by JEFF PIPPENGER
Question: Sometime would you comment on the work of Marion Berry?
I find it thought provoking, but should I?
Reply: I reject the conclusions of Marion Berry and the other
similar teachers of the future application of the prophetic periods
found in Daniel 12. You should reject their teachings as well.
Marion Berry and others of similar ilk attempt to address the
timelines of Daniel 12 in one of two ways. They reapply them or
present them as a future application. There is a distinction between
these two approaches. Their claims in either case, are directly
opposed to the Bible, the Spirit of Prophecy and the pioneers.
Notice what Sister White says about Daniel 12:
WE MUST STUDY CAREFULLY THE OLD WAYMARKS
"I have been deeply impressed by the Spirit of God that we are to
pass through severe trials. Everyone's faith will be tested. We must
study carefully the old waymarks. These experiences in the past are
to be revived. Daniel is to stand out conspicuously with the
Revelation given to John on the Isle of Patmos.
"Daniel 12. Read attentively this chapter. Hosea 4: 1.
'Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord
hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there
is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By
swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing
adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall
the land mourn, and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish,
with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the
fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. Yet let no man strive,
nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the
priest. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also
shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. My
people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast
rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no
priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will
also forget thy children.' Hosea 4: 1-6.
"There is work to be done. Who will take it up?
"In our experience in these last days we shall meet every
conceivable thing that Satan can invent to make of none effect the
established points of our faith that have been, in the providence of
God, so greatly blessed. These foundation principles are to be held
fast unto the end. Read the Word of God." Manuscript Releases,
volume 22, 220.
What is the counsel in this passage? It is in reference to
studying "the old waymarks." It is about holding onto the
"foundation principles." It is a warning that Satan will attempt to
remove "the established points of our faith that have been, in the
providence of God, so greatly blessed." This warning is about God's
"controversy" with His people, and the "controversy" is because His
people have" rejected knowledge". The problem addressed in the
passage is not about refusing "new light" - it is about rejecting"
old light". And the focus of the warning is set within Daniel
chapter 12.
Those who place the time prophecies of Daniel 12, at the end of
the world are removing the old waymarks, attacking the foundation
principles, and seeking to make of none effect- the established
points of our faith. This is the work Marion Berry and others are
doing!
There are basically two approaches used by those who attempt to
apply the timelines of Daniel 12 at the end of the world. Each
premise has its own peculiar characteristics.
Number one is "reapplication": To state that, "the pioneers were
correct in their understanding of Daniel 12, but there is to be a
second application to these time prophecies."
Very few time setters truly attempt this approach. The reason is
two-fold. First, if you truly accept the pioneer position, you
recognize, as the pioneers did, that the prophetic periods of Daniel
12 are not subject to reapplication. The second reason this approach
would be difficult is in the Biblical rules associated with a true
repetition of history or prophecy. We have been instructed that
histories and prophecies may repeat, but in so doing all the
characteristics of the first fulfillment must be duplicated
figuratively, sequentially and mathematically in the second
fulfillment.
If you uphold the pioneer position on the timelines in Daniel 12
and then reapply them at the end of the world - they must start at
the same figurative point in time in relationship to one another, as
was identified in the first fulfillment. The relationships of the
truths contained in the timelines would also need to correspond to
one another, In William Miller's Rules of Prophetic Interpretation
[Future for America has these rules available.] he states it this
way in rule 13:
"To know whether we have the true historical event for the
fulfillment of a prophecy. If you find every word of the prophecy
(after the figures are understood) is literally fulfilled, then you
may know that your history is the true event. But if one word lacks
a fulfillment, then you must look for another event, or wait its
future development. For God takes care that history and prophecy
doth agree, so that the true believing children of God may never be
ashamed."
As an example, the pioneers understood that the 1290 and the 1335
started in 508 A.D. The 1260 started in 538 A.D. The 1260 and the
1290 ended together in 1798, while the 1335 ended in 1843. Marion
Berry's material changes this sequence. She starts the 1335 alone,
then 75 days later she begins the 1260 and 1290 together. This has
the 1335 and the 1260 ending at the same time and the 1290 ending 30
days later. Her discrepancies rule out a "reapplication". She also
changes the figurative meanings of the terms involved. This is one
example why she takes the "future application" approach, instead of
the "reapplication" approach when addressing Daniel 12.
Number two is "future application": To state that, "the pioneers
(including Ellen White, though usually not openly stated) were wrong
about Daniel 12." (Of course, those who take this approach try to
demonstrate the pioneers and Ellen White were wrong in such a way as
to make it appear as if they still uphold the pioneers and Ellen
White.)
THE 1843 CHART
Ellen White upheld the pioneer position on Daniel 12, and all one
needs to do in order to ascertain the pioneer position on Daniel 12
is simply study the 1843 pioneer chart. [Future for America has
these charts available in English, Spanish, and soon in Russian.]
All three timelines of Daniel 12 are represented on the chart.
Marion Berry spends a great deal of time and effort to destroy the
integrity of the information on the 1843 chart. In fact, it is
obvious when your read her material that if the information about
the timelines of Daniel 12 represented on the 1843 chart is
accurate, then her ideas are erroneous. Her attack on the 1843 chart
is primarily built around three items, though there are several
interconnected points beyond these three.
One of the three points of her attack on the chart is to first
point out that there are errors in the chart, (and there are errors)
then, state that the information about the timelines of Daniel 12 on
the chart were some of those errors.
Another point of attack is the pioneer understanding of what the"
daily" in the book of Daniel symbolized. She attacks this point by
saying she agrees with the pioneer understanding, but then
amazingly, she defines the pioneer position on the "daily"
differently than they believed. I believe this technique is
effective, because very few in Adventism understand the pioneer
position on the "daily". Generally, even if they know the pioneer
definition of the" daily", they do not recognize the strength of the
pioneer position. Satan does. This is why the "daily" is the most
controversial and wrongly understood item of Adventist prophetic
understanding.
A further attack on the 1843 chart is a second profound
misrepresentation. She insists that pioneers arrived at the year 508
A.D. as the fulfillment of the" daily" by first calculating the 2300
day prophecy incorrectly, as the pioneers initially did. They
initially arrived with the year 1843 as the fulfillment of Daniel
8:14. She then states that based upon the wrong date of 1843 Miller
simply subtracted 1335 from that date and arrived at 508 A.D. He
then began a search for some historic event that he could use to
prop up his random choice of the year 508. Her representation on
this subject is as inaccurate as her teaching that the pioneers
believed as she does concerning the" daily".
POINT ONE-THE ERRORS
Concerning the 1843 chart, we are told in Early Writings 74:
"I have seen that the 1843 chart was directed by the hand of the
Lord, and that it should not be altered; that the figures were as He
wanted them; that His hand was over and hid a mistake in some of the
figures, so that none could see it, until His hand was removed."
Identifying the timelines of Daniel 12 on the 1843 pioneer chart
as erroneous is an important point as Marion Berry presents her
fallacies. She writes,
"An inspired prophet declared that on that chart [1843] there
'was a mistake in some figures.' The big mistake was the date 1843.
Jesus did not come in 1843. From that wrong date, William Miller
subtracted 1335, taken from Daniel 12: 12 timeline, given the date
508 A.D. Almost any third grader knows that if you subtract from a
wrong figure, your answer will be wrong! Nevertheless, many
theologians today have made no corrections and defend the past
application, based on wrong data, as if it were sacred doctrine of
the Seventh-day Adventist Church." A Declaration of Facts Regarding
Contemporary Prophetic Exposition, and The Three Timelines of Daniel
12, page 1, Marion Berry.
The mistaken figures in the 1843 chart were as follows:
identifying 1843 as the conclusion of the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14;
158 B.C. instead of 161 B.C. as date of league between Jews and
Romans; 606 as date for rise of Mohammedanism; minor discrepancies
in the dates for certain of the time periods associated with the ten
horns of Daniel 7; and 677 B.C. as starting point of the "seven
times" of Daniel 5. There were no mistakes in the figures concerning
the prophetic periods of Daniel 12. Marion Berry may teach there
were mistakes in the timelines of Daniel 12 on the 1843 chart, but
the pioneers and Sister White did not believe so.
In the previous statement Marion Berry may be uninformed - but
she is bearing false witness and it is totally inexcusable. When you
place yourself in a public position through the publication of your
ideas, and at the same time lift up and promote your understanding
as the correct position in contrast to other positions, it then
becomes your moral and ethical responsibility to correctly reflect
the positions you are opposing. Several areas of Marion Berry's
material are purely false. They totally misrepresent the true
positions of the pioneers. Her last statement is one example.
There are no errors connected with the time lines of Daniel 12 on
the chart. A proof of this is established by comparing the 1843
pioneer chart with the 1851 pioneer chart.
The 1851 chart was produced based on the very same vision where
God commanded James White to begin the Review and Herald magazine.
In the vision where Sister White was told to instruct James White to
begin the Review, she also was given instruction to tell him to
print a new chart. This chart was printed by Otis Nichols in 1851.
[Future for America has this chart available in English and soon in
Russian.] This chart contains the pioneer understanding of 508, as
the starting point for Daniel 12:11-12. There are five vertical
columns or the chart.
The first column identifies 1843 with the second angel's message.
The second column provides information about pagan and papal Rome
(among other items) and in so doing states, "The pope's dominion
over the kings continued 1260 years. It was taken away by France.
A.D. 1798, just 1290 years after paganism lost its civil power.
Daniel 12:7, 11."
The third column states, "The daily taken away. Daniel 11:31. 508
A.D." The fifth column states, "From the daily taken away, to papacy
set up-538 = 30 years." Both charts uphold the year 508 as the
historical fulfillment of the" daily" being taken away, and
therefore 508 as the starting point for the timelines in Daniel
12:11-12. The pioneers and Ellen White never changed their position
on the timelines of Daniel 12.
THE TRUTH MUST BE MADE PLAIN UPON TABLES
"On our return to Brother Nichols' , the Lord gave me a vision
and showed me that the truth must be made plain upon tables, and it
would cause many to decide for the truth by the three angels'
messages, with two former being made plain upon tables." Manuscript
Releases, number 16,207.
If the 1843 or 1851 charts demonstrate any repetition concerning
the 1290 and 1335 of Daniel 12:11-12, it is that both charts repeat
the pioneer position of identifying the year 508 as the starting
point for the timelines contained in those verses. This means the
1290 concludes in 1798 and the 1335 concludes in 1843! That is the
pioneer position, which is also upheld in the Review and Herald
article at the end of this newsletter.
POINT TWO-THE "DAILY"
Throughout her many publications Marion Berry also falsely
portrays the pioneer understanding of the "daily". Much of her
falsehoods are built upon her erroneous position about the" daily".
William Miller identifies the pioneer understanding of the "daily"
as follows:
'THE DAILY' MUST MEAN PAGANISM
"I read on, and could find no other case in which if [the daily]
was found but in Daniel. I then [by the aid of a concordance] took
those words which stood in connection with it, 'take away;' 'he
shall take away the daily'; 'from the time that the daily shall be
taken away.' I read on and thought I should find no light on the
text. Finally I came to 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8, 'For the mystery of
iniquity doth already work; only he who now letteth will let, until
he be taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked be revealed.'
And when I had come to that text, 0, how clear and glorious the
truth appeared! There it is! That is 'the daily!' Well, now, what
does Paul mean by 'he who now letteth' or hindereth? By 'the Man of
Sin,' and the 'wicked,' Popery is meant. Well what is it which
hinders Popery from being revealed? Why it is Paganism. Well, then,
'the daily' must mean Paganism." Advent Manual, page 66, William
Miller.
Marion Berry teaches the pioneer position was something other
than paganism:
"The 'Daily' is a Continuum of Power, Seat, and Authority or
'Sovereignty'
"In a unique sense, as used in the book of Daniel, the 'daily'
refers to a continuum of power, seat, and authority in the rise and
fall of empires. Power, seat, and authority is the power to rule
which originates with God on His throne, and is from everlasting to
everlasting." Updated Condensation of WARNING!, page 50, Marion
Berry.
Marion Berry's definition of the" daily" is different than
William Millers. But, Ellen White identified that William Miller and
the pioneers had the "correct view". In Adventism today there is a
third view, which is by far, the most widely accepted, but it also
is incorrect. To deal with that subject is outside the scope of this
letter, but Marion Berry also recognizes that the mainline view of
the" daily" is false, and is not the view the pioneer's possessed.
Confusion magnifies when Marion Berry opposes the false mainline
view, but then teaches that her view is - the pioneer view!
"Modern theologians interpret the word 'daily' as used in the
book of Daniel to refer to the priesthood of Christ. They refer to
this concept as being the 'new view.' However, this is the 'old
view' which was used for many centuries until the Bible students of
The Great Advent Movement, leading up to 1844, abandoned that view
and declared the 'daily' to refer to the transfer of 'power, seat,
and authority' from pagan to papal Rome. That view of the 'daily' by
the pioneers was proclaimed to be 'the correct view' by the inspired
prophet. (See Early Writings, 74-75) However that correct view was
abandoned after 1844. A Declaration of Facts Regarding Contemporary
Prophetic Exposition, and The Three Timelines of Daniel 12, page
3-4, Marion Berry.
Evidently Marion Berry does not have a way in which she feels
comfortable in trying to cast an interpretation on Ellen White's
sound endorsement of William Miller's definition of the "daily" in
the book of Daniel. She therefore uses a different approach than
reinterpreting Ellen White's words. She admits the pioneers were
correct on the" daily" and even uses Ellen White's endorsement of
the pioneer view to make the point. Then disregarding all the
historical evidence to the contrary, she proclaims that her
definition of the" daily" is the pioneer definition of the" daily".
If you don't test her claims - you may even believe her.
The correct view of William Miller was "Paganism." Marion Berry's
is "a continuum of power, seat, and authority in the rise and fall
of empires." A transfer of power from one kingdom to the next is not
the definition that Mr. Webster gives for the word" paganism." In
Webster's Dictionary of 1828, the time period of William Miller, the
word paganism is defined as - Heathenism; the worship of false gods,
or the system of religious opinions and worship maintained by
pagans.
POINT THREE-CALCULATING WITH INCORRECT INFORMATION
William Miller did not reach his conclusion of the 1335 days
ending in 1843 by subtraction. He projected forward 1335 years from
the date he had recognized as the fulfillment of the" daily". That
date was 508 B.C [See the article from the 1858 Review and Herald,
at the end of the newsletter.]
NOT SACRED DOCTRINES
In a previously cited passage of Marion Berry, and in other of
her publications, she denies that the pioneer positions on the
prophetic periods in Daniel 12 are -" sacred doctrine". This is
consistent with her opinion that the pioneers were wrong about the
timelines in Daniel 12, yet in the very first quotation from Ellen
White in this letter, we see the Spirit of Prophecy addressing the
prophetic periods in Daniel 12 as the foundations, the waymarks, the
established points of faith. Through dreams and visions Sister White
was warned that the waymarks and foundations would be attacked as
time progressed. She also identified that they needed to be
defended. To associate the word "sacred" with the truths of Daniel
12 is totally consistent with emphasis placed upon them in the
writings of the Spirit of Prophecy!
"I have not been able to sleep since half past one 0' clock. I
was bearing to Brother T a message, which the Lord had given me for
him. The peculiar views he holds are a mixture of truth and error.
If he had passed through the experiences of God's people as He has
led them for the past forty years, he would be better prepared to
make the correct application of Scripture. The great waymarks of
truth, showing us our bearings in prophetic history, are to be
carefully guarded, lest they be torn down, and replaced with
theories that would bring confusion rather than genuine light. I
have been cited to the very erroneous theories that have been
presented over and over again. Those who advocated these theories
presented Scripture quotations, but they misapplied and
misinterpreted them. The theories supposed to be correct were
incorrect, and yet many thought them the very theories to be brought
before the people. The prophecies of Daniel and John are to be
diligently studied.
Marion Berry's description of William Miller's careless approach
to prophetic study contrasts greatly from Ellen White's inspired
observations:
"Endeavoring to lay aside all preconceived opinions, and
dispensing with commentaries, he compared scripture with scripture
by the aid of the marginal references and the concordance. He
pursued his study in a regular and methodical manner; beginning with
Genesis, and reading verse by verse, he proceeded no faster than the
meaning of the several passages so unfolded as to leave him free
from all embarrassment. When he found anything obscure, it was his
custom to compare it with every other text which seemed to have any
reference to the matter under consideration. Every word was
permitted to have its proper bearing upon the subject of the text,
and if his view of it harmonized with every collateral passage, it
ceased to be a difficulty. Thus whenever he met with a passage hard
to be understood he found an explanation in some other portion of
the Scriptures. As he studied with earnest prayer for divine
enlightenment, that which had before appeared dark to his
understanding was made clear. He experienced the truth of the
psalmist's words: 'The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth
understanding unto the simple.' Psalm 119:130.
"With intense interest he studied the books of Daniel and the
Revelation, employing the same principles of interpretation as in
the other scriptures, and found, to his great joy, that the
prophetic symbols could be understood. He saw that the prophecies,
so far as they had been fulfilled, had been fulfilled literally;
that all the various figures, metaphors, parables, similitudes,
etc., were either explained in their immediate connection, or the
terms in which they were expressed were defined in other scriptures,
and when thus explained, were to be literally understood. 'I was
thus satisfied,' he says, 'that the Bible is a system of revealed
truths, so clearly and simply given that the wayfaring man, though a
fool, need not err therein.'-Bliss, page 70. Link after link of the
chain of truth rewarded his efforts, as step by step he traced down
the great lines of prophecy. Angels of heaven were guiding his mind
and opening the Scriptures to his understanding." The Great
Controversy. 320.
"There are those now living who, in studying the prophecies of
Daniel and John, received great light from God as they passed over
the ground where special prophecies were in process of fulfillment
in their order. They bore the message of time to the people. The
truth shone out clearly as the sun at noonday. Historical events,
showing the direct fulfillment of prophecy, were set before the
people, and the prophecy was seen to be a figurative delineation of
events leading down to the close of this earth's history. The scenes
connected with the working of the man of sin are the last features
plainly revealed in this earth's history. The people now have a
special message to give to the world, the third angel's message.
Those who, in their experience, have passed over the ground, and
acted a part in the proclamation of the first, second, and third
angels' messages, are not so liable to be led into false paths as
are those who have not had an experimental knowledge of the people
of God." Selected Messages, book 2, 102.
Because of the abundant counsel similar to the previous passage
concerning the "tearing down" of "the great waymarks" Marion Berry
develops (through down playing the pioneer understanding of the
timelines in Daniel 12) a multi-facetted attack designed to allow
her to move the timelines of Daniel 12 to another location in
history, without appearing to be under the condemnation of the
dreams and visions that warn about the attempts to move the
landmarks. The approach consists of an attempt to remove confidence
in the original pioneer position on prophecy, but also by creating
an end-of-the-world category for the timelines of Daniel 12 as
opposed to the 1844 time period category for the other timelines in
the book of Daniel.
MANUFACTURING A DISTINCTION BETWEEN PROPHETIC PERIODS LITERAL AND
SYMBOLIC
An example of one of her attempts to isolate the timelines of
Daniel 12 from the other prophetic periods in Daniel is found in her
argument about literal and symbolic time. Of course she must
establish literal time at the end of the world, for there isn't
enough time left for these prophecies to be fulfilled in a day for a
year fashion. But her argument over literal and symbolic time also
helps her manufacture a distinction between the prophetic periods of
Daniel 12 and the other prophetic periods of Daniel's record. Marion
Berry emphasizes and lifts up a Biblical rule in an attempt to
disavow the year-day principle.
"They [Speaking of modern theologians] ignore the literal
language of Daniel 12, in which there are no symbols such as image,
beast, heads, horns, eyes, and sea. They ignore this literal
context, take the three timelines of Daniel 12 out of their literal
setting, and arbitrarily impose a symbolic meaning." "In regard to
Daniel 12 timelines, they misapply the Year-Day Principle. Literal
language is never to be interpreted." Emphasis in the original. A
Declaration of Facts Regarding Contemporary Prophetic Exposition,
and The Three Timelines of Daniel 12, page 1 &2, Marion Berry.
"No symbols such as image, beast, heads, horns, eyes, and sea." -
Smoke and mirrors -. . . The time prophecies in Daniel 12:7, 11-12,
are directly associated with the" daily" and the "abomination that
maketh desolate.
"And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away,
and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a
thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth,
and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
Daniel 12: 11-12.
Are we now to understand that the" daily" and the" abomination
that maketh desolate" are not symbolic terms? Daniel employs these
terms to symbolize pagan and papal Rome! He represents these two
powers with the symbolic terms: "daily" and" abomination that maketh
desolate." These are definitely symbolic terms. What kind of
deception is it to quote a rule as authoritative; then not apply the
rule, because it undermines your interpretation; and then act as if
you have established your point? The pioneers understood it as
follows:
"From the time that the daily shall be taken away, and the
abomination that maketh desolate set up there shall be a thousand
two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh
to the thousand three hundred five and thirty days. With the facts
before us that the daily is Paganism, that the abomination that
maketh desolate is the Papacy, that there was a change from the
former to the latter in the Roman power, and by the authority of
State we have but to inquire further when this took place in a
manner to fulfill the prophecy; for if we can ascertain this, we
have the starting point from which the prophetic periods in the text
before us are to be dated." Review and Herald, January 28, 1858.
According to the rule pointed out and magnified by Marion Berry,
the fact that these two symbols are in the passage under
consideration - the student should look for a symbolic application
of the passage. That would be a day for a year, not a day for a day.
Marion Berry and others: Emphasize the rule-to create a diversion-in
order to discard the rule-and then accuse those who oppose their
false conclusions of not upholding the rule! Wow!
If one possibly concludes that the "daily" and "abomination that
maketh desolate" of Daniel 12 are somehow different than when they
are used by Daniel in chapters 8 and 11-where is the evidence for
this conclusion? Why would Daniel use symbolic words in Daniel 8 and
11, and continue to use those very same terms in Daniel 12, if the
same terms in Daniel 12 were to identify something different than
when found in Daniel 8 and 11? But, if they are the same symbolic
words throughout the book of Daniel, [and they are] then why doesn't
Marion Berry apply them as symbolic in Daniel 12? Once again – the
pioneers did:
"The true reading is, 'the daily and the transgression of
desolation;' daily and transgression being connected together by
'and;' the daily and the transgression of desolation. They are two
desolating powers which were to desolate the Sanctuary and the
host." Josiah Litch, Review and Herald, January, 1858.
WHEN & WHERE THE PROPHECIES CONCLUDE
Another approach she attempts in order to isolate the timelines
of Daniel 12 from Daniel's other prophecies is selectively
amplifying when prophecies conclude.
Remember, according to Manuscript Releases, volume 22, 220 the"
prophetic periods" of Daniel 12, are the" foundations principles",
the "old waymarks", and the "established points of faith". Marion
Berry attempts to make a distinction between which prophetic periods
qualify as the foundations. After all, if the timelines of Daniel 12
are fulfilled at the end of the world, then they are not
foundational. Confronted with several passages such as the
Manuscript Releases quotation, she is forced to isolate and magnify
some passages from the Spirit of Prophecy, while ignoring others.
This allows her to demonstrate her hypothesis that the prophetic
periods contained in the 2300 day prophecy are the focus of the
inspired warnings concerning the removing or the attack against the
foundations, waymarks, and established points of faith. Notice the
following:
"'The preaching of a definite time for the judgment, in the
giving of the first message, was ordered by God. The computation of
the prophetic periods on which that message was based, placing the
close of the 2300 days in the autumn of 1844, stands without
impeachment. The repeated efforts to find new dates for the
beginning and close of the prophetic periods, and the unsound
reasoning necessary to sustain these positions, not only lead minds
away from the present truth, but throw contempt upon all efforts to
explain,. the prophecies. The more frequently a definite time is set
for the second advent, and the more 'widely it is taught, the better
it suits the purposes of Satan. After the time has passed, he
excites ridicule and contempt of its advocates, and thus casts
reproach upon the great advent movement of 1843 and 1844. Those who
persist in this error will at last fix upon a date too far in the
future for the coming of Christ. Thus they will be led to rest in a
false security, and many will not be undeceived until it is too
late.' The Great Controversy, 457. "It is self evident that the
above quotation had to do with the timelines of Daniel 8, and 9,
but not 12. It did not pertain to any other timeline prophecy."
Emphasis supplied. Date Setting, Time Setting, Futurism, and Dirty
Theology, page 58-59, Marion Berry.
Here we are left to believe that when Sister White counseled us
in Manuscript Releases" to hold fast to the end" the "waymarks" and
"foundations" in "Daniel chapter 12", that somehow The Great
Controversy, 457 eliminates that command. Marion Berry's uses that
statement to set up a false premise, that only the prophetic periods
within the 2300 day prophecy would be subjected to "the repeated
efforts to find new dates for the beginning and close of the
prophetic periods." She uses this to magnify her false supposition
that the timelines of Daniel 12 are only applicable to the end of
the world. Even if there were no passages such as the one in
Manuscript Releases, the evidence and support for the commentary she
draws on the passage from The Great Controversy does not exist
within the statement itself. Everything Sister White said in the
passage is accurate, but she made no comment whatsoever about Daniel
12! The fifth rule in William Miller's Rules for Prophetic
Interpretation reads as follows:
"Scripture must be-its own expositor, since it is a rule of
itself. If I depend on a teacher to expound it to me and he should,
guess at its meaning, or desire to have it so on account of his
sectarian creed or to be thought wise, then his guessing, desire,
creed or wisdom is my rule, not the Bible."
This rule obviously applies to the Spirit of Prophecy as well.
The end of the world is an important emphasis for Marion Berry's
prophetic interpretations. She uses this theme to establish a
principle that the time prophecies Daniel 8 and 9 were fulfilled in
the Millerite time period, while the Daniel 12 prophecies were for
the Second Coming of Christ.
"'Prophetic Periods" in the Context of "the Eve of the Great
Consummation'" "Ellen G. White either contradicted herself or she
used the term, 'prophetic periods,' if reference to two different
situations. While she was declaring that the 'prophetic periods' of
the 2300 timeline of Daniel 8 and 9 ended in 1844, she wrote of
other 'prophetic periods' or timelines in the book of Daniel which
would extend to the eve of the great consummation!
"'The prophetic periods [timelines] of Daniel [12], extending to
the very eve of the great consummation [The Second Coming] throw a
flood of light on events then to transpire.'" Review and Herald,
September 15, 1883. Emphasis in the original. Date Setting, Time
Setting, Futurism, and Dirty Theology, page 58-59, Marion Berry. The
complete passage reads:
"In the Scriptures are presented truths that relate especially to
our own time. To the period just prior to the appearing of the Son
of man, the prophecies of Scripture point, and here their warnings
and threatenings preeminently apply. The prophetic periods of
Daniel, extending to the very eve of the great consummation, throw a
flood of light upon events then to transpire. The book of Revelation
is also replete with warning and instruction for the last
generation. The beloved John, under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, portrays the fearful and thrilling scenes connected with the
close of earth's history, and presents the duties and dangers of
God's people. None need remain in ignorance, none need be unprepared
for the coming of the day of God." Review and Herald, September 15,
1883.
The information in this passage does not uphold the wresting
placed upon it by Marion Berry. In the passage the prophetic periods
addressed are those found in Daniel, Revelation and the entire
Scriptures - not exclusively the timelines of Daniel 12! This is a
general statement about prophetic periods. Yet Marion Berry adds her
own words into the passage to make the prophetic periods under
discussion exclusively the timelines of Daniel 12. She continues:
"The 'prophetic periods' (2300 day-years, 490 years, 482 years,
seven years, etc.) of Daniel 8 and 9, all of which were ended by
1844, did not extend to the 'very eve of the great consummation' nor
did they 'throw a flood of light on events then to transpire.'
Neither did the 1260 timeline of Daniel 7 reach to 'the very eve of
the great consummation,' but ended in 1798-over two centuries ago!
It is therefore the 1260, 1290, and 1335, three literal day
timelines of Daniel 12, which extend to the very eve or 'end'
[utmost end], and it is these three timelines which "throw a flood
of light on EVENTS then to transpire, but give no date for the
second coming." Date Setting, Time Setting, Futurism, and Dirty
Theology, page 59, Marion Berry.
Once again, selective deduction is employed by Marion Berry.
Ellen White points to the judgment as the place where the prophecies
reach their conclusions, but Marion Berry is seeking to develop a
different emphasis than Ellen White:
"The prophecies present a succession of events leading down to
the opening of the Judgment. This is especially true of the book of
Daniel. But that part of his prophecy which related to the last
days, Daniel was bidden to close up and seal 'to the time of the
end.' Not till we reach this time could a message concerning the
Judgment be proclaimed, based on a fulfillment of these prophecies.
But at the time of the end, says the prophet, 'many shall run to and
fro, and knowledge shall be increased.'" The Great Controversy, 356.
In this passage the prophecies, especially those of Daniel lead
down to the opening of the judgment, not the Second Coming. So is
Sister White contradicting herself? Absolutely not!
"Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held
fast their faith, and followed on united in the opening providence
of God, receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of
the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen
the salvation of God, the Lord would have wrought mightily with
their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would
have come ere this to receive His people to their reward." Selected
Messages, book 1,68.
Had Adventism finished the work in the days of the pioneers the
judgment and the Second Coming of Christ would have been very
closely related in terms of time. Our disobedience has extended the
time, but this "wandering in the wilderness of unbelief" does not
diminish the close relationship between the judgment and the Second
Coming. Ellen White is not being inconsistent when she identifies
the prophecies concluding at the judgment in one place and then
states the prophecies reach to the Second Coming in another. They
are closely related. The inconsistency lies with Marion Berry as she
exclusively emphasizes the Second Coming as the consummation of the
prophecies, in order to provide an avenue to sustain her own private
interpretations.
Sister White says the prophecies lead "down to the opening of the
Judgment". In doing so, she focuses primarily on the prophecies of
Daniel. But if we were to be even more discerning about the passage,
she is focusing more on one chapter in the book of Daniel, and that
chapter is Daniel 12. She quotes directly from Daniel 12 twice in
the passage and no other Scripture is quoted.
By context Sister White is teaching that the prophecies of Daniel
12 lead" down to the opening of the Judgment"!
Whether lifting up the "literal symbolic rule" to draw a
distinction, or trying to develop a case for certain specific time
prophecies to extend to the second coming, Marion Berry's reasoning
and application lacks any logical or divine endorsement. Within all
of these false premises which we are addressing there have been
several other errors that we have not taken up do to the limitations
of this newsletter. But one other false teaching connected with the
Second Coming needs to be also met.
In Marion Berry's emphasis of the Second Coming she goes to great
lengths to identify that her applications of the time prophecies of
Daniel 12 do not reach the conclusion of the day and hour of
Christ's return. If she were to do that, the warning flag would be
to great for many of her devotees to pass by. As she emphasizes that
she doesn't predict the day and hour of Christ's return, though she
is curiously silent about a specific passage in the Spirit of
Prophecy.
OR ANY PROMISE OF SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE
"Let all our brethren and sisters beware of anyone who would set
a time for the Lord to fulfill His word in regard to His coming, or
in regard to any other promise He has made of special significance.
'It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the
Father hath put in His own power.'" Testimonies to Ministers, 55.
[This reference is included in an article from The Firm Foundation
magazine, page 36, in Marion Berry's book titled, Date Setting, Time
Setting, Futurism, and Dirty Theology.]
In spite of this previous passage, Marion Berry's application of
the 1335 days at the end of the world teaches that when the 1335 day
arrives in history, there will be a special blessing associated with
it. This blessing of course is part of the prediction of Daniel
12:12. The blessing that Marion Berry identifies is that on this
day, (the 1335 day since the Sunday law) God will pronounce the day
and hour of Christ's return to His faithful people:
"'Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three
hundred and five and thirty days.' Daniel 12:12.
"What is the 'Blessing' for which God's people wait?
"'The Voice of God is heard from heaven, declaring the day and
hour of Jesus coming, and delivering the everlasting covenant to His
people. . . . And when the BLESSING is pronounced on those who have
honored God by keeping His Sabbath holy, there is a mighty shout of
victory.' The Great Controversy, 640.
"The declaration of the everlasting covenant by the Voice of God
is the blessing for which they wait, because, like the reading of a
will, it tells what God's people will get" Emphasis in the original.
Updated Condensation of WARNING! page 74-75, Marion Berry.
What did Sister White say? "Beware of anyone who would set a time
in regard to any promise He has made of special significance." Is
the pronouncement of the everlasting covenant and the day and hour
of Christ's return of special significance? Beware!
If you are questioning my motives and purposes in specifically
addressing the teachings of Marion Berry. Be assured that there are
several variations of Marion Berry's fallacies in Adventism today
and those various interpretations seem to borrow each others flawed
reasoning. But the question may still remain-why such a specific
attack on her ideas? Consider the complete paragraph just cited from
Testimonies to Ministers, 55:
"Let all our brethren and sisters beware of anyone who would set
a time for the Lord to fulfill His word in regard to His coming, or
in regard to any other promise He has made of special significance.
'It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the
Father hath put in His own power.' False teachers may appear to be
very zealous for the work of God, and may expend means to bring
their theories before the world and the church; but as they mingle
error with truth, their message is one of deception, and will lead
souls into false paths. They are to be met and opposed, not because
they are bad men, but because they are teachers of falsehood and are
endeavoring to put upon falsehood the stamp of truth."
But how serious could a falsehood such as Marion Berry's be? Let
me answer that by first suggesting that the primary reason the Jews
rejected and crucified Christ was from a misunderstanding of
prophecy:
THERE ARE PERSONS READY TO CATCH UP EVERY NEW IDEA
"Satan is working that the history of the Jewish nation may be
repeated in the experience of those who claim to believe present
truth. The Jews had the Old Testament Scriptures, and supposed
themselves conversant with them. But they made a woeful mistake. The
prophecies that refer to the glorious second appearing of Christ in
the clouds of heaven they regarded as referring to His first coming.
Because He did not come according to their expectations, they turned
away from Him. Satan knew just how to take these men in his net, and
deceive and destroy them. . . .
"The very same Satan is at work to undermine the faith of the
people of God at this time. There are persons ready to catch up
every new idea. The prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation are
misinterpreted. These persons do not consider that the truth has
been set forth at the appointed time by the very men whom God was
leading to do this special work. These men followed on step by step
in the very fulfillment of prophecy, and those who have not had a
personal experience in this work, are to take the Word of God and
believe on 'their word' who have been led by the Lord in the
proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages. These
messages, received and acted upon, are doing their work to prepare a
people to stand in the great day of God. If we search the Scriptures
to confirm the truth God has given His servants for the world, we
shall be found proclaiming the first, second, and third angels'
messages.
"It is true that there are prophecies yet to be fulfilled. But
very erroneous work has been done again and again, and will continue
to be done by those who seek to find new light in the prophecies,
and who begin by turning away from the light that God has already
given. The messages of Revelation 14 are those by which the world is
to be tested; they are the everlasting gospel, and are to be sounded
everywhere. But the Lord does not lay upon those who have not had an
experience in His work the burden of making a new exposition of
those prophecies which He has, by His Holy Spirit, moved upon His
chosen servants to explain." Selected Messages, book 2, 110-113.
So Satan is attempting to repeat the misunderstanding of prophecy
that took place among the Jews within" those who claim to believe
present truth" within the Adventist church. More specifically Satan
will accomplish this by leading men to" catch up new ideas" without
considering that" the truth has been set forth at the appointed time
by the very men whom God was leading." Not only do they not consider
the truth set forth by these appointed men, but they will be seeking
to find" new light" and "begin" their search "by turning away from
the light that God has already given." Specifically these deluded
souls will have a burden to make a "new exposition of those
prophecies which He has moved upon His chosen servants to explain."
All of this will take place instead of following the counsel within
the passage that identifies our responsibility to" take the Word of
God and believe on 'their word' who have been led by the Lord in the
proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages". Did
she really say that we were to believe the word of the pioneers? But
doesn't Marion Berry expose their errors and redefine their
conclusions?
"There must be no long discussions, presenting new theories in
regard to the prophecies which God has already made plain."
Evangelism, 199.
The prophetic parallel to the rejection of Christ by the Jews is
even more specifically identified than the previous passage. It is
not simply to reject the conclusions of the pioneers or to seek for
new light in prophecies that have already been established. It is a
specific type of prophetic study that is taken up by those who would
follow in the footsteps of ancient Israel:
"In our day as in Christ's day, there may be a misreading and
misinterpreting of the Scriptures. If the Jews had studied the
Scriptures with earnest, prayerful hearts, their searching would
have been rewarded with a true knowledge of the time, and not only
the time, but also the manner of Christ's appearing. They would not
have ascribed the glorious second appearing of Christ to His first
advent. They had the testimony of Daniel; they had the testimony of
Isaiah and the other prophets; they had the teachings of Moses; and
here was Christ in their very midst, and still they were searching
the Scriptures for evidence in regard to His coming. And they were
doing unto Christ the very things that had been prophesied they
would do. They were so blinded they knew not what they were doing.
"And many are doing the same thing today, in 1897 [2002], because
they have not had experience in the testing messages comprehended in
the first, second, and third angel's messages. There are those who
are searching the Scriptures for proof that these messages are still
in the future. They gather together the truthfulness of the
messages, but they fail to give them their proper place in prophetic
history. Therefore such are in danger of misleading the people in
regard to locating the messages. They do not see and understand the
time of the end, or when to locate the messages." Evangelism, 613.
Did that passage impact you? Prophetically, the strong delusion
Adventists receive as they parallel the rejection and crucifixion of
Christ, will take place among those who" are searching the
Scriptures for proof that" "messages are still in the future. They"
will "fail to give them their proper place in prophetic history."
"Such" people" are in danger of misleading" "people in regard to
locating the messages. They do not see and understand the time of
the end, or when to locate the messages." How many people do you
know who applying the 2300 days at the end of the world? Remember,
this deception takes place with those who" claim to believe present
truth". How many people professing to believe present truth are
re-applying the time prophecies of Daniel 8? Must be some other
prophetic periods that are pointed out in the warnings, Don't you
think?
When we address prophetic ideas such as Marion Berry's, we are
under conviction that the ideas are as dangerous as someone
misunderstanding Who the Messiah was - in the days when Jesus walked
among men. The seriousness of this type of false application of
prophecy is generally not recognized. The Messiah was generally not
recognized. Yet we still stand amazed at the blindness in the Jewish
response to Jesus when he walked among them. How could they not see?
"When Christ came to the world, his own nation rejected him. He
brought from heaven the message of salvation, hope, freedom, and
peace; but men would not accept his good tidings. Christians have
condemned the Jewish nation for rejecting the Saviour; but many who
profess to be followers of Christ are doing even worse than did the
Jews, for they are rejecting greater light in despising the truth
for this time." Review and Herald, November 5, 1889.
We are in a time period paralleling the days when Christ was upon
earth and we have been warned that as Seventh-day Adventists, some
of us will repeat the rejection and crucifixion of Christ by turning
away from truth that was established by the pioneers concerning the
prophetic periods which were proclaimed during the Millerite time
period. Those who fulfill this dreadful prediction will not simply
turn away from the pioneer positions, they will also seek to place
the prophetic fulfillments identified by the pioneers somewhere in
the future. In May of 1998 I received a letter from Marion Berry.
This is some of the counsel for me:
"You also need to do a computer search and/or investigate all
Ellen G. White's comments in regard to dual applications. You will
soon discover that in her earlier years she supported fully the
pioneers past applications, but as she passed the 1888 milestone,
her statements began to apply the last chapter of Daniel to the
future and much that in Revelation had been understood to have
occurred in the past is to have another fulfillment. . . .
"I wish we could get together and talk before you set your course
and do great damage to present truth all over the world. You started
out so well with Daniel 11 . What happened? What changed your
attitudes? Do you not understand that the three timelines of Daniel
12 simply explain that God's people will once again be persecuted by
2nd Papal Supremacy and that it will last only 1290 days and that
God's people will wait it out until they are delivered from the
Death Decree of Revelation 13:15? It is just Revelation 13
reiterated, and Great Controversy repeated in detail. No dates are
set.
"Sincerely, Marion Berry" Letter, dated April 25, 1998.
If I may paraphrase some of these statements:
My paraphrase: You need to "search the Scriptures" and the Spirit
of Prophecy "for proof that these messages are still in the future".
(Based upon: You also need to do a computer search and/ or
investigate all Ellen G. White's comments in regard to dual
applications. )
My paraphrase: You need to turn "away from the light that God has
already given by the men whom God was leading in the proclamation of
the first, second, and third angels' messages."
(Based upon: You will soon discover that in her earlier years she
supported fully the pioneers past applications, but as she passed
the 1888 milestone, her statements began to apply the last chapter
of Daniel to the future".
My paraphrase: You need to stop "search[ing] the Scriptures to
confirm the truth God has given His servants for the world."
(Based upon: "You started out so well with Daniel 11. What
happened? What changed your attitudes? Do you not understand that
the three timelines of Daniel 12 simply explain. . .")
"Again and again have I been warned in regard to time setting.
There will never again be a message for the people of God that will
be based on time." Selected Messages, book 1, 188.
A WARNING WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND
Those who promote false ideas invariably twist the Spirit of
Prophecy to meet their own ideas. A classic example of this is
illustrated in the quotation from Manuscript Releases, volume 15,
228, 229. The entire quotation is on the front cover of this
newsletter. Those who seek to reapply Daniel 12, pull a couple
sentences out of this passage to isolate and magnify: "Let us read
and study the twelfth chapter of Daniel. It is a warning that we
shall all need to understand before the time of the end." These
sentences are used by Marion Berry in her manuscript titled,
Warning. She uses this passage to twist the warning in Daniel 12
from the importance of character development into the need to
believe in the future fulfillment of the prophetic periods in Daniel
12 that came to pass in the Millerite time period.
But when you study the entire passage thoroughly, you recognize
the true warning of Daniel 12. This same warning was addressed in
our December newsletter, in the article by James White about the"
time of the end." Ellen and James White both recognized the warning
of Daniel 12 to be a warning to be among those who shine as the
stars of heaven and lead many to righteousness. In the opening
paragraph of this passage Sister White speaks about" the unprepared
condition of our churches" and our need to "keep our feet in the
straight and narrow path" while warning us to "make no missteps
now". She points to "the first and second chapters of Colossians as
an expression of what our churches should be." She then speaks of
Paul not being able to share his complete message because the church
members would have "made a misapplication of the great truths" he
shared. The first paragraph contains a warning, which includes
misapplication of truth and the possibility of leaving the path of
truth. But what is it in the first two chapters Colossians that is
of importance? Isn't it summed up in chapter 1 verses 26 through 28?
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from
generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God
would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom
we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom;
that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. The mystery
of Godliness - the hope of Glory, is the warning we are to share
with every man. It is a warning that those in the Laodicean church
need to accept. This is the warning in the first paragraph of the
passage!
The warning in paragraph two, which is where Marion Berry lifts
her sentences about Daniel 12 out of, opens with the summary of the
entire paragraph. "The people of God need to study what characters
they must form in order to pass through the test and proving of the
last days." This is the same emphasis as in the first paragraph. So.
Are the timelines of Daniel 12 somehow a warning about character
sanctification? In Marion Berry's letter above she said the
timelines of Daniel 12 were to "simply explain that God's people
will once again be persecuted by 2nd Papal Supremacy and that it
will last only 1290 days and that God's people will wait it out
until the are delivered from the Death Decree of Revelation 13:15?
It is just Revelation 13 reiterated, and Great Controversy repeated
in detail. No dates are set." But is there other information in
Daniel 12 that more accurately reflects the warning Sister White is
emphasizing in her entire record? Oh yes! A very serious warning,
but it is not about future application of previously fulfilled time
prophecy:
And at that time shall Michael stand up, [Probation is closed!]
the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and
there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was
a nation even to that same time: [During which you must have a
character prepared to stand when there is no longer intercession
available for sin!] and at that time thy people shall be delivered,
everyone that shall be found written in the book. [Some will be
delivered!] And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth
shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and
everlasting contempt. [Some will not be delivered. A solemn
warning.]
And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the
firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for
ever and ever. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried;
[Here are those who heed the warning in Daniel 12 and shake off
their Laodicean lethargy.] but the wicked shall do wickedly: and
none of the wicked shall understand; [And here are those in
Adventism (and those outside Adventism) who reject the warning of
Daniel 12.] but the wise shall understand. [Do we understand the
warning of Daniel 12?] Daniel 12:1-3, 10.
The warning we need to understand is not about time prophecy.
The third paragraph identifies a warning that is in perfect
agreement with the previous paragraphs. "Watch ye therefore, and
pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these
things". No connection to a timeline warning. Is there?
Paragraph four emphasizes the wise and foolish virgins at the end
of the world. Again we see the identical theme from the first word
in paragraph one to the closing thought of the complete passage,
"When the foolish virgins reached the banqueting hall, they received
an unexpected denial. The master of the feast declared, 'I know you
not' They were left standing without in the empty street, in the
blackness of the night" Once again, no connection to the timeline
warning.
The warning in Daniel 12 which we need to understand before the
time of the end is a warning to be among the wise virgins, with our
lights shining, leading many to righteousness, with Christ the hope
of glory, in us. Yet Marion Berry and others would have you believe
it is a warning to apply the timelines of Daniel 12 at the end of
the world. Nonsense!
Marion Berry states that Sister White" supported fully the
pioneers past applications, but as she passed the 1888 milestone,
her statements began to apply the last chapter of Daniel to the
future." If Sister White changed her inspired position half way
through her ministry she is a false prophet if she identified truth
at one point and later identified it as error her inspiration was
not of the Lord:
"My Instructor said to me, Tell these men that God has not
committed to them the work of measuring, classifying, and defining
the character of the testimonies. Those who attempt this are sure to
err in their conclusions. . . .
"Those who carefully read the testimonies as they have appeared
from the early days, need not be perplexed as to their origin."
Selected Messages, book 1,49.
Some might incorrectly say that this statement identifies that
the early Testimonies were more important than the later. (There are
those who do this very thing in Adventism today.) But what she is
conveying is that from the beginning of her ministry to the very
close of her ministry her message is consistent with itself. Marion
Berry would have us believe that after 1888 her understanding on the
timelines of Daniel 12 changed. How do we understand the next
statement?
THAT WHICH WAS FROM THE BEGINNING
"John bore no uncertain message. 'That which was from the
beginning,' he says, 'which we have heard, which we have seen with
our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of
the word of life (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it,
and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was
with the Father, and was manifested unto us); that which we have
seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship
with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his
Son Jesus Christ' [Notice the Inspired emphasis on retaining that
which was from the beginning.]
"We have, as had John, a message to bear of the things which we
have seen and heard. God is not giving us a new message. We are to
proclaim the message that in 1843 and 1844 brought us out of the
other churches." Review and Herald, January 19, 1905.
There are several passages, when correctly understood, all by
themselves expose Marion Berry's philosophy as false. This last
passage is one of them. Marion Berry does not deny that the
information on the 1843 chart was what the pioneers were presenting
prior to the Great Disappointment on October 22, 1844. So whether
the pioneers were correct or incorrect, the message that brought the
people out of the churches included the pioneer understanding of the
timelines in Daniel 12. You can't get away from that historical
fact. Even if their presentation on Daniel 12 were later found to be
erroneous, historically we know, that it was part of the Millerite
message that "brought the people out of the churches".
So we have some choices to make here. Do we accept Marion Berry's
commentary that after 1888 Sister White changed her position on the
pioneer message of Daniel 12? If so, Sister White needs to clarify
or retract this previous passage. Marion Berry states, "in her
earlier years she supported fully the pioneers past applications,
but as she passed the 1888 milestone, her statements began to apply
the last chapter of Daniel to the future" . That pioneer message was
definitely part of what brought people out of the churches and if we
believe Marion Berry it was a false message. If we choose Marion
Berry's conclusions we identify that Ellen White counsels us to
preach a message which contains error and that Sister White (at
certain times) opposes her own testimonies. To accept that reasoning
means we end up with a false prophet!
By the way, Notice the date that Sister White wrote this previous
statement. 1905 is well after 1888, Perhaps, Sister White forgot
that she no longer believed the pioneer message on Daniel 12. As I
said to open the previous paragraph, "We have some choices to make".
The reason the pioneer message (including Daniel 12) brought the
people out of the churches is because the message was a test to the
people of that day,
"I saw that God was in the proclamation of the time in 1843. It
was His design to arouse the people and bring them to a testing
point, where they should decide for or against the truth. Ministers
were convinced of the correctness of the positions taken on the
prophetic periods, and some renounced their pride, and left their
salaries and their churches to go forth from place to place to give
the message," Early Writings, 232.
"To William Miller and his co-laborers it was given to preach the
message in America, and the light kindled by their labors shone out
to distant lands. The testimony of the Scriptures pointing to the
coming of Christ in 1843, awakened widespread interest. Many were
convinced that the arguments from the prophetic periods were
correct, and, sacrificing their pride of opinion, they joyfully
received the truth," Spiritual Gifts, volume 4, 222.
"There have been one and another who in studying their Bibles
thought they discovered great light, and new theories, but these
have not been correct. The Scripture is all true, but by misapplying
the Scripture men arrive at wrong conclusions. We are engaged in a
mighty conflict, and it will become more close and determined, as we
near the final struggle. We have a sleepless adversary, and he is
constantly at work upon human minds that have not had a personal
experience in the teachings of the people <'>f God for the past
fifty years. Some will take the truth applicable to their time, and
place it in the future. Events in the train of prophecy that had
their fulfillment away in the past are made future, and thus by
these theories the faith of some is undermined.
"From the light that the Lord has been pleased to give me, you
are in danger of doing the same work, presenting before others
truths which have had their place and done their specific work for
the time, in the history of the faith of the people of God. You
recognize these facts in Bible history as true, but apply them to
the future. They have their force still in their proper place, in
the chain of events that have made us as a people what we are today,
and as such, they are to be presented to those who are in the
darkness of error. The true workers of Jesus Christ are to cooperate
with their brethren who have had an experience in the work from the
very rise of the third angel's message. These followed on step by
step, receiving light and truth as they advanced, bearing one test
after another, lifting the cross that lay directly in their pathway,
and pressing on to know the Lord, whose goings forth are prepared as
the morning. You and other of our brethren must accept the truth as
God has given it to His students of prophecy, as they have been led
by genuine, living experience, advancing point by point, tested,
proved, and tried, until the truth is to them a reality. From their
voices and pens the truth in bright, warm rays has gone to all parts
of the world, and that which was to them testing truth, as brought
by the Lord's delegated messengers, is testing truth to all to whom
this message is proclaimed." Selected Messages, book 2, 102.
"The burden of the warning now to come to the people of God, nigh
and afar off, is the third angel's message. And those who are
seeking to understand this message will not be led by the Lord to
make an application of the Word that will undermine the foundation
and remove the pillars of the faith that has made Seventh-day
Adventists what they are today. The truths that have been unfolding
in their order, as we have advanced along the line of prophecy
revealed in the Word of God, are truth, sacred, eternal truth today.
Those who passed over the ground step by step in the past history of
our experience, seeing the chain of truth in the prophecies, were
prepared to accept and obey every ray of light. They were praying,
fasting, searching, digging for the truth as for hidden treasures,
and the Holy Spirit, we know, was teaching and guiding us. Many
theories were advanced, bearing a semblance of truth, but so mingled
with misinterpreted and misapplied scriptures, that they led to
dangerous errors. Very well do we know how every point of truth was
established. and the seal set upon it by the Holy Spirit of God. And
all the time voices were heard, 'Here is the truth,' 'I have the
truth; follow me.' But the warnings came, 'Go not ye after them. 1
have not sent them, but they ran.' See Jeremiah 23:21.
"The leadings of the Lord were marked, and most wonderful were
His revelations of what is truth. Point after point was established
by the Lord God of heaven. That which was truth then, is truth
today. But the voices do not cease to be heard-'This is truth. I
have new light.' But these new lights in prophetic lines are
manifest in misapplying the Word and setting the people of God
adrift without an anchor to hold them. If the student of the Word
would take the truths which God has revealed in the leadings of His
people, and appropriate these truths, digest them, and bring them
into their practical life, they would then be living channels of
light. But those who have set themselves to study out new theories,
have a mixture of truth and error combined, and after trying to make
these things prominent, have demonstrated that they have not kindled
their taper from the divine altar, and it has gone out in darkness.
"The proclamation of the first, second, and third angels'
messages has been located by the Word of Inspiration. Not a peg or
pin is to be removed. No human authority has any more right to
change the location of these messages than to substitute the New
Testament for the Old. The Old Testament is the gospel in figures
and symbols. The New Testament is the substance. One is as essential
as the other. The Old Testament presents lessons from the lips of
Christ, and these lessons have not lost their force in any
particular.
"The first and second messages were given in 1843 and 1844, and
we are now under the proclamation of the third; but all three of the
messages are still to be proclaimed. It is just as essential now as
ever before that they shall be repeated to those who are seeking for
the truth. By pen and voice we are to sound the proclamation,
showing their order, and the application of the prophecies that
bring us to the third angel's message. There cannot be a third
without the first and second. These messages we are to give to the
world in publications, in discourses, showing in the line of
prophetic history the things that have been and the things that will
be." Selected Messages, book 2, 104.
THE 1290 AND 1335 DAYS
Another important prophetic period upon which the Advent doctrine
is based, is the 1335 days of Daniel 12, with which the 1290 days
are so intimately connected. These two periods are introduced to us
as follows:
And from the time that the daily (sacrifice) shall be taken away,
and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a
thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth and
cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But
go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest and stand in
thy lot at the end of the days. Daniel 12:11-13.
The questions at once arise, Can we tell what the events are,
from which these periods are to be dated; and if so, can we tell
when they took place? We first enquire. What is the "daily"
(sacrifice) and the "abomination that maketh desolate?" It will be
noticed that the word, sacrifice, is in italics: denoting that it is
a supplied word. The same will be noticed in the other instances of
its occurrence in the book of Daniel, viz., chapter 11:31 and
8:11-13. Let us briefly refer to this latter chapter. In verse 13 it
will be observed that two desolations are brought to view; the daily
(desolation,) and the transgression of desolation. This fact is made
so plain by Josiah Litch that we cannot do better than quote his
language:
"The daily sacrifice is the present reading of the text; but no
such thing as sacrifice is found in the original. This is
acknowledged on all hands. It is a gloss or construction put upon it
by the translators. The true reading is, 'the daily and the
transgression of desolation;' daily and transgression being
connected together by' and;' the daily desolation and the
transgression of desolation. They are two desolating powers which
were to desolate the Sanctuary and the host."
From this it is evident that the "daily," can have no reference
to the Jewish worship to which it has been applied by the older and
more prevalent opinion; and this is further evident from the
consideration that if these periods, taken either literally or
figuratively, be dated from any taking away of this worship, they do
not bring us to any event whatever worthy of note.
The daily and the abomination then, are two desolating powers
which were to oppress the church: can we ascertain what these powers
are? We have only to adopt William Miller's method of reasoning on
this point to arrive at the same conclusion with him. He says:
"I read on, and could find no other case in which if [the daily]
was found but in Daniel. I then [by the aid of a concordance] took
those words which stood in connection with it, 'take away;' he shall
take away the daily; 'from the time that the daily shall be taken
away.' I read on and thought I should find no light on the text.
Finally I came to 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8, 'For the mystery of
iniquity doth already work; only he who now letteth will let, until
he be taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked be revealed.'
And when I had come to that text, 0, how clear and glorious the
truth appeared! There it is! That is 'the daily!' Well, now, what
does Paul mean by 'he who now letteth' or hindereth? By 'the Man of
Sin,' and the 'wicked,' Popery is meant. Well what is it which
hinders Popery from being revealed? Why it is Paganism. Well, then,
'the daily' must mean Paganism."
We see from Daniel 8, that it is the little horn, which succeeded
the goat, or Grecian empire, that takes away the" daily;" and it is
the only power brought to view after the division of Alexander's
kingdom down to the time when the Sanctuary should be cleansed at
the end of the 2300 days. This little horn we have in its proper
place showed to be Rome taken as a unit, corresponding with the
fourth kingdom of Daniel's other visions. Now it is a fact that a
change did take place in the Roman power from Paganism to Papacy.
Paganism from the days of the Assyrian kings down to the time of its
modification into Popery, had been the daily, or as Prof. Whiting
renders it, "the continual" desolation, by which Satan had stood up
against the cause of Jehovah. In its priests, its altars and its
sacrifices, it bore resemblance to the Levitical form of Jehovah's
worship; but when the Levitical gave place to the Christian form of
worship, Satan, in order to successfully oppose the work, must
change also his form of opposition; hence the temples, altars and
statues of Paganism are baptized into the blasphemies of Popery.
But the daily, Paganism, is said in the prophecy, to have a
sanctuary, and the place of its sanctuary was to be cast down. That
a sanctuary is frequently connected with idolatry and heathenism, as
the place of its devotion and worship, is evident from the following
scriptures: Isaiah 16:12; Amos 7:9,13, margin. Ezekiel 28:18.
Concerning the sanctuary of the daily of Daniel 8, we offer the
following from Apollos Hale:
"What can be meant by the 'sanctuary' of Paganism? Paganism, and
error of every kind, have their sanctuaries, as well as truth. These
are the temples or asylums consecrated to their service. Some
particular and renowned temple of Paganism may, then, be supposed to
be here spoken of. Which of its numerous distinguished temples may
it be? One of the most magnificent specimens of classic architecture
is called the Pantheon. Its name signifies the 'temple or asylum of
all the gods.' The place of its location is Rome. The idols of the
nations conquered by the Romans were sacredly deposited in some
niche or department of this temple, and in many cases became objects
of worship by the Romans themselves. Could we find a temple of
Paganism that was more strikingly 'his sanctuary.'" Having now
ascertained that the daily is Paganism, and the transgression of
desolation, or "the abomination that maketh desolate," is the
Papacy, and that the especial sanctuary of Paganism was the
Pantheon, and that the "place" of its location was Rome, we inquire
further.
1. Was Paganism "taken away" by the Roman civil power? The
following statement of an important and well-known fact in the
history of the church and world, we think answers to the prophecy.
It refers to Constantine the first ‘Christian' emperor, and says:
"His first act of government was the dispatch of an edict
throughout the empire, exhorting his subjects to embrace
Christianity."
2. Was Rome the city or place of his sanctuary, (the Pantheon,)
cast down by the authority of the State? The following extract
answers:
"The death of the last rival of Constantine had sealed the peace
of the empire. Rome was once more the undisputed queen of nations.
But, in that hour of elevation and splendor, she had been raised to
the edge of a precipice. Her next step was to be downward and
irrecoverable. The change of the government to Constantinople still
perplexes the historian. It was an act in direct repugnance to the
whole course of the ancient and honorable prejudices of the Roman
mind. It was the work of no luxurious Asiatic, devoted to the
indulgences of eastern customs and climates, but an iron conqueror,
born in the west, and contemptuous, like all Romans, of the habits
of the Orientals; it was the work of a keen politician, yet it was
impolitic in the most palpable degree. Yet Constantine abandoned
Rome, the great citadel and throne of the Caesars, for an obscure
corner of Thrace, and expended the remainder of his vigorous and
ambitious life in the double toil of raising a colony into the
capital of his empire, and degrading the capital into the feeble
honors and humiliated strength of a colony."
This record from the pen of the historian, is too plain to need
comment. The place of his sanctuary was cast down, says the
prophecy; and after a statement of facts like the above, the most
fastidious in prophetic interpretation must be satisfied of its
application.
From the time that the daily shall be taken away, and the
abomination that maketh desolate set up there shall be a thousand
two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh
to the thousand three hundred five and thirty days. With the facts
before us that the daily is Paganism, that the abomination that
maketh desolate is the Papacy, that there was a change from the
former to the latter in the Roman power, and by the authority of
State we have but to inquire further when this took place in a
manner to fulfill the prophecy; for if we can ascertain this, we
have the starting point from which the prophetic periods in the text
before us are to be dated. Therefore,
When did the event referred to in the prophecy take place? Let it
be observed, the question is not, when were the saints given into
the hands of the Papacy, but when had the change of religion from
Paganism to Papacy been so far effected as to make the latter the
national religion, and place it in a condition to start upon its
career. This, like all other great revolutions, was not the work of
a moment. Its incipient workings were manifest long before. Paul
said that even in his day the mystery of iniquity, the Man of Sin,
the "abomination that maketh desolate," was already at work. And it
is in the light of this scripture that we must understand our Lord's
words in Matthew 24:15, concerning the abomination of desolation,
where he makes evident reference to Daniel 9:27. For although
Paganism had not given place to the Papacy in the year 70 when
Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans we do understand that the
power which then appeared modified somewhat in name and form, was
the very power that should, as the abomination of desolation, wear
out the saints and desolate the church of the Most High.
Up to the time of the conversion of Clovis, king of France, which
took place in 496, the French and other nations of western Rome were
Pagan; but subsequent to that event the efforts to convert idolaters
to Christ were crowned with great success. It is said that the
conversion of Clovis gave rise to the custom of addressing the
French monarch with the titles of Most Christian Majesty and Eldest
Son of the Church. "Between that time and AD. 508 by alliances,'
'capitulations' and conquests, 'the Avborici,' the 'Roman garrisons
in the west,' Brittany, the Burgundians and the Visigoths, were
brought into subjection."
"Paganism in the western Roman Empire, though it doubtless
retarded the progress of the Christian faith, especially in those
nations which were molested, as in the case of England, by the
inroads of the barbarous clans, who continued idolaters, henceforth
had not the power, if it had the disposition to suppress the
Catholic faith, or to hinder the encroachments of the Roman Pontiff.
From that time, the Papal abomination was triumphant, so far as
Paganism was concerned. Its future contests were with the other
Christian sects, who were always treated as heretics; and with
princes who were always treated as rebels or dividers of the body of
Christ. The prominent powers of Europe gave up their attachment to
Paganism only to perpetuate its abominations in another form; for
Paganism needed only to be baptized to become Christian in the
Catholic sense; and when the interests or vengeance of its presiding
minister made the demand, their possessions and thrones, - perhaps
their lives, - must be laid on the altar.
In England, Arthur, the first Christian king, founded the
Christian worship on the ruins of the Pagan. Rapin, who claims to be
more exact in the chronology of events in his history, states that
he was elected monarch of Britain in 508. Book ii, p.129. What was
the condition of the See of Rome at this time? "Symmachus was Pope
from 498 or 9 to 514. His pontificate was distinguished by these
remarkable circumstances and events:
"I. He 'left Paganism' when he entered the 'church of Rome.' "
2. He found his way to the Papal chair by striving with his
competitor even unto blood. Du Pin.
"3. By the adulation paid to him as the successor of St. Peter.
"4. By the excommunication of the Emperor Anastasius. "How much,"
says Mosheim, "the opinions of some were favorable to the lordly
demands of the Roman Pontiffs, may be easily imagined from an
expression of Ennodius, that infamous and extravagant flatterer of
Symmachus, who was a prelate of ambiguous fame. This parasitical
panegyrist, among other impertinent assertions maintained that the
Pontiff was constituted judge in the place of God, which he filled
as the Vicegerent of the Most High."
By the strength secured to the Catholic cause in the west, by
these successes, and the agency of the vicars, and other agents of
the See of Rome, the Papal party in Constantinople were "placed" in
a position to justify open hostilities in behalf of their master at
Rome. "In 508 the whirlwind of fanaticism and civil war swept in
fire and blood through the streets of the eastern capital"
Gibbon, under the years 508-514, speaking of the commotions in
Constantinople, says "The statues of the emperor were broken, and
his person was concealed in a suburb, till, at the end of three
days, he dared to implore the mercy of his subjects. [Popery is
triumphant.] Without his diadem, and in the posture of a suppliant,
Anastasius appeared on the 'throne of the circus. The Catholics,
before his face, rehearsed the genuine Trisagion; they exulted in
the offer which he proclaimed by the voice of a herald, of
abdicating the purple; they listened to the admonition, that, since
all could not reign, they should previously agree in the choice of a
sovereign; and they accepted the blood of two unpopular ministers,
whom their master, without hesitation, condemned to the lions. These
furious but transient seditions were encouraged by the success of
Vitalian, who with his army of Huns and Bulgarians, for the most
part idolaters, declared himself the champion of the Catholic faith.
In this pious rebellion he depopulated Thrace, besieged
Constantinople, exterminated sixty-five thousand of his fellow
Christians, till he obtained the recall of the bishops, the
satisfaction of the Pope, and the establishment of the council of
Chalcedon, an orthodox treaty, reluctantly signed by the dying
Anastasius, and more faithfully performed by the uncle of Justinian.
And such was the event of the first of the religious wars which have
been waged in the name, and by the disciples, of the God of Peace."
With the following extract from Appollos Hale, we close the
testimony on this point: "We now invi
