Bible Readings for the Home Circle Part 63

"And He shall _confirm the covenant_ with many for one week." Verse 27, first clause. See Matt. 26:26-28.

14. What was He to take away in the midst of this week?

"And in the midst of the week He shall cause the _sacrifice and the oblation to cease_." Same verse, next clause.

NOTE.-Ancient Babylon took away the typical service by the destruction of the temple at the capture of Jerusalem. This service was restored at the rebuilding of Jerusalem, but was perverted into mere formalism by the Jews, and was taken away by Christ at the first advent, when He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances, and "took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross."

Col. 2:14. He then became "a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Heb. 8:2.

Thus He established the service in the heavenly sanctuary. The little horn, the Papacy, as far as was within its power, took away from the people the mediation of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, and subst.i.tuted for it the Roman priesthood, with the Pope as Pontifex Maximus, or high priest. Power over this truth of the gospel and over the people of G.o.d was allowed to the Papacy because of transgression (Dan. 8:12, R. V.), just as the people of Jerusalem were given into the hand of the king of ancient Babylon for the same reason. 1 Chron. 9:1. Thus has the Papacy "cast down the truth to the ground," and has trodden underfoot the sanctuary and the people of G.o.d.

15. How are the judgments upon Jerusalem again foretold?

"And for the overspreading of abominations He shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." Remainder of verse 27.

NOTE.-Seventy weeks would be four hundred and ninety days; and as a day in prophecy represents a year (Num. 14:34; Eze. 4:6), this period would be four hundred and ninety years. The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem was brought to its completion by Artaxerxes Longima.n.u.s in the seventh year of his reign (Ezra 6:14; 7:7, 8), which, as already noted, was B.C. 457. From this date the sixty-nine weeks, or four hundred and eighty-three years, would extend to the baptism of Christ in 27 A.D., and the whole period to 34 A.D., when the martyrdom of Stephen occurred, and the gospel began to be preached to the Gentiles. Before the end of that generation Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, 70 A.D. The twenty-three hundred years would extend from B.C. 457 to 1844 A.D., when began the great second advent movement, which calls upon all to come out of modern Babylon, and to prepare for the next great event, the coming of Christ and the destruction of the world by fire.

16. What question was asked in the vision of Daniel 8?

"Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto that certain one which spake, _How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt offering, and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot_?" Dan. 8:13.

NOTES.-Literal Jerusalem was given into the hands of ancient Babylon, and the typical service in the earthly sanctuary was thus taken away. Dan. 1:1, 2. This was prophetic of the experience of spiritual Jerusalem in modern Babylon, foretold in the prophecies of Daniel and John, and of the taking away of the mediation of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. Dan. 7:25; 8:13. These two visions expose the work of modern Babylon, the Papacy, and determine the limit of its permitted power over the people of G.o.d, and of its perversion of the gospel of Christ in subst.i.tuting another mediatorial system for the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary.

The general theme upon which the book of Daniel treats is Babylon, both ancient and modern. Chapters 1-6, inclusive, present certain historical facts leading up to the fall of ancient Babylon, and an attempt to destroy the prophet Daniel himself and the final attempt to destroy the people of G.o.d,-a brief historical outline, which is in itself a prophecy of modern Babylon. Chapters 7-12, inclusive, contain prophecies relating especially to modern Babylon, which supplement the historical prophecy of the previous chapters, and which enable us to draw a very exact and striking parallel between ancient and modern Babylon. A brief outline of this parallel may be stated thus:-

(1) In the religion of ancient Babylon, image-wors.h.i.+p found a prominent place. The same is true of modern Babylon.

(2) Ancient Babylon affirmed that the G.o.ds (or G.o.d) dwelt not in the flesh. By the dogma of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary (that is, that she herself was born without the taint of original sin), modern Babylon teaches that G.o.d, in the person of His Son, did not take the same flesh with us; that is, sinful flesh.

(3) Ancient Babylon persecuted those who refused to accept her dogmas and wors.h.i.+p according to her laws. Modern Babylon has done the same.

(4) The king of ancient Babylon set himself above G.o.d, and attempted to make his kingdom an everlasting kingdom. So does modern Babylon.

(5) Ancient Babylon rejected the true gospel as taught to Nebuchadnezzar, and the fall of Babylon came in consequence.

Modern Babylon has done the same in her rejection of the true gospel as brought to her in the Reformation, and her fall is inevitable and impending.

(6) The fall of ancient Babylon came just at the time when it was giving expression to its contempt of all its enemies, and its confidence in its own permanence. This experience will be repeated in the history of modern Babylon.

17. What prophetic period, therefore, extends to the deliverance of G.o.d's people from the captivity in modern Babylon, and the restoration to them of the mediation of Christ?

"And he said unto me, _Unto two thousand and three hundred days_; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Verse 14.

NOTE.-The earthly sanctuary was a type of the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 9:23, 24; Lev. 16:29, 30, 33); the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary was typical of the cleansing in the heavenly sanctuary; and this cleansing of the sanctuary accomplished on the great day of atonement is the closing work of Christ in His mediation for sin. And the commencement of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary marks the beginning of a new era in the experience of the people of G.o.d on earth; namely, the deliverance from the power of modern Babylon, the restoration to them of the knowledge of the mediation of Christ for them in the heavenly sanctuary, and a cleansing from sin in preparation for the second advent of Christ.

The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary involves the investigative judgment, which will be followed by the plagues, and Christ's coming. This period, therefore, determines the time of restoration and of judgment.

18. What is said of those who live to see the deliverance from modern Babylon, and the restoration of the true gospel?

"Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." Dan. 12:12.

NOTE.-The 1335 days (years) of Dan. 12:12 are evidently a continuation of the 1290 days (years) of the previous verse, which commence with the taking away of the mediation of Christ, in the period 503-508 A.D. See under question 22 in reading on "The Vicar of Christ," page 229. The 1335 days, or years, would therefore extend to the period 1838-43, the time of the preaching of the judgment-hour, in preparation for the cleansing of the sanctuary, and the accompanying work at the end of the 2300 days, or years, of Dan. 8:14. At that time special blessings were to come upon those who were delivered from the errors and bondage of Rome, and had their minds directed anew to the mediation of Christ as the great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.

GENERAL NOTE ON THE PROPHECIES OF DANIEL.-The second chapter of Daniel presents in brief outline the divine program of history leading up to the establishment of the everlasting kingdom of G.o.d.

The seventh chapter of Daniel presents somewhat more in detail the history of those earthly kingdoms which were to precede the establishment of the kingdom of G.o.d, the objective point of the prophecy being the little horn and its effort to change the laws and ordinances of G.o.d, and to destroy the subjects of the heavenly kingdom. The period allotted to the supremacy of this power, the Papacy (the 1260 years), is also indicated. The prophecy of the eighth chapter of Daniel covers the period from the restoration era in the time of the Persian kings and the establishment of the people of G.o.d in their own land, to the restoration era just preceding the second advent of Christ and the setting up of His everlasting kingdom. In this chapter the leading theme is the effort of the Papacy to subst.i.tute its own mediatorial system for the mediatorial work of Christ, and the announcement of a prophetic period (the 2300 years), at the end of which the counterfeit system introduced by the Papacy was to be fully exposed. The remaining chapters of Daniel supplement the prophecies of the second, seventh, and eighth chapters, and show that at the end of the first portion of the 2300-year period (the 70 weeks, or 490 years) Messiah was to appear and be cut off, following which would come the destruction of Jerusalem. In the closing chapter two new periods are introduced (the 1290 years and the 1335 years), at the end of which, as with the 2300 years, was to come the movement preparatory to the setting up of G.o.d's everlasting kingdom in the earth, in harmony with the prophecies of the second and seventh chapters.

The Atonement In Type And Ant.i.type

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

The Tabernacle In The Wilderness. "Which was a figure for the time then present." Heb. 9:9.

1. What did G.o.d, through Moses, command Israel to make?

"And let them make Me _a sanctuary_; that I may dwell among them." Ex.

25:8.

2. What was offered in this sanctuary?

"In which were offered _both gifts and sacrifices_." Heb. 9:9.

3. Besides the court, how many parts had this sanctuary?

"And the veil shall divide unto you between the _holy place_ and the _most holy_." Ex. 26:33.

4. What was in the first apartment, or holy place?

"For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the _candlestick_, and the _table_, and the _s...o...b..ead_; which is called the sanctuary." Heb. 9:2. "And he put _the golden altar_ in the tent of the congregation before the veil." Ex. 40:26. See also Ex. 30:1-6.

5. What was contained in the second apartment?

"And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all; which had _the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant_ overlaid round about with gold, wherein was ... _the tables of the covenant_" Heb.

9:3, 4. See also Ex. 40:20, 21.

6. By what name was the cover of the ark known?

"And thou shalt put _the mercy-seat_ above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee." Ex. 25:21.