Daniel was not part of the Apostolic era of the Church. His book was understood in that era. As I said, it was written to them of old, "whosoever reads, let him understand."

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Blessings James,

Not all of it "was written to them of old" as you put it. Part of the Book of Daniel was clearly sealed until the time of the end. (Daniel 12:9)

When we read the end of chapter 8 of Daniel and Daniel 12:8, we know Daniel did not understand all that he wrote about. Just a fascinating idea!

Now, as the part Daniel didn't understand unfolds before us in these last days, Christ and His truth is magnified more and more.

We find the truth of the judgment as well as the close of the judgment which is when Jesus will return the second time.

I pray we will all be ready.

Here's some comments on the trumpets. Not showing this to change your mind only food for thought.

The Trumpets themselves are shown to be in two divisions, four in the Old Testament time, and three in the New, that is, the last three are "woe" Trumpets. The first of the woe Trumpets introduces the descending of the heavenly Star to Whom the key of the bottomless pit was given.

Obviously the Star is symbolical of the Angel who at the commencement of the millennium shuts Satan into the bottomless pit, for He, the Angel of Revelation 20:1, is the Angel Who has the key of the bottomless pit. He could not possibly have the key if it had been given to some other.

As Christ is the one who secures Satan's captivity, thereby ushering in the millennium, He alone can be fittingly symbolized by the "angel...having the key of the bottomless pit," and by the "star" to whom the "key" was given.

And as the "giving" of a thing to any certain one must precede the "having" of it by that one, the verbs "given" (Rev. 9:1) and "having" (Rev. 20:1; 1:18) point, of course, to two different times. Obviously, therefore, Christ received the "key" at the sounding of the fifth trumpet -- sometime before the millennium. Hence at the commencement of the millennium He already has it.

Christ's mission being to bring deliverance from the prison house of sin and of death (the bottomless pit), and to do so through the preaching of the gospel, the key, therefore, must be figurative of the gospel, the only power that is able to set free those who are imprisoned in "the bottomless pit".

Since the "bottomless pit" of Revelation 20:3 is symbolical of the earth as a prison house during the millennium, then the "bottomless pit" of Revelation 9:1, being identical, must likewise be symbolical of the earth as a prison house at another time.

This implicitly Biblical interpretation of the "star," the "key," and the "bottomless pit," reveals that the earth, at Christ's first advent, had become a prison house (a pit) for God's people and that Christ came to open it in order to save them.

The time of the end was the Apostolic era. The Angel was referring to the time of the end OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH (i.e. the period just prior to the fall of Jerusalem). Read Heb. 1:1-2, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son."

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You are imposing your own private interpretation on the scriptures in order to suite SDA doctrine. As I said in the previous post:



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Da 9:22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.

About what?

Da 10:1 ¶ In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.

Thank you GLL.

In the same spirit of freedom and to stimulate thought - ->

Miller's interpretation of the smoke rising from the abyss in the fifth trumpet as being symbolic of religious falsehood is sound (it can't be literal smoke because it issues from hell) but the greatest satanic falsehood at the end of time that obscures the light of truth for many inhabitants of Earth is the sorcery of spiritualism. How many are deceived by this “smoke screen”? Further on in the trumpet's description we have a clue: The locusts that emerge from the smoke are commanded to hurt only those who are not sealed. And who are the unsealed? They would be every living person at that time except the sealed, and the sealed are a small remnant. The smoke therefore is the doctrines of all false religions, but especially of Babylon.

When the barriers against the occult are broken down by near universal fascination with Spiritualism, Satan is released from his abyss and goes forth under the guise of a false prophet. Spiritualism and the occult are the twin abysmal forces that take the world captive, causing it to erect an image to the beast. It is this miracle working power from beneath that denies the authority of God, His Son and His law. It thinks to trample on Christ in the person of His saints and His word. But will the world be left without a fair warning before taking these steps?

In Revelation 8:13 God in mercy sends the following warning message:

As the nations prepare to erect an image to the beast they are cautioned in the strongest possible terms of the consequences of following through with their planned course of action. Like the messages of the three angels of Revelation 14, this message is also given with a loud voice and is also global in it's reach. It becomes a present truth message during the interlude between the fourth and fifth trumpets. It complements the first angel's message and anticipates the second, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, pleading with Christendom not to take this plunge into the abyss by making the second angel's message of Revelation 14 a reality. The message is a warning and a plea not to force a false system of worship upon all nations bringing upon the world the judgment of of God. Tragically as with the ancient Pharaoh, this plea goes unheeded.

Not very many years ago Adventists in their corporate logo portrayed the messages of the three angel's of Revelation 14 as three angels sounding trumpets. Prior to 1997 when the logo was changed, the logo inadvertently linked the trumpet-woes of Revelation 8:13 to the three angels messages of Revelation 14. Was that a major mistake or a divine providence? To my mind there is no doubt – it was an important providence. I grew up with the man who designed the new logo, Brian Gray, and his brother, Chris, another small providence of it's own. I didn't know Brian well because he was a couple years younger, but Chris and I were school mates in academy and college.

The message of warning in Rev. 8:13 is sounded just before the first of the three woes. It continues throughout the woes explaining to any who have ears to hear why the woes have befallen Babylon and those allied with her.

The announcement of the first angel of Revelation 14 that the judgment hour has arrived has been present truth since the 1840's. But the judgment hour message takes center stage when the first four trumpets sound in quick succession. The first four trumpets are sent in mercy to herald to the world the nearness of Christ's return. Through the trumpets, God pleads with humanity by fire (I make some comments on the fire of trumpets 1 to 4 earlier in the thread.) and sword:
But rather than repent, the nations of the world seek a human solution to a global crises. As the image of the beast is erected and given the powers of economic coercion so no one can buy or sell who resists its authority, the woe message shifts in emphasis to the second angel's message during the fifth trumpet. Finally, during the sixth trumpet when worship of the image is enforced on the pain of death the message of woe swells with the Loud Cry of the fourth angel.

By the way, the old logo I mentioned in post 161699 above is at the top of every forum page between the Canadian and US flags.