know aboutyou, but that just breaks my heart.It makes me love Him that muchmore. It causes me to want to serveHim and to tell everyone I knowwhat a wonderful God is my God!What does it do to you?

“The LORD hath appeared of oldunto me, saying, Yea, I have lovedthee with an everlasting love: there-

fore with lovingkindness have Idrawn thee.” Jeremiah 31:3.

Joe Olson serves as theexecutive director andchairman of the boardof Hope International.He also travels as aninternational speaker.

Editorial

2 Our Firm Foundation



O M - It is the mission of Hope Internationaland the editors of Our Firm Foundation to clearly presentChrist and His truth. The days remaining for this worldare few, and we must work quickly. We must boldlyproclaim the historic truths of Adventism that placeus on so rm a foundation in the midst of this troubledworld.—Editors

Executive Director: Joe Olson

[email protected]: Heidi [email protected]

Bookstore Manager: Kaye [email protected]

Hope For Health Center: Heather Olson, [email protected]

Layout & Design: Paul & Mihaela WilliamsMontanaDigitalCreations.comMontanaMusicalCreations.com

Our Firm Foundation is published monthly by:

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Knoxville, IL 61448 USA

Phone: (309) 343-1844 Monday–Thursday: 8:00am–5:00pm, Central Time

Friday: 8:00am–12:00pm , Central Time

Fax: (309) 343-3721Email: [email protected]: www.hopeint.org

A H IHope International is a lay ministry founded, supported,and operated by Seventh-day Adventists to assist God’sChurch in the proclamation of the Everlasting Gospel inevery way that is consistent with the principles of Godas revealed in Inspiration.

I WWe are accepting article-length manuscripts (1850 to 2250words) for possible publication in Our Firm Foundation.We prefer that submissions be submied in Word .docformat as a computer le. Include a digital pictureand a short bio. Please address all correspondence [email protected].

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Cover Photo: © Paul Williams (clouds); Higher Clips CD (cross)Background Photo - page 3: © Paul Williams

Product Catalog

Historical Footnotes

News Watch

Letters to the Editor

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Table of Contents

Editorial - Joe Ols

Why Smoke in the emple?

Peter Lau

Te Cross in Heaven

What Jesus has done for us affects unfallen beings thro

out the universe.

Ellen G. WhOur Besetting Sins

“Seeing nothing but deformity in ourselves, we shall f ix

eyes in faith upon Jesus.”

Heidi He

Understanding Aright the “Daily,”Scripturally and Historically – Part

In this final segment, Daniel’s two Hebrew w

for “vision” are explained ...

Jean Handw

Pickle’s Pickle

Heather Olson, R.N., C.

o Eat Meat or Not to Eat Meat:

HA is the Question — Part wo

Volume 22, Number 12 December 200



Peter Laurin

comprehend the greatness of Christ.However, as we search His Wordreverently and prayerfully, theHoly Spirit reveals more and moreof the inexhaustible riches of Hisgrace. God is love, and we have notrue knowledge of Him unless ourforemost thought of Him is that Heis a God of love.

God manifested His love in thegi of His only begoen Son to arace of sinners. What reveals this

love that withheld nothing is thecross. For this reason the cross isthe central point in the revelationof God to man and also in the planof redemption.

As we study the Bible to get a beer knowledge of the type ofperson Christ is, it will be noticedthat the writers are continuallypointing us toward the cross. It is by this that we come to understand

Scriptures testify of Him? John5:39—“Search the scriptures; for inthem ye think ye have eternal life:and they are they whichtestify of me.”

When we read the Bible, weshall understand it only as we ap-prehend its relation to the character,aributes, oce, or ministry of Je-sus Christ. It isn’t that He is tryingto hide from us or make it hard forus to nd Him, but because He is

innite in wisdom, power, and love,He must reveal Himself in manyaspects in order that we may get atrue perception of what He is. Thereisn’t a book in the Bible that doesn’treveal Christ. Some are simple andeasy to understand; others are mys-terious, and require thoughtfulstudy and meditation.

We are nothing but imperfectcreatures and will never in this life

One of the things that isso fascinating about theBible is that it is wrienwith the distinct pur-

pose of revealing to humanity themost honorable Person who everlived on this earth.

ScripturesReveal Jesus

There is so much that most of us

have missed by reading the Scrip-tures to discover some theory, tond the reason for some doctrineor to nd evidence just to provesome argument. Even when we dond something interesting, it seemsto be speculative, and doesn’t havethe life-giving power we nd whenwe read the Bible as we should,nding that the truth is Jesus.

Didn’t Jesus tell us that the

The Cross

in

What Jesus has done for us affects unfallen beings throughout the universe.




that every truth in God’s word, fromthe beginning in Genesis to the endin Revelation, must be studied inthe light of the cross.

The Crossthe Focal Point

As we read the gospels, they un-fold to us the earthly life and minis-try of Christ, ending in His death onthe cross. The Book of Revelationopens to us marvelous revelationsof our ascended and gloried Lord.It shows Him clothed with innitemajesty and power, surrounded byall the host of heaven. But as thecharacter of Christ shines more bril-liantly in the light of heaven, so doesthe cross of Calvary.

The book of Revelation openswith the words “The Revelation of

Jesus Christ.” Immediately, a bless-ing is given to the reader, “Blessedis he that readeth, and they that hearthe words of this prophecy, andkeep those things which are wrientherein. . . .” As we study Revelation,we are wonderfully surprised to seehow our Lord and Savior dominatesevery page. In the rst chapter alone,for example, a name or personal

pronoun referring to Him occursabout thirty-eight times; forty-twotimes in just the second chapter.

These chapters emphasize thatalthough Jesus is now the ascendedand gloried Lord, He is still andforever will be the One who died onCalvary. In Revelation 1:5 He revealsHimself as “the rst begoen of thedead,” and the One “that loved us,and washed us from our sins in hisown blood.” In verse seven He tellsus of His coming in glory, when “ev-

ery eye shall see him, and they alsowhich pierced him.”

In verses nine through sixteen,there is the description of Christ’spersonal appearance that is so over-whelming that John, in verses sev-enteen and eighteen, “fell at his feetas dead.” But John was comforted because Jesus laid His hand on him,saying “Fear not; I am the rst andthe last: I am he who liveth, and was

dead; and, behold, I am alive for ev-ermore” --which is a reminder ofthe cross. It’s as if Jesus told John,

“John, I know it is hard to recognizeMe now, clothed in divine glory andmajesty, but I am the same Jesuswith whom you dined, the One who

hung on the cross, and gave His lifefor sinners.”In vision John was allowed to

view many scenes as the divine pur-poses were unfolded in heaven. Hewas probably shocked as it seemedthat the earth was the main focus ofall the occupants of heaven, that theactivities of all of heaven were cen-tered around the Redeemer of man-kind and the mediatorial work thatHe is doing on our behalf.

John’s Most Awe-Inspiring

Vision:Revelation 4 and 5

In the fourth chapter of Revela-tion, John begins the description ofthe most spectacular and awe-in-spiring of the heavenly visions hesaw. Starting in verse two, “Imme-diately I was in the spirit: and, be-hold, a throne set in heaven, and

one sat on the throne.” Verse four:“And round about the throne werefour and twenty seats: and upon theseats I saw four and twenty elders

siing, clothed in white raiment;and they had on their heads crownsof gold.” Now, notice, starting inchapter ve:

● In verse 1, The Scroll:-“And I saw in the right hand of

him that sat on the throne a bookwrien within and on the backside,sealed with seven seals.”

We might infer that it is God’swill to make revelations of His pur-

poses from time to time to the resi-dents of heaven, that He may havethe complete understanding and in-telligent cooperation of the angels,who we are told are “all ministeringspirits, sent forth to minister forthem who shall be heirs of salva-tion.” In His right hand is a scroll.New mysteries relating to His eter-nal plan are about to be unfolded.

● Verse 2, The Challenge:

-“And I saw a strong angel pro-claiming with a loud voice, Who isworthy to open the book, and toloose the seals thereof?”

Everyone in heaven is interestedin the scroll. A mighty angel comesforth, and with a voice that reachesthe furthest ends of the universe, heasks if there are any who feel theyare worthy enough to open thescroll.

● Verse 3, The Silence:-“And no man in heaven, nor in

We can only very aintly understand how what Jesus has done or us afects the

inhabitants o heaven and o the millions o unallen worlds.

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earth, neither under the earth, wasable to open the book, neither tolook thereon.”

Why is this scene enacted inheaven? It seems that God chosethis way to glorify His beloved Son.A long time before that, one of the

exalted, created beings in heaven

had been jealous of the Son of God.This being was determined to pro-mote himself and take the place be-longing to the Son alone. When he

was cast out of heaven, he intro-duced the same sinful, rebelliousspirit to the occupants of this world.God’s Son came to this world to livea sinless life and to die to redeemthe lost race. He returned to Hisplace at the right hand of God. Nowthe Father is giving the whole un-fallen universe a lesson on the ex-alted position held by His victoriousSon, who is honored and adored

above all.

● Verse 4, The Sorrow:-“And I wept much, because no

one was found worthy to open andto read the book, or to look thereon.”

All of heaven is silent, waiting in

anticipation for an answer to the

challenge. Isn’t there any angelstanding high in the counsels ofGod that is able to open the scroll?All voices are quiet; there are no be-

ings that presume to step into thatrealm. The suspense is too much for

John, a mortal, trembling in themidst of the heavenly host. He feelsthat the destiny of his fellow men iswrapped in that scroll, and fearingthat the contents of the scroll willnot be revealed, he bursts into tears.

● Verse 5, The Assurance:-“And one of the elders saith unto

me, Weep not: behold, the Lion ofthe tribe of Juda, the Root of David,hath prevailed to open the book,and to loose the seven seals there-of.”

How comforting this scene must be! One of the gloried elders, him-

self redeemed from among men,came to John and gave him the as-surance that there was One who hadprevailed to open the scroll. Johnstops crying and watches the throneagain, eagerly looking for the Lionof the tribe of Judah.

● Verse 6, The Oe Who Peails:-“And I beheld, and, lo, in the

midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders,stood a Lamb as it had been slain.

. . .”How remarkable is this symbolic

title, “The Lamb,” which appears atleast twenty-six times in the book ofRevelation. It is “the Lamb slainfrom the foundation of the world.” Itis the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven,exalted above every other name thatis named, adored by all the heavenlythrong, yet still bearing in His per-son, unconcealed by the heavenlyradiance, the awful scars obtained

at Calvary. Those scars are Christ’seternal glory, for they bear everlast-ing witness to His faithfulness andto the depth of His love.

● Verse 8, The Woship:-“And when he had taken the

book, the four beasts and four andtwenty elders fell down before theLamb, having every one of themharps, and golden vials full ofodours, which are the prayers of thesaints.”

How ing it is that they, whothrough the atoning sacrice ofChrist had entered into the joys ofheaven, should bow down beforethe Lamb in grateful adoration.

● Verse 9, The Song:-“And they sung a new song, say-

ing, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof:for thou wast slain, and hast

Even the Father, looking upon the suferings which His Son endured, witnessed the most

inspirational moral act o the universe.




redeemed us to God by thy bloodout of every kindred, and tongue,and people, and nation.”

The meaning of this song shouldstir the heart of every human fromAdam to the end to time. It is thetheme which alone can express the

joy and gratitude of those who have been redeemed, the theme whichthrills the thousands of unfallenangels, the song which pleases theheart of the Father, the song ofpraise to the Lamb who gave Hislife to atone for the sins of aperishing world.

● Verse 11 and 12, The Angels:-“And I beheld, and I heard the

voice of many angels round aboutthe throne and the beasts and the

elders: and the number of themwas ten thousand times ten thou-sand, and thousands of thousands;Saying with a loud voice, Worthy isthe Lamb that was slain to receivepower, and riches, and wisdom,and strength, and honour, and glo-ry, and blessing.”

Aer hearing the song of the re-deemed, it made the angels so hap-py to hear earthlings glorify theirSupreme Leader, the focus of all

their existence, that they broke intopraise to the Lamb that was slain.Notice that as this was going on,the amazing drama was caught upin an ever-widening circle. As wecontinue into verse thirteen: “Andevery creature which is in heaven,and on the earth, and under theearth, and such as are in the sea,and all that are in them, heard Isaying, “Blessing, and honour, andglory, and power, be unto him thatsieth upon the throne, and unto

the Lamb for ever and ever.”

Unfallen Beings Also Rejoice

This is the theme of heaven’ssong and the purpose of heaven’sactivities—THE LAMB THAT WASSLAIN. This shows how fullyChrist occupies the center of allthose breathtaking and awe-inspir- P

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ing pictures, which show heaven’sinterest in this world and in the sal-vation of sinful man. The inhabit-ants of heaven and of the unfallenworlds nd the death of Christ forour sake a subject of interest, a sto-ry whose fascination never ends

through all eternity.How lile do we realize whatthe cross means to the whole uni-verse outside of this lile planetthat Jesus came to save. We should be lled with awe as we read thatwe can only very faintly under-

stand how what Jesus has done forus aects the inhabitants of heavenand of the millions of unfallenworlds.

The sympathy awakened by Lu-cifer in his rebellion in heaven brought perplexity and misunder-standing, but through His Blood

Jesus reconciled the whole universe,tying them forever to the heartof God.

When Jesus gave His life on thecross of Calvary for rebellious, de-graded, degenerate men and wom-en, He showed to the universe thetrue character of His Father. It notonly proved that Satan’s accusa-tions were false, selsh, and arbi-trary, but it showed God’s innitecompassion, love, and self-denial.

From the beginning of creation,

God looked forward to that hourwhen, through the voluntary sacri-ce of His Son, all the created intel-

ligent beings should know, under-stand, and love Him beer.

Astronomers tell us there aremillions and millions of stars, plan-ets, worlds, and suns. Christ, theSon of God, made them all, andwas the adored Commander and

King of all that vast creation. YetHe humbled Himself as a servantand became obedient unto death,even the death of the cross. All ofthe unfallen beings looked uponthe cross with absolute bewilder-ment. Even the Father, looking

upon the suerings which His Sonendured, witnessed the most inspi-rational moral act of the universe. Itmarked the focal point of eternitypast and future. That hour whenthe dying Son of God cried outwith a voice which seemed to re-sound through all creation, “It is

nished,” was not only the greatesthour for the human race, but alsothe most moving moment for thewhole universe.

Don’t you think that we, as theones in whose places Jesus went tothe cross, should look upon thecross as the rest of the universedoes?

“Christ Crucified” Appeals to Hearts

1 Corinthians starts o withPaul reprimanding the Corinthiansfor arguing about whom they

I we, today, would live with an understanding o the cross as the early disciples did,

we would have a much deeper spiritual experience both individually and as a church.




worshipped more or less. Somesaid they were of Paul, some ofApollos, or Cephas, or Christ. Inthe second chapter of 1 Corinthians,verse two, Paul says, “For I deter-mined not to know anythingamong you, save Jesus Christ, andhim crucied.”

It is Christ crucied that ap-peals to the hearts of men who have

been enslaved by sin. There aremany things which appeal to ourminds, but if the heart is not moveduntil it is surrendered to Christ, itamounts to nothing.

Paul described his life aer hisconversion: all he had learned andhow far he got in life was of valueonly as it could be used to revealChrist crucied. All that could not be used to show Christ cruciedwas worthless. In Philippians 3:7, 8Paul says, “But what things were

gain to me, those I counted loss forChrist. Yea doubtless, and I countall things but loss for the excellencyof the knowledge of Christ Jesusmy Lord: for whom I have sueredthe loss of all things, and do countthem but dung, that I may winChrist.”

Paul didn’t preach just any creedor theory. Christ crucied was thesupreme subject of his ministry.

For the most part, the Christianworld of today has lost the empha-sis on the cross. Overall, the churchtoday is weak, not because the gos-pel has lost its power, but becausesomething else has been substitut-ed for the teaching of the cross. If

we, today, would live with an un-derstanding of the cross as the earlydisciples did, we would have amuch deeper spiritual experience both individually and as a church.This would make it possible for theHoly Spirit to work in mighty waysas He did in apostolic days.

The Cross AffirmsGod Loves Sinners

What inspiring yet simple

words the Lord used to sum up thegospel message: “For God so lovedthe world, that he gave his only be-goen Son, that whosoever be-lieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” It’s theSon of God lied up on the cross asour substitute that grabs the mindand stirs the interest of sinners.Talking about Christ exalted inheaven doesn’t appeal to them, butChrist suering and dying under

the curse of sin and in the sinner’splace strikes a chord in the heart.When a man or woman is held

down by the burden of sin, theyfeel fear and disgust toward God; but looking at Calvary reveals thetruth that God loves sinners. Allthrough the ages the respectfulpresentation of the Christ of Cal-vary has touched and convertedhearts. No maer what we do, wecan’t place too much emphasis onthe cross. It is the central truth of

all Christianity, for on the cross iswhere all of our hope lies. And it isin the light of the cross, alone, thatthe way of salvation is madeplain.

Peter enjoys writingand reading books andarticles on religioustopics. He and his wifelive in Wisconsin.




aer riches that they suppose gainto be godliness. The apostle Paul de-clares: “Godliness with contentmentis great gain. For we brought noth-ing into this world, and it is certainwe can carry nothing out. And hav-ing food and raiment let us be there-

with content. But they that will berich fall into temptation and a snare,and into many foolish and hurtfullusts, which drown men in destruc-tion and perdition. For the love ofmoney is the root of all evil; whichwhile some coveted aer, they have

erred from the faith, and piercedthemselves through with many sor-rows. But thou, O man of God, eethese things; and follow aer right-eousness, godliness, faith, love, pa-

tience, meekness. Fight the goodght of faith, lay hold on eternal life,whereunto thou art also called.”

Treasure Here or in Heaven?

The length and happiness of ourlives consists not in the amount ofour earthly possessions. The foolishrich man, in his supreme selshness,

get that God ascribes sin to the onewho transgresses; it is not registeredagainst Satan, but against the sinner.God never accepts the agency ofSatan as an excuse for the commialof one sin. When there is any excusefor a seemingly wrong act, it is not

sin. Satan triumphs when he hearsthe professed follower of Christoering excuses for his defects ofcharacter. Sin unrepented of, un-confessed, can never be bloed fromthe books of God’s record. Throughfaithful, thorough confession of sin,

the heart is cleansed from its moralimpurity. There must be a forsakingof the sins the Lord has reproved, before the soul can stand acquied before God, humbled and repentant,

realizing that he has served Satan,pleased him, gloried him, and dis-honored his Lord.

Godliness withContentment

The love of money is the beset-ting sin of many. Men and womenwho profess to worship the true God become so deceived in their pursuit

T he secret of Satan’s pow-er over God’s professedpeople lies in the deceit-fulness of the human

heart. Their constant stumblingand falling reveal that they havenot maintained a stern conict with

their beseing sins. They have notdepended wholly upon Christ, be-cause they have not realized thatthey are in peril of being overcome by these sins. It is the sin which ap-pears small and unworthy of ournotice against which we should be

on our guard. If we could under-stand how deeply we injure ourown souls and cause unhappinessto those around us by giving looserein to unsanctied thoughts and

unholy actions, we would strive toput them away. We would co-op-erate with God in working out ourown salvation.

Excusing, NotForsaking, Sin

It is the inclination to excuse ourmoral defects that leads to the cul-tivation of sin. We must never for-

Ellen G. White

“Seeing nothing but deformity in ourselves,

we shall fix our eyes in faith upon Jesus.”




laid up for himself treasures thathe could not use. He embezzled hislord’s goods that he might add to hisincreasing store of worldly posses-sions. Had he used his means as Godrequired, there would have been nonecessity for him to tear down his

barns that he might build greater.

He would have needed no moreroom for his goods. Had he usedhis wealth as a bounty from God,

he would have laid up treasure inheaven, and would have been rich

toward God. So those who use theirwealth in doing good will see nonecessity for large accumulationsin this world. Their treasure will beused to advance the cause of God.

Refusing to Learn

The church of Christ has been blessed with great advantages andprecious privileges. God has givento His people prophets, apostles,pastors, and teachers, “for the per-fecting of the saints, for the work ofthe ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” But there are somewho are never able to come to aknowledge of the truth. Filled with

self-suciency, they will not placethemselves in the position of learners.They desire to be teachers and lead-ers. To these self-exalted ones Godsays: “Thus saith the high and loyOne that inhabiteth eternity, whosename is Holy: I dwell in the highand holy place, with him also that is

of a contrite and humble spirit, to re-vive the spirit of the humble, and torevive the heart of the contrite ones.”

True greatness does not dependupon position, but upon purity and

delity. Our worthiness is not foundin self, but in Christ. We are esti-mated by our faith in the Saviour, bythe truth and rectitude of our lives.Shun the perils of self-exaltation,and be clothed with humility; forGod resisteth the proud, but givethgrace unto the humble. The servantsof Christ are to consecrate theirlives to His service, revealing Hischaracter in the beauty of holiness.

RebellionBewitches

When the temptations of Satanare yielded to, mind and heart are brought into captivity to a super-natural power. In the place of sub-miing themselves to Christ, men

surrender themselves to Satan, andthen pass judgment upon the MostHigh because they are not happyunder the jurisdiction of the rulerthey have chosen. “Rebellion,” Goddeclares, “is as the sin of witchcra.”It leads souls onto Satan’s ground.

“Your words have been stout againstMe, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Whathave we spoken so much againstThee? Ye have said, It is vain toserve God; and what prot is it thatwe have kept His ordinance, and

that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? And nowwe call the proud happy; yea, theythat work wickedness are set up;yea, they that tempt God are deliv-ered.” This is the language proceed-ing from the rebellious heart. Onceplace your feet in Satan’s steps, andthis power of argument will cometo you, and you will be powerlessto resist it.

Satan triumphs when he hears the professed follower of Christ offering excuses

for his defects of character.

True greatness does not depend upon position, but upon purity and fidelity. Our worthiness

is not found in self, but in Christ.




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Word of God our Defense

It is Satan’s work to tempt; it isman’s work to resist, and, in thename and strength of Jesus, to say,

“It is wrien, Thou shalt worship the

Lord thy God, and Him only shaltthou serve.” Human nature of itselfis uerly helpless before the wilesof Satan; but it is our privilege toplead with God for strength, and

to receive it. Jesus has given us anexample to show how we may meetand conquer Satan. At innite costthe Son of God came into the worldto counterwork the work of the en-emy. He came to destroy sin and bring in righteousness by enablingthe human agent to co-operate withthe divine. He took His stand uponthe Word of God. “It is wrien,”was the weapon with which He metand repulsed the enemy. Christ ob-

tained the victory in behalf of theworld, and thus He made it possiblefor man to become complete in Him,not having his own righteousness,

but the righteousness of Christ.

A Holy Life—by Faith

A holy life is accessible to everyrepenting, believing child of God.We are to work out that which Christworks in. Then work, Christian

brethren and sisters, “work out yourown salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which workethin you both to will and to do of Hisgood-pleasure.” Every provisionhas been made that you shall comeo more than conquerors. Satan isseeking to overcome you, but it isyour privilege to turn to the Sun ofRighteousness. He is waiting, long-ing to ll your heart with His love,

that your joy may be full. Hold thefaith with a rm hand, but be surethat you hold it in righteousness.Live by faith, as seeing Him who isinvisible. All your words, all youracts, are open before the eyes of Himwith whom you have to do. Nothing

is hid from the all-seeing eye of theEternal. Then act as if you realizedthat you were in the presence of theheavenly angels, and in the pres-ence of God.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,peace, long-suering, gentleness,goodness, faith, meekness, temper-ance; against such there is no law.And they that are Christ’s have cru-cied the esh with the aectionsand lusts. If we live in the Spirit, letus also walk in the Spirit.” When weare enlightened by the Spirit of God,we shall behold only the glory of Jesus. Seeing nothing but deformityin ourselves, we shall x our eyes in

faith upon Jesus. And as we contem-plate the beauty of Christ’s charac-ter, we become transformed into thedivine likeness. “We all, with openface beholding as in a glass the glo-ry of the Lord, are changed into thesame image from glory to glory, evenas by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Signs of the Times, December 13, 1899.

Ellen G. White,1827-1915, received thespiritual gi of proph-ecy, and the fruits of her life and work accordwith the biblical tests of a true messenger of God.

To this day, her counsels are an incal-culable blessing to God’s people aroundthe world.

Every provision has been made that you shall come off more than conquerors…. Live by

faith, as seeing Him who is invisible.




Heidi Heiks

In this final segment,

Daniel’s two Hebrew wordsfor “vision” are explained,select misinterpretations are addressed,and the importance and harmony of a

correct understandingof the “daily” is set forth.

Why wo Hebrew Words or Vision?

T his brings us to anotherarea that needs just alile clarication. Whydid Daniel use two

dierent Hebrew words for “vi-sion”? From the book DoctrinalDiscussions , published by theReview and Herald, we have acompilation of articles prepared bythe Ministerial Association of theGeneral Conference of Seventh-dayAdventists, originally appearing inThe Ministry , June 1960 through July 1961, in answer to Walter R.Martin’s book The Truth AboutSeventh-day Adventism. On pages59-60 of Doctrinal Discussions , this

very topic is nicely addressed, andthe issue is placed in its true light.We include this portion becausesome have put a false interpreta-tion on the meanings of the twoHebrew words for “vision” andthen tried to make more of the dif-ferences between the two wordsthan the Bible is actually saying:

“The Tie Between Daniel 8 andDaniel 9

“We have observed that the fea-tures of Daniel’s prophecy in chap-ters two and seven were quite fullyexplained, and that in the main,the features of Daniel 8 were alsoexplained. Only one symbol wasnot explained, and that symbolwas the 2300 year-day period.

“We maintain that this aspect ofthe Daniel 8 vision was dealt within Daniel 9, and we will now con-sider certain aspects of this ques-

tion.

“1. The Signicance of the Mentionof the Angel Gabriel (Daniel 9:21)

“The mention of Gabriel we be-lieve is an indication of the tie be-tween chapters 8 and 9. In Daniel9:21 Gabriel, who comes to makeDaniel understand the vision, wasthe angel Daniel saw in the begin-

Part 1 1

Understanding Aright

the “Daily,” Scriptural ly & Historical ly




ning of the vision as recorded inchapter 8. There Gabriel is coun-seled by someone of higher author-ity to give understanding of the vi-sion to Daniel (Dan. 8:16). It was thesame angel that was with Danielwhen he fainted, and who comfort-

ed and assured him that the visionwas true. In the seventh chapterthere is no mention of Gabriel andno evidence that Gabriel gave thatvision to Daniel.

“2. The Signicance of the Expression‘consider the vision’ (Daniel 9:23)

“Gabriel had previously ex-plained to Daniel all but the timeportion of the symbolic vision ofchapter 8. Now he reappears to

continue the explanation in literalterms (Dan. 9:21, 22) and to clarifythe remaining part. The angel usesthe arresting words ‘consider thevision.’ This expression providesthe key to the explanation, for theterm ‘vision’ appears ten timesin chapter 8. But it is to be notedthat in Daniel 8 and 9 two Hebrewwords, chazon and mar’eh , not exactsynonyms, are used in the origi-nal Hebrew text. In the majority of

English translations only one word,‘vision,’ has been used to expressthese slightly variant thoughts, andas a result, the exact intent of theoriginal has rarely been perceived.

“Could we not regard the Hebrewwords as having some signi-cance? It is possible that when theword chazon is used, the referenceseems to be to the over-all vision.On the other hand, where the wordmar’eh is employed, the referencecould be to the particular things

seen and heard in the chazon. Onefeature seen in the over-all vision,the chazon , was the ‘two thousandand three hundred days’ of Daniel8:14. But the special scene referredto here is ‘the vision’ (mar’eh) of theevening and morning (verse 26).

“When the angel Gabriel, ‘whomI [Daniel] had seen in the vision(chazon) at the beginning’ (Dan.9:21), returned to complete his ex-

planation of the vision (chazon), hedirected Daniel’s aention speci-cally to the vision (mar’eh) when hesaid, ‘consider the vision [mar’eh]’(verse 23). The very thing, the mar’eh ,that was unexplained in Daniel 8 iswhat Gabriel referred to when he

said to consider the mar’eh.“‘There can be no mistake as tothis identication of “the vision.” S.R. Driver, the noted critic (The Bookof Daniel , 1936, p. 133), recognizedthis and wrote concerning “the vi-sion at the beginning” (Dan. 9:21)that it refers to “viii.16.” The chap-ter 8 usage and the chapter 9 tie-in appears inescapable, andthe identical theme ofthe two chapters be-comes self-evident.

What follows inchapter 9 is there-

fore not a newand independentvision, but is thecontinuing lit-eral explanationof the symbolic

“vision” of chapter8.’—Questions onDoctrine, p. 271.” (Italicsretained.)

Pandl’s Rebuttal o Peters’ Book

In July 2005 Brother GerhardPfandl, associate director of theBiblical Research Institute of theGeneral Conference, addressedthis very same issue we have beenaddressing from another angle.Because of this growing confusion

among Seventh-day Adventists,he rebued a work entitled The

Mystery of “The Daily,” by John W.Peters (1994). From Brother Pfandl’swork, entitled Evaluation of “The

Mystery of ‘The Daily’” by John W.Peters , we will bring to light someof his scholarly work for the benetof our readers. Along with BrotherPfandl, we have no personal issueswith Brother Peters. Our sole pur-

pose is to give our readers the factsneeded to draw correct conclusions.The following, we believe, will giveconrmation and clarity to the rmfoundation that we have alreadyestablished:

“Title Page“At the boom of the ti-tle page it says: Seventh-dayAdventist Theological Seminary,Andrews University, BerrienSprings, Michigan.

“Comment: This gives the im-pression that the document was

published by

the Theological Seminary. At least,many lay persons will take it thatway. Whether this was intended ornot, it looks like a deliberate aemptto give the paper an ocial status.I understand that the Seminary isasking the publishers to removethe reference to the Seminary fromthe title page.

“Page 3 [Page numbers refer topages in Peters’ book.]

“‘L. R. Conradi in Germany re-interpreted the “daily” as refer-ring to the true sanctuary serviceand Christ’s High Priestly ministryin heaven.’

“Comment: Peters gives theimpression that what came to becalled ‘the new view’ began withConradi. This is historically incor-rect. The ‘new view’ did not origi-nate with Conradi, though he was P

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instrumental in bringing it to theforefront of the debate around theturn of the century.

Gender Oscillation

“Pages 9-14“On the basis of the gender oscil-

lation in Daniel 8:9-12 the author at-tempts to establish that the powerthat exalts itself against the Princeof the host in verse 11 is paganand not papal Rome. The conictin these verses is seen as a conict

between pagan and papal Romerather than between the Prince ofthe host and the papal Rome (thelile horn). The following chart istaken from page 14.

v. 9 masc. ‘he came’ PAGAN

v. 10 fem. ‘it became great’PAPALv. 11 masc. ‘he exalted’

‘from him’ PAGANv. 12 fem ‘it cast down’ ‘it worked’

‘it prospered’ PAPAL

“Comment: Peters relies heav-ily on this gender oscillation toestablish his interpretation. In fact,it is one of the cornerstones of hiswhole argument. Unfortunately,some of our best interpreters havealso relied heavily on the gender

identication in verse 9 to establishthe point that the lile horn cameout of one of the four winds, ratherthan from one of the four horns.[For a clear understanding on thisissue, see chapter 6 of volume 2(Symposium on Daniel), pp. 387-397,in the DARCOM series by theBRI, General Conference of SDAs,

Washington, D.C., 1986.]“However, anyone familiar with

the Hebrew text knows that gen-der dierence or mixing is verycommon in the OT. Particularlyfrequent are the wrong suxes.Gesenius Kautzsch states: ‘Through

a weakening in the distinction ofgender . . . which probably passedfrom the colloquial language intothat of literature, masculine suf-xes (especially in the plural) arenot infrequently used to refer tofeminine substantives.’ (Gesenius’

Hebrew Grammar , 135 o).“The same is true in re-gard to the agreement

between subject andpredicate in re-

spect to gender

and number. ‘Asin other lan-guages, so alsoin Hebrew, thepredicate in gen-eral conforms

to the subject ingender and num-

ber. There are, how-ever, numerous excep-

tions to this fundamental

rule. These are due partly to theconstructio ad sensum (where aen-tion is paid to the meaning ratherthan the grammatical form), partlyto the position of the predicate (re-garded as being without gender) be-fore the subject’ (Gesenius’ Hebrew

Grammar , 145 a). For example, inIsaiah 49:11 the subject is feminine, but the predicate is masculine: ‘Iwill make all My mountains a road,And My highways (fem. pl.) will beraised up (masc. pl.).’

“Oscillation between feminineand masculine verbs is alsofound in other prophetic passages.For example:

“Ezek 23:49 ‘They shall repayyou for your lewdness, and youshall pay (2 fem. pl.) for your idola-

trous sins. Then you shall know (2masc. pl.) that I am the Lord GOD.’

“Nah 3:15 ‘There the re willdevour you, The sword will cutyou o; It will eat you up likea locust. Make yourself many(2 masc. s.) - like the locust! Makeyourself many (2 fem. s.) – like theswarming locusts!’

“As far as Daniel 8:11 is con-cerned, various explanations have been suggested. Some of them are:

(a) Masculine verb forms are used because there is a tendency in theOT to ignore the feminine; (b) thedierent genders are indicatorsof weakness and greatness of thesubject; (c) the irregular gender isused intentionally to heighten thereader’s aention and to mark spe-cic passages as climax; and (d)the masculine gender refers to themasculine reality behind the femi-nine symbols used in the text.

“In addition, Martin Proebstle in

his forthcoming Ph.D. dissertationon Daniel 8:9-14 has suggested thatthe gender in 8:9-12 is used stylis-tically. That Daniel consciously‘played’ with the opposition be-tween masculine and feminine. Hepoints out that there is the follow-ing gender balance in verses 9-11.

9a masc. fem 9b10a fem. masc. 11a

“The plain reading o the text describes a battle

between the little horn and the Prince o the

host, not between two phases o the little horn.”




10b fem. masc. 11b10c fem. masc. 11c

“This arrangement of oppositegender of verbal forms creates a co-herence in verses 9-11, he says.

“The point of all this is to show

that Peters’ foundation is not as sol-id as he thinks it is. If the dierencein gender in Daniel 8 were the onlyplace where it occurs, he wouldhave a point, but since the mixingof genders appears frequently inthe OT he cannot use it as the basisof his interpretation. Furthermore,satisfactory explanations can befound for this oscillation, as indi-cated above, without resorting tothe idea that two phases of the lilehorn are described; something that

would escape any reader not famil-iar with the original Hebrew text.

“In any of the Bible translations,the plain reading of the text de-scribes a bale between the lilehorn and the Prince of the host, not between two phases of the lilehorn. Furthermore, in Daniel 7, theparallel chapter to Daniel 8, theissue is clearly between the lilehorn/Satan and the people of God/Christ, not between two phases of

the lile horn.

Syntax Set Straight

“Pages 15-16 “Daniel 8:11 ‘It magnied itself,

even up to the Prince of the host;and the continual burnt oeringwas taken away from him, and theplace of his sanctuary was over-thrown’ (RSV).

“Seventh-day Adventists gen-erally teach that the lile horn (pa-pacy) took the tamid (intercessoryministry) away from the Prince ofthe host (Christ). Peters claims thaton the basis of grammatical near-ness ‘the antecedent of “from him”is the one exalting himself or pa-gan Rome’ (p. 15). Aer outliningthe inverted syntax of verse 11 heconcludes, ‘This internal reection

of the Hebrew syntax supportsthe contention that the “daily” is

lied up “from” the one exaltinghimself and not “from” the Princeof the host’ (p. 16). In other wordsthe tamid is taken away from paganRome and not from Christ.

“Comment: The grammati-cal argument on pages 15 and 16looks very impressive and convinc-ing, but is it correct? The syntax ofverse 11 in Hebrew is as follows (pp

= prepositional phrase; s = subject;v = verb):

11a Unto the Prince of the host(pp) he (s) exalted himself (v)11b and from him (pp) was tak-

en way (v) the continual (s)11c and thrown down was (v)

the place of his sanctuary (s).“The rst two lines begin with

the prepositional phrases: ‘unto thePrince’ and ‘from him.’ This createsa syntactic-semantic correspon-dence between 11a and 11b: bothclauses start with a prepositionalphrase referring to the Prince of

the host followed by a Hiphil verbform with the lile horn as subject(In the second line the lile horn isunderstood to be the one who takesaway the daily).

“As Proebstle has indicated,there are at least two argumentsthat the pronominal sux in mi-mennu (from him) refers to thePrince of the host. First, both ‘untothe Prince of the host’ and ‘from

him’ occupy the preverbal eld oftheir respective clauses. The focuson the Prince of the host estab-lished in verse 11a is rearmed inverse 11b if the pronominal suxin mimennu (from him) refers tothe Prince. There is no apparent

reason to switch the focus backto the horn. Indeed, ‘from him’ isonly then natural in the sentence-initial position when it emphasizesthe previously mentioned ‘Princeof the host’, which is also in thesentence-initial position.

“Second, the next clause 11c hasno explicit reference to the subject

‘horn,’ the pronominal third personmasculine sux in ‘His sanctuary’also refers to the Prince of the host.According to Peters’ interpretation

of Daniel 12:9-12 the issue in theseverses is not the great controversy between Christ/God’s people andSatan/lile horn, but a bale be-tween two phases of the lile horn

– pagan and papal Rome. Christ isonly mentioned as an aside in verse11. This is contrary to the thrust ofthe whole book of Daniel, whichillustrates the great controversyin every chapter.

[In other words, 11a and 11b,

paraphrased and in parallel con-struction, read “to Jesus the lilehorn exalted himself, and from

Jesus the lile horn took away thecontinual.” The aggressor is thelile horn in all cases, even in the

“throwing down” in 11c.]

Peters’ Unique Interpretationo “Daily” Unsustainable

“Pages 23-30 “‘It is suggested that “the daily”

must be carefully dened as aprinciple, namely the self exaltingcharacter of paganism, inherentin mankind, of which Arianism became integrated’ (p. 27). Petersaempts to prove this with the fol-lowing OT texts:

Ps 74:23 ‘The tumult of those[God’s enemies] who rise up against P

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You increases continually [tamid].’Isa 52:5 ‘Those who rule over

them Make them wail,’ says theLord, ‘And My name is blasphemedcontinually [tamid] every day.’

Obad 16 ‘For as ye have drunkupon my holy mountain, so shall

all the heathen drink continually[tamid],’Nah 3:19 ‘For upon whom has not

your wickedness passed continually[tamid]?’

Hab 1:17 ‘Shall they thereforeempty their net, And continue[tamid] to slay nations without pity?’

Isa 65:2-3 ‘A people who provokeMe to anger continually [tamid] toMy face.’

“Peters argues that in eachof these texts the pagan enemies

of God in the OT rise up or exaltthemselves against God continu-ally (tamid). This proves, he claims,that in Daniel 8:11 it is pagan Romethat exalts itself against the Princeof the host and that from him (pa-gan Rome) the daily was lied upor taken away by papal Rome (p. 23).He says:

“‘The “abomination (transgres-sion) which desolates” in Daniel 8,11 and 12, which supersedes and

replaces “the daily,” may be denedas the self exalting character of nominalChristianity of which the papacy be-came the fountain head. The essenceof “the daily” is “the mystery of in-iquity” which seeks to become likeGod (Is. 14:12-14; 2 Thess. 2:3-7). Thepoint of commonality between “thedaily” and the “abomination whichdesolates” is the “mystery of iniq-uity.” This character aribute waslied up by the papal Rome from

pagan Rome with the result that thefalse religious systems (paganism)were replaced or superseded (takenaway or turned aside) by nominalChristianity, a new false religioussystem professing Christ, uncreated,in contrast to Arianism’s created

Christ. This process commenced inAD 508 when Arian powers underTheodoric made peace with Clovisand the resistance of the Arian pow-ers began to come to an end. (p. 27).’

Clariying the Usage o Tamid

“Comment: This is a rather inge-nious way of explaining the wordtamid. It seems that Peters took the

following statement from U. Smith,‘“By him [papal form] the daily [thepagan form] was taken away.” PaganRome was remodeled into papalRome’ (Daniel and Revelation , 1944ed., p. 161) and tried to nd biblicalsupport for this view. However, forthe following reasons this explana-tion is not acceptable:

“1. In each of the texts quoted byPeters the word tamid is used as anadverb explaining that an action is

going on continually or all the time.There is no indication in any of thesetexts that tamid is a principle of self-exaltation or a character aribute asPeters claims.

“2. The Hebrew word tamid occurs104 times in the OT. 67 times tamidis used adverbially (48 times in reli-gious and cultic contexts). 37 timesit is used nominally (24 times withthe article). Every time the word isused with the article (hatamid) it is

in a cultic [worship] context.“3. In the book of Daniel, where

tamid occurs ve times (8:11, 12, 13;11:31; 12:11) it is always used as anadjectival noun with the Hebrew ar-ticle – hatamid. Since the context inDaniel 8 is also cultic (“sanctuary”)

hatamid should also be understoodto have a cultic meaning.“4. In Daniel 11:31 and 12:11, the

tamid is replaced by ‘the abomina-tion of desolation’ (hashiqqutz me-shomem). The noun sheqetz refers tosomething cultically unclean suchas animals prohibited for food (Lev7:21; 11:10-13, 20, 23, 41-42, etc.), andthe noun shiqutz refers to abominable idols (1 Kings 11:5; 2 Kings 23:24)and their worship. This is furtherevidence that the tamid refers to a

cultic [worship] practice since it isreplaced by another, an abominable,cultic practice.

“5. There is no explanation of hat-amid in the text. This shows that itmust have been a well-known termthat was easily understood in bibli-cal times. That it must be interpret-ed against the cultic backgroundof the OT is clear for the followingreasons:

“a. Hatamid is used 24 times in

the OT, 17 times in the Pentateuch(Num 4:7, 16; 28:10, 15, 23, 24, 31; 29:6,11, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 38), twicein Neh 10:34 which refers back tothe Pentateuch, and ve times inDaniel 8:11, 12, 13; 11:31; 12:11. In thePentateuch and in Nehemiah it al-ways refers to something in connec-tion with the sanctuary service.

“b. In Daniel 8:11-13 it appearstogether with several unambiguouscultic terms (herim - to remove; miq-




dash - sanctuary; qodesh - holy). Todeny hatamid its cultic meaning inthis passage and

by exten-sion also in Daniel 11:31

and 12:11 seems contrary to com-mon sense and all the rules ofhermeneutics.

“c. In each passage outside ofthe book of Daniel hatamid is the re-sponsibility of the priests. In Daniel,therefore, it seems logical that it alsorefers to the ministry of the Princeof the host rather than to a charac-

teristic of paganism.“It is no wonder, therefore,that most Bible translations sup-ply the word sacrice or similarterms. The context strongly sug-gests a cultic [worship] meaning forthe term hatamid.

“Conclusion“Many other points in this

121-page paper could be investigated, but the issue should be clear by now.Peters’ view of hatamid (the daily)

as the self-exalting character of pa-ganism is linguistically and exegeti-cally not sustainable. This paper is a brave aempt to provide exegeticalsupport for what came to be knownas the ‘old view.’ Peters recognizedthat Uriah Smith’s interpretationthat the ‘the daily’ is pagan Rome iscontextually not possible, he, there-fore, identied ‘the daily’ with theself-exalting character of paganism,

but this too is exegetically and con-textually not viable.”

With many thanks to BrotherPfandl, we thus conclude theportions we wish to illustratefrom his work.

New DocumentationProvides Proo

At this juncture we want to ex-pound on a statement of Peters inhis book that needs to be addressed.If you recall, the “new view,” aswe have already documented,is in fact the “old view.” Peterswrote, “The ‘new view’ propo-nents of ‘the daily’ are unable toexegete this verse [Daniel 11:31],

leaving Daniel to self-extinguishin meaningless speculation. Anyaempt to suggest that Christ’sHigh Priestly ministry was takenaway in 508 either by the institu-tion of penance or the mass can-not be supported.” (Pg. 99.)

Peters’ claim that we are “un-able to exegete this verse, leavingDaniel to self-extinguish in mean-ingless speculation” has been shownto be totally without substance. We

candidly point out, though, thathistorical documentation to provethe contrary was not in abundanceat the time of his wrien thesis.Now, however, the Bible, Spirit ofProphecy and the records of reliable

history, especially some rare prima-ry-source documentation heretoforeunknown to Adventism and refer-enced in this series and in 508 5381798 1843 Source Book (Preliminary) ,have systematically torn down everyfoundation built upon by the pro-ponents of paganism. “Let no onecome to the conclusion that there

is no more truth to be revealed.”Counsel on Sabbath School Work, 34.Thus paganism’s fourth view andfoundation have been demonstratedto be totally untenable.

“Scheme o the Devil”?

There was atime when Ellen White said, “Butlet not ‘the daily,’ or any other sub-

ject that will arouse controversyamong brethren, be brought in atthis time.” Selected Messages, Vol. 1,167. Under the circumstances takingplace at the turn of the 20th centurythat we briey illustrated, the coun-

sel was obviously much needed.Combining the circumstances tak-ing place at that time with “the waythis subject has been handled bymen on both sides of the question”and understandably: “At such atime silence is eloquence.” Ibid., 168,emphasis added.

This was not for all time, but for

“The whole system o types and symbols was

one compacted prophecy o the gospel, a

presentation o Christianity.”

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“at such a time.” The reasoning be-hind this counsel was clearly given.

“The enemies of the truth, who arewatching us closely, will make themost of it, and our work will be hin-dered.” Ibid.

Some of you may remember a

statement made by F. C. Gilbert thathe had had an interview with EllenWhite and declared that she saw

“papal view agitation” (Gilbert’s de-rogatory term for the ministry ofChrist view) to be a “scheme of thedevil.” I called Tim Poirier at theEllen G. White Estate and personal-ly asked him if he could verify thatEllen White had indeed said sucha thing. Aer all, to suggest thatEllen White would “in the name ofthe Lord” call the brethren to come

together and study the maer thor-oughly, and at the same time de-clare the “papal view agitation” to be a “scheme of the devil,” shouldcause any honest seeker of truth tosee red ags.

If Ellen White really believedit was a “scheme of the devil,” shewould have addressed the maerherself, and would have never del-egated her responsibilities to sec-ondary sources. On the one hand

we have the leer of Manuscript 1470as proof of her counsel, and on theother hand we have a paganism- biased witness with no otherproof than his word. This is by no means the rst time theWhite Estate has encountered just such a circumstance withthe same concluding verdict.Tim Poirier gave no cred-ibility to that statement by F.C. Gilbert, and rejected theidea that Ellen White would

have said a “scheme of thedevil,” although he did notoer a denitive substitute.This maer should not beof great concern for the sin-cere students of the Bible, because they know full wellthat, in the very near future,statements like these andmore will be used against us.Rather, we nd our authority

and foundation in the scripturesthat we have already faithfully built upon.

It Makes a Dierence!

In conclusion, we will considerone last objection to any study of the

“daily.” In the past it has been stated

that the “daily” is not to be made “atest question.” We agree. It has also been said it is not a salvation issue.We agree. And it has further beenconcluded, “It really doesn’t makeany dierence which view is be-lieved.” With that opinion, we arenot in accord. We feel that a full andaccurate comprehension of the “dai-ly” makes a believer’s experience farricher and the sharing of his faithmore substantive, more powerful,

and more consistent with the threeangels’ messages and our sanctuarymessage. Jesus Himself said, “It is

wrien, Man shall not live by breadalone, but by every word that pro-ceedeth out of the mouth of God.”Mahew 4:4. “Every word.” Shallwe neglect to investigate and ap-preciate the understanding God hasgiven us of the signicance of this

word “daily”?The disciples’ “every word andact was to fasten aention on Hisname, as possessing that vital pow-

er by which sinners may be saved.Their faith was to center in Him whois the source of mercy and power.”

Acts of the Apostles, 28. “Every word”was to fasten aention on Jesus.

“Jesus Christ was the foundationof the whole Jewish economy. Heestablished the sacricial oerings,which typied himself. The wholesystem of types and symbols wasone compacted prophecy of the gos-pel, a presentation of Christianity.”

Review and Herald , March 21, 1893.In addition to other words of greatsignicance, the “daily” focuseson Jesus’ ongoing labor on our be-half, and the history connectedto the “daily” gives us furtherunderstanding.

Te “Daily” Trough the Centuries

Is it not signicant—does it notthrill the soul—to comprehend thatwhat was “set up” in AD 508 (churchand state), was “torn down” by theFrench civil sword in AD 1798? Godthus initiated the “time of the end,”when the prophecies in Daniel’s

“lile book” would be opened tomen’s understanding. Further, wewitnessed that what was “takenaway” in 508 (the “daily”) was

“I beseech you, brethren, . . . that ye all speak

the same thing, and that there be no divisions

among you. . . .”




restored aer the disappointmentof 1844, and what was “cast down”in 508 (“the place of his sanctuary”)also was restored, according toRevelation 11:1, as we studied earli-er. There is a marked consistency inthe prophecies of Daniel, a decided

focus to which our aention is beingdrawn. Shall we not look and see?The beginning and end of the

1260-year and the 1290-year proph-ecies centered on a mutual issue—religious liberty. God’s law andChrist’s “daily” mediatorial work inthe heavenly sanctuary were largelylost sight of—“taken away” from

most people’s remembrance by a blasphemous system that laid boldclaim to heaven’s divine prerogativeto hear confessions, forgive sin and

command obedience. This is con-rmed by the following:“. . . Faith was transferred from Christ,

the true foundation, to the pope of Rome.Instead of trusting in the Son of Godfor forgiveness of sins and for eter-nal salvation, the people looked tothe pope, and to the priests and prel-ates to whom he delegated authority.. . . Thus the minds of the people wereturned away from God to fallible, err-ing, and cruel men, nay, more, to theprince of darkness himself, who ex-

ercised his power through them. . . .”Great Controversy , 55, italics added.

The Catholic system’s centuriesof denial of access to the Scripturesunder penalty of death preventedmany people from reading of thesanctuary work for themselves.

“Satan well knew that the HolyScriptures would enable men to dis-cern his deceptions and withstandhis power. . . . In order for Satan to

maintain his sway over men, andestablish the authority of the papalusurper, he must keep them in ig-norance of the Scriptures. The Biblewould exalt God and place nitemen in their true position; thereforeits sacred truths must be concealed

and suppressed. This logic was ad-opted by the Roman Church. Forhundreds of years the circulation ofthe Bible was prohibited. The peoplewere forbidden to read it or to haveit in their houses, and unprincipledpriests and prelates interpreted itsteachings to sustain their preten-sions. Thus the pope came to be al-

most universally acknowledged asthe vicegerent of God on each, en-dowed with authority over churchand state.

“The detector of error having beenremoved, Satan worked accordingto his will. . . .” Great Controversy, 51.

Through the ProtestantReformation, God returned to true believers the understanding that“the just are saved by faith,” not bypenitential or benecent works; thenecessity of “sola scriptura;” andthe privilege of appealing directlyto Jesus without a human media-tor. Yet even the Reformation andthe Bible in the common languages

had not caused the ministrations inthe heavenly sanctuary to return tohuman memory. In William Miller’stime, you recall, earnest students ofthe Bible knew nothing of a heav-enly sanctuary and Jesus’ ministrythere on their behalf.

What God would have us know,Satan would obscure, remove, ordistort. “When Adam and hissons began to oer the ceremonial

sacrices ordained by God as a typeof the coming Redeemer, Satan dis-cerned in these a symbol of com-munion between earth and heaven.During the long centuries that have fol-lowed, it has been his constant eort tointercept this communion. Untiringly

has he sought to misrepresent Godand to misinterpret the rites pointing tothe Savior. . . .” Li Him Up, 26, em-phasis added. It follows that whatSatan has labored to keep from usmust be of great signicance to us.

Furthermore, it is reasonableto expect that he will also aemptto block knowledge of our High

Priest’s “yearly” ministration duringthe antitypical Day of Atonement.For example, evangelical teachinghas the atonement accomplished in

full at the cross. So does a “social”or ecumenical gospel, which failsto stress the necessity of growthin sanctication. Other churcheswhose highest goal is an externalexperience have no need of Christ’sheavenly ministry when they thinkthey already have the outpouring ofthe Holy Spirit. Surely we must seekheavenly wisdom, to anticipate anddiscern diversions from truth.

Tree Purifcations Beore Understanding Given

The time period of the 1830s and

40s was the time of the Philadelphiachurch of Revelation 3. It is beforethat church that our Lord set “anopen door, and no man can shutit. . . .” That open door was into thesecond apartment, the Most Holy P

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Place. But that wasn’t revealed un-til He had puried His church—notonce, but three times! The rst timecame at the rst disappointmentin the spring of 1843; believers mo-tivated by fear or caught up in thefervor of the rst angel’s message

dropped away in discouragementor embarrassment, unable to endurethe “tarrying time.”

The second was the closing of thepopular churches to the message.

“Babylon is fallen,” said the secondangel. True believers had to worship

separately from families and friends,and endure ridicule and contemptin order to follow the conviction oftheir hearts.

The third purication was theGreat Disappointment of October 22,1844. The ranks of Advent believersdropped from at least 50,000 (someestimates are higher) to only y—aratio of a thousand to one.

But not until the weak in faithwere sied out and that small, pu-ried group remained—a scaered

band who mistook the event butwho were convicted that God hadsurely led thus far—not until thendid our holy God restore the un-derstanding of Jesus’ high priestlywork in heaven. That incomparabletruth was revealed and entrusted tothose tested, dedicated saints, andwe are their spiritual descendants,entrusted with the same preciousunderstanding. That is no small

blessing, and no small privilege andresponsibility! And further, we arerecipients of the blessing reservedfor those “that waiteth, and comethto the thousand three hundred andve and thirty days.” Daniel 12:12.(See 508 538 1798 1843 Source Book

(Preliminary) , p. 87-94.)

Ministry View an Integral Part o Adventism’s Message

The understanding of Jesus’high priestly ministration

is the unique teaching ofSeventh-day Adventism.One cannot overestimatethe value of understand-

ing what the “daily” is,and how it was “takenaway” until the “time of

the end,” and was thenrestored to us with the

additional understandingof the next and nal phase of

Christ’s sanctuary ministry. Itmakes our teaching of the sanctu-ary and the related prophecies plain,consistent, and powerful.

A leer from L. R. Conradi to J.

N. Loughborough of April 16, 1907,summarizes the “continual’s” rel-evance to Seventh-day Adventismsuccinctly:

“. . . But there is one thing that iscontinual, and will continue, andthat is the true, divine service ofGod. When, about the year 508, theRoman Catholic Church throughthe so-called conversion of KingChlodwick [Clovis] of France, re-ceived its moral support from kings,and later on, in consequence, from

the emperor of Eastern Rome, thatchurch did away with the true sanc-tuary service of God so completelythat its true meaning was entirelylost on the earth. The church estab-lished its own sanctuary service, itsown priesthood, even professing tocontinue the Levitical, and establishits own sacrice in the mass; and toshow how completely the knowl-edge of the true sanctuary service

has been done away, we need onlyto remark that no denominationand no minister and no theologianand no commentary had any morethe right idea of the sanctuary ser-vice, or any knowledge of the true,divine service in heaven, until, aer

the 1844 movement, Seventh-dayAdventists, in view of the disap-pointment, searched in the Bibleuntil the Spirit of God enlightenedthem, and since that time, the true‘continual’ service is being againassigned its proper place.

A Consistent and Reasonable Explanation

“. . . We arrive at a consistent, andreasonable explanation, full of har-mony, and we arrive at this by com-paring Scripture with Scripture.

“I know that dierent ones havewrien you about this maer. I donot even question that you are fullyconvinced that the theory held up tothe present time is the right one; butaer having read your article, I feltit my duty as a brother to set beforeyou what I believe to be the teachingof the Word of God—an expositionthat only strengthens the reasons for

our existence as a denomination.”Indeed, our High Priest has now

le the rst apartment in heaven,where for centuries aer His ascen-sion He faithfully administered the

“daily” services for us, as we canread in Hebrews. The events of 1844and beyond, the three angels’ mes-sages, the investigative judgment—all reveal a critical development inthe plan of salvation. We are now to




warn the world that He has begunthe nal ministrations of the Dayof Atonement in the second apart-ment, explained through the typi-cal “yearly” services on earth. Theinvestigative judgment has begun.The end of human probation is

upon us.Also, a misunderstandingof either the “daily” or the

“transgression of desolation” ofDaniel 8:13 prevents the compre-hension of the verse as having todo with the investigative judgment.That event, in all its fullness, must be understood if our people are to be prepared for it, and must be setforth properly if others are to bewarned of it.

Imagine Eect o Error

What scriptural or historicalreasoning can justify the posi-tion that the event that began the1290-year prophecy in AD 508 wasthe downfall of paganism? Notonly will history deny that teach-ing (which able historians canquickly point out for the world to

see, to our discredit and the crip-pling of our message), but see howit detracts and even diminishes theevent that really happened?

It maers not to the enemy ofsouls what error or substitutionaryteaching keeps our thoughts fromheaven’s on-going activity. This

“red herring” teaching of paganism,a mistaken train of thought, servesas well as any device to weakenour teaching and turn minds awayfrom the true focus of the prophe-

cies, so we are less strengthened forwhat is soon to occur. But we nowknow of a surety that AD 508 wasthe start of the “taking away” of the

“daily” from Jesus. In his institutionof a church-state alliance, CatholicClovis caused a false mediation to be “set” before mankind in place ofthe true “daily” ministration.

And what scholarly evidence justies the viewpoint that the

event initiating the 1260-yearprophecy in AD 538 is the uproot-ing of the last of the three horns? Tosay that a horn (kingdom) has been

“plucked up by the roots” (Dan. 7:8)aords no other interpretation butthat it has ceased to exist. Both

primary and secondary sourcesreveal that the Ostrogoths lost amajor bale in 538 that was a turn-ing point in the war, but it was notthe end of the war. Procopius, aneyewitness, shows, and respectedhistorians the world over conrm,that the war continued to go rstone way and then the other. Thesame historical sources declarethat aer 538 the Ostrogoths werea force and foe that Rome baledfor nearly two more decades.

In fact, in March of 540 thePersian King Chosroes invadedRoman Mesopotamia, and theRoman General Belisarius was im-mediately recalled from Italy toConstantinople. By spring of 542the tide had changed, and onDecember 17, 546, the Gothic KingTotila reconquered Rome. In 547the Ostrogoths had almost all ofItaly back in their possession.Procopius tells us that from AD 536

to 552 Rome was conquered no lessthan ve times. Thus the war alter-nated and raged on until it nallycame to its close in 553. (For a fac-tual account of the uprooting of theOstrogoths taken from primaryand secondary sources and its rel-evance to prophetic history, see myforthcoming book 508 538 1798Source Book.)

Documented history, includ-ing an eyewitness primary source,thus destroys the foundation of any

teaching about the uprooting of thelast three horns by 538. For Seventh-day Adventists to perpetuate thatinsupportable teaching is to ex-pose ourselves to a worldly claimthat our faith is based on historical

errors! How much more meaning-ful and critical is the truth that inthat year, Rome moved to imposeupon humanity—with threat ofpunishment—the rst Sunday lawenforced by the state since thedivision of the Roman Empire.

“Speak the Same Ting”

Imagine the scorn and ridiculeof the world when it is learned wehave not been able to reach consen-sus on the meaning of the “daily”for well over a century. Does notthat discord diminish the powerof God’s Word on our lips? Doesit not cause confusion and divi-

sion among us for all the world toobserve? Meanwhile, Scripture ad-monishes us—indeed, pleads withus-- “Now I beseech you, brethren,. . . that ye all speak the same thing,and that there be no divisionsamong you, that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mindand in the same judgment [will,purpose].” 1 Cor. 1:10. Shall we con-tinue to ignore that counsel, whenour oneness for which Jesus prayed

would glorify God?

Accurate History

Furthermore, when accuratelyinformed on historical facts, God’speople can more eectively counteraempts to change or reinterprethistory to further Rome’s power. Itis well known that Rome is seek-ing to cast an entirely new light

on the history of her economic,spiritual and political strangle-hold in Western Europe during theDark Ages. She persistently refersto Europe’s “Christian heritage,”which she wants acknowledged

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via the European Union. Historytextbooks have been rendered po-litically correct or silent regarding

Rome’s oppressive role in Europeanhistory.In the United States, eorts to

reinterpret the nation’s constitu-tional history with an eye towarduniting church and state reect alack of awareness of the reasonsEuropean selers sought her shoresin the rst place.

Shall not our Lord have a peoplewith an accurate historical under-standing by which to counter thepapal eorts to restore supposedly

“Christian roots” in the Old Worldand, by the image to the beast, toimpose the same antichristian prin-ciples in the New World?

Correct Understanding Gives Consistency,

Power and Urgency

The correct understanding of

what occurred in 508 and 538 rela-tive to the “daily” and God’s lawgives a solid foundation to oursounding of the second and thirdangels’ messages in these last days.Clovis’ fusion of church and state inAD 508 resulted in the abrogation ofreligious liberty. The parallel to 508is seen in the second angel’s messagethat Babylon has fallen because “shemade [compelled] all nations drink

of the wine of the wrath of her forni-cation.” The abrogation of religiousliberty is yet to be repeated.

Then in AD 538 the RomanCatholic Church, in her rst Sundaylaw since Justinian legislated equal-ity of church canons with state laws(AD 530, Codex I.3.44), subvertedGod’s Sabbath, commanding obedi-ence to the papal sabbath in its stead,with the threat of church-deter-mined punishment for non-compli-ance. The parallel to 538 is the thirdangel’s message that warns us of re-ceiving the mark of the beast.

What satanic agencies accom-

plished before, they will accomplishagain in a universal Sunday law.Revelation 17 and 13 reveal quiteplainly what is to come in the resur-rection of the beast, when the samemethods will bring about the forma-tion of the image to the beast.

Surely the malevolent paernof our enemy is spelled out for allto see—and teach—in the events ofprophecy. We can document Rome’smodus operandi from 508 and 538, and

show from current events that “theearth and them that dwell therein”will soon face once again an impla-cable usurper who will forcibly seekto separate all humanity from theirhope that is centered in the heav-enly sanctuary. The same cause willproduce the same eect.

Thus there is a meaningful, de-monstrable consistency in prophecyin which the “daily” gures greatly.

Although it is not the only focus inthe time of the end, we would bemost unwise to consider it a topic

of lile consequence.The Antitypical Day of Atone-ment is at long last upon us. The books of heaven have been opened;the investigative judgment has beenin progress since 1844. If we haveavailed ourselves of the preciousservices of our heavenly High Priest,if our sins have gone beforehandunto judgment, then we have noth-ing to fear. Our God is as faithful asHis prophecies have been sure.

The End.

Many thanks to the Ellen G. WhiteEstate for the leers and all other ar-chival material we’ve documented, in-cluding LeRoy Froom’s The HistoricalSeing and Background of the Term

“Daily.”

Heidi Heiks, edi-tor of Our Firm

Foundation maga-zine, has been a col-lege educator, anauthor, and a radiospeaker for ThePeople of the Book

radio program. He continues to writeand is currently a teacher and speaker

for Hope International throughout theUnited States.

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Children’s Story

ickle was—well, she was in a pick-le. She had seen her twin brotherdo something she knew was verywrong. “Jason, you shouldn’thave done that!”

Jason had stolen a small gu-

rine of a sleeping cat. Mom lovedcats, and he told Pickle, “I didn’thave enough money to buy it, andChristmas is just two days away, soI had to do something. Besides, itdidn’t cost that much. People stealmore expensive stu all the time.”

Pickle knew Jason was in trouble with God. Big trouble. Stealingis a sin. And her brother wouldn’tlisten to her pleas to return thegurine. She decided she had to do

something, and do it fast. “Mom,can I talk to you a minute?”“Sure, honey, what do you want

to talk about?” Now, as you know,most moms have been alive forover twenty years—some even overthirty or forty years--and they’velearned a thing or two during thoseyears. So Pickle felt she could trustwhat Mom would tell her.

“What would you do if someoneyou knew did something bad andshe had a chance to x things and

she wouldn’t?” (Pickle said “she”so Mom wouldn’t suspect she wastalking about Jason.)

Mom answered as Pickle ex-pected she would. “Well, whatdoes the Bible say if you see some-one in danger of keeping his sin? Inloving kindness, you go to that per-son to try to get him to change hisways. But if that person won’t listento you, then you are to take another

person or two with you. Togetheryou are to try to guide that person back onto the path to heaven.”

“I thought so,” Pickle said.

“Thanks, Mom.” And she went out-side to sit on the swing under themaple tree and think. She didn’tmind the cold air, because shewas too busy thinking. Pickle’spickle was that she didn’t knowwhom to ask to go with her. Notonly that, she didn’t have muchtime. Tomorrow night, ChristmasEve, Jason might give the stolengi to Mom. And she couldn’t askMom, because then she’d nd out

Jason stole. “What a pickle I’m in,”she moaned soly. “What shouldI do? Dear Jesus, please help meknow what to do!”

Pickle swung on the swing forseveral minutes, sometimes ask-ing Jesus for help, and sometimes just thinking what she could do toconvince Jason to return the stolenitem and make things right. All ofa sudden, she jumped o the swing.

“Thank you for answering my prayer, Jesus!” she called soly to heaven

as she raced toward the house.Up the stairs Pickle hurried

and found Jason in his room. Sheshut the door so Mom couldn’thear. Then she said, “Jason, I havean idea. You know it was wrong tosteal that gurine. It was a sin, andyou should’ve asked Jesus to helpyou nd a way to give Mom a giin an honest way. Anyway, Jesus just gave me an idea for you.”

Pickle proceeded to explain that Jason could make his own gi forMom. He loved to carve wood, and

he had carved the three cars on his bedroom shelf. Mom always ad-mired them. “Why don’t you carveMom a cat? That way you could behonest and still have a gi for her.”

“I never thought of that,” Jasonsaid. “I always thought a good giwas a store-bought gi. But I have been feeling guilty about stealingthat gurine. That’s a good idea,Pickle—and I’ll do it!”

Early the next morning, Jason’s

door was shut but his light was on.Pickle didn’t see or hear him allday long except for meals. He atequickly then disappeared again,except for a very important trip tothe store to put a certain something back on the shelf where he got it.

By evening, the day beforeChristmas, he was nished.

“Pickle,” he called from upstairs.“Come here a minute, please.”

When Pickle arrived, heshowed her a sleeping cat—his

best carving so far. “It’s really nice!”she exclaimed.

“And so are you,” he said, “forhelping me be honest. I shouldhave asked Jesus what to do, likeyou did. Next time I will. Thanks,Pickle. I’m glad you’re my sister.”

By the way, Mom loved thecarved cat Jason gave her—and sodid Pickle, because he surprisedher with one, too! P

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H e a t h e r O l s o n

Last month I wrote aboutwhat the Bible and theSpirit of Prophecy haveto say about meat in the

diet. Today I’d like to delve furtherinto how choosing to eat a diet thatincludes meat products not onlyaects your health, but also theentire world around you. You see,the more we comprehend just howdamaging the eects of meat are,

the more we will understand whyGod has instructed His people toabstain from meat products.

At this point in our Earth’s histo-ry, meat consumption has reachedan all-time high worldwide (qua-drupling in just the last 50 years).In order to keep up with this grow-ing demand, we now have about 20 billion head of livestock taking upvaluable space on Earth. And withonly about 6.5 billion people, that

means we have 3 times more live-stock than we have people! And

strong growth in meat productionand consumption continues de-spite mounting evidence that meat-

based diets are completely un-healthy, and that just about everyaspect of meat production—fromgrazing-related loss of croplandand open space, to the inecienciesof feeding vast quantities of wa-ter and grain to cale in a hungryworld, to pollution from “factory

farms”—is an environmental disas-ter with wide and sometimes cata-strophic consequences. Accordingto the Worldwatch Institute, globallivestock population has increased60 percent just since 1961, with thenumber of fowl being raised forhuman dinner tables nearly qua-drupling in the same time period.In addition, U.S. beef and pork con-sumption has tripled since 1970,during which time it has more than

doubled in Asia. How has this hap-pened so quickly?!With fast food chains

popping up on every cornerand now with most of themeven accepting credit cardsright through the window,it’s easier than ever to in-dulge in meat-lled meals.In his best-selling book FastFood Nation , Eric Schlossernoted “Americans nowspend more money on fast

food—$110 billion a year—than they do on higher edu-cation. They spend more onfast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspa-pers, videos and recordedmusic—combined.” Andwhat is the main dish servedat fast food restaurants?Meat! But when you takea bite of that hamburger,

chicken nugget, or any other meatydish, do you think of where it camefrom and what it took to get it inyour hands? Not usually.

Processed meats like sh sticks,chicken nuggets, sandwich meats,and the like seem to be an easy xfor a quick meal. But in reality, itis just another way we are addingmore meat to our diets. So is meat-eating really all that bad? What

happens as a result of eating meat?Well, for one, it takes abundance,

then reduces it to scarcity. Takethe amount of natural resourcesneeded to raise the animals, forinstance. On average, you need16 pounds of grain to produce 1pound of feedlot beef, 6 pounds ofgrain to produce 1 pound of pork,and 3 pounds of grain to produceone pound of chicken.

And what about the water? The

most widely accepted water esti-mate to produce a pound of beefis 2500 gallons. That’s enough, butyou can’t just produce a pound of beef, you have to raise a whole cow!By this estimate, in order to raise a1000-pound steer, you would useapproximately 2.5 millio gallonsof water! To put that into perspec-tive, that’s enough water to oat adestroyer! In comparison to the 2500gallons it takes to produce a poundof beef, it takes roughly only 60 gal-

lons of water to produce a pound ofgrain. Do you see how this repre-sents such a colossal waste?

All this comes at a time whenthe world is teeming with peoplewho suer from profound hungerand malnutrition. Most people actlike world hunger has been abol-ished. People seem to think thatthere may be a few people suer-ing in a remote village in a third

To Eat Meat or Not to Eat Meat:THAT Is the Question

Health Gem




eects of eating meat in next month’sOur Firm Foundation. Our bookstorecarries a number of books about veg-etarian diet and lifestyle, in additionto vegetarian/vegan cookbooks. Ifyou are interested, please call us at

1-800-468-7884.

Heather Olson, RN, CH

Endnotes:

FAO, “The State of Food Inse-1.curity in the World,” 2002.Robert Black, Saul Morris, and2.Jennifer Bryce. “Where andWhy are 10 Million ChildrenDying Every Year?” The Lancet, 361:2226-2234, 2003.

Eco-Eating: Eating as if the3.Earth Matters. http://www.brook.com/veg.

Meatless Burgers Cookbook

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world country, but for the most partpeople are geing plenty to eat. Thatis simply not true. The UN Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO) es-

timates that around 840 millionpeople are undernourished. That’sroughly 14% of the human popu-lation.1 On average, around 25,000people die every day from hunger-related causes. Every day, almost16,000 children die from hunger-related causes--one child every veseconds.2 Isn’t that sad?!

Harvard nutritionist Jean Mayerestimates that reducing meat pro-duction by just 10 percent in the U.S.

alone would free enough grain tofeed 60 million people. According tothe British group Vegfam, a 10-acrefarm can support 60 people grow-ing soybeans, 24 people growingwheat, 10 people growing corn, yetonly two producing cale. Britain,with 56 million people, could sup-port a population of 250 millionon an all-vegetable diet.

According to the USDA, grow-ing crops for farm animals requiresnearly half of the U.S. water sup-

ply and 80% of its agriculturalland. Animals raised for food inthe U.S. consume 90% of the soycrop, 80% of the corn crop, and 70%of its grain.3 And as incredible as itsounds, you’d save more water bynot eating a 1-pound steak than bynot showering for 6 months.

Think of all the suering in theworld that could be stopped, sim-ply by changing our diets. There

are always com-mercials on tele-vision depictingstarving childrenin foreign coun-tries and askingfor money to help

feed them. Whilemoney helps (if itactually reachesthe people), itwill never beenough. As longas we continueto eat in a selshmanner, children

will continue to starve to death. AsDiet for a Small Planet author FrancesMoore Lappé writes, imagine sit-ting down to an eight-ounce steak.

“Then imagine the room lled with45 to 50 people with empty bowls infront of them. For the ‘feed cost’ ofyour steak, each of their bowls could be lled with a full cup of cookedcereal grains.” Can you see whyGod has instructed us not to eatmeat? He knew it would only causepain and suering.

Next month I will discuss theharsh reality of the treatment of ani-mals destined for food. The painful

abuse and torture are beyond whatany creature should have to endure.By now I hope you are beginningto understand why God has in-structed his people not to eat meat.He is not in the business of mak-ing rules just to have people followthem. Everything He has instructedus to do is in our best interest andis designed to make us healthy,happy people. If we will obey Hissimple instructions regarding diet,we can live to be beer witnesses

and examples of His love and char-acter. And changing your diet cannot only prolong your life and keepyou healthier, but it may also savethe lives of others who would havedied prematurely. If you could savejust one of the 16,000 children whodie each day by simply changingyour diet, would you? What if itwas your child?

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precede the great day of God.Everything in the world is in anunseled state.” LDE 20.

Some Parents “Use” Religionto Avoid Vaccinations

Some non-religious parents,concerned about childhood vacci-nations’ safety, are claiming reli-gious exemptions. They say they’re

being forced to lie because statevaccination laws allow few optionsfor avoidance. Twenty-eight statescurrently allow exemptions formedical or religious reasons only;twenty others also allow personalor philosophical reasons. Two al-low only medical reasons.

Four Arkansas families success-fully challenged the state’s religiousexemption which required mem- bership in a recognized religionprohibiting vaccinations. Aer the

state began allowing philosophicalexemptions also, those exemptionsincreased while religious ones de-creased.

Public health ocials say onlya few [unvaccinated] people cancause an outbreak. One doctorsaid a choice not to get a vaccinealso makes a choice for the personnearby. Steve LeBlanc, Asso. Press,Yahoo!News, Oct. 18, 2007.

End-TIME PErSPEcTIvE:“All parents [may] learn much

concerning the care and prevention,and even the treatment, of disease.”MH 385.

Speedier Executions“Since capital punishment was

reinstated in the United States threedecades ago, 124 people awaitingexecution have been exonerated.

Martial Law When PresidentDecides; Congress Sidestepped

“…Pres. Bush signed NationalSecurity and Homeland SecurityPresidential Directive NSPD-51/HSPD-20 which grants the FederalGovernment comprehensivepowers in the event of ‘CatastrophicEmergency.’ The document says it isintended to provide for ‘State, local,

territorial, and tribal governments,and private sector organizations’ inthe event of an emergency, but somecivil libertarians call the executiveorder a threat to our freedom.

“The directive denes acatastrophic emergency as anyincident, regardless of location,that results in extraordinary levelsof mass casualties, damage, ordisruption severely aection theU.S. population, infrastructure,

environment, economy, orgovernment functions.“Basically if the President

believes there is a national crisishe can declare martial law. …Some worry that the powers could

be similar to a dictator, with nooversight from the congress orthe judicial branch. ‘The Presidentshall lead the activities of theFederal Government for ensuringconstitutional government.’”

The National Emergency Act of

1976 enables Congress to ‘modify,rescind, or render dormant suchdelegated emergency authority,’ ifCongress believes the president hasacted beyond his delegated powers, but Bush’s executive order does notmention of any such oversight.

“The Posse Comitatus Act of1878 and the Insurrection Act of1807 substantially limit the powersof the Federal government to use

the military for law enforcement.But on September 30, 2006, …theCongress modied the InsurrectionAct as part of the 2007 DefenseAuthorization Bill. Section 1076 ofthe new law… allows the Presidentto deploy troops as a policeforce… when [he] determines thatthe authorities of the state areincapable of maintaining publicorder. The bill also… [gives] thePresident authority to order the

dispersal of either insurgents or‘those obstructing the enforcementof the laws.’” Dan Wilson, bestsyn-dication.com, June 22, 2007.

End-TIME PErSPEcTIvE:“… When so great power is placed

in the hands of a few persons, Satanwill make determined eorts topervert the judgment, to insinuatewrong principles of action, to bringin a wrong policy; in so doing he

can not only pervert one institution, but through this can gain controlof others and give a wrong moldto the work in distant parts. Thusthe inuence for evil becomeswidespread….” 7T 173.

France Bankrupt

France is bankrupt due tochronic budget decits, thecountry’s PM said…. “…I am thehead of a state that is in… bank-

ruptcy due to its nancing plan, …that has been in chronic decitfor 15 years, …that hasn’t voted a balanced budget in 25 years.” Asso.Press, Sept. 21, 2007.

End-TIME PErSPEcTIvE:“Strange and eventful history

is being recorded in the booksof heaven--events which itwas declared should shortly

News Watch




For some prisoners, the appealsprocess provided time to provetheir innocence.

“Now a move by the governmentto speed up appeals has alarmeddeath penalty opponents, and evensome supporters, who worry that

innocent people could be put todeath.” The new law would givethe U.S. aorney general, instead of judges, the power to shorten somedeadlines for appeals if programsare established to ensure convictsget competent lawyers.

“‘…Justice can’t take thislong,’ said the legal director ofa victims’ rights group….” Asso.Press, International Herald Tribune ,August 31, 2007.

End-TIME PErSPEcTIvE:“The priests thought that with

the weak and vacillating Pilate theycould carry through their planswithout trouble. Before this he hadsigned the death warrant hastily,condemning to death men theyknew were not worthy of death. Inhis estimation the life of a prisonerwas of lile account; whether hewere innocent or guilty was of nospecial consequence. The priests

hoped Pilate would now inictthe death penalty on Jesus withoutgiving Him a hearing….” DA 724.

Another War Coming Soon?

“Amid deepening frustrationwith Iran, calls for shiing Bushadministration policy towardmilitary strikes or other strongeractions are intensifying, includingamong some U.S. ocials. ...Awave of commentary, analysis, and

think-tank studies on Iran policy—along with rumor, speculation,and possible leaks about militarypreparations—has been buildingthrough the summer.

“It remains unclear whether thelouder buzz on Iran portends adecisive change in policy. But theup tempo has been widely noticed.‘There seems… to be a deliberateand concerted eort to bring the

military option back to centerstage,’” said the National IranianAmerican Council’s president.

The leader of UN eorts tomonitor Iran’s nuclear programswarned about the “pounding of‘war drums….’

“President Bush’s rhetoric on Iranhas been heard by critics as tryingto prepare the American publicfor military action….” ThomasOmestad, U.S. News and WorldReport, Sept. 24, 2007, 44.

End-TIME PErSPEcTIvE:“Satan delights in war, for it

excites the worst passions of thesoul and then sweeps into eternityits victims steeped in vice and blood. It is his object to incite the

nations to war against one another;for he can thus divert the mindsof the people from the work ofpreparation to stand in the day ofGod.” CH 460.

US Finances Worry Europe

“European Union nanceministers open two days of talks

…to discuss the United States’slowing economy, feeble dollar and

massive current account decit asmajor problems for the EU and therest of the world…. The employersfederation Business Europe saidthat… the euro exchange ratehad reached a ‘pain threshhold’for European companies…. Thenance ministers of the 13 euro-zone nations will reiterate Europeis an innocent victim of othersand that the euro-dollar exchangerate issue is part of a broader setof problems triggered by China’s

trade surplus and America’shuge debts that require concertedeorts to undo….” Aoife White, AP,YahooNews, October 7, 2007.

End-TIME PErSPEcTIvE:“…And upon the earth, distress of

nations, with perplexity….” Luke 21:25.

Deadly Germs Missing

“American laboratories handling

the world’s deadliest germs andtoxins have experienced morethan 100 accidents and missingshipments since 2003….

“No one died, and regulatorssaid the public was never at riskduring these incidents. But thedocumented cases reect poorly onprocedures and oversight at high-security labs, some of which workwith organisms and poisons sodangerous that illnesses they causehave no cure. In some cases, labs

have failed to report accidents asrequired by law.

The mishaps include bites orscratches by infected animals,skin cuts, needle sticks andmore, according to an Asso. Pressreview of condential reportssubmied to federal regulators.

“They describe accidents involvinganthrax, bird u virus, monkeypoxand plague-causing bacteria at 44labs in 24 states. More than two-

dozen incidents were still underinvestigation.“The number of accidents has

risen steadily. Through August,the most recent period coveredin the reports obtained by the AP,labs reported 36 accidents and lostshipments during 2007 — nearlydouble the number reported duringall of 2004.” Larry Margasak, Asso.Press, Yahoo! News , October 2, 2007.

End-TIME PErSPEcTIvE:

“…Men’s hearts failing themfor fear, and for looking aer thosethings which are coming on theearth.” Luke 21:26.

P h o

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i S t o c

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o m




camp meetings

No organized church tob.

und ministers, who had to

take time to earn livingsSome ministers attractingc.

large ollowings then reusing

to accept counsel rom

unocial church leaders

All o the aboved.

The frst session o the General5.

Conerence o SDAs met in 1863. Its

members created a constitution o

___ articles providing a ramework

or an organized SDA church.

9a.

15b.

22c.

27d.

When the National Reorm6.

Association’s (NRA) bill or Sunday

legislation was voted into law

in Pennsylvania, who placed a

bill beore legislators to exempt

conscientious 7th-day observers?

Seventh-day Adventistsa.Seventh-day Baptistsb.

Jewsc.

Pennsylvania Associationd.

o Religious Liberty

NRA spokespersons said such a bill7.

Was reasonable and aira.

Deserved the supportb.

o the NRA

Would derail enorcementc.

o the Sunday law

A and Bd.

___ supported a8. civil Sunday lawon the basis o a long-time historic

American practice.

Southern statesa.

Northern statesb.

Protestantsc.

Working atheistsd.

Enorcement o a civil rest on9.

Sunday enabled prosecution o

Businessesa. Corporationsb.

Individualsc.

All o the aboved.

A civil Sunday law sidesteps10.

arguments about

Unconstitutionala.

establishment o religion

Removal o religious libertyb.

Religious discriminationc.

All o the aboved.

“We have nothing to fear for the future,except as we shall forget the way the Lordhas led us, and His teaching in our pasthistory.”—E. G. White, Life Sketches , 196.Many today have neglected to study thehistory and people that made up the earlydays of the Advent movement. To help

encourage interest in Adventist history,we have put together questions aboutpeople and events of our past. Our goalis to spark faith and further study into “theway the Lord has led us, and His teachingin our past history.”

Historical Footnotes

The “cleansing o the sanctuary”1.

which William Miller interpreted as

the cleansing o the earth by fre at

Christ’s return was considered byhis opponents to be

Puriying o the church toa.

prepare it or world evangelism

Puriying o the world tob.

prepare it or Jesus’ return

Purifying o the groupc.

prophesying Christ’s

imminent return

A post-millennial peaced.

William Miller expected Christ’s2. return, but his opponents thought

reorm movements would bring

a(n)

End o World War IIa.

Economic boomb.

Conversion o rontiersmenc.

Christian Americad.

Ater 1839, when Pastor ___ began3.

to promote and organize Miller’s

campaign, the Advent movement

reached more people, especially inlarge cities.

Owen Crosiera.

Albert Foresterb.

Joshua Himesc.

Frank Gibsond.

During 1853, a need or church4.

organization developed, due to

Many baptisms roma.

Source: Eric Syme, A History of SDA Church-State Relations in the United States. Pacifc Press: 1973.




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I am a youth aged 25 from Kenya.I thank the team behind Our FirmFoundation magazine in abundancefor the work they are doing for usreaders. I read your past magazine

and I was very happy with the wayyou addressed issues in referenceto health. Please send me the fol-lowing books to understand morethe health and diseases that ourfellows suer from. May your workprosper in our Father’s name.

MM, Kenya

I just started reading the 508 book. I’m enjoying it, but I think Ineed to get the beginning issues

of the “daily” series to start fromthere.CH, Kentucky

I am really enjoying the “daily”articles. Do you have this in bookform yet?

JF[Not yet, but it’s coming! --Ed.]

Enclosed is a donation to helpyou with the increase in postage.I believe Satan wants you to stop

mailing the truth and this is justone of his evil ways. There willno doubt be others. But with Godthere are no obstacles that He can’tovercome.

NP, North Carolina

I have been reading the onlineversion of your Good News news-leer and Our Firm Foundation magazine. I am greatly impressed

by the quality of the articles andwould like to thank you for thespiritual food you are providing toGod’s people the world over.

I am interested in receiving the

DVDs and CDs that you have beensending out. I believe they would bea great help to me and others in myarea. I have a DVD and CD record-er and would not have a problemduplicating them for those inter-ested. Please also send us whateverprinted material you deem worthyof sharing for inreach and outreach.We are in a spiritual drought here,with very lile material available,especially Ellen White’s books.

May God bless you for yourfaithful work.BS, Botswana

Please pray for our church. Wenever get present truth—only loveand unity and peace and safety.Thanks to Hope International forstanding up for the truth.

AD, Michigan

Please send me the June issue.I never received it, and I need to

read part ve! I have his book aswell, but I want to read every detailI can. Thank you so much!

I see in your Leers to the Edi-tor section that you are going toput the “daily” articles into bookform. That’s an excellent idea.Don’t let that project slide throughthe cracks. Those articles are a realresource and deserve a nice book

to preserve them in. Everything isat one’s ngertips; all the researchand documentation has already been done. All we have to do is justread it.

JP

Thank you for sending the DVDon the “daily” by Heidi Heiks. It’snice to see the author of the book!

MC, Ontario, Canada

I just found you on the web. I’mamazed at the truth in Our FirmFoundation. It’s awesome. We’ve been Adventist for three yearand can’t nd anyone else actually

preaching the three angels’ mes-sages. Our Sabbath school lessonsare in serious error.

JM, Michigan

I am enclosing an oering forthe DVD sermons. I’m also a bittardy in thanking you for them. Weappreciate them very much.

KC

We’re sending our tithe to youThank you so much for Heidi’s

teaching on the “daily.” Finallysomeone has come up with thecorrect teaching on it. I came tothe same conclusion in 1978 whenreading Daniel. It is very self-ex-planatory. All you need is Danielto learn this. I never used any other books but the Bible. Thank God forusing Heidi to explain it to peoplePraise God.

RM, Colorado

Letters to the Editor

P h o

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Hope InternationalP.O. Box 220

Knoxville, IL 61448

Change Service Requested

Anonymous“Dad and the Farm,” March“The Power of the Printed Page,” July

Chabala, Wellington“Cry, the Beloved Church, Part II,” January

Floyd, Clark“Bridling the Tongue,” May“Flee to the City of Refuge,” September

Grosball, Marshall“Fanaticism, Part 1,” March“Fanaticism, Part 2,” April

Handwerk, Jean“It’s All or Nothing,” August

Hebert, David“A Thoughtful Hour,” June“The Chosen Generation,” August

Heiks, HeidiTheologial Waymaks: “Understanding Arightthe Daily, Scripturally and Historically”

An 11-part series on the “daily” beginning inFebruary and ending in December.

Jacques, Oliver“Life in the White House,” June

Kang, David“Why the Sanctuary?” January

Larson, Ralph“The Weight of Evidence, Part 1,” February“The Weight of Evidence, Part 2,” March

Laurin, Peter“The Cross in Heaven,” December

Morris, Franklin“Cleanliness is Godliness,” January

Olson, Joe“Pride—The King Killer,” July“In the Lap of Jesus,” November

Peek, Norman“Something Beer, Part 1,” September“Something Beer, Part 2,” October

Spear, Ron“The Three Angels’ Messages, Part 1,” January“The Three Angels’ Messages, Part 2,” February

White, Ellen G.“Words of Warning, No.2,” January“Words of Warning, No. 3,” February

“The Sign of God’s People,” March“The Duty to Preserve Health,” May“The Blessing of Obedience,” June“What It Means to Be a Christian,” July“The Sin of Presumption,” August“The Words and Works of Satan Repeated in the

World,” September“The Limit of God’s Mercy,” October“Truth to be Rescued from Error,” November“Our Beseing Sins,” December

the daily part10

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