By John Thiel, The Consummation of the Everlasting Covenant Conference, Study 5, mp3
We have gazed upon the building of the temple or mountain that is established by each true believer in Jesus becoming a living stone that is fused into the living stone in the foundation of the apostles and prophets and Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone. While God’s people are busily active in the building upon this rock, what are the children of darkness doing? Did you know they also have a rock?
Deuteronomy 32:31 For their rock [is] not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves [being] judges. 37 And he shall say, Where [are] their Gods, [their] rock in whom they trusted,
Idols are a rock for them. This is of course depicted in the image of Daniel 2. What is that? Is that a rock? Where do you get gold from; the ground. Where do you get silver from? If you go to Iron Knob in South Australia there is a mountain that is iron and if you walk around there are rocks that are iron and very weighty. This is all rock. When they carve their images, where do they carve them from? A rock. They have a rock. While our rock is the majesty of the universe, their rock is their father. As Jesus said to the Pharisees, you are of your father the devil. The kingdom of Lucifer. In times of Israel reference was made to the security that is relied upon from that rock, the rock of Lucifers kingdom.
Isaiah 31:1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because [they are] many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD! 2 Yet he also [is] wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. 3 Now the Egyptians [are] men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.
What a story that is. What a description this is of the rock that hits the image and they all fall down together. Woe to those who go to Egypt for their security. Before Egypt, what was the security that the people were depending on which Egypt is closely allied with?
Psalm 105:23 Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
What is Egypt connected with? Ham. What connection is there in that name?
Genesis 10:5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. 6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. 7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. 8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
This is all the land today that is Iraq. Nimrod is the great originator of all spiritualism and paganism because what he instituted has come right down the line to us today, Babylon. There from Nimrod commenced a building that still provides security today to the unbelievers, the rejecters of Gods wonderful message of the everlasting covenant. There is a scriptural alluding to Babylon of old.
Revelation 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Most people will read this and associate it with Rome only. But Rome was just a product of the city that existed long before Babylon and that is what she is called. The mind that is studying the scripture under the guidance of the spirit of God will make connections to where the tower was first built for security, a rock of protection. It was a building that was like a mighty edifice of a rock. What do the pyramids remind you of? A mountain of rock. They were a product from previous. We could go into the line-up of all the pagan connections back to Nimrod but we will look in one flash to help us understand.
Revelation 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
This cry of the city Babylon that great city that rules over the whole earth, when did it commence? In the days of Nimrod and it has rained over the wicked world ever since. The city of Rome was only a by-product of that. This commenced on the building of the tower of Babel and ever since that time the land of Ham has been dependent upon for security. There are independent movements today that have made a bit study of it but I don’t want to waste time on that as there is plenty of it in the Bible. It want to fill myself with that which will give me strength to stand against Babylon. The invention of idolatry can be traced back from nimrod right through to Rome. From Daniel 8 you can see an outline of it. Idolatry raised itself against God in the time of Nimrod.
Daniel 8:9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant [land]. 10 And it waxed great, [even] to the host of heaven; and it cast down [some] of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. 11 Yea, he magnified [himself] even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily [sacrifice] was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. 12 And an host was given [him] against the daily [sacrifice] by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.
The magnification of himself even to the prince of the host and by him the daily was taken away from him. This Roman power would finally be overpowered so that the pagan persecution of Gods people would cease and in its place there would arise a transgressing power that persecutes. Ever since Nimrod, what have been the practises of paganism towards God’s people? It was the daily continual persecution from Cain right down to now. There is this overarching declaration. That is a simple identification of paganism from days of Nimrod and even back further. By reason of transgression it cast truth to the ground. That is a change of paganism to apostate Christianity. It was apostate Christianity, the transgression that makes desolate now. We know much about that. While Jesus from the time that paganism was replaced by papal persecution Jesus was building his church and Satan was subtly continuing to build his temple. Jesus makes a direct connection with that. It is amazing and we are going to be picking up on this and the next few studies to follow. Jesus connects the building of his church with a contrasting building of Satan during the time after his first advent.
Matthew 24:15 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:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here [is] Christ, or there; believe [it] not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before.
Those words should bring us to close attention. Jesus is saying something here and we need to understand it and we will go into careful step by step research. Suffice it to say that Jesus pointed to Daniel 9:27 when he said
Matthew 24:15 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:)
That is what Jesus is pointing to. Jesus talks about the surrounding of the city and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem.
Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Jesus directs points to this scripture and notice the spirit of prophecy assistance in reference to what Jesus is saying that when the abomination spoken of Daniel should take place. Get ready, escape for your life.
It is no time now for God’s people to be fixing their affections or laying up their treasure in the world. The time is not far distant, when, like the early disciples, we shall be forced to seek a refuge in desolate and solitary places. 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. {5T 464.3}
Did you notice that the papal Sabbath and institutional mentality is here addressed. It has to do with what Jesus spoke about in Matthew that when you see the abomination then get ready, this is a sign. That was the surrounding of the city by the romans in taking Jerusalem. That is equated with the people living now in reference to the institution of Sunday and the enforcing of the mark of the beast.
When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1}
As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to the disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy be a sign to us that the limit of God’s forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation’s iniquity is full, and that the angel of mercy is about to take her flight, never to return. The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress which prophets have described as the time of Jacob’s trouble. The cries of the faithful, persecuted ones ascend to heaven. And as the blood of Abel cried from the ground, there are voices also crying to God from martyrs’ graves, from the sepulchers of the sea, from mountain caverns, from convent vaults: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” {5T 451.2}
Is this statement of Protestantism reaching her hand across her hand to Rome and to spiritualism still future? No but many Adventists think so. If you believe it is already existing, what is it a sign of? It is a sign that we had better escape for our life. How long has this been going for and how and when it started according to history? If this is the case it says that we may know that the people of God will be plunged into distresses which is described as Jacobs’s trouble. It has to do with the angel folding her wings. Is it possible that the First World War was part of it? Is it possible that behind the iron curtain that was all part of this? If it is so, where are we now? Have you thought I’m going through something that the time of trouble told me something about? Do you believe it is already that we are in the partial outpouring of Jacobs’s trouble? It is. Watchman blow the trumpet. We are in the wonderful habit of the Jewish church to wait for the future when it is happening in front of us and this I have seen for a long time now. What is the intervening history between the two events of the surrounding of the city of Jerusalem and the establishment of Sunday enforcing’s that we are looking at? People who saw the surrounding of the city of Jerusalem and thought here is the fulfilment of Christ’s prophecy and we know Jesus is coming soon, what was the counsel of apostle Paul to them? The intervening revelation.
2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him,
2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
That day is not going to come until first of all until the intervening history of the surrounding of Jerusalem and the Sunday law issue that intermitting building takes place. What did prophecy foretell in this intervening space of the surrounding of Jerusalem and the papal Sabbath?
Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom [are] ten kings [that] shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
7:25 And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
This is the intervening space when the Romans surrounding Jerusalem from pagan Rome to papal Rome. It had to be completely revealed before Jesus can come. How many years was that? 1260 years. Not until that has passed can we expect the representation of Jesus as its secondary reality of again having to escape.
The apostle Paul warned the church not to look for the coming of Christ in his day. “That day shall not come,” he says, “except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Not till after the great apostasy, and the long period of the reign of the “man of sin,” can we look for the advent of our Lord. The “man of sin,” which is also styled “the mystery of iniquity,” “the son of perdition,” and “that wicked,” represents the papacy, which, as foretold in prophecy, was to maintain its supremacy for 1260 years. This period ended in 1798. The coming of Christ could not take place before that time. {GC 356.1}
When could it take place? Any time after.
Paul covers with his caution the whole of the Christian dispensation down to the year 1798. It is this side of that time that the message of Christ’s second coming is to be proclaimed. {GC 356.1}
Anybody that proclaims the coming of Jesus before that time was not doing what God instructed them to do. When we come to 1798 the second coming was to be proclaimed. When they did it, what did the churches say? You shouldn’t be preaching that. The churches are always behind 8 ball. They are always looking future. They are never with it. Think about it. We are waiting for the latter rain, it’s coming while its happening. We are waiting for the loud cry, it’s coming, while the rumblings of it are already taking place. When was the beginning of the loud cry? 1888. There is much more behind this than meets the eye. It gets me by the throat when people think its future when it’s already happening and they are being swallowed up. Follow the building of this counterfeit which was a continuation of the building but it takes place especially when Jesus was establishing his kingdom after the first advent.
The Mystery of Iniquity
2 Thessalonians 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
This is the building of the counterfeit. Here is a rock, a temple that he calls himself to be God. Remember as God’s temple was being established by the apostles and Christ but what was the counterfeit building? Follow how this counterfeit is being built so we know where we stand.
Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
20:30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Apostle Paul says watch carefully as there is going to be a building of a ministry and its work to destroy the building of the temple of God by replacing it with a counterfeit. These scriptures are often used and we don’t know completely how important they are.
The Building Of The Counterfeit
2 Corinthians 11:13 For such [are] false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
What were they apostles of Christ where they not the foundation of the temple? Here come these ones transforming themselves into apostles of Christ becoming a foundation.
2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
11:15 Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
There it comes, the rock. But they are building this counterfeit and as we see how they do it, they are actually building a spiritual temple. If you study carefully the development of the 1260 years internal developments of the papacy it was a building exercise. It started with don’t make too much of the Jewish Sabbath, spend some time of rest on Sunday. Very slowly it was building and changes of doctrine and belief were established slowly but surely.
2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way.
God can see it and he could have said no but he let it. He will let and he will let it go on, he won’t stop it. He who letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. It says in the margin he that hindereth. This is talking about letting the building go ahead. Let it happen and as it happens it is a structure which is going to be crushed at the very end. It is a continuation of a structure but this time by the abomination of desolation, the transgression of desolation but it is part of the abomination, Nimrod and paganism. As you study the seven churches you see the same development as the first church was Ephesus the apostolic church. Something was against them – you lost your first love. There was a period of persecution and then it goes into Pergamos and then what happens? The building starts to take momentum. Catholicism was established by the Jews. A lot of people don’t know that history. The manner of the papal developments have a lot of Jewish material in them. It was the people who rejected Jesus Christ that were insidiously being used by Satan to develop the papacy. This building as we see in the seven churches takes place that every time that faithful get pushed out and the others continue in their churches and you see the development in that building under the seven churches study.
Revelation 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and [I know] the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but [are] the synagogue of Satan.
The synagogue of Satan is a temple and they say they are Jews. There is much more behind that as when he was writing it to Smyrna the development of the Jews and Jewish mentality was coming in and combined with this whole scene of development of paganism and Christianity mingled together. They are of the synagogue of Satan and they are building the counterfeit and when this building is erected in its final stronghold hold upon the world it is a building and it will continue to take its course until the final conclusion.
The Final Stranglehold
Jesus said you will see it happening.
Yet this very class put forth the claim that the fast-spreading corruption is largely attributable to the desecration of the so-called “Christian sabbath,” and that the enforcement of Sunday observance would greatly improve the morals of society. This claim is especially urged in America, where the doctrine of the true Sabbath has been most widely preached. Here the temperance work, one of the most prominent and important of moral reforms, is often combined with the Sunday movement, and the advocates of the latter represent themselves as laboring to promote the highest interest of society; and those who refuse to unite with them are denounced as the enemies of temperance and reform. But the fact that a movement to establish error is connected with a work which is in itself good, is not an argument in favor of the error. We may disguise poison by mingling it with wholesome food, but we do not change its nature. On the contrary, it is rendered more dangerous, as it is more likely to be taken unawares. It is one of Satan’s devices to combine with falsehood just enough truth to give it plausibility. The leaders of the Sunday movement may advocate reforms which the people need, principles which are in harmony with the Bible; yet while there is with these a requirement which is contrary to God’s law, His servants cannot unite with them. Nothing can justify them in setting aside the commandments of God for the precepts of men. {GC 587.1}
Unawares, little insidious deviations till finally you are caught out and poisoned.
Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience. {GC 588.1}
When we meet this we think I am free and not in danger of that but remember it started way back then and the same method he started way back he uses to diminish the Sabbath and it is still in operation today. There are many Sabbath keepers that will fall for this. Pentecostalism is spiritualism.
As spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power. {GC 588.2}
Are we waiting for the future? Satan has already appeared as an angel of light. We have this fantastic idea that Satan will reveal himself in such a way that it will be out there but that is when it is too late. He comes through his prophets and in a manner that we don’t expect. There is the building process to that final consummation.
Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
A lot of people think this is spiritual. This is the beast. The buffalo beats makes fire come down from heaven but because people think its religious or spiritual, they don’t realise it’s already happened. A lot of people don’t know that when the atomic bomb took place it was fire coming down from heaven. This is talking about the beast doing that. What is the beast? Apostate Protestantism. It has happened as many other things and they think when it does they can prepare. No, the sign is being misunderstood. This is the building that we must be aware of so we avoid it. It describes what they will do.
Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
What can you see them doing around us? The surrounding of the city of Jerusalem so you can’t get out anymore. This is all described here. This is the building of that temple.
The track of truth lies close beside the track of error, and both tracks may seem to be one to minds which are not worked by the Holy Spirit, and which, therefore, are not quick to discern the difference between truth and error. {1SM 202.2}
What a serious warning this is. We must fine tune our sensitivities so we can discern truth and error. They are both close. We find ourselves defending error as it is so close to the truth. Think carefully about that. It is Satan who deceives the whole world and all the world will wander after the beast.
We are builders, every one of us; and we are either building up the cause of God or we are building up the cause of Satan. There are many more engaged in building up the cause of Satan than we have the least idea of. {RH, March 14, 1878 par. 1}
There are many more building the temple of Satan.
But I warn you, be careful how you settle down in the middle walk between spirituality and worldliness. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). You will be wholly on one side or the other. . . . Christ draws to His side; Satan hangs out every attraction to draw on his side. Whom will you choose? Under whose banner will you stand? {HP 277.5}
At the very imminence of the consummation that is coming there will stand two temples.
Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone];
Revelation 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
What will the synagogue of Satan do in its contact with the temple of God?
The 144,000 were all sealed and perfectly united. On their foreheads was written, God, New Jerusalem, and a glorious star containing Jesus’ new name. At our happy, holy state the wicked were enraged, and would rush violently up to lay hands on us to thrust us into prison, when we would stretch forth the hand in the name of the Lord, and they would fall helpless to the ground. Then it was that the synagogue of Satan knew that God had loved us who could wash one another’s feet and salute the brethren with a holy kiss, and they worshiped at our feet. {EW 15.1}
Two temples and when it is too late they will worship at the feet of the temple of Gods people. Which temple are you building and what temple are you being built in? This is the real issue. All these other organisational questions will be clearly understood when we understand this. May God help us to be active in the temple in the temple that is the temple of the living God.
