Luke 21:8

Christian, Be Not Deceived!

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE LAW OF THE WORLD-WIDE SYMBOLIZED BY THE LOCAL, DEMONSTRATED IN THE MASTER'S SECOND ADVENT SERMON: A GUIDE IN UNDER STANDING DANIEL AND REVELATION.

In His second advent sermon, Jesus (as all the prophets of God have done) employed the principle of the world-wide symbolized by the local. He employed the description of an event near at hand when foretelling of a greater event to transpire at the end of time. He pointed His hearers to a Palestinian tragedy, when depicting a far greater tragedy—the world-wide woes and destruction of the last days. In local events He saw symbolized last-day, world-wide events. The signs preceding the downfall of Jerusalem, and the scenes of that awful catastrophe are to be repeated on such an enlarged scale that the whole world will be involved. The pen of inspiration, guiding our minds to the true principles governing the interpretation of the Scriptures, says:

"Christ saw in Jerusalem a symbol of the world hardened in unbelief and rebellion, and hastening on to meet the retributive judgments of God." G.C. 22.

"The Saviour's prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfilment, of which that terrible desolation was but a faint shadow. In the fate of the chosen city we may behold the doom of a world that has rejected God's mercy and trampled upon His law." G.C. 37.

It is significant that the book, "The Great Controversy," which presents the events leading to the final overthrow of the Babylonian world, should commence with a portrayal of the overthrow of Jerusalem. The tragedies which befell the Jewish nation and city prefigure, in a limited way, the overwhelming destruction awaiting the world and its cities at the end of time.

The comparison between the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world may be briefly set out as follows:

JESUS DEMONSTRATES THE USE OF THE "DOUBLE," "SPIRITUAL" APPLICATION.

Without a break in His sermon, Jesus passed from literal to spiritual Rome; from literal Rome's destruction of the literal Jewish nation, city and temple (Matt. 24: 15-20), to spiritual Rome's destruction of spiritual Israel—the spiritual city and temple of God. Matt. 24: 21, 22. This "double," "spiritual" application of literal Rome's "war" on Israel is definitely presented in the Revelation. Compare Rev. 11: 1, 2 with Luke 21: 24. See also Rev. 13: 7, etc. The "double,'" spiritual" application of the literal Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem is also made in 5T. 451, 464. The statements in the Spirit of Prophecy always harmonize with Bible principles of interpretation. All God's prophets agree. See 1 Cor. 14: 32, etc. All prophecies commencing with the literal Jewish nation, temple and city have their ending in relation to spiritual Israel and the whole world.

IN HIS SECOND ADVENT SERMON AND THE REVELATION, JESUS EMPLOYS THE PRINCIPLE OF THE "DOUBLE," "SPIRITUAL" APPLICATION.

Jesus is the Author of the Revelation. See Rev. 22:16; G.C. 342.

Commentators draw attention to the fact that the Apocalypse is really an enlargement of Jesus' second advent sermon, which is sometimes termed the "little apocalypse." As one author has stated:

"The Apocalypse is nothing else than a transfigured form of the prophecy on the Mount of Olives." Prof. Milligan, D.D., in his "The Revelation of St. John," p. 42. says:

"The Apocalypse is moulded by that great discourse of our Lord upon 'the last things' which has been preserved for us in the first three Gospels. Matt. 24: Mark 13; Luke 21. (It is remarkable that we find no account of this discourse in the Gospel of St. John.) The parallelism between the two is to a certain extent acknowledged by all enquirers, and is indeed in many respects so obvious that it can hardly escape the notice of even the ordinary reader. Let any one compare, for example, the account of the opening of the sixth seal in Rev. 6:12-17 with the description of the end in Matt. 24: 29, 30, and he will see that the one is almost a transcript of the other. Or let the three series of apocalyptic visions—the seals. the trumpets, and the bowls be compared with the other parts of the discourse, and it will be found that, speaking generally, they are filled with the same thoughts—with wars, pestilences, famines, earthquakes, signs in sun and moon and stars, false teachers doing wonders and trying to deceive the very elect, the elect preserved, angels sent forth to gather them with the great sound of a trumpet, the victorious progress of the Gospel, the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven the final deliverance of the good, and the just judgment of the wicked. These things reveal in a way not to be mistaken a very intimate relation between the last prophecy of Christ and the Revelation of St. John. When we look still further into the matter, the correspondence is much more marked."

Prof. Milligan then examines the book of Revelation and the Master's second advent sermon. Their correspondences are so striking that it is evident that John was inspired to omit from his Gospel the second advent sermon so that the close of the sacred Canon of Scripture would be the complete enlargement of the Saviour's prophecy.

In His second advent sermon Jesus passed from literal Israel to spiritual Israel; from the literal temple and city to the spiritual temple and city; and from literal to spiritual Rome. Similarly, in the Revelation, He fully demonstrates the principle of employing the experiences of ancient Israel, her city and temple, and her enemies, when outlining the experiences of the church and her enemies. Futurists, not understanding the principle of passing from the literal to the spiritual. apply Matt. 24:21, 22, and the things of Israel mentioned in the Revelation, to the Jews in Palestine in the last days.

Concerning the Revelation, Prof. W. Milligan, D.D., says:"The imagery of the Old Testament certainly lived in the mind of the Seer with not less vivacity than in the minds of its original authors."

Jesus inspired John to reach into the past to obtain his imagery when prophesying concerning the future experiences of the church. All the prophets have done this—which is one of the proofs of their inspiration. They used the past in prophesying the future: they based their predictions upon the earlier records of the sacred historians and prophets of ancient Israel. They all so quote each other, and are so interwoven that they either stand or fall together, and must be interpreted as a whole, with adherence to the principle that local matters become world-wide—particularly in the last days.

In His second advent sermon and in the Revelation, Jesus took things which happened in Palestine as foundational imagery backgrounds for His predictions concerning the future experiences of spiritual Israel in all the world. He did not work in reverse—from all the world to Palestine (as in the Futuristic teaching of a Palestinian "Armageddon") but from a Palestinian background He turned to the whole world. Elsewhere in this book, attention has been drawn to the crescendo plan of Scripture: the principle by which the past, as it becomes the future, is enlarged. Thus Jesus, when forecasting the world-wide destruction of the enemies of the church, inspired John to write of the great battle of God at a "place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon"—referring back to Megiddo, described in the Old Testament as a place of Israel's conflict with her foes. Only by the principle of the transition from the literal to the spiritual do we see perfect harmony existing between the second advent sermon, the Revelation and all the prophets- including the Spirit of Prophecy.

THE PRINCIPLE OF THE "DOUBLE," "SPIRITUAL" APPLICATION EMPLOYED IN THE SECOND ADVENT SERMON GUIDES IN THE UNDER STANDING OF THE PROPHECIES OF DANIEL.

When outlining the work of literal and spiritual Rome, Jesus directed us to that which was "spoken by Daniel the prophet." Matt. 24:15. Thus we are guided in our understanding of the prophecies of Daniel by the principle of the transition from the literal to the spiritual; from the local to the world-wide; from literal to spiritual Israel; from literal to spiritual Rome.

In His second advent sermon, Jesus used several expressions which are keywords of the book of Daniel. He said: "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand)." Matt. 24:15. In Dan. 9:26, 27 we read of the coming of the Romans who would "destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined . . . and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even unto the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolator." See margin. The "abominations" are mentioned three times in Daniel (Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:11): thrice mentioned because the power thus designated counterfeits the Third Angel's Message. "Abominations" is the word employed in Scripture when referring to idolatrous worship. Commenting on Matt. 24:15, God's servant says:

"When the idolatrous standards of the Romans should be set up in the holy ground, which extended some furlongs outside the city walls, then the followers of Christ were to find safety in flight." GC. 26.

The Greek word for "abomination" ("bdelugma") occurs six (Babylon's number) times in the New Testament. Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14; Luke 16:15; Rev. 17:4, 5; 21:27. In describing the spiritual Roman power, the Revelator designates her "the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." Rev. 17:5. Thus, in Rev. 17:4, 5 and also in Matt. 24:15, Jesus applies, in a "double," ""spiritual" sense, Daniel's prophecy concerning "the abomination of desolation." Both literal and spiritual Rome are designated by the same word: Pagan Rome was an idolatrous power, and Papal Rome, also, is an idolatrous power.

To His disciples Jesus declared: "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation ... stand in the holy place . . . then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains." Matt. 24: 15, 16. As the sign for the flight of the disciples was that literal Rome was standing where she should not have stood, so, by the principle of the "double," ""spiritual" application, the sign for the flight of God's people in the last days will be when spiritual Rome also stands "in the holy place"—presumptuously stands in the place of God by enforcing the keeping of Sunday in defiance of the command of God.

This "double," "spiritual" application is given in the Spirit of Prophecy:

"As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to the disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy [the enforcement of the Papal Sunday] be a sign to us that the limit of God's forbearance is reached." 5T. 451. "As the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman armies was the signal for flight to the Judean Christians, so the assumption of power on the part of our nation, in the decree enforcing the papal Sabbath, will be a warning to us. It will then be time to leave the large cities, preparatory to leaving the smaller ones for retired homes in secluded places among the mountains." 5T. 464.

The safety of the church in the final conflict is illustrated by the successful flight of all Christians from Jerusalem just before its overthrow. The Spirit of Prophecy declares that the awful horrors of that siege present a limited picture of the frightful, worldwide scenes of carnage of the last days. The disciples, watching for the Master's sign (vs. 15-20), heeded His counsel, and were protected in the regions of Pella. Writing of the time of the disciples' flight to the mountains, Pastor W. A. Spicer states: "Graetz, the Jewish historian, works out carefully the schedule of the days, showing that Cestius must have withdrawn from the city on Wednesday, October 7. It was 'not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.' " Again, it will be noted that that which occurred in Palestine—the disciples' flight to the mountains—will have a world-wide application in the last days.

No doubt, the Lord will again overrule so that the flight to the mountains in the last days, likewise, will be "not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day."

The word "desolation," accompanying the word "abomination" in Christ's sermon, referring to the work of pagan and papal Rome, is mentioned seven times in Daniel 8:13; 9:17, 18, 26, 27; 11:31; 12:11. ("The desolate" of 9:27, and "the desolations" of 9:2 are from different words.) When Jesus referred to the book of Daniel, saying: "Whoso readeth let him understand" (Matt. 24:15), He used one of its keywords. In the important prophecy of the 2,300 days (Dan. 8 and 9) the words "understand," "understanding," "understood," from the Hebrew "Biyn," “Biynah," are mentioned seven times. (In Dan. 9:13, 25 the Hebrew "Sakal" is used.) Throughout the book of Daniel the thought of "understand," in various words, is employed about 27 times.

Another expression (used three times) which Jesus employed in His sermon connects His prophecy with the book of Daniel, and also connects the literal "war" of literal Rome against the Jewish nation and city with the spiritual "war" of spiritual Rome against spiritual Israel, the city of God. In Matt. 24:19, the expression "those days" refers to the attack upon literal Jerusalem; in verses 22 and 29 the expression "those days" refers to the times of papal supremacy, when spiritual Israel was bitterly attacked by her spiritual enemy.

When Jesus predicted the coming of "the abomination of desolation" to destroy Jerusalem and to scatter the rejected nation of the Jews, He looked beyond the overthrow of literal Jerusalem. He saw more than the coming to Jerusalem of the literal Roman desolator. He saw the World-wide Papal Roman desolator attacking His spiritual Jerusalem, the church. He saw to the end of time, when all the cities of the rebellious world would be overthrown by the wrath of God.

The Jewish nation had been assured of the covenant blessing and protection of the Infinite on the condition of her obedience. All the promises to Israel were conditional. Notice the "if" in these promises. Ex. 19:5; Deut. 28:1, 2, 9, 13, 15, 58; 1 Kings 2:4; Jer. 17:24-27; Ezek. 43:7-11; Zech. 6:15. The blessings which God would have bestowed on literal Israel had they obeyed His voice, are expected by Futurists to be bestowed upon the literal Jews. They do not see that those promises, which were based upon an "if," cannot now be fulfilled to literal Israel, which, as a nation, came to its end in A.D. 70. The church has inherited the promises to Israel. "Prophets and Kings," p. 22, states:

"A goodly remnant to whom are to be fulfilled all the covenant promises–this has been the theme of God's messengers to His church throughout the centuries that have passed."

Because of their sins, Christ could not cover literal Israel with His wings (Matt. 23:37); but He will gather His spiritual Israel under His wings in the time of the world-wide slaughter of "Armageddon."

In His second advent sermon, Jesus has given us the principle to be applied in the understanding of the book of Daniel and other prophecies: the principle of the transition from the local to the world-wide; from the literal to the spiritual; from literal to spiritual Israel, and from literal to spiritual Rome.