[Posted at my web site prior to the corresponding
email was sent: “Thu 3/25/2010 9:35 AM”]
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Powerful Choices ©
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Written beginning on 5930± 01 03 2026
that is, the Seventh Day Sabbath afternoon
of Aviv 3
in the 5930th Year, more
or less, after the beginning recorded in Genesis 1:1,
and in the 2026th Year after the
beginning recorded in Luke 1:26-33
[Saturday afternoon, the 6th day
of the week, March 20 in the 2010th year
after the
beginning of Caesar Tiberius reign
(i.e. as reckoned per the Gregorian
calendar used in Europe.)]
Toby, my old time friend, my Brother in Messiah,
This will be a Sabbath afternoon Bible study for me and
for you – if you will join me...
While I’ve been working on assisting with this new
translation into Swedish of The Great Controversy, I’ve been noticing a few
things that may be of interest to both of us, especially as it may pertain to
the focus of each our pursuit and each our studies into God’s Word over the
last decade, and to your recent Newsletter in particular.
The first thing I wished to focus upon as I began
today’s study was the sentence under a certain picture [with an hour glass in
Chapter 19 – as eventually I found it...] within the book I’m helping to
translate. To begin with all I remembered was that said sentence said something
re “time” so I searched the chapters of my most recent work looking for that
word. You’ll find the sentence I was looking for as the
heading of the excerpted quotes at the end of this mail (Below… Please
notice: 1. My embedded links will bring you down there instantly! 2.
Alt+LeftArrow[ç]
will bring you right back! That’s the quick and easy way to do this study with
me…) Once having found that sentence I desired to discover whether this
particular sentence was a direct quote out of Ellen’s book – or else the making
of an unknown editor - so I searched her book for a number of two or three word
combinations within that sentence. I did not find it! What I did find to begin
with was that the greater part of that chapter 19, and in particular the few paragraphs that I’ve excerpted below, do very
much focus upon the very issue being expressed by said sentence. At that point
some things became very clear to me, particularly re Ellen’s precise insight
and understanding of, and into, the nature of the second coming.
Only after having realized these things and upon
reading the chapter 19 text from the beginning did I discover the words of
Ellen that I believe said sentence must be based upon. You’ll find Ellen’s
words as the first sentence below the
heading at the end of my mail. I’ve put that sentence in italics and
with yellow highlighting.
Do you notice why I couldn’t find it by means of my prior search? Notice how
very similar the wording and the meaning of the two sentences are, yet how very
different words, as well as the word combinations, are at the very same time!
Perhaps that comparison may serve as a minute illustration of our repeated
experiences of disillusionments and disappointments so well illustrated by the
Great Disappointment in 1844? That is, we are looking for something specific,
but the corresponding reality, the objective truth, is not immediately
recognizable to us because of each our specific preconceived ideas – however
close to the truth such preconceived ideas of our own making may be!
Did you notice, within my excerpts below, how that
first the disciples of Jesus,
then the Millerites of 1843, 1844, and
the post-1844 Adventists, are being
given the Lord’s approval for having presented exactly the message they were asked
to present, while yet each and all of these same messages, that is, the
messages having been brought forth, are also said to have contained
certain hidden errors. How can that be? Will such experiences continue
forever for each of us – with no end in sight?
Is your 1,150 combined mornings evenings, i.e. that of
Cottrell, yet another example of the same kind of experience, somehow correct
in principle, yet containing important errors and hiding, from each of us, the
real and most important message? Are we to remain mere messengers, like angels,
carrying forwards a torch to future generations? Are we to remain in a state of
being well below God’s intent for each of us? Are we to remain mere messengers
who are not willing to accept, who do not accept for ourselves in the here and now, and who fail to reap the blessings
of such acceptance of God’s offer to each of us? Why do we not accept, each for
ourselves, the very message that we are zealously running forwards with?
And what about my own work re Bible chronology over
pretty much the same time period as that of yours?
What are we missing? Does Ellen White know? If she
does, is she telling us what the essence of the message is? And if she is, is
she doing so clearly? If it is clear, how is it that we do not seem to be able
to comprehend it?
My purpose is to answer each and all of the questions
within that last paragraph in the affirmative. I’ll attempt to do so by
pointing out certain things within the excerpted paragraphs out of The Great
Controversy, Chapter 19, below…
Please notice Ellen’s words in red
font in GC 352.3
(all emphasis mine!) If you carefully consider the nature of said mistakes of
the various parties, and the generalized reason (at the end of the paragraph)
for all of them and for all of the associated disappointments, you should
notice why it may appear to most of us as though the time of the second coming
is not yet, is not yet, and is yet for a future time, that is, not a thing for
you and me today to apply in each our lives here and now and every day… For
isn’t it true that we too are committing very much the same type of mistakes as
did each of said parties?: The early disciples, the Millerites, and then the
early Advent movement?!!!
Allow me to put it this
way: Suppose it is true, that, as Ellen makes so utterly clear in the middle of
her paragraph GC 346.4 : “As used in the Bible, the
expression "kingdom of God" is employed to designate both the kingdom of
grace and the kingdom of glory.” Suppose it is true also, as portrayed in BC 347.2, that the “The kingdom of grace was instituted
immediately after the fall of man…” Then isn’t that most important aspect of the kingdom of God
ever and always available to each and all of us in every here and now ever
since the fall? That is, just as both John the Baptist and Jesus preached from
the very beginning of each of their missions, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:2; 4:17; 10:7; 26:18, 45, 46;
Mark 1:15; 14:42; in contradistinction to ‘nigh at hand:’ Luke 21:30, 31; John
11:55; 19:42,) so also, and to the very same extent, “the kingdom of heaven…”
is available to each and all of us in the here and now. So then why is the
kingdom of God not yet becoming a tangible reality to us? Why is “the kingdom
of glory,” that second aspect of the Kingdom of God, not yet ours?
What is God
teaching us through His messenger, through Ellen? That is, in re to the last
question within the last prior paragraph? What is it in “the death of Christ”
that makes a reality of the fact that
“the "kingdom of God" which they
had declared to be at hand was established…?” That is, what is it that makes that second
aspect, “the kingdom of glory,”
established by and through “the death of Christ?” In other words,
isn’t it true that indeed, both of said aspects of the kingdom of God, were “fulfilled” at the time when Jesus uttered those
words upon the cross: "It is finished!"
To what extent
and for whom was the kingdom of God a completed reality? Was it not a reality
for the man on the cross who used to call himself “the Son of man?” Is that man
not to serve as our prime example in his having accepted before us the “crown
of glory” referenced in 1 Peter 5:4? That is to say, Isn’t Yeshua not to serve
as each our prime example in his acceptance of both aspects of the Kingdom of
God, that is, the Kingdom of God realized in the here and now?!!!
Well, if one
could do it, if “the Son of man” who died on the cross, before any and each
among us became victorious, then didn’t he thereby prove to each one of us, and
to the universe at large, that it could be done by any one that is a son of
man?! And isn’t that exactly what Ellen is saying? Notice this…
But first, let’s
take note of the fact that, per the Hebrew original text available to us
through the transcript know as Shem
Tov’s Hebrew Matthew (cf. also this
link,) the actual words of Jesus is not “the Son of man” but “the son of Adam.” Why is that important? Well, notice
Ellen’s exact words: For not only does she say “through faith, men could become its subjects,” (GC 347.2) that is, the subjects of both
of the aspects of the kingdom of God, but, indeed, she also said: “The event that had
filled them with mourning and despair was that which opened the door of hope to every child of Adam!” (GC 348.1.)
Thus, to reiterate, “The promise of salvation made to the sinful pair in Eden was
[by the life work that had been “finished” by Jesus] ratified.
The kingdom of grace, which had before existed by the promise of God, was then established.
{GC 347.2}” Jesus had accepted the crown of glory, that is to say, the
kingdom of God – in both of its aspects - was being realized in the life of
Jesus - by and through his victory over himself over a life time. He had proven
to all of us that it could be done by a child of Adam! If it could be done by
one, it is not impossible for any! None among us has a valid excuse for deferring
or delegating to another such responsibilities and such freedom of choice as
God in His great wisdom may lay before any of us, that is, knowing full well,
as only He can, what exactly each of us is capable of receiving and acting upon
at any one time! Cf. Matt 11:30; Acts 15:10, 28; 1 Cor
3:2; 10:13; Gal 6:5; 1 John 5:4; Rev 2:24; 15:2.
And isn’t this
principle of individual responsibility for each our choices in life also the
essence both 1) of that which was laid before Adam per Genesis 2:15-17, and 2)
of that which is likewise extended to any one and all of us per the First
Angel’s Message, i.e. per Rev 14:6-7?!!! A message that is clearly outlined and
contrasted by the essence of the Second Angel’s message per Rev 14:8!
Thus, if and
when God sees that one, any one, among us is potentially receptive to His
promises and to His ultimate blessings by means of focusing upon any certain
point in time, any now, whether a past now, a present now, or a future now,
that is, whether at the end of an imaginary 1,150 day period ending in a
presumed year “31 A.D”, whether at the end of a 2,300 year period beginning
with a flawed basis in time (457 BC,) i.e. 1843 and 1844, whether in 1914 as
based upon another flawed date in 607 B.C., or any other now from the beginning
to the end of history and even into the future, well, why should He not
pronounce such a message as an “announcement which… was in every particular correct” (GC 346.4) and “Those
who proclaimed this warning [as having given] the right message at the right
time” (GC 352.3.) Or should we consider such a generous application of God’s
Word, that is, the placement of such a ‘now’ as each of us may be having a
certain attachment to, each our pet ideas, as being too generous an offer for
being attributable to our God and Savior? After all, it certainly wouldn’t
change the fact that a choice made in consequence of any such understanding
would, by necessity, have to be made in a present time ‘now’ only, does it?
To reiterate
once again, please read GC 348.1 below!
What
is the nature of each our “bitter disappointments?” That is, whether it be a disappointment in
consequence of one of my own numerous flawed and corrected ideas over the years
while upon my own pursuit of a correct Scriptural chronology, whether it be the
Millerites’ 1843 or 1844 disappointments, whether it be a JWs disappointment re
a mistaken focus upon 1914, or whether it be someone’s disappointment re a
mistaken understanding of a presumed event in heaven in 1844, whether it be
someone’s disappointment re Dr. Raymond F. Cottrell’s and your teachings re the
endpoint of an imaginary 1,150 day period in 31 AD? Well, isn’t it in each instance a
matter of feeling humiliated by our recognizing belatedly an error in any old
pet idea of our own making? An
idea that we may find, upon deeper study, being an error in detail, that is,
while walking step by little step out of the mire of confusion that we’ve
created for ourselves within the kingdom of Caesar Tiberius… Yes, even within all of that kingdom which is
being represented by the statue seen in vision by king Nebuchadnezzar per
Daniel Chapter 2. And didn’t Jesus warn us not to create in advance such flawed
preconceived ideas, but rather to remember the Word of God exactly as written,
such that in retrospect, or even while an event is being fulfilled in a present
time, we may recognize it, that which we are seeing before our eyes, for what
it really is? Cf. John 16:4!
Or is it that we
do not have a need for thus humiliating ourselves in many respects and re very
many particulars re each our habitual and traditional ways of thinking and
reasoning? Are we too proud to admit that? [Not to speak about such apparently
more weighty things as I’ve been facing over the last decade, for instance,
that of accepting the essential nature of being a caterer of unhealthy drugs
being sold at the ‘pharmacia,’ which Greek word is being translated
‘witchcraft’ per Galatians 5:20, that is, in contradistinction to sharing
nothing but God’s true Health Message? Or, another item that I’ve been facing
over the same decade, each our dependence, as unborn babies receiving all their
sustenance through an umbilical cord of sorts from the State, that is, from
that mother who is being named and specified in Revelation 17:5? Or aren’t we
putting entirely too much trust upon such dependence upon such States as are
being voted into existence by means of each our votes and by other forms of
voluntary sustenance, that is, by means of any number of applications for
variously named licenses (cf. the words licentiousness and
lasciviousnessG766!,) that is, “permissions for being allowed
to do things (in the name of the State) that are otherwise unlawful?”]
Or isn’t it true
that our Messiah, Yeshua, the Son of Adam, proved to us, by his own life and
action, that it is entirely possible to do without any and all such pet ideas
of our own making? Didn’t he prove to us that it is all sufficient to fully
identify with the Father in heaven, our Creator, and that we do not need to
rely upon any old hierarchy of men as an intermediary between ourselves and our
Maker? Cf. Deuteronomy 5:2-8!
What then is
that which Ellen White is describing by the following words of hers?: “That future, immortal kingdom which shall be set
up when "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under
the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most
High;" that everlasting kingdom, in which
"all dominions shall serve and obey Him." Daniel 7:27.” (GC 346.4.)
Aren’t those
words of hers very clearly specifying an endpoint following a gradual
accumulation of single entities, that is, an accumulation of single Sons and
Daughters of God, each of whom are choosing, from moment to moment, to rely
wholly upon the step by little step guidance of their Creator alone? Each of
whom are choosing for themselves to accept the grace, the glory, and, yes, even
the reality of God’s Kingdom in verity in the here and now for themselves?
Isn’t that the essence of what is being described by the final act of
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, that is, per Daniel 2:35, 44?
And isn’t it
true that each our participation in that
climactic event (cf. this link) is
fully dependent upon each our voluntary choices, particularly as it pertains to
who and what we identify with, work towards, desire, and pray for in each our
daily life and action? Wouldn’t it be contrary to the most fundamental
principles of God (cf. Genesis 1:28; 2:15-17; Deuteronomy 5:2-16) to have any
man, any manmade kingdom or State, any created thing, deciding for, and taking
control over, each of us and thus forcing us into any specious “kingdom of God”
against our will, and over and above such particulars as any one among us may not
yet be ready for, or prepared to accept? That is to say, Wouldn’t it be
contrary to God’s own principles, for anyone, even for Jesus, to appear at one
particular point in history only, that is, at such an expected Second Coming as
many of us may have formed for ourselves in advance, and then for him to
enforce his kingdom generally upon all – as we are used to perceive earthly
kings generally having done throughout history?
What do you
think? Is it possible for you and me not to continually experience such “bitter
disappointments” and to walk instead step by little step, line upon line,
precept upon precept, under the personal and direct guidance of the Holy Spirit
and our Savior and Father in heaven towards an ever more full and complete
realization of the kingdom of God, each within our own lives in the here and
now? That is, within those boundaries that God alone creates for each Son and
Daughter of His own making?
May the peace of
God rest over each our families and homes as we keep on walking hand in hand
with our Savior,
Gunnar ©
PS. I just
noticed that the phrase ‘son of man’ used in Daniel 8:17 is likewise more
correctly translated ‘son of Adam.’ There is a difference in the Hebrew: ‘Man’
is ‘isch,’ whereas ‘Adam’ is ‘adam.’ ‘Isch’ is a word that is also used for
‘beast,’ whereas ‘Adam’ is that which God originally created into their own
image…
They
preached the message which Christ had committed to them, though they themselves
misapprehended its meaning.
While their announcement was founded on Daniel 9:25, they did not see, in the next
verse of the same chapter, that Messiah was to be cut off. From their very
birth their hearts had been set upon the anticipated glory of an earthly
empire, and this blinded their understanding alike to the specifications of the
prophecy and to the words of Christ. {GC
345.2}
Those who proclaimed this warning
gave the right message at the right time.
But as the early disciples declared, "The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand," based on the prophecy of Daniel 9, while they failed to perceive that the death of the Messiah was foretold
in the same scripture, so Miller and his associates preached
the message based on Daniel 8:14 and Revelation 14:7, and failed to
see that there were still other messages brought to view in Revelation 14,
which were also to be given before the advent of the Lord.
As the disciples were mistaken in regard to the kingdom to be set up at the end of the
seventy weeks, so Adventists were mistaken in
regard to the event to take place at the expiration of the
2300 days. In both cases there
was an acceptance of, or rather an adherence to, popular errors that
blinded the mind to the truth. Both classes fulfilled the will of God in
delivering the message which He desired to be given, and both, through their
own misapprehension of their message, suffered disappointment. {GC 352.3}
The announcement which had been made by the disciples in the name of the Lord was in
every particular correct, and the events to which it pointed were even then
taking place. "The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand,"
had been their message. At the expiration of "the time"--the
sixty-nine weeks of Daniel 9, which were to extend to the Messiah, "the
Anointed One"--Christ had received the anointing of the Spirit after His
baptism by John in Jordan. And the "kingdom of
God" which they had declared to be at hand was established by the death of Christ.
This kingdom was not, as they had been
taught to believe, an earthly empire. Nor was it that
future,
immortal kingdom which shall be set up when "the kingdom and
dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be
given to the people of the saints of the Most High;" that everlasting kingdom, in which "all dominions
shall serve and obey Him." Daniel 7:27. As used in the Bible, the expression "kingdom
of God" is employed to designate both the
kingdom of grace and the kingdom of
glory. The kingdom of grace is
brought to view by Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews. After pointing to Christ,
the compassionate intercessor who is "touched with the feeling of our
infirmities," the apostle says: "Let us therefore come boldly unto
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace." Hebrews
4:15, 16. The throne of grace represents the kingdom of grace; for the
existence of a throne implies the existence of a kingdom. In many of His
parables Christ uses the expression "the
kingdom of heaven" to designate the work of divine grace upon the
hearts of men. {GC
346.4}
So the throne of glory represents the kingdom of glory; and this kingdom is referred to in the Saviour's words: "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations." Matthew 25:31, 32. This kingdom is yet future. It is not to be set up until the second advent of Christ. {GC 347.1}
The kingdom of grace was instituted immediately after the fall of man, when a plan was devised for the redemption of the guilty race. It then existed in the purpose and by the promise of God; and through faith, men could become its subjects. Yet it was not actually established until the death of Christ. Even after entering upon His earthly mission, the Saviour, wearied with the stubbornness and ingratitude of men, might have drawn back from the sacrifice of Calvary. In Gethsemane the cup of woe trembled in His hand. He might even then have wiped the blood-sweat from His brow and have left the guilty race to perish in their iniquity. Had He done this, there could have been no redemption for fallen men. But when the Saviour yielded up His life, and with His expiring breath cried out, "It is finished," then the fulfillment of the plan of redemption was assured. The promise of salvation made to the sinful pair in Eden was ratified. The kingdom of grace, which had before existed by the promise of God, was then established. {GC 347.2}
Thus the death of Christ--the very event which the disciples had looked upon as the final destruction of their hope --was that which made it forever sure. While it had brought them a cruel disappointment, it was the climax of proof that their belief had been correct. The event that had filled them with mourning and despair was that which opened the door of hope to every child of Adam, and in which centered the future life and eternal happiness of all God's faithful ones in all the ages. {GC 348.1}
Purposes of infinite mercy were reaching
their fulfillment, even through the disappointment of the disciples. While
their hearts had been won by the divine grace and power of His teaching, who
"spake as never man spake," yet intermingled with the pure gold of
their love for Jesus, was the base alloy of worldly pride and selfish ambitions.
Even in the Passover chamber, at that solemn hour when their Master was already
entering the shadow of Gethsemane, there was "a strife among them, which
of them should be accounted the greatest." Luke 22:24. Their vision was filled with the throne, the crown, and
the glory, while just before them lay the shame and agony of the garden, the
judgment hall, the cross of Calvary. It was
their pride of heart, their thirst for worldly glory, that had led them to
cling so tenaciously to the false teaching of their time, and to pass unheeded the Saviour's words showing the
true nature of His kingdom, and pointing forward to His agony and
death. And these errors resulted in the trial--sharp but
needful--which was permitted for their correction. Though the disciples had mistaken the meaning of their
message, and had failed to realize their expectations, yet they had preached
the warning given them of God, and the Lord would reward their faith and honor
their obedience. To them was to be entrusted the work of heralding to all nations
the glorious gospel of their risen Lord. It was to prepare them for this work that the experience
which seemed to them so bitter had been permitted. {GC 348.2}
Without recourse. All Rights Reserved. PowerfulChoices
©