The book of Daniel and the Revelation are two books speaking about our life in a more realistic way than any publication nowadays. Why do we say that? Firstly, because they were written by Someone declared omniscient by those who know Him and by Himself and secondly, because they refer to us, all the people living on Earth in the so-called time of the end.

“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.” “I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth.” “I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.”

Isa 46:10a; 45:19a; 48:3

There occurs naturally the question: What do you mean by the time of the end when we have just entered a new millennium? Every day we hear assertions of the type: “mankind is heading collapse”, “the fresh water resources are almost exhausted”, “the oxygen resources are affected”, “the global climate is in a continuous change that is not in our favour”. New elements add to all these in terms of the economic, moral and/or demographic crises. Instead of getting worried, our mind comes up with an answer only half true: “These crises have always existed!” What makes now the situation different is the fact that, if until now there have been solutions to these problems or at least we have been dreaming about them, now there seems to be none, as if they have vanished like soap balloons.

And still there is hope; a hope at the global level for all those who are willing to accept it. Now is the moment when Earth is heading towards the achievement of its highest ideal.

“For the earnest expectation of the creature [the world] waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

Rom 8:19-21

You might be wondering: Why are not these things taking place right now? Why is it that God’s sons and daughters are not being revealed now? What might be the reason why salvation is not yet fulfilled since both Heaven and Earth long for it? Above the conflicts among the nations of the Earth, conflicts perceptible or not by common human beings, above the present conflicts and those that are to come, there is a fight exceeding in intensity and importance all the conflicts of the world altogether, these being (at present and throughout history) nothing but eruptions in the visible specter of the great invisible conflict, imperceptible to people. There will come a time, called Armageddon, when the conflict unseen right now will be too visible. That will be “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time” (Daniel 12:1), as until then the mortal’s eyes will have been spared from seeing the conflict at its real scale. The two fighting forces are those of good and evil and your present choice will influence and decide your place in this fight.

In this conflict each force uses its own weapons. God uses faithfulness, truth, righteousness and justice; on the other side, there is Satan, the enemy with his weapons: deceit, lie, meanness and fraud. As the fight is given by the human representatives of these forces, apparently God is disadvantaged since the weapons of our world have rather the patent of the weapons of the evil one. Few fights have been won by faithfulness, truth, righteousness and justice; in exchange, the great victories have been obtained by deceit, lie, meanness and fraud. Standing today with a flower in your hand against someone pointing a gun at you is not only a huge disadvantage, but is quite suicidal.

In the multitude of technological advantages that he might use, for the time being Satan makes use only of his so-called “classical” weapons with which he has been operating since the beginning: deceit, lie, meanness and fraud. It would be a thoughtless act to reveal his true nature. By revealing it, almost all people on Earth would almost certainly turn their back on him. Therefore, he would rather come to us in sheep's clothing, working hard for the “welfare of mankind”. He makes use of those persons one would least expect, being a master of misinformation, a perfect actor in an improper role, totally opposed to his real character; and he acts so well that the words below are becoming more and more true:

“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” “And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.”

Rev 13:8; Dan 11:36

Daniel 8:11 offers answers to the questions above, presenting us some details on the present conflict, details that our eyes cannot perceive because the conflict is not yet revealed. Therefore, we are helped in our limitation and we are presented that the enemy, who “cast down some of the host and of the stars [Daniel 12:4] to the ground [Daniel 11:33-35]” by his representative on the Earth (the one by whom the whole mankind worship him)“, magnified himself even to the prince of the host [of heaven – v. 10], and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down [defiled].” Daniel's prophetic eyes would foresee not only the evil done by the enemy to Heaven, but also the finality of the conflict, namely the judgment executed at the order of the deliberately dishonored God: “a host [of the enemy] was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression” for “it cast down the truth [and its heralds – Daniel 11:32-35] to the ground”.

The same conflict is also described in Daniel 11:31: “And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries”.

What is the use of knowing such things? Whether we like it or not, we are fighters in this universal conflict. We should be more than preoccupied of how we could be part of the army we want to and of how we could miss, by accident or not, the opportunity to express our option. In this conflict there will be some, unfortunately not few, that will want to be part of the heavenly hosts, but who will no longer have the opportunity to express their option in this sense because, by negligence, disinterest or ignorance they have chosen to be part of Satan's evil hosts, thus having made an unchangeable choice.

“The enemy of God and man is not willing that this truth should be clearly presented; for he knows that if the people receive it fully, his power will be broken.” “It is not alone those who openly reject the Testimonies [the prophecies], or who cherish doubt concerning them, that are on dangerous ground. To disregard [present] light is to reject it.” ¹

“But the people that do know [John 10:4] their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many.” “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” “And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. 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 [Revelation 12:17; 14:12], 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.” Dan 11:32-33, 12:4, 9-13

The book of Daniel (in its last part) refers to the time of the end. God left in it everything we should know with reference to the end of time and no information should be ignored or neglected. Sometimes, due to our preconceptions and due to the fact that the light has been progressively revealed, we are tempted to remain in the yesterday's light, even if the one given to us today completes and reveals more clearly what we have not fully understood so far. We are tempted to put out any new glimmer of light. But since God intends to reveal it to us, who are we then to turn our back on Him? Who are we to declare that His light is in fact darkness, even when His affirmations do repeat, seemingly with the intention not only to highlight His desire to reveal it to us but also its utmost importance?

“How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Dan 8:13-14

There has been repeatedly spoken about “the daily sacrifice”: “by him the daily sacrifices were taken away”, “against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression”, “they shall take away the daily sacrifices”, “from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away”, “the vision concerning the daily sacrifice”. Why is this expression so important to us, people living at the end of time? What connection could there be between the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation? All these things will be explained further on.

The two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings and the cleansing of the Sanctuary (Daniel 8:13-14) remind us of the reawakening movement around 1844. It was presented in a previous chapter that this period of time (two thousand three hundred years) also includes the prophetic period of seventy weeks (490 years) mentioned in Daniel 9:24-27; by explaining the verse 27 (Daniel 9) there was presented that Jesus Christ, the Lamb without blemish, by His death on the cross caused the sacrifice to cease (Daniel 9:27). At that moment, the type met the anti-type (John 3:14-15) and the symbol (Hebrews 10:1) met reality (Hebrews 10:5-8). It was the moment when the system of sacrificial offering was forever at an end.

Jesus Christ by His death was the fulfilling of the Law (transgressed by us), thus paying the price for our redemption once and for all. There were not to follow any sacrificial offerings of any kind since the Law Giver (1 Corinthians 10:1-4) sacrificed Himself for us all. Therefore, the penalty of our sin was death (Romans 6:23), but not the death of the sinful man or that of a sacrificed animal, but the death of the Only begotten of the Father (Hebrews 9:13-14), the death of the One as great as the Law transgressed. Consequently, nobody will ever be able to make or give a greater or more complete sacrifice, as there has been no other lamb more perfect than the Lamb “who was slaughtered” (Revelation 5:12), Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Why has the Holy Spirit chosen to speak to us (the last generation), almost two thousand years after the daily sacrifice ended, about this topic, as if He wanted to make us realize that our eternity depends on it and its understanding? Since the daily sacrifice was ended at the Cross, why was it prophetically spoken about, once it found its fulfillment in Christ's sacrifice? God does not play with words, what He ended, is ended for ever. He would not change His decisions once made, according to the events (James 1:17; Malachi 3:6). What could possibly be the meaning of the statement according to which the “little horn” (Daniel 8:9), “that man of sin” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) “magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away” and that “[his] host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression”, focusing on the fact that “the vision concerns the appointed time of the end”? (Daniel 8:11-12,19)

If we take a closer look at the information offered by God about “the little horn”, “son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4) we notice several details worth being taken into consideration:

“And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.” “And he shall magnify himself in his heart [...] he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes.”

Dan 8:10,25

The details presented above point to another conflict, situated at the opposite corner on the history firmament, namely “at the beginning”, a moment when an angel from heaven, Lucifer had a similar evolution:

“I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God [...] I will be like the most High.” “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth.”

Isa 14:13-14; Rev 12:9,4a

By this parallelism there are two aspects that God intends to reveal to us:

 1. Within the conflict taking place at the time of the end, God, by His saints (the last generation of believers) will be confronting with the same old enemy, Satan, hidden under the mantle of the “man of sin”, disguised into minister of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:15). The latter will make use of the same old weapons (deceit, lie etc) to attain the same old goal: if back then his intention was to take hold of the governing of Heaven, this time, as Heaven is no longer accessible to him, he contents himself “just” with the Earth, aiming at a world-wide governing of his own.

 2. In this conflict, as well as in that initiated by Satan in Heaven, attention is focused on God's character, founded at the same extent on justice (Law) and grace (atonement). Satan is aware of the fact that by eliminating one of these divine attributes, he would make impossible God's governing both on Earth and in the people's hearts; he knows that by eliminating one of these, he will lawfully and entirely become a lord just as he did in the past when, once he had managed to eliminate from the angels' hearts one of these qualities of the divine governing, they fell under his own governing by deceit. What is at stake is the governing or the right to reign on this Earth. Satan knows that as long as God has true worshippers on Earth, all his efforts to maintain this world under his domination are in vain.

All Satan's efforts before the attaining of the chronologic point in the history of salvation called “the fullness of the time” will be amplifying more and more in his attempt to destroy the following three objectives:

“And the dragon [...] went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

Rev 12:17; 14:12

By the words: “Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision [...] I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be” (Daniel 8:17,19), God shows us that what is being referred to here is the fight of Satan (and that of the “son of sin”) against the objectives previously mentioned, as taking place in the time of the last generation; consequently, the words above do not refer to the period belonging to the Middle Ages (up to 1798 AD). The start of the cleansing of the Sanctuary (the year 1844) was referred to in prophesy by the words “distant future” or “many days in the future” (Daniel 8:26); whereas, the taking away of the daily sacrifices was prophetically referred to as taking place much later, at the time of the end or in the last end of the indignation.

In his prophecy Daniel undoubtedly refers to the time of the last generation when he states that “the transgressors have reached their fullness” (Daniel 8:23) and that “his power [the Papacy's] shall be mighty, but not by his own power [like in the Middle Ages]; He shall destroy fearfully [by making official visits], And shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty [economically speaking], and also the holy people [spiritually speaking]. He shall rise against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human means [by the Lord – Daniel 2:44]” (Daniel 8:24-25).

What is rather remarkable is that Daniel foresaw that God would destroy this universal power not because it has violated the freedom of conscience (a fundamental human right) which the saints (Revelation14:12) should have had, or because it (“the little horn”) has destroyed the Law at a world-wide level by imposing another day of worship and rest (and thus changing the Sabbath of the fourth commandment) but “because of transgression […] to oppose the daily sacrifices” (Daniel 8:12).

“And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground [...].”

Dan 8:12

The statement above raises at least four questions: 1. What does “the daily sacrifice” refer to? 2. What was the Papacy's transgression against the daily sacrifice after 1844, in the so-called “the time of the end”? 3. What connection is there between the daily sacrifice and the time of the end? 4. What connection is there between the taking away of the daily sacrifice and the revealing of God's saints?

      1. What does “the daily sacrifice” refer to?

In the sacrificial system referred to in the Old Testament there were several types of ceremonial services, some of them being daily (continual). One of these regular services was the daily sacrifice or the so-called burnt offering that consisted in sacrificing each evening and morning a lamb without blemish and without spot (see 1 Peter 1:18-19), this being considered as an atoning sacrifice for sin (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). This type of sacrifice could have also been called the covenant sacrifice. It was the sacrifice offered by Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21 comp. Leviticus 7:8), Abel (Genesis 4:4), Noah (Genesis 8:20) and Abraham (Genesis 12:8; 22:2), being the most expressive personal declaration of the fact that I am a sinner and I need atonement, I need a Savior, a Substitute to pay the price for sin in my behalf. By this act, the sinner declares war to sin and total devotion to God (Romans 12:1-2). It is the sacrifice that God offered in our behalf by giving His Son to death out of love for us:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Joh 3:16; Isa 53:5; 1Jo 4:9-10; Rom 5:8,10

The sacrifice of God's Lamb, prefigured by the daily sacrifice, is brought again before our eyes, since it is the very centre of the Gospels, which tell of Jesus Christ who offered His own blood as an atoning sacrifice in the sinner's behalf, in my behalf. All I have to do is to believe in Him, acknowledge Him as my Substitute and let Him care for my eternal life, let Him manifest through me so that I can whole-heartedly declare:

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Gal 2:20

This is the Gospel (the good news) enshrouded into the words “the daily sacrifice” – the price for our redemption was paid once and for all, by His sacrifice made for all the people. In His justice, God made sure that all the claims of the Law transgressed should be fully paid and so they were. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead was an act of God's glory and power, an act proving the reconciliation between God and His lost children, between Heaven and Earth. The good news sung by the angles when the Savior was born in the manger from Bethlehem had come true. Their song: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14) had thus become a reality. From that moment on, there would never be any another Gospel proclaimed, other than the one pointing to Christ the Lord as the only Savior.

“I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.”

Isa 43:11

The warning from the Scripture against our acceptance of a new Gospel, other than the one of righteousness by faith is extremely clear:

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”

Gal 1:8

Throughout history (especially during the Middle Ages) the Papacy has abusively taken away the daily sacrifice (Daniel 11:31), by preaching another Gospel of salvation and by putting the papal institution above the work of atonement realized at the Cross and going on later in the heavenly Sanctuary where Jesus Christ as High Priest pleads His own blood in the repenting sinners' behalf (Hebrews 3:15-16; 7:25-26). This new gospel which has been preached is the one of obtaining salvation by one's own works or someone else's. But the Word so clearly explains to us that the obtaining of salvation in this way is not possible:

“Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness [...], saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.”

Eze 14:14,20

      2. What was the Papacy's transgression against the daily sacrifice after 1844, in the so-called “the time of the end”?

There have always been voices protesting against this abuse of preaching another Gospel of salvation. After prolonged torments and useless attempts to find the peace of forgiveness by our own works, Christ's atoning sacrifice was again reinstated by the Reformation. Today, more than two hundred years after the coming out of the dark slavery of the Middle Ages, the protestant and neo-protestant Christianity, imperceptibly and apparently unaware give up this eternal treasure: the Gospel of salvation by faith.

Where are today those enlightened minds of the past, those stars that shone in the darkness of the Middle Ages? Before the theologians' very eyes, right before the eyes of those people ready to sacrifice themselves for the Gospel they claimed to know, two hundred years after the ending of the Middle Ages, more precisely on November 29^th 1998, the Papacy issued a papal bull according to which salvation was to be obtained by the indulgences paid this time not with money, but with good works. Thus, they reinstate on a world-wide level – as a prophetic act of taking away the daily sacrifice from the hands of our High Priest – their own gospel (that of salvation by one's own works). It was the moment when everything the Reformation had been building for centuries was instantly cast down to the ground.

This bull could be easily considered nothing but a simple insignificant fact. The eating of a fruit (v. Genesis 3:6) may also seem just as insignificant, but this action later led to a long chain of pains, torments, struggles which have reached their climax on Golgotha. A “simple” deed that triggered the death of the Son of God, the separation between the Son and His Father, between the Son and the Comforter, a separation caused by sin. An apparently insignificant thing represented in fact… everything, meaning the man's decision to be or not to be entirely on God's side, to obey or not His Word, to be with or against Him.

It is one of the most brutal affronts that could ever be brought to God, that of man's turning his back on the immense sacrifice made by Him in the sinner's behalf, in your behalf. It is an insult brought to God that of adopting an attitude of ignorance when you see the merits of His sacrifice trampled upon right before your very eyes and still claim them.

“Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me [my merits] before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth me [my merits] before men shall be denied before the angels of God.”

Luk 12:8-9

What is at stake is not just a doctrine, an abstract idea, a religious denomination or Christianity as a whole, but God's character. He certainly knows the reason for which the Papacy will be punished (“because of transgression […] to oppose the daily sacrifice”). He is the only One knowing every side of the serious act committed by the Papacy, namely that of having “cast the truth to the ground” (Daniel 8:12). Only He knows the number of those who blame Him for their not having the possibility to buy forgiveness for themselves or for their beloved ones, since they do not dispose of the necessary financial means. They do not know that their redemption was already paid: “not […] with corruptible things, like silver or gold […] but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). God knows that as long as the man does not claim justification through faith, he is hopeless before the wrath that is to come. He knows too well what “his strange work” (Isaiah 28:21) of destruction will consist in, its cause being people's rejection of His mercy, of His atoning sacrifice. The man has not been informed on the significance of the Sacrifice on Golgotha, having been left in exchange to engage in useless services and practices so that he should maintain a good relationship with God.

Prophecies are being fulfilled right before our eyes. God showed Daniel the chain of events, as follows: after the fulfillment of the vision about the cleansing of the Sanctuary (2,300 years later) that referred to a distant future (“to many days in the future [1844]” – Daniel 8:26; 10:14), there would come a moment, “at the time of the end” (Daniel 8:17), when “the little horn” (the Papacy) was to take away the daily sacrifices (“and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away” – Daniel 8:11). By the papal bull issued on November 29^th 1998, the prophecy fulfilled. Consequently, not only do we live “at the time of the end” but also “in the latter time of the indignation” (Daniel 8:19).

We might be wondering: how could there be that we live in the time of the end, when we cannot see any sign of the “latter time of the indignation”? If we cannot see anything yet it is due to God's mercy or grace. All depends on our understanding of Christ's sacrifice. The chance belongs both to those knowing all that is necessary about the message of righteousness by faith and those who do not know anything or almost anything.

      3. What connection is there between the daily sacrifice and the time of the end?

“Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two [angels], the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one [of the two] said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people [Daniel 8:24], all these things shall be finished. And I [Daniel] heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said [...] for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. [...] 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.”

Dan 12:5-13

“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God [the law], and the faith of Jesus [the atonement, the daily sacrifice]. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown [...]”

Rev 14:12-14

We encounter again the dialogue between two men, one asking the other a question we do not seem to dare ask: “How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?” This question written within the context related to the time of the end (Daniel 12:6) is given an answer.

“And at the time of the end [...] the king of the north [“the little horn”, the Papacy] shall come against him [the king of the south - communism, orthodoxy] and he shall enter into the countries [Cuba - 1998, Romania - 1999, Georgia - 1999, Greece - 2001, Ukraine - 2001, Armenia - 2001, Bulgaria - 2002], and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land [Holy Land - 2000] [...] He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt [2000] shall not escape [...] and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north [Isaiah 41:2-25,27-28] shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas [peoples, multitudes, nations - Revelation 17:15] in the glorious holy mountain [salvation - Revelation 14:1]; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” “And at that time [the time of the end] shall Michael stand up, 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: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”

Dan 11:40-45; 12:1

Wherever we might be, we are the witnesses of the victories gained worldwide by the Papacy at the level of the heart. More than ever before “the little horn” tries and succeeds in reigning where only God has the right to: in the man's heart.

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God [...]” “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

1Co 6:19-20; Mat 10:37; 6:21

We are the witnesses of a conflict where interests more important than the life of an individual or that of a nation are at stake. The fight is for hearts, the fight is for your eternity or for your destruction. As we approach the end, something in the actions of the Papacy changes. If up to a certain moment in the past, the victories had been of an economic nature (“he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver” – Daniel 11:43) and of a sentimental-emotional nature (“[they] shall follow at his heels” – Daniel 11:43), now the conflict takes its real form. What has seemed to be hidden and postponed, suddenly bursts forth “with great fury” because of some rumors and the actions change their specter, turning from banal historic visits into actions destined to “go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many” (Daniel 11:44).

The Papacy has survived over the centuries and is now on the verge of fulfilling all its dreams (“I sit as queen and am no widow, and will not see sorrow!” – Revelation 18:7). What rumours could possibly be so serious as to endanger its position so thoroughly obtained? It is known that, whatever the rumours might be, they cannot have an impact with lasting consequences in a society we find existing nowadays. Nevertheless, on hearing these rumours, the Papacy gets on the alert. It is unbelievable that an institution enjoying such appreciation at a global level should get into such a crisis so as to give away its habits seemingly “long-forgotten” in the Middle Ages!

Thousands of years ago (608-534 BC), Babylon, a kingdom founded on principles similar to those of the Papacy (which at its turn received in prophecy the name of this old kingdom, Babylon), reached its climax just like the latter today. There was nothing that could have prevented its expansion.

“Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords [...] commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem [...] and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace. [...] Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.”

Dan 5:1-5,9

What could there have been written on the plaster of the wall? Why was Belshazzar so terrified by some words he could not understand? He had a strange feeling. He knew that next to him there was One whose hand he could only see writing, One that was greater than him and the history he was making. God's accusations through His messenger Daniel fit like a glove to the Papacy or “the little horn”:

“But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords [...] and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written [...] MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. [...] In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom.”

Dan 5:23-31

It would have been enough that this should also be the fate of the modern Babylon, of “the little horn”, but the prophecy tells more:

“And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone [Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:41], and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”

Rev 18:21-24

If nothing could prevent the fulfillment of the prophecy referring to the destruction of the ancient Babylon, what could possibly prevent God from fulfilling the prophecy relating to the rapidity with which the contemporary Babylon would be thrown from the history firmament into the abyss, without any human power (because the power of the holy people would be completely shattered – Daniel 8:25; 12:7)? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

“And she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.”

Rev 18:8

When does or did the countdown for the modern Babylon, the Papacy start? It is a question to which the Word answers as follows:

“And I heard the man clothed in linen [...] and sware [...] that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. [...] 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 [MENE]. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days [MENE]. But go thou thy way till the end be [TEKEL]: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot [UPHARSIN] at the end of the days.”

Dan 12:7,11-13

The answer is before our very eyes: “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. But you, go your way till the end […] at the end of the days.” (Daniel 12:11-13). A man asks: “How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?” (Daniel 12:7) And a man clothed in linen “swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time”.

“The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: That I will break the Assyrian [Babylon] in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot [...]  This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand [Daniel 5:5] that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?”

Isa 14:24-27

It is troubling to know that for the Earth there is a ticking bomb whose explosion is inevitable and even more, is at the doors. It is terrible to know that everything you have acquired for a life time will crumble away when the final gong strikes. It is terrible to see that everything that has been acquired for centuries, by sword, persecution, wars, or technology will go to the winds in less than a moment. This reminds us of another scene of great destruction: the flood. Thousands of people were borne away by the surging waters within minutes, no more. And we might be wondering: is it fair for a world to be destroyed in such a way? It would have been fair, if there had been given a warning beforehand, a warning that anyone could have taken into consideration so that they should be saved. God had warned the man against the things that were to come and thus the conditions of His justice and His mercy were fully satisfied. Noah had been preaching the message of salvation by faith for one hundred and twenty years, but only eight people trusted in God's word. What a minority saved as compared to the thousands of souls lost! Why that few? Because faith is a personal act. Nobody can believe for somebody else.

Nowadays, people find themselves in a similar situation. There is a warning, the very last one, and the only possibility to be saved is by faith in Jesus Christ. To be saved by faith is definitely more than an act of the mind, of conscience. Faith leads you to works, as otherwise it is dead:

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

Jam 2:26; Mat 7:24-27

To build on a rock means to build on Christ and to build on Him means to be in the light, for He said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6). The primary condition for a safe overcoming of the events that are to come, is to turn our eyes to His Word. The fight we are fighting is not “against flesh and blood”, against people (whatever their position in the political or religious hierarchies might be) but “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). It is a fight against temptation, the same temptation Jesus Christ fought against, having as a weapon the reference to the Word of God: “It is written!” The secret of His victory lay in His living of the words:

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

Psa 119:11

“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.” “Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” Dan 12:11-12; Rev 14:13

A deeper study of the chapters Daniel 12 and Revelation 14 unveils a parallelism between the two of them that we shall analyse in the following steps:

 1. In Daniel 12:1 we encounter the great prince Michael [symbolizing our Lord Jesus Christ] as the one “who stands watch over the sons of [His] people”; in Revelation 14:1 we encounter the Lamb [also symbolizing our Lord Jesus Christ] together with the one hundred forty-four thousand; both cases present Jesus and the saints who have passed through the tribulation (Daniel 12:1; Revelation 7:13-14).

 2. Daniel 12:2-4 focuses on the actions of the wise ones, protected by Michael; Revelation 14:2-5 focuses on the actions of the one hundred forty-four thousand.

 3. Daniel 12:5-11 refers to three people: “one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank” and a “man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river”; on the other hand, Revelation 14:6-11 refers to three angels. In both cases the information presented is important for mankind.

 4. Daniel 12:12 presents a blessing addressed to those living people who wait and reach a specified prophetic time; on the other hand, Revelation 14:12-13 presents a blessing referring to both patience and rest, a blessing addressed to the ones who “die in the Lord from now on”; we are being presented that everyone referred to above (dead or alive) will be blessed when that prophetic time comes.

 5. Daniel 12:13 speaks about “the end of the days”; Revelation 14:14-20 also speaks about the end, with specific reference to the coming of the judgment.

As for the two blessings mentioned above, one thing seems at least strange and that is the fact that there is no specific reference to what will happen when the one thousand two hundred and ninety days have passed, but all we get is this: “Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.” What could possibly happen within this interval of forty-five days so that not everyone should be able to resist up the end? What could possibly happen throughout this period of time that serious as to make God say to John: “Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth”? Could it be that time of trouble that is said to have never been since nations first came into existence? Could it be that period when the “little horn” “shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many”? (Daniel 11:44) Could it be the period to which the words refer: “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands”? (Revelation 20:4)

In order to be able to answer the questions above we must first of all demonstrate that the message of the three angels from Revelation 14 is identical to that from Daniel regarding the time of the end. The message of the three angels from Revelation 14 has as central theme the controversy between God and Satan. At the core of their message is God's character, to be exact, the two basic attributes of His governing: mercy (sacrifice and atonement) and justice (the Law). Thus, Revelation 14:6 presents the first angel flying “in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel”; this Gospel mentioned in Revelation 14 is the one referred to in Daniel as being that daily sacrifice taken away by the “little horn” and which must be now reinstated at a world level and preached to all inhabitants of the Earth, more precisely “to every nation, tribe, tongue and people” (Revelation 14:6).

      The message of the first angel

“Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”

Rev 14:7

The first angel claims by his message the change of one's attitude regarding two aspects: the worship (whom I fear and give glory to and what or whom I worship) and the judgment (made by Him). Both in the pagan world and in Christianity there are lots of beliefs according to which people must fear any other thing or being but the real God “who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” To those people, who embrace these beliefs (consciously or unconsciously) and the ways of worship required by these, apply the scolding words addressed to the ancient Babylonian emperor: “and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.” (Daniel 5:23).

Why is God displeased with this? Is it because He is arbitrary and egocentric? Could it be that He is afraid of competition and that He might “become bankrupt” in the spiritual world? No way! He is disturbed just because these gods “do not see, hear or know” anything. They cannot see the human suffering, they cannot see the tears, the pain of those crying because of their sins, crying for freedom; they cannot hear the words of glory, love and faithfulness, they cannot hear the cry of those asking for salvation. No matter how much you might do before them and for them, they would neither see nor hear as they “do not know” anything since they represent nothing more than what they are: metal, wood or stone… And how could He not be displeased since He gave Himself as an atoning sacrifice so that the man should be saved. This is what hurts God the most: to do everything for the man, to take all necessary measures that he should be eternally happy and in exchange he should decide to turn his back and thus ignore everything you did for him.

The judgment brought into discussion is one referring to our own attitude towards the immense Sacrifice on Golgotha, our own disposition of heart to claim His merits. It is a judgment made by Jesus Christ, our High Priest, who sympathizes with our weaknesses as One was “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15) and who clearly states:

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”

Isa 1:18-20

We have seen that the central theme of the message of the first angel is God's mercy, that only He can offer us by our accepting of His invitation to worship the only One who can forgive sins.

      The message of the second angel

“Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

Rev 14:8

The message of the second angel has God's justice as a central theme. This message is no longer an invitation to accepting God's mercy by the atonement He made at the Cross. The message refers both to an observation and a sentence (“Babylon is fallen, is fallen!”); these two aspects intermingle. We are told in simple words: what happened (it is fallen, is fallen), who is referred to (Babylon, the great city) and the reason why it has fallen (“because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication”).

The Babylon referred to here is the “little horn” (Daniel 8:9-12,23-25), the Papacy, an institution manifesting at present a continuous ascension all around the world and about which it is paradoxically said to have fallen!! What could the repetition “Babylon is fallen, is fallen” mean? Where has it fallen from?

It has definitely fallen in the sight of Heaven! As we could see, the message above points out on the one hand that in heaven's council there has been taken a final decision concerning the Papal Institution, a decision similar to the one taken in the past for Belshazzar and his Empire; on the other hand, we are figuratively shown the rapidity with which the execution of the sentence passed upon this great city will be carried out:

“And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.”

Rev 18:21

The reason why the sentence has not been carried out yet is due to the simple fact that in the history of the world and sin, the Papacy has only a few days left, days that will end “when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered”, after it has revealed its true nature by manifesting anger against God and His people.

What is the reason why this irrevocable decision has been taken? What atrocity could there be hidden behind the accusation according to which the Papacy “has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication”? Nothing serious in giving something to drink to someone who is thirsty... what you give him to drink is what really matters. Initially, this wine was (and still is) the wine of false teachings, the wine of taking away the daily sacrifice, which perfectly “allows” it to play the role of God on Earth (1Th. 2:4), deliberately playing with His forgiveness, on offering it to people from all nations of the Earth in exchange for adoration and worship. But at a certain moment, after the daily sacrifice has been reinstated (meaning that the earth will have been illuminated with the glory of the message of righteousness by faith), the wine of fornication offered by it will transform into another kind of wine, a wine of wrath caused by alarming “rumors from the east and the north” (Daniel 11:44), a wine of slaughter.

“And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints [...] With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” “For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets.”

Rev 17:6,2; 16:6

Such is the hatred caused by this wine of fornication that it overshadows the equality, freedom and ecumenical tolerance meant to characterize the third millennium! In such a context, these two blessings are intended to comfort us: “Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.” “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors and their works follow them.’ ” (Daniel 12:12; Revelation 14:13).

      The message of the third angel

“If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”

Rev 14:9-11

If the core of the message of the first angel is God's mercy and that of the second angel's is God's justice, we will see that the message of the third angel indirectly focuses on the saints (the 144,000) and their setting apart for God.

Just like Daniel 12, the Revelation 14 speaks about a chronology; first there can be seen an angel flying in the midst of heaven with an everlasting Gospel, then there can be seen a second angel followed by a third one; finally, on a white cloud, there comes the Son of man having a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

The message of the third angel will reach its fulfillment at the moment when the wine of Babylon's false teachings turns into the wine of the wrath of the fornication, a moment in which the “little horn”, following the rumors from “the east and the north”, changes its attitude and “shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many” (Daniel 11:44). The Papacy (“the little horn”) will not manifest this persecutory attitude by its own forces (“His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power” – Daniel 8:24), but by the power of the kings of the earth with whom it “committed fornication” (Revelation 17:2). This universal support it will benefit from basically refers to a legislation of its actions under a new world order by which it will try to cast down God's Law to the ground, by changing it at a world-wide level.

The changing of God's Law marks the moment in which Babylon turns from a prostitute into a beast and those with whom she committed fornication become the image of the beast claiming worship. In the confusion generated by their wrath (“the nations were angry” – Revelation 11:18) they will make people receive a “mark” on their hand or forehead so that they should be able to keep a clear record of those who support their principles (worship them) and those who are “against” them.

The idea of people's receiving a mark on their forehead or hand does not belong to the beast or its image, but to the one who will be in those days, more obviously than ever before, the ruler and master of this world: Satan. There will be an open attempt to replace God in people's thoughts and actions, as Satan knows that God is going to set apart His people so as they be protected and he has every interest to mislead as many as possible.

Before leaving Egypt, God commanded that every Israeli house should have the doorpost marked with the blood of a lamb that had been offered as an atoning sacrifice; it was meant to be a distinctive and protective token before God's wrath:

“For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”

Exo 12:12-13

God's sign today is, on the one hand, a sign of the rest of salvation, namely the seventh day Sabbath, a day in which our Savior rested in His grave after having completed His great atonement work. It is the sign of the sacrifice He made for us, the sign of our sanctification; on the other hand, it is a sign of the Law, as at creation, after God “made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them”, He rested on the seventh day; “therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”

“Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.” “And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.”

Eze 20:12,20

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

Exo 20:8-11

In the Egypt of the epoch we spoke about above, the marking of the doorpost with a sign of the sacrifice would give the opportunity to be saved to all people present at that moment in the house bearing the sign. Therefore, the people's mere presence in that house was enough for them to be saved, regardless of their laying hold by faith on the blood of the sacrificed lamb. Today the situation is completely different: if those manifesting faith remain in the battle and may even die in it, but on the side of the slaughtered Lamb, those who do not manifest faith automatically form a coalition with the enemy. What seals us for God is not our entry by the Sabbath gate, but the entry by the gate of the Sacrifice, an entry made by faith and by a personal relationship with the One declaring Himself as being the Door:

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” “Abide in me, and I in you. [...] If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you [...] that ye bear much fruit [...] If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.”

Joh 10:9; 15:4,7-8,10

This sealing will be done by an angel having the seal of God (Revelation 7:2-3) which he is to set on His servants' forehead; this seal will be seen by the angels. As in Egypt the houses bearing the mark of the sacrifice on their doorposts were not affected by any plague, the angels will protect in a similar way all people sealed by God:

“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”

Psa 91:5-11

If the prostitute mentioned above has poured a wine of her fornication, after the preaching of the message of the third angel has ended, God will be the One to pour a “wine of [His] wrath” that will be “poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation” (Revelation 14:10), a wine He will pour out for all those worshiping the beast and its image as well as for those who have deliberately accepted its mark on their forehead or hand.

“And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.”

Rev 11:18

An anticipatory projection with our mind's eyes into the future: we are living in the last days of this Earth's history and the sealing of God's children has been completed. The four winds of the Earth, a symbol of God's wrath have been unleashed to damage the earth, the sea, the trees, everything (Revelation 7:1; 16:1-21). God's wrath is poured out bowl after bowl on the earth, over the worshipers of a god, father of lies (John 8:44).

“And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.”

Rev 16:1

“And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.” “Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.”

Rev 16:4-6; 18:6-7

The promises of Antichrist for those who will worship him and will accept the mark of his name – 666 (three times “seven without one”; human righteousness, human truth, human judgment; all these without God), the mark of his day – Sunday (the first day of the week) on their forehead and hand, are being revealed to people just the way they really are: false and full of deceit. Their accepting of Antichrist's mark instead of heavenly peace, security and happiness will bring them nothing but inquietude, desperation and death. The following words do apply for them:

“And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.” “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”

Isa 28:18-21; Rev 14:11

“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.”

Rev 16:17-21; 6:14-17

On the one hand, the message of the third angel focuses on people (both the ones who sanctified themselves through Christ's sacrifice and those who would not do it) and on the other hand, it focuses on the consequences of their actions in justice (either eternal life with God or destruction and contempt with everlasting consequences).

The three angels' message highlights, just like the message of Daniel, the three objectives against which Satan has directed his attacks along the history of salvation: God's mercy (His atoning sacrifice), God's justice (His Law) and the saints (the wise ones) testifying them by everything they have and are (Revelation 14:12).

      4. What connection is there between the taking away of the daily sacrifice and the revealing of God's saints?

As long as we do not turn our eyes to Christ's sacrifice on Golgotha, God will no longer make any miracle of His glory in the midst of Christianity. As long as we constantly look at no one but us and our modern idols and we do not keep our eyes fixed on “Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water” and His Word, there will be both into our hearts and in the entire world nothing but spiritual drought, spiritual darkness, spiritual declension… namely spiritual death. There will be a spiritual drought caused by the absence of His Spirit, an absence that no other authentic or fake work could possibly substitute. The only solution we have is to turn our eyes with all the power of heart and mind to the One who left the glory of Heaven to offer Himself as an atoning sacrifice for us and our sins.

“Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.” “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

Isa 51:1; 1Co 2:2

The present condition of the authentic Christianity and also of the counterfeit one is not different at all from the condition of God's people in the past when true worship and the daily sacrifice accompanying it (the righteousness by faith which it foreshadowed) were thrown to the ground, pulled out of people's hearts and minds. Thousands of years ago, there appeared from the crowd an apparently insignificant man that God, in His mercy towards Israel, chose to bring a message for the world, a message that was nothing but God's invitation to turn from idols to the atoning sacrifice. At the beginning, the warning of this man called Elijah referred to the fact that there would be no more water in the country (1 Kings 17:1). Days, months and even years passed while people had been waiting for the rain and, just like today, God didn't seem to hear people's prayers and the long-expected rain did not seem to come. The situation was extremely serious. The entire people was called to the mount of Carmel and asked to choose between Baal (a god made of metal, wood or stone) and God. It was the moment when they realized that their simple choice meant actually more, and projected itself in actions with much deeper implications in terms of worship, offering sacrifice and glorifying one or the other god. The moment when the true God lit the sacrifice was the moment when the Israelis were made to witness a glorious manifestation of His power and at the same time to fully realize that they had been worshiping false gods into whose hands they had put, consciously or unconsciously, their hopes, ideals, sacrifices.

“And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.”

1Ki 18:39

It was the crucial moment when the people present there completely forgot about the idols they had worshiped as well as about the prophets of Baal and Ashtoreth. Before them there was only One, the One they had long forgotten, the One whose manifestation of such dimensions they had not seen before. It was the moment of their manifestation of joy at seeing God's demonstration. There was again a living God among them and this time, their attention was focused more than ever before on the sacrifice. But what the people really needed was not only a living God, but a God that would meet their needs, a God able to give them water. By the words: “The LORD is the true God!” they had confessed their sin of having worshiped images and false expressions of a god. Therefore, the nation was ready to receive the rain, a vivid expression of God's blessing that they needed so much and… the rain came as a result of Elijah's pressing intercession.

The intention God has today is to reveal His glory in a world that has not seen an authentic manifestation of His power for a long time. It's almost two thousand years since mankind witnessed God's glory manifested at Pentecost (the moment when Christianity was set up), almost two thousand years of spiritual drought manifested by the lack of the Holy Spirit in His fullness. Today, God needs determined people, just like Elijah, ready to hear and fulfill His Word, people ready to give up the burning of their own altars dedicated to gods that cannot prove their authenticity. God needs people ready to give up their wrong habits in thinking and behaving, ready to leave aside those customs unsupported by God's Word; He needs people that, regardless of circumstances, should stand for the Truth, no matter how much personal sacrifice this might require.

Today, God needs nothing more than the words of penitence uttered by His children before the demonstration of His Sacrifice on Golgotha, words uttered by people who are fully aware of the atonement of their own sins made by the death of the Son of God, the only Being to whom, like a resonance of the heart, our soul should address the words: “The LORD is the true God!” (1 Kings 18:39) It is high time we made all efforts to re-consecrate ourselves to God with everything we have and are; more than that, we have the obligation to reconsider our position regarding the message of righteousness by faith and preach it forcefully.

“In the visions of the night a very impressive scene passed before me. I saw an immense ball of fire fall among some beautiful mansions, causing their instant destruction. I heard someone say: ‘We knew that the judgments of God were coming upon the earth, but we did not know that they would come so soon.’ Others, with agonized voices, said: ‘You knew! Why then did you not tell us? We did not know.’ On every side I heard similar words of reproach spoken.

In great distress I awoke. I went to sleep again, and I seemed to be in a large gathering. One of authority was addressing the company, before whom was spread out a map of the world. He said that the map pictured God's vineyard, which must be cultivated. As light from heaven shone upon anyone, that one was to reflect the light to others. Lights were to be kindled in many places, and from these lights still other lights were to be kindled.

The words were repeated: ‘Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden underfoot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven’ (Matthew 5:13-16).

I saw jets of light shining from cities and villages, and from the high places and the low places of the earth. God's word was obeyed, and as a result there were memorials for Him in every city and village. His truth was proclaimed throughout the world.

Then this map was removed and another put in its place. On it light was shining from a few places only. The rest of the world was in darkness, with only a glimmer of light here and there. Our Instructor said: ‘This darkness is the result of men's following their own course. They have cherished hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil. They have made questioning and faultfinding and accusing the chief business of their lives [...] They have hidden their light under a bushel.’ ”²

Just like the ancient Israel, we have to make a choice as well, not tomorrow, but today. It depends on no one but us to what extent the demonstration on Carmel would repeat again. It depends on each and every one of us what attitude we adopt towards God's message once the light has been received. My choice and yours are really important, not only for our eternal welfare, but for God's glory and honour, for the justification of His character before a perishing world because of sin.

The days of the Earth are counted. Mankind needs again the revealing of God's glory just like the one manifested at Pentecost and this means the latter rain, an abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. It's been a long time since the message of righteousness by faith has been waiting for its fulfillment. It's been seemingly too long since the outpouring of the latter rain has been expected, but it did not come. But the latter rain has been promised to us. All we have to do is meet the requirements and the first step is to have the courage to give God a chance. It is His chance to justify in front of a condemned world in need of a full understanding of His atoning sacrifice. For this, God needs people; He needs me and you through whom He should project His image in the world.

“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.”

Dan 12:3

Mankind has been waiting for the foretold revealing of God's sons and daughters! Nothing will be more sublime and glorious than the presence of Christ who lives and reveals Himself through man. Blessed are they who abandon themselves in His hands as an act of personal faith! Blessed are they who understand the solemnity of the time they live in and make every effort to prepare the temple of their heart for the latter rain, for this unprecedented outpouring of God's blessings under the form of torrents of glory… out of tears of heaven and longing! Is there any room left in the temple of your heart?