“I was looking -says the prophet Daniel -, until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened” (Daniel 7:9-10). This is how the prophet saw the great and solemn day when the characters and lives of men will be reviewed before the judge of all the earth, and when all men will be “given” according to their deeds… The Ancient of Days is God, the Father… He is the Author of all existence and all law, who must preside over the judgment… And I saw one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven; he approached the Ancient of Days… The coming of Christ described here is not his second coming to the earth. He comes to the Ancient of Days in heaven to receive dominion and glory, and a kingdom that will be given to him at the conclusion of his mediatory work. It is this coming, and not his second coming to the earth, that prophecy foretold would take place at the end of the 2,300 days in 1844″ (Conflict of the Ages, page 471-472).
The phrases recorded in Daniel 7:9-10, and the following comments, form the basis of our belief in an investigative judgment of the saints in the aforementioned year. In order to objectively consider our interpretation that in Daniel 7 a judgment investigation of those who have professed to be children of God is prophesied, which began in the year 1844, we must separately and independently analyze the main elements mentioned in this prophecy, such as: Who does the little horn represent; the beginning and end of its actions?, Who are the saints of the Most High who are broken?, ¿When are they persecuted for a time, times, and half a time, or 1,260 days? and, Who does the judge who sits represent, and against whom does he pass sentence? As we have already considered in the first articles of this blog, history does not support our current interpretation of the prophecy of the 1,260 days; therefore, we must seek a better interpretation, reviewing what the Scriptures reveal, both in the Old and New Testaments.
As a starting point, we will reexamine what is recorded in Daniel 7:23-27, where it is mentioned that the fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom, and that ten kings will rise from that kingdom, and after them a little horn will rise, that will especially speak words against the Most High and will break the saints of the Most High; after which, the judge will sit, and take away its dominion tol be destroyed and ruined until the end; giving to the saints the dominion and majesty of the kingdoms under all heaven, a kingdom that will be eternal. At this point, it is important to highlight the close parallelism between Daniel 7 and Daniel 2, as well as with Revelation 13. In the first case, the fourth kingdom, represented by the legs of iron and the ten toes of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, is similar to the ten horns of the fourth dreadful and terrible beast of Daniel 7. In the biblical account, we find that both kingdoms represent the LAST earthly powers that will be destroyed, by a stone cut without human hands in Daniel 2, or by the judgment of the seated judge ordering the annihilation and destruction of the little horn in Daniel 7; rising in place of these human kingdoms, a kingdom that will never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44) or an eternal kingdom as recorded in Daniel 7:27.
To be above we must be added that in Daniel 12:4, 6-7, an interesting statement is made, along with a question and its answer, which help us understand better the moment when the 1,260 days of Daniel 7 should end. In the Hebrew Bible, the aforementioned verses record the following: “But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the TIME OF THE END. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge… and one of the men said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river: ‘How long will it be before these astonishing signs are fulfilled?’ The man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and he swore by him who lives forever, saying, ‘It will be for a time, times and half a time, when THE POWER OF THE HOLY PEOPLE HAS BEEN FINALY BROKEN, all these things will be completed”. The aforementioned verses are categorical in stating that the wonders prophesied in the book of Daniel will find their fulfillment after the 1,260 days have passed, and the breaking of the holy people, at the hands of the little horn (Daniel 7:25) has ceased; events that according to Daniel 12:8-9 should occur in the last moments of humanity’s sinful history.
It is important to note that in Revelation 13, we find a similar, but more expanded account of the actions of the fourth beast of Daniel 7, by recording a beast rising out of the sea with ten horns, that was like a leopard, with feet like a bear, and a mouth like a lion. The Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 7, page 831, interprets it as a “clear allusion to the symbolism of Daniel 7,” since it carries out the same activities as the fourth dreadful and terrible beast and its appendix -the little horn-; to whom authority is given to act for a time, times, and half a time, in the case of the little horn, or 42 months if it refers to the actions of the beast rising from the sea; during which they open their mouths in BLASPHEMIES against God, and MAKE WAR against the saints. In this regard, The Great Controversy, on page 434, records the following: “In chapter 13 (verses 1-10. VM), another beast is described ‘like a leopard’… It is said of the beast like a leopard: ‘He was given a mouth to speak great things and blasphemies—against God… And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them…’.” This prophecy, which is almost the same as the description of the LITTLE HORN in Daniel 7, undoubtedly refers to the papacy.” The above statement forces us to ask ourselves: If the little horn of Daniel 7, and the beast rising from the sea of Revelation 13, blaspheme against God and break the saints for the same period of time, that is, for a time, times, and half a time or 42 months; and also represent the same power: the papacy: What really makes them different? If we cannot answer the above question objectively and honestly, we have no choice but to accept that they represent the same power, with the difference that divine revelation presents in more detail the actions of the little horn in Revelation 13; in the time of the end, which corresponds to what is revealed in Daniel 7:26-27, where it is recorded that, at the end of the 1,260 days, the dominion and majesty of the kingdoms under heaven are taken away from the little horn and given to the people of the saints, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
Continuing with the account in Revelation 13, we find that in verses 11-17, a beast rising from the EARTH with two horns like a lamb is recorded, but speaking like a dragon, commanding the inhabitants of the earth to make an image to the beast that rose from the SEA, which had the WOUND OF THE SWORD and lived, to make that image kill anyone who did not worship it. At this point, it is important to highlight that between the account describing the persecution by the beast rising from the sea against those who do not have the mark or the name of the beast or the number of its name; and the coming of one like the Son of Man on a cloud (Revelation 14:14), is the warning message of the third angel not to worship the beast and its image, to avoid being destroyed with the brightness of the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Based on all the aforementioned, it is evident that in the Scriptures we find a close relationship between Daniel 7 and Daniel 2, as well as with Daniel 12 and Revelation 13, pointing to the fact that the beast of Daniel 7 and particularly its appendix, the little horn, will carry out its activities in the time of the end, before the kingdoms of this world are destroyed and an eternal kingdom is established.
We end by asking: After considering the aforementioned in the light of the Scriptures, does it make sense to continue affirming that in the prophecy of Daniel 7 we find an investigative judgment of the saints that began in the year 1844, and on the other hand, continue to assert that said prophecy began in 538 and ended in 1798; an interpretation that has no biblical or historical support? Blessings.”
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