So, why are You here? I mean, what are you hoping to accomplish here? Are you hoping to help SDA Christians reject some of the 28 Beliefs?

True when in prophecy someone "stands up" it marks the beginning of something new. But the very fact that something new is beginning generally also means something previous has ended.

Daniel 8:22 -- the powerful Grecian horn signifying Alexander the great comes to his end, and a divided Grecian empire stands up and takes over.

It marks the end of something and the beginning of something else.


Daniel 12:1 Micahael stands up -- something concerning Christ has ended and yes, a last great "time of trouble" begins.

Jesus will not leave the most holy place until every case is decided either for salvation or destruction, when Jesus has finished His work in the most holy place, He stands up to execute justice -- lays off His priestly attire, and clothes Himself with the garments of vengeance. He will stand up, put on the garments of vengeance, and then the seven last plagues will be poured out.



Isaiah 59:15-21


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Reading this thread, I am reminded of the old adage that goes like: If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

Cannot help but to wonder why questions arise about when probation will close.

The goal is not to see how close we can get to the end of our probation before we get right with God.

Get right with God now and the close of probation will take care of itself.

• You cannot go around inventing meanings for words and expressions contrary to the clear definitions implied in the text. "Stand up" marks the beginning of conflict, an overturning. It means to take charge, to go for it, to bring a sword to the table: that's all; and nothing else. It is much like the saying, "He left to go see his mother," has nothing to do with what he was doing before, but what he was about to do.
  
  Daniel 8:22, "Now that [single horn] being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." -- the four "stand up" to take the reigns of power in response to the one being broken. That's all.
   
• Concerning Michael standing up:
  
  !!!!!!!!!!! READ THE CONTEXT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  11:45 And [the king of the north] shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain [Mt. Zion, i.e. Jerusalem]; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
  
  12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people [i.e. the Jews]: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.
  
  !!!!!!!!!!! READ THE CONTEXT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  See? Michael stands up, in defense of His people, in direct response to the king of the north surrounding the doomed Jerusalem.
  
  Mat. 24:15-22

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How is it I have to beg and plead with SDA of all people to read the Bible for themselves, consider the text, the context, and how any term was used by the same author before and after, to refrain from reading extraneous matter that contradict the word of Christ, the interpretation He gave for our benefit and for our own good? Why? Why? Why?

It is written in 1SP 123.3:

Those who have delayed a preparation for the day of God, cannot obtain it in the time of trouble, or at any future period. The righteous will not cease their earnest, agonizing cries for deliverance. They cannot bring to mind any particular sins; but in their whole life they can see but little good. Their sins had gone beforehand to judgment, and pardon had been written. Their sins had been borne away into the land of forgetfulness, and they could not bring them to remembrance. Certain destruction threatens them, and, like Jacob, they will not suffer their faith to grow weak because their prayers are not immediately answered. Though suffering the pangs of hunger, they will not cease their intercessions. They lay hold of the strength of God, as Jacob laid hold of the angel; and the language of their soul is, “I will not let thee go except thou bless me.” The saints at length prevail, like Jacob, and are gloriously delivered by the voice of God.

You do understand that "Jerusalem" is not in the text. And if you read the chapter in context, the verses are talking about something other than literal Jerusalem.

Yes, it is clear that Michael stands up to deliver all of God's people, Jew and gentile. In Revelation 19 we have the same picture and the same result. The Word mounts His white horse and rides forth to the battle against the dragon, the beast and the false prophet which are all defeated by Him and thrown into the lake of fire.

So in the context of what that means for the literal Jews James, look for a gathering of them out of physical Israel similar to the gathering of the gentiles out of the fallen churches of Babylon and the heathen religions. Christians generally are looking for Jerusalem to be besieged as it states in Zechariah. But rather than expecting a remnant to escape spiritually, they expect physical Jerusalem and literal Israel to be saved. Like the Jews themselves they expect the Messiah to intervene. But how can Messiah do that when they reject Him still as a nation?

God hasn't changed. The same God that destroyed and dispersed Israel twice before will go it again and deliver a remnant like He has always done. In Daniel's day, Daniel and others remained faithful. In the Apostle's, no Christian Jews perished in the siege of Jerusalem. That history is repeated in Daniel 12. All of the children of Abraham by faith, every one will be delivered, but no others, not one.

If James wants to pair those two verses, It is noteworthy that President Trump recently declared Jerusalem the capitol of Israel and ordered America's embassy moved there.

And if a word study is done of Daniel 12:1 (looking up each word in the text) it can be read as follows



IMHO, We are almost there.

To clarify, Revelation 19 tells us that in the final battle, Christ defeats the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. What that means is that all those who receive the mark of the beast during this time will be defeated along with the beast. The only exceptions are those who receive the seal of God. Spiritual Israel at the end of this battle are the 144k made up of adopted gentiles and physical, converted Jews, the sealed. It is the sealed who are delivered from the final siege of spiritual Jerusalem.

Numbering Israel and Numbering the 144,000

Under Mosaic law Israel was numbered and census taking was lawful provided a half shekel of silver was paid for the ransom of every male numbered. The requirement was symbolic of that time when God numbers the armies of spiritual Israel - they are the ransomed. The law indicated that the purpose of the ransom was to prevent a plague from God on Israel. So in the last days, the host who are numbered and sealed by God are the 144,000, while those who are not ransomed receive the mark and the plagues.

Israel was first numbered as a nation one month after the Exodus.

The record states that all of the tribes were numbered at this time except Levi.

Shortly after this Levi was numbered separately and at the same time the first born from every tribe were numbered because the Lord was going to do an exchange. God had hallowed all of Israel's first born to Himself when He killed the first born of the Egyptians passing over the first born of Israel. But instead of requiring the service of the firstborn as priests the Lord selected the men of Levi. So the number of the men of Levi was taken and found to be a little less than the number of all the first born men of Israel. God accepted the Levites in the place of the firstborn but to make up the difference the firstborn who were in excess of the Levites were ransomed for five shekels each, 10 times the redemption price of the regular Israelites! (That should have been more than enough evidence to Korah, a Levite, of how highly the Lord valued the services of the Levites, but he was not content with the Lord's valuation. He, along with Dathan and Abiram wanted it all. They coveted the leadership of Moses and the priesthood of Aaron.)

Forty years later a second census was taken. This one had two purposes; 1) to verify that all of the previous generation had died to fulfill the oath that none of them would enter the Promised Land and 2) to be used in allotting the land of Canaan fairly, giving each tribe an amount of land according to its number, but with the provision that the land was still to be divided by the Lord by lot.

At this census the Levites were numbered separately from Israel again and not counted with the rest because they were not given any land as an inheritance.

Israel followed the census requirement in its early history but once under King David it was not followed and God did indeed plague the nation for three days. This history has several interesting parallels to the numbering of spiritual Israel, the 144,000 and to the time of Jacob's trouble.

The story begins with Satan standing up against Israel and provoking David to number the nation without the required redemption money. Joab protests the plan warning David of the consequences but David is dismissive. Perhaps one reason Joab's warning fell on deaf ears is that he did not refer to the redemption requirement. David was well aware of it and Joab's failure to hold David accountable to the sacred obligation weakened his ability to persuade. David may have rationalized that the redemption money was not required because this was a census of fighting men not a census of the nation. But as soon as Joab returned with the tally the Lord sent the prophet Gad to rebuke David and required him to choose the punishment – three years of famine, three months of defeat at the hands of his enemies or three days of plague. David wisely chose the plagues preferring to fall into the hands of God rather than into the hands of men.

The plague immediately began and ravaged Israel killing 70,000 men. On the third day of the plague an angel stood with a drawn sword over Jerusalem on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. God through Gad instructed David to build an alter there that the plague might be stayed. The land belonging to Ornan, Mount Moriah, was allotted to Judah when Israel was numbered and entered Canaan but over four hundred years later it was still owned by a Jebusite, one of the nations that Israel was commanded to dispossess. Exodus 32:2. Before David could offer there he needed to obtain the land. The owner, Ornan may have understood that he had no right in the land. He offered it to the king at no charge but David gave him the full price of it, offered there and the plague was stopped.

Notice the connection between numbering Israel, the plague, and the future temple site that God Himself selected which was a threshing floor in active use. The lesson for us is that just as in Zechariah, when the Lord stands up as judge of all the living there is a pause as the winds are held back and Israel is numbered. During the numbering Satan stands up to accuse Israel but the Angel rebukes him. Israel is sealed and the plagues cannot touch them. Joshua, a symbol of spiritual Israel is clothed in the righteousness of Christ and crowned with His glory.

The Oath of Michael

Revelation 10 parallels that time in Daniel 12 when Michael stands up. Here we find this unique promise that Christ makes personally to us under oath:

We know the above oath is extremely important because Christ Himself makes it and swears by none other than God. Christ rarely makes an oath in scripture but in this case He underlines its importance by making it twice; once here and once in Daniel 12:

This oath friends, assures the church that before the end the mystery of God, Christ revealed in His people, will be fulfilled. This is what happens when Michael stands up: Israel is numbered, the temple is cleansed by the consuming fire of God's presence, the wheat is threshed, the chaff removed, and when God takes up residence in the hearts of His people He makes His glory known in all the earth.

We are on the cusp of this today. The numbering of the armies of spiritual Israel is almost complete. Once it is, the next scene is this: