WEEK OF PROPHECY: RAFIKI SDA CHURCH

LESSON #5 – THE FALL FROM THE CALL TO LOVE

We now pick up from Lesson 3, borrowing from the tips learnt in Lesson 4, to study and aim to understand
lesson five.
Lesson 3 (on Daniel 2): A Summary
In Daniel 2 there's a dream that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon dreams and Daniel interprets for him.
Daniel 2 is a summarized version of over 2500 years of earth's history given in symbols.
Metals: Worldly kingdoms in their hardness to be shaped and moulded.
Gold (Babylon) → Silver (Medo-Persia) → Brass/bronze (Greece) → Iron (Pagan Rome)
After iron comes clay representing the church (Is. 64:8), because God could shape and mould them to become
what He wants.
The clay was mixed with iron, meaning God's church got hitched to a pagan political power and therefore lost
its malleability. Iron took the place of the Spirit, and human military power took the place of God's divine power
of selfless and persuasive love.
This is what makes this history important, after the clay+iron mixture, there is no other power. The next thing
we see is the stone crushing the worldly kingdoms (v. 34-35), which Daniel explains as God setting up His
everlasting kingdom (v. 44-45). So, as far as God's people are concerned, right now we are living in the period
of Iron and clay waiting for the crushing stone of God's everlasting kingdom.
The consequences of iron (human military/political power) taking the place of the Spirit (God's divine loving
power) as the life of the church:
1. We're led by force instead of by the Spirit
2. The Bible is replaced by enforced creeds.
3. Conversion becomes by force instead of persuasion.
4. Men elevate themselves to divinity.
5. God's law is replaced by human commandments.
Similarities between Daniel 2 and 7
1. Great image and great beasts
2. 4 metals and 4 beasts
3. King of the metals, king of the land, king of the air
4. Iron legs and iron teeth, both bruising and devouring
5. Amalgam after the fourth with hints of an interlude before the amalgam
6. Violence from the amalgam
7. Continuation of the preceding entities in the final entity
8. Resolution comes from an external source, even God
9. After the worldly kingdoms, God establishes His eternal kingdom
Daniel 7: Summary
The first thing you come across in Daniel 7 is winds striving upon a great sea. Let's interpret the symbols:
KJV Revelation 17:15
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes,
and nations, and tongues.
So, waters (a sea is many waters) represent many people.
KJV Jeremiah 49:36-37
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward
all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
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LESSON #5 – THE FALL FROM THE CALL TO LOVE

37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will
bring evil [i.e., calamity] upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after
them, till I have consumed them:
Winds represent war, strife, violence.
So, basically, Daniel sees a lot of violence in a place where there are many people. This makes sense because the
rest of the vision will take place in the region now called Middle East and Europe (Babylon, Persia - Middle East;
Greece, Rome - Middle East + Europe), which was the then civilization, and center of world's population.
What is the consequence of all these battles amidst many people? Four beasts come up. What do the beasts
represent?
KJV Daniel 7:23
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all
kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
Naturally, in the context of battles, guys organize into communities/nations/kingdoms.
“Earthly governments prevail by physical force; they maintain their dominion by war; but the founder of the new
kingdom is the Prince of Peace. The Holy Spirit represents worldly kingdoms under the symbol of fierce beasts of prey; but
Christ is ‘the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’” Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 77
First kingdom: lion + eagles (king of the land + king of the air)
Hear what Daniel says of Nebuchadnezzar:
KJV Daniel 2:38
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he
given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
Babylon was essentially the first world superpower on such a geographical, economic, political and religious
scale.
Second kingdom: bear raised on one side (notice that while Daniel gives this vision during the reign of Babylon
so that whatever he says of Babylon was not really prophetic, all the other kingdoms come after him so Daniel
writes of them purely from the basis of what God has shown him)
In a parallel prophecy, Daniel 8, using the symbol of horns on a ram to represent the twin kingdom of Media
and Persia, Daniel will say,
KJV Daniel 8:3
3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and
the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.
The coalition government of Media and Persia will have 13 kings before its demise under the sword of Alexander
the Great, 10 of them being Persians and only 3 Medians. However, the first king will be a Median. Due to that
imbalance of power, the bear was raised on one side. It had 3 ribs in its mouth because it had to conquer Babylon,
Egypt and Lydia (ancient Turkey/Anatolia) as it rose to power.
Kingdom 3: a leopard with four wings and four heads. Daniel 8, using the symbol of horns on a goat will draw
this chronology,
KJV Daniel 8:5, 8
5 And as I was considering, behold, a he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched
not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came
up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
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LESSON #5 – THE FALL FROM THE CALL TO LOVE

Basically, first, the goat moves so first it does not even touch the ground. Similarly, the leopard had four wings
(this is like Boeing super planes with 4 engines).
Then, the goat had, first, one tough horn which was broken and four came up in its place. You see the four
repeated here.
How was this fulfilled?
The first. Greece conquered the whole world in a fairly short time. Alexander took over as king when he was
16 yrs.’, and by the time he clocked 33 he had brought up a new nation, and conquered all the way from the
Mediterranean Sea to the Indus River in India. He stood at Himalayas because he thought the world had ended.
The second. At the height of his power, he dies of alcohol-induced fever (could conquer the world but not his
passions, not a true gentleman) and since he was too young to have a successor, the kingdom was divided
among his generals eventually reducing to 4 (one taking the north, the other the east, another the west and the
last the south). Thus the 4 heads in Daniel 7 and 4 horns in Daniel 8.
Finally, kingdom 4: terrible beast with 10 horns. Rome had a very interesting way of conquest - the scorch earth
method. If they striked your city and you were violent, they would kill you men, rape your women and take
your children captive as slaves. It inspired dread and terror. One historian writes, “to resist was fatal; and it was
impossible to fly."
How then did it fall? At the beginning of the Christian era, Rome had conquered the whole South of Europe,
France, England, greater parts of Netherlands, Switzerland, South of Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Greece, major
parts of Asia and North Africa. Two things brought it down:
1. Luxury softened them.
2. Rome became too big to rule over. There arose internal agitations for freedom, and external aggressions for
annexation. In 476 AD, Rome will break eventually to 10 divisions according to 10 tribes then existing, like the
10 horns on the fourth beast. And just like that, God's word was fulfilled to the letter.
I guess, to this point, we see that God is very particular and detail-oriented, and His word is sure. And thus,
does He deal with man, desiring to win us at every particular, and giving us promises that are sure. Will we
surrender today to Him at every detail? Will we trust all His promises?
We would do more, but history is not everyone’s forte. However, may that brief introduction build our faith in
the truthfulness and reliability of God's word, even above history. History simply confirms it.
Daniel 2 Gold Silver Bronze Iron Iron & clay Stone Mountain
Daniel 7 Lion Bear Leopard Nondescript Little horn Beast slain Victory in
beast on beast court
Meaning Babylon Medio- Greece Pagan Rome Church Second Eternal
Persia and Rome coming kingdom

Little horn: characteristics

1. We see 10 kings arising out of the fourth kingdom (Rome). This we saw to be a prophecy of how Rome will
naturally break apart into 10 sub-kingdoms.
KJV Daniel 7:24
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:...
However, the little horn is described as different from the 10 that came before him.
... And another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
How different?
WEEK OF PROPHECY: RAFIKI SDA CHURCH
LESSON #5 – THE FALL FROM THE CALL TO LOVE

2. He shall speak blasphemies against God.

KJV Daniel 7:25
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High,...
3. He shall persecute God's people
... and shall wear out the saints of the most High,...
4. He shall attack the law of God
... and think to change times and laws: …
The first four characteristics,
1. Different from the other kingdoms,
2. Speak against God,
3. Persecute God's people, and
4. Attack God's law,
Are proof that this fifth power is more than a mere political kingdom. It is a religious kingdom. So,
5. He shall be a religio-political power
Other characteristics include:
6. Rule for a defined period of time (3 ½ years, prophetically speaking)
… and they shall be given into his hand until a time [i.e. a year] and times [2 years] and the dividing of time [½
a year, total, 3½ years].
1 Jewish year had 12 months. One prophetic Jewish month had 30 days. So, 1 year had 12x30=360 days.
360x3½yrs=1260 days. Therefore, the time period mentioned above is the same as the one mentioned in Rev 12:6.
7. Shall arise from the fourth beast
8. Shall arise among the ten horns
KJV Daniel 7:7
… behold a fourth beast, … and it had ten horns… and, behold, there came up among them another little horn…
9. Shall arise after the ten horns (past 476AD, according to history)
KJV Daniel 7:24
And the ten horns … and another shall rise after them;
10. Shall pluck out three horns by the roots as it rises
… and he shall subdue three kings.
11. Shall have the eyes of a man
KJV Daniel 7:20
… even of that horn that had eyes, …
Let us revisit our notes. What happens when human power replaces divine power?
1. We're led by force instead of by the Spirit
2. The Bible is replaced by enforced creeds.
3. Conversion becomes by force instead of persuasion.
4. Men elevate themselves to divinity.
5. God's law is replaced by human commandments.
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LESSON #5 – THE FALL FROM THE CALL TO LOVE

When man sits in the throne of God, supplying the church with the life and strength that the Spirit should,
he leads by the one effective method he knows - force. He takes the Bible, interprets it as he understands it,
and forces everyone else to interpret it likewise or else.... Therefore, God's law is annulled and the
commandments of men take sway. Everyone must agree with us or we will destroy them when we can. At
this point, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and men believes himself to be divinity (it is for this reason
that he will even think to change the times/seasons and laws of God; because he thinks Himself God).
Did the church ever get there? And if yes, how?
The Fall from the Call to Love, Experienced
1. As early as just after Jesus, Rome began persecuting Christianity, partly because they were Jews (and
Romans just persecuted Jews), and partly because they were Christians, and while Rome never had a
problem with guys coming up with a new god for their community (like Christians were doing with Jesus),
they had a problem with someone saying that all the other gods were false, including the revered Roman
gods.
2. The more the Christians are persecuted, the more they increased. One early church father says, "The blood
of the martyrs were like seed. Where one fell, ten others immediately sprung up."
3. By the time we get to the fourth century, the Christians are such a force to reckon with. One Emperor
(Diocletian, I think) instigates 10 years of the worst persecution against Christianity (303-313AD). However,
due to the large number of Christians in the kingdom, this persecution rocks the kingdom with so much
instability. At around this time, Emperor Constantine ascends the throne.
“A brilliant military commander, Constantine also understood that there could be no political stability
without religious unity. Yet to accomplish that feat would require a union between paganism and
Christianity. How could it be accomplished? The Empire needed an ecumenical religion that would appeal
to every citizen in a multi-cultural society. Giving Christianity official status was not enough to bring
internal peace to the Empire: Christianity had to undergo a transformation so that pagans could ‘convert’
without giving up their old beliefs and rituals.
Constantine himself exemplified this expediency. He adopted Christ as the new god that had given him
victory in the crucial battle at Milvian Bridge in 312 A. D., and brought him into Rome as its conqueror. Yet,
as Caesar, he continued to function as the Pontifex Maximus of the Empire’s pagan priesthood, known as
the Pontifical College. . . As a ‘Christian’ Emperor, he automatically became the de facto civil head of the
Christian church and seduced her with promises of power. - Dave Hunt
Remember iron as the new lifeline and power of the church? Here, we see it happen.
4. Constantine orchestrates the blending of paganism and Christianity to form a new religion that was
acceptable to the pagans but still Christian in name.
But note these words:
“Freedom at last from persecution seemed like a gift from God. Unfortunately, it set the stage for an
apostasy that would envelop Christendom for more than a millennium. Christ’s bride had been wedded to
paganism.”
In the words of another historian (Will Durant), he says,
“When Christianity conquered Rome, the ecclesiastical structure of the pagan church, the title and vestments of the
Pontifex Maximus, the worship of the Great Mother and a multitude of comforting divinities, the sense of super-sensible
presences everywhere, the joy or solemnity of old festivals, and the pageantry of immemorial ceremony, passed like
maternal blood into the new religion, and captive Rome captured her conqueror. While Christianity converted the
world, the world converted Christianity. . .”
Will Durant, Civilization: Caesar and Christ, Volume 3, p. 657.
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LESSON #5 – THE FALL FROM THE CALL TO LOVE

Sorry state indeed. So, finally, Clay was mixed with iron in an inextricable union.
We have now entered the region of how the fall from the call was experienced. And what we see so far is that it
was first a fall from loyalty to its first love. The church went after a new groom and was joined to a new master.
The Dark Ages are about to set in – a period of spiritual darkness in Europe, and in a scientific sense of little
advancement in science and innovations. Interesting how spiritual darkness brought intellectual darkness.
This fall from loyalty and faithfulness to the true God will set the atmosphere for the church falling to the other
ills, i.e., blasphemy and law-violation, and eventually persecution.
We’ll focus on the first four characteristics,
1. Different from the other kingdoms,
2. Speak against God,
3. Persecute God's people, and
4. Attack God's law.
1. Blasphemies
KJV Daniel 7:25
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and
think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of
time.
The book of Revelation, describing another power with similar characteristics but designated now as a beast
(btw, comparing the beast of Revelation 13 and the little horn of Daniel 7 is an interesting exercise you can do),
John says,
KJV Revelation 13:5
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto
him to continue forty and two months.
Therefore, we know that these great things that the little horn is speaking are blasphemies.
The word blasphemy means "slander, detraction, speech injurious, to another's good name". Almost sounds like an
attack on the third commandment: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain."
Let's try and get the meaning of blasphemy according to the Bible.
KJV John 10:30-33
I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good
works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him,
saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest
thyself God.
So, Jesus claims to be God (which He was), and the Jews want to kill Him. Why? Because of claiming to be God.
Of course, to Christ it was not blasphemy because He was God, but now we know anyone claiming to be God
commits blasphemy.
Consider Mark 2:7 in CEV:
"Why would he say such a thing? He must think he is God! Only God can forgive sins."
Now contrast this with the KJV:
7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
So, blasphemy is speaking as one who "must think he is God". And how was Christ speaking as only God can
speak? By claiming the power to forgive sins (which, again, He had because He was God). In principle blasphemy is
denying God’s existence, because the moment you claim the powers and prerogatives of God and make yourself
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LESSON #5 – THE FALL FROM THE CALL TO LOVE

like Him, you have negated His existence, or at least greatly diminished it to your level (because you cannot
exalt yourself to His level, no matter what you claim about yourself).
Now, there's a hymn that goes,
"I rise to walk in heaven's own light,
Above the world and sin;
With heart made pure and garments white,
And Christ enthroned within."
The Christian experience is to have Christ enthroned in the heart. But what happens when you consistently
exist thinking about self? When Lucifer did it, because of pride and selfishness, Lucifer fell into self-exaltation
and desired to be worshipped. Similarly, by a relational focus on self, we end up being enthroned in our own
hearts, having an egocentric view of the universe (the worlds revolve around us), and end up thinking
ourselves God.
This can be seen in how the kings of the world always desire and demand praise and worship even due God,
yet the saddest thing is when the leaders of God's church itself desired the same worship.
See how Paul prophesies how the church would fall:
KJV Acts 20:29-30
29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Paul is speaking to church leaders (v. 17) and he says from among the church leaders shall arise ministers who
will want to turn the eyes of the congregation away from Christ and to themselves (to their laws, rituals, beliefs,
fancies, etc.). Later speaking of the apostasy of the church, Paul will say,
KJV 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [of Christ's return] shall not come, except there come a
falling away [apostasy from the faith] first, and that man of sin [the antichrist] be revealed, the son of perdition
[interestingly this word is only used for Judas besides here, showing that the antichrist shall not come from
outside the church but from within];
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God
sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. [Words in brackets are mine.]
Therefore, we see a necessary consequence of falling from from love is that we have a religion that is oriented
towards self with "I" being ultimately enthroned above men. The liberty of conscience is threatened and even
taken away, and men are forced to submit to the thoughts and beliefs of a fellow mortal, sometimes at the threat
of excommunication, but in extremes, at the threat of death.
Was this fulfilled in the history of the church? Let us check the historical records.
The Catechism of the Council of Trent states the following:
“Bishops and priests, being, as they are, God’s interpreters and ambassadors, empowered in His name to teach mankind the
divine law and the rules of conduct, and holding, as they do, His place on earth, it is evident that no nobler function than
theirs can be imagined. Justly, therefore, are they called not only Angels, but even gods, because of the fact that they exercise
in our midst the power and prerogatives of the immortal God.” (John A. McHugh and Charles J. Callan, Catechism
of the Council of Trent for Parish Priests, p. 318) emphasis supplied
So, because they are God's representatives, then they have the power of the person they represent. We will later
see why this is dangerous, since we will always become like the God we worship.
Before we see the second witness, let us again walk down history and see the development of the bishopry.
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LESSON #5 – THE FALL FROM THE CALL TO LOVE

So, while Constantine was still Emperor, he at some point moved his throne to a new city he was trying to
establish then called Constantinople (now Istanbul), and left a power vacuum in Rome. Up to this time, every
church was headed by a leader called elder or bishop (in the New Testament, the two terms are identical), and
since often a city would have one synagogue, the Elder would be referred by the city, e.g. the bishop of the
church at Ephesus. Now, with a power vacuum in Rome, then the capital city, the bishop there started increasing
in influence above the others and becoming more powerful.
Then Pagan Rome fell. Notice how this historian records the transition from Pagan Rome to the church.
“Within three centuries, the Roman Church had transformed the administrative organization of the Roman Empire
into an ecclesiastical system of bishoprics, dioceses, monasteries, colonies, garrisons, schools, libraries, administrative
centers, envoys, representatives, courts of justice, and a criminal system of intricate laws all under the direct control of the
pope. His Roman Palace, the Lateran, became the new Senate. The new senators were the cardinals. The bishops who
lived in Rome and the priests and deacons helped the pope to administer this new imperium.” (Malachi Martin, The Decline
and Fall of the Roman Church, p. 105, emphasis supplied)
So, the administrative structure and its hierarchy comes into church and at the helm is the bishop of Rome. They
were then called Fathers, or Holy Fathers, in Greek, pappas, from where we get pope. In the 7th century, the
name was reserved for the Bishop of Rome, by the position of the church then, the successor of Peter.
Let's now get the second quotation from history:
“The pope takes the place of Jesus Christ on earth. . . By divine right the pope has supreme and full power in faith and
morals over each and every pastor and his flock. He is the true Vicar of Christ, the head of the entire church, the
father and teacher of all Christians. He is the infallible ruler, the founder of dogmas, the author of and the judge of
councils; the universal ruler of truth, the arbiter of the world, the supreme judge of heaven and earth, the judge of all,
being judged by no one, God himself on earth.” (Quoted in Lorraine Boettner, Roman Catholicism, p. 127) emphasis
supplied
We notice a development in the position and perception of the seat of the bishop of Rome (now styled pope)
who is then considered the leader of the bishops of Christianity. He is more than a representative, he has now
taken the place of Christ on earth (as Christ is in heaven) and can now judge, regulate faith and morals, and is
infallible (cannot be wrong).
The last witness will be a former pope:
Pope Leo XIII stated in an Encyclical Letter dated June 20, 1894:
“We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” (The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII, p. 304)
Now, many have used these facts of history to condemn denominations and persons. I don't. In fact, I find it to
be a manifestation of the same spirit we are pretending to condemn. What we see in the development of the
church during the dark ages was simply a manifestation of what the human heart, set apart from the Lord, will
do - and that is accumulate power and possessions for self, including taking the place and prerogatives of God.
No wonder Christ said, "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another." Before He dies, He washes
the disciples’ feet (and John and James have just asked for the highest places in heaven, manifesting the character
of the unsubdued heart), and then tells His disciples, "What I have just done (humbling myself below you), go and do
likewise."
Do not exalt self. Focus on serving others. Do not depend on self. Do not love self. Surrender self to the Lord.
Let Him fill you with His spirit. Live for others above self, and if the church leadership also does that
consistently, the church will have more power, more life, more growth and more truth.
So, the church leadership has now taken the place of God. They are now ready to launch the second assault, first,
against God's law, then against His people.
2. Changing Laws
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Daniel 7:25,
"And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change
times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."
When we were studying the law of God, we made one thing clear: the law of God is a transcript of His character.
If you wanted to know more about Him, you only need to study His law. It is a law of love. Check the Ten
Commandments. The first four are about supreme love for God. The last six are about selfless love for fellow
man. Thus, our God is intensely relational. He is, literally, all about love.
But every relationship needs two key ingredients: quality time and intimate knowledge. We need time set
aside specifically for the sake of building our relationship by gaining intimate knowledge of each other. It is for
this reason that God, upon completing His creative works, on the sixth day He gave man and woman
communion with each other, then on the seventh, He gave them the gift of communion with Himself. And what
testimony does He concerning that first Sabbath?
"It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the
seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." Ex. 31:17
Even God was refreshed by that first communion.
Quality time + intimate knowledge = what makes the Sabbath rest worthwhile
Other phrases you may use there is communication/words of affirmation (He speaks to us through His word,
we respond in prayer), gifts (He calls the day specifically blessed hence a day to reap certain special blessings),
acts of service (He says that the Sabbath is for deeds of mercy). Literally, the Sabbath is God's theatre for His
play of love. On it He teaches us how love operates and calls us into deeper communion with Him because
eventually He is calling us into a realm that will be an eternity of Sabbath environment.
Thus, God explains that the Sabbath should be kept in this manner:
“If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, [from] doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the
holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor
speaking thine own words:" Isaiah 58:13.
Notice that God is not here speaking of your evil ways, pleasure or words, for these are wrong on any day. He
is speaking, rather, of those spoken of in the fourth commandment - the works that should have been done,
pleasures to be sought, and words to be spoken, on the other six days, i.e., secular business (or as KJV calls them,
servile duties). God is like a lover on a date saying, "Kindly switch off your work phone so that we can concentrate on
dinner and having our conversation." (Btw I fancy it to be quite disrespectful, unless maybe you are a doctor, to be
picking work-related calls while on a date; I hear the restrictions extend to while on honeymoon also.)
Now, notice something significant about the Sabbath:
Go with me to that first Friday. With God, Adam and Eve explored their paradise home. The scenery was breath-
taking, beyond description. As the sun slowly set on that Friday, the sixth day of Creation, and the stars began
to appear, "God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good" (Gen. 1:31). Thus, God finished His
creation of "the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them" (Gen. 2:1). When Adam and Eve stand at the threshold
of this first week, they do not see the unfolding of the work of creation, they only see it in its completion.
It's like a woman who left the house the house in chaos and untidiness in the morning (she's not lazy; they had
just moved in the previous day and she had an important work meeting that day), only to come back in the
evening and find that her husband has organized the whole house, cleaned every corner and prepared dinner
for her. (I could have switched the husband and wife but that's too obvious and expected.) He even sets the table, serves
her and provides napkins. You see, when the lady arrives at the scene, everything is ready. Adam wakes up to
the garden, a finished work, and He can't point to anything and claim he created it with God or on His own.
Same to the woman, she cannot claim glory for any privilege she enjoys in the Garden of Pleasure. They both
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receive all of creation as a gift. Thank God they are born with an appreciation of beauty and they acknowledge
the wonderful works of their Creator.
They awoke to existence as objects of God's love and recipients of His life, and as His creation by sheer gift
of grace. They haven't contributed to it. Thus, they rest in God's completed work.
On that first Sabbath day, God taught man two things about himself:
1. God is Creator, he is created. God is source, we are recipient. God is God, we are not. As one writer puts it,
"There are two foundational facts of human enlightenment; first, that there is a God, and second, that you are not Him."
2. We are objects of a lavish love. I mean, after creating the whole beautiful world, why did God still go ahead
to spend precious time and special effort to plant a garden specifically for man, if not for love?
Let us fast-forward 4000 years to another Friday - popularly called Good Friday. What was good about this
Friday with our Saviour hanging on the cross?
For 4000 years man has been inventing different shades and flavours of sin, and he will continue to do so for
2000 more. He is so corrupted in his sin; he cannot do anything to save himself from it and to earn heaven. Then
here comes Jesus. "Stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted", "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". Amen. That is the only
good thing about that Friday that someone stood in our stead, paid the price for us, and said, "It is finished!" Done
deal!
Which day was it?
"And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath" Mark 15:42.
Therefore, the angels, and all who understood what the cross meant, standing on the threshold of yet another
Sabbath, look back, and see the same two things about God:
1. God is Redeemer, we are redeemed. God is Giver of His life, we are recipients. God is God, we are not.
2. We are objects of a lavish love. I mean, after everything He did for us during creation, then we messed up
everything, broke up with Him and chose the devil in His place, why did He still come down "from heaven to
earth, to show the way, from the earth to the cross, my debt to pay, from the cross to the grave, from the grave
to the sky," and thus "Lord I lift your name on high".
Therefore, every Friday evening, standing on the threshold of Sabbath, we look back and what do we see?
1. God's creative grace - a testimony of Him as the Creator God, a rebuke against the theory of evolution, an
antidote against atheism and all forms of polytheism, and
2. God's redemptive grace - a testimony of Him as lover and redeemer, a rebuke against all views of God as
mean, miserly and tyrannical, an antidote against paganism and all forms of justification by works.
The Sabbath is a memorial of grace, not an emblem of works! And may we sink with Him into that beauty.
No wonder the Sabbath is contained in a corpus of law which begins this way (btw this is the part of the first
commandment which we never read):
"I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “Exodus
20:2.
Before God begin the 'Thou shalt nots', He introduces Himself as their redeemer from bondage. He says, "Guys,
I did this for you, now you cannot do this."
In fact, it gets better. He says "Thou shall not." Like finding a donkey which has collapsed under the burden of its
weight then removing the weight from it and telling it, "Thou shalt not collapse again." You are not prohibiting it
from collapsing, you are describing its new reality. God was not prohibiting us from polytheism, idolatry,
blasphemy, Sabbath-breaking, disrespecting our parents, murder, adultery, lying, stealing and covetousness.
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No. He was describing our new reality as recipients of His grace. After receiving such an amazing grace, you
shall not be able to have other gods, to bow down before idols who could not save you, to take my name in vain,
to disrespect your parents, etc., and to break the Sabbath!
1. Did the early church keep the Sabbath? Let's do a quick survey of the New Testament.
"But when they [Paul and Luke] departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the
Sabbath day, and sat down." Acts 13:14
What will happen after the sermon?
"And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them
the next Sabbath." (v. 42)
Jews or Gentiles?
And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews
saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul,
contradicting and blaspheming." (v. 44-45)
Paul continues,
"And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures," (Acts
17:2)
"And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." (Acts 18:4)
Some say that Paul only did this because He was preaching to either Jews or Gentiles mixed with Jews. Let us
check what He did when He went to Philippi in Macedonia (a Gentile country), and did not find a congregation
there,
"And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer;
and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled." Acts 16:13
2. But those were just disciples/apostles. They could get things wrong. Did Jesus anticipate Sabbath-keeping
post-cross?
Well, Matthew 24 is a prophecy by Jesus foretelling two key events: 1) the fall of Jerusalem (which happened in
70AD), and 2) the second coming.
Speaking of the fall of Jerusalem to the hands of the Romans 39 years after His death, resurrection and ascension,
He says,
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such
as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."
Why the Sabbath day? Because Christ still anticipated His disciples keeping the Sabbath then.
3. So, we will conclude with the question, which day is the Sabbath?
Several approaches can be taken to respond to this question.
1. The Easter approach: we know Jesus died on Good Friday. But what does the Bible call this Good Friday?
(The days of the week as we now call them came much later so the Bible simply says 'the first day' and so on till
'preparation day', i.e., preparation for the Sabbath, then 'Sabbath day'.)
"And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath," (Mark
15:42; if you read in context, you will notice that it is the crucifixion day)
So, what we now call Good Friday, the Bible calls the day before the Sabbath. Which day then is the Sabbath?
2. The etymological approach: If you have any concordance which shows you the original language of the Bible
(you can look for Strong's Concordance or My Sword Bible, both being apps available on Android), you will notice
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that the Greek word for Sabbath (everywhere where "Sabbath" occurs in the New Testament) is 'Sabbaton'. You
can also use Google Translate to translate the word 'Sabbath'. Then if you use Google Translate to translate the
word Saturday to Greek, it is the same word, σάββατο (Sabbato). Basically, for the NT writers, whenever they
said either Saturday or Sabbath, they would say the same Greek word.
3. The historical approach. The change from Saturday to Sunday. God's law, including His Sabbath, date far
much back compared to the Jewish nation.
Summary:
1. God is a God of love, and He gave us His laws as expressions of His love. Every "Thou shalt not" is not a
prohibition but a promise, it is God describing our new reality if we accept His gift of grace.
2. The Sabbath is a gift of love, it is God taking us out on a divine date, it is God saying, "Lay aside all distractions,
this is quality time for us to spend together knowing each other more." Will you be willing to set aside just 24 hours out
of every 168 hours to be with Him?
KJV Psalms 27:4
4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all
the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
That's the Sabbath-keeper's spirit and prayer.
Summary on Sabbath:
1. The Sabbath is God's idea of love because of at least two things: (i) quality time, for (ii) intimate knowledge.
And these are the two things that every relationship needs.
2. God chose a specific day because it stood for something. Twice, on this specific day, God stood, looked back,
and said, "It is finished", then rested. The first event, creation, is God's thesis against atheism, agnosticism,
naturalism and any other ism that fights the idea of a divine origin for things. If the Sabbath was kept by
humanity, creation as the origin of all things would never be doubted. The second event, Redemption, is God's
thesis against paganism and all forms of religion that teach we are saved by works.
3. As we have said, on this specific day, God stood, looked back, and said, "It is finished", then rested. The first
time, in creation, the second, in redemption. God as God then God as man, alive and dead, God rested on the
Sabbath, "according to the commandment" (Luke 23:56). He first rested in the garden, He then rested in the tomb.
I hope one thing stands clear, Sabbath is more about God than us. He gives it to us as a gift. As one pastor says,
"I don't keep the Sabbath, the Sabbath keeps me."
History of Sabbath’s Overthrow
The first shot at the Sabbath was made by Emperor Constantine on 7th March 321. He decreed:
“Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades, rest on the venerable day of the sun; but
let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty attend to the business of agriculture, because it often
happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines; lest the critical moment being let slip, men should
lose the commodities granted by heaven. Given the seventh day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls, each of
them for the second time.” Corpus Juris Civilis 2.127, quoted in, Henry Bettenson, ed., Documents of the Christian
Church, 2nd edition (London: Oxford University Press, 1963).
We therefore see that the observance of Sunday comes to us first from pagan Rome through civil decree by the
Emperor. (At that time Rome were in charge). However, it should be noted that while this decree enforced resting
on Sunday, it did not forbid resting on Saturday. That was still to come.
It was at the Council of Laodicea [celebrated sometime between 343 and 381 AD], that the Church put itself on
the record as enjoining Sunday worship and forbidding Sabbath worship. Canon 29 of this Council reads as
follows:
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“Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday [Greek sabbaton, the Sabbath] but shall work on that
day, but the Lord’s Day [Sunday] they shall especially honor, and, as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that
day. If, however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ.” (Translated in, Charles Joseph Hefele,
A History of the Christian Councils, vol. 2, translated and edited by H. N. Oxenham [Edinburg: T. and T. Clark,
1896], p. 316)
I think it is important to note that, at any point in our religious experience, whether we believe we are on the
right or not, we should not try and stop other people from practicing their faith simply because they disagree
with ours. And on that single point, we find Pagan Rome acting more righteously than the church.
Anyway, after that, the Sabbath was further pressed lower and lower. Consider the words of St. Thomas
Aquinas, a theologian unparalleled in the history of the Roman Catholic Church:
“In the New Law the keeping of the Sunday supplants that of the Sabbath, not in virtue of the precept of the law, but
through determination by the church and the custom of the Christian people.” (Summa Theologica of Thomas
Aquinas, quoted in The Sabbath in Scripture and History, pp. 205-206) Emphasis supplied
I don't know how many of us have heard of Martin Luther (not Martin Luther King, Jr.), the guy behind the Protestant
movement (and also the one who the Lutheran church is named after). So the original ML greatly attacked the
church trying to point out what he believed to be errors taught by them. He was only successful because he
stood on the firm platform of sola scriptura (the Bible and the Bible alone).
So the church raised up a guy called John Eck to debate him and try to prove him wrong. He was not very
successful, but he got Luther at one point. Consider Eck's argument (remember, Eck is speaking on behalf of the
Church):
“The Scripture teaches ‘Remember that you sanctify the day of the Sabbath; six days shall you labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.’ etc. But the Church has changed the Sabbath into the Lord’s
[day] by its own authority, concerning which you have no scripture. . .The Sabbath is commanded many times
by God; neither in the Gospels nor in Paul is it declared that the Sabbath has ceased; nevertheless the Church
has instituted the Lord’s Day through the tradition of the apostles without Scripture.” (Johann Eck, Enchiridion
Locorum Communium . . . Adversus Lutheranos [Handbook of Common Places against the Lutherans]. Venice: Ioan.
Antonius & Fratres de Sabio, 1533, fols. 4v, 5r, 42v. Latin. Trans. by Frank H. Yost. Used by permission of Mrs.
Frank Yost. [FRS No. 127]
Do you hear what John is saying? He is basically saying, "Luther, you are saying that the church should follow
the Bible and the Bible alone and not church traditions, yet you are still worshipping on what they call the Lord’s
Day, and you have not given us a single verse in Scripture for it! If you agree with us on this point, without any
scriptural authority, why shouldn't you agree with us at all points?
In fact, let Eck make the case himself:
“If, however, the church has had power to change the Sabbath of the Bible into Sunday and to command Sunday
keeping, why should it not have also this power concerning other days, many of which are based on the
Scriptures—such as Christmas, circumcision of the heart, three kings, etc. If you omit the latter, and turn from
the church to the Scriptures alone, then you must keep the Sabbath with the Jews, which has been kept from the
beginning of the world.” Johann Eck, Enchiridion Locorum Communium. . . Adversus Lutheranos, pp. 78, 79. [Quoted
in Andrews and Conradi, History of the Sabbath, 1912 edition, p. 587]
Basically, there is no text in the Bible showing that the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday, rather, it
was a progressive change done by the church after the close of the Bible and it is this change (called tradition)
that is the basis for the current Sunday observance.
I believe we all know what a catechism is (a manual for doctrinal instruction). Let us read from one Catholic
catechism called The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, by Rev. Peter Geiermann.
“Question: Which is the Sabbath day?
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“Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.

“Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
“Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea
(336 AD), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”
It is only safe to say at this point, what God has sanctified, only God can un-sanctify.
So, while we may give a ton of more quotations from Catholic sources on this change, maybe we can now turn
to a few Protestants before we close. Let us get a Methodist voice to explain it.
“Jesus, after his resurrection, changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week; thus showing his
authority as Lord even of the Sabbath. (Mathew. xii, 8) Not to abrogate or break it, but to preside over and modify, or
give new form to it, so as to have it commemorate his resurrection, when he ceased from his redeeming work as God did
from his creation work. Hebrews 4:10”
Of course we all ask, where is it recorded? The source continues:
“When Jesus gave instructions for this change we are not told, but very likely during the time when he spake to his apostles
of the things pertaining to is kingdom. (Acts 1:3) This is probably one of the many unrecorded things which Jesus did. (John
20:30; 21:25)” Amos Binney and Daniel Steele, Theological Compend (New York: The Methodist Book Concern,
1902), p. 171.
Don't you think such a fundamental thing as the unsanctifying of something that God Himself sanctified after
creation, and encoded in the law written by His own finger, would surely be mentioned?
“There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will
be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first
day of the week, with all its duties, privileges and sanctions. Earnestly desiring information on this subject,
which I studied for many years, I ask: Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New
Testament, absolutely not. There is no Scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from the
seventh to the first day of the week.
“I wish to say that this Sabbath question, in this aspect of it, is the gravest and most perplexing question
connected with Christian institutions which at present claims attention from Christian people; and the only
reason that it is not a more disturbing element in Christian thought and in religious discussions, is because the
Christian world has settled down content on the conviction that somehow a transference has taken place at the
beginning of Christian history. . . .
“To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years’ intercourse with his disciples, often conversing
with them upon the Sabbath question, discussing it in some of its various aspects, freeing it from its false
glosses, never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during forty days of his resurrection life, no such
thing was intimated. Nor, so far as we know, did the Spirit, which was given to bring to their remembrance all
things whatsoever that he had said unto them, deal with this question. Nor yet did the inspired apostles, in
preaching the gospel, founding churches, counselling and instructing those founded, discuss or approach this
subject.”
“Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history as a religious day, as we learn from
the Christian Fathers and other sources. But what a pity that it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened
with the name of the sun-god, when adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to
Protestantism.” From a speech given before the New York Ministers’ Conference, November 13, 1893
A digression: the reason many of these statements are from the 1890s to early 1900s is because in 1888 a law was
brought to congress to try and enforce going to church on Sunday. At the same time, there was a very acidic
relationship between Protestants and Catholics in the US at that time (so acidic, you would not be voted as
President for simply being Catholic). So, Catholic Church was basically saying, "You Protestants in the US are
hating on us, yet legislating something you took from us without any Scriptural authority." So the Sabbath question was
a subject of active discussion in conferences at that time.
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I think the most significant thing about this change, and the fact that the church repeatedly states triumphantly
that it did it, is that the Bible predicted that the little horn power (which I hope by now we have seen to be the
anticipated antichrist power of Scripture) will change the law of God. Is this the fulfilment of that prophecy? We
decide.
Someone might say, “let us talk about the real issues of faith. Not this day issue.”
Concerning this, I would say, we should be careful not to fall into the same trap that ML fell into. ML, defending
so much justification by faith, said that the book of James should not be in the Bible because it speaks so much
about works. He did not realize that true faith must be manifested through works. Christ Himself says, "Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." So, true
faith must be seen outwardly. Because we honestly cannot see your faith, we can only see your obedience as
prompted by it.
We may sometimes miss the important question, the real issues of the faith. But then we should also ask, "What are
the real issues of faith? Who defines them?" Right now, in the States with massive acceptance of the LGBTQ+
community, sexual orientation is no longer a real issue of faith. In Netherlands with public porn booths on the
streets, sexual purity and virginity at marriage is no longer a real issue of faith. I think it is a danger when we
take upon ourselves the responsibility of defining the real issues of faith. I think "every word that proceeds out of
the mouth of God" is the real issue of faith. What do you think?
At the end of the day, let us go back to God's idea, and not man's idea (not even my idea). God wanted us to
set aside precious quality time to gain intimate knowledge of Him, and His idea was 24 hours every one week,
on a day that we commemorate both His Creatorship and His Redeemership. I welcome you to transcend the
controversy of days into that experience of love. Try it and see why God thought the Sabbath was a good idea.
The point we've made in Daniel so far is, if you consistently focus on self above all others, you will reach a
point of focusing on self above God. That was the problem of Lucifer in heaven (Is. 14:13-14) and Eve in the
garden (Gen. 3:5-6), and it will be the problem of humanity throughout its conflict with sin and evil. And that is
why God put in place strategies of turning our eyes from ourselves and each other to Him, because only by
looking at Him will we look at others in love, and at self in humility. And that is the call of the Christian faith:
let your eyes waver between two points of focus. The cross of Christ and the throne of God.
3. Persecution
Adam and Eve sever (through transgression) their connection with God and end up blaming each other in self-
preservation. Adam blames Eve and does not take any blame. Eve blames the snake and does not take any blame.
Both were comfortable with another being punished as long as they were spared.
Cain's sacrifice to God is rejected, he kills His brother
Judas walks out on Jesus during the Lord's Supper, and betrays Him.
Key point: Whenever the vertical love relationship is broken, the horizontal automatically follows.
Practical Application
It has been commonly said, "A family that prays together, stays together." That is true, always. Whenever it does
not apply, then either one or both parties have simply the form of godliness but are denying the power thereof.
A community that does not fellowship together, will destroy each other.
A nation that is not united under one God will hardly be stable.
One blogger, addressing the question of how to make friendships in adulthood said, "Begin at your place of
worship." Because that is where you will get pure, unconditional love (ideally). A community without a church
will rarely be intimate.
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Even internally, the antidote to stress, anxiety, discontentment, lack of peace of mind, etc is to resolve your
relationship with God.
Both at an individual and at a corporate level, the absence of vertical love leads to absence of horizontal love,
which leads to stress, tension, trials and troubles.
God is the solution to all tribulations, whether individually or communally.
2 Cor. 3:18 - By communing with God we will become more like Him.
But what happens when many believers depart from God, who is love?
A church is a community of believers. When a community of believers stops existing in love, then the church
has departed from love. And that is what we have been studying so far.
We have looked at a bit of church history, showing how the church progressively fell from being powered by
the power of divine love, to being powered by the power of military force. Reminds me a beautiful quote:
“The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God's government; He desires only the service of love; and love cannot
be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened." - Desire of Ages, p. 22, par. 1.
We have then seen how this was manifested in loss of vertical love.
First, in rejecting the principle of selflessness, man became more self-centred, till the church, through its
leadership, committed the ultimate sin of placing man in the place of God. We have then seen how man did
away with the law of God, first, by removing the second commandment (we did not touch on this but it was
done that the idols/statues of Roman gods could be accommodated in the churches), and then by tinkering with
the fourth (which directly affected the relationship of love by availing both quality time and intimate knowledge,
based on creative and redemptive graces).
So, individually, we have seen that when we leave God (who is love), we start treating fellow humanity unjustly,
unkindly, unlovingly, selfishly, uncourteously, etc. Basically, we become less human and more beastly (and
dictators like Idi Amin, Adolf Hitler and Jo Stalin are good case studies). But what happens when the church
itself leaves God?
A man called St. Augustine laid the foundation for the persecution by the church. He writes:
“Originally my opinion was that no one should be coerced into the unity of Christ that we must act only by words,
fight only by arguments, and prevail by force of reason, lest we should have those whom we knew as avowed heretics feigning
themselves to be Catholics. But this opinion of mine was overcome not by the words of those who controverted it, but
by the conclusive instances to which they could point. For, in the first place, there was set over against my opinion my own
town [Hippo], which, although it was once wholly on the side of Donatus [a heretic who was leader of a group known as the
Donatists], was brought over to the Catholic unity by fear of the imperial edicts.” St. Augustine, Letter 93 (to
Vincentius), chapter 5, section 17, translated in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, volume I, p. 388
emphasis supplied
Basically, Augustine says, "I used to think we should only preach by words, but I have seen that fear is actually more
successful in converting people."
We all believe that one day the whole world will be the kingdom of God. Difference is, we believe that Christ's
second coming and the judgment of the wicked is what will fulfil that (is that what we all believe?). Augustine
taught that it was by conquests of force done by the church that this will be fulfilled. Basically, what God should
have done (executing justice in mercy), we perform (but instead we execute injustice without mercy). Truly
beasts indeed.
I'll just throw in one quote to show how the church embraced the spirit of persecution. In a letter written by Pope
Nicholas to the King of Bulgaria, a new convert to "Christianity", encouraging him to force his religion on his
subjects, he says:
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“I glorify you for having maintained your authority by putting to death those wandering sheep who refuse to enter the
fold; and . . . congratulate you upon having opened the kingdom of heaven to the people submitted to your rule. A king need
not fear to command massacres, when these will retain his subjects in obedience, or cause them to submit to the faith of
Christ; and God will reward him in this world, and in eternal life, for these murders.” (Quoted in, R.W. Thompson,
The Papacy and the Civil Power, p. 244)
By creating a god who was the complete opposite of the true God (pro-life vs pro-torture, pro-preservation vs
pro-destruction, self-sacrificing vs others-martyring, etc), they became like the god who they worshipped.
The persecution committed by the church during the dark ages was so intense one historian writes,
“The blood he shed would have incarnadined the waters of Lake Constance, and the bodies of the slain would have bridged
it from shore to shore.”
We cannot speak more. History says, around 65m people fell under the sword of the Catholic crusaders during
the dark ages (including Protestants and Muslims). The moment the God you serve is not love, there is no limit
of how low you can sink in hate.
Let it not be lost to us the point, friends. In ourselves, there is no difference between us and Hitler or Idi Amin,
neither is there any difference between us and Moses or Abraham. It is only by grace that we are kept from living
out the full extent of the evil in our hearts. By progressively rejecting love, we can become as beastly as
opportunity will avail. By progressively accepting divine love, we will become as divine as Jesus was.
Peter gives us this promise,
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
What is the divine nature? A life of total, continual and selfless self-surrender.
Jesus said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow me."
We have seen the identity of the four beasts, the ten horns and the little horn (or antichrist power) of Daniel 7.
But more than that, we have seen how it is a history of selfishness and self-centeredness in conflict with love and
self-sacrifice.
Biblical facts
The prophecies of Daniel 7 anticipate 2 events as connected to the little horn:
1. That it eliminates 3 others while rising, and
2. It will reign for "a time, times and dividing of time" (Dan. 7:25; Rev. 12:14). Other versions will simplify it by
saying, "3½ years" (for a "time" refers to a year). Other places quote it as 42 months (ie. 3½ years x 12months/year),
eg, Rev. 11:2, 13:5. Finally, others quote it as 1260 days (Rev. 11:3; 12:6). Essentially, they are the same time period.
But, in prophecy, a day represents a year (Num. 14:34; Ez. 4:6). Therefore, 1260 prophetic days = 1260 literal
years
I hope those two facts are clear (you can go through Daniel 7:8, 25 to see them in context).
The historical facts:
1. In the rise of the civil influence of the Bishop of Rome, 3 nations that did not bow down to her doctrines were
eliminated. They rejected the Trinity doctrine in favour of Arianism, and such non-submission to the papal
authority would prove a point of weakness later. Thus, the Vandals, the Heruli and the Ostrogoths were
eliminated. The decisive war against the last of these, the Ostrogoths, was fought in 538AD. Thus, the civil reign
of the papal system can be dated to then.
2. In 1798, exactly 1260 years later, France enters Rome and takes the Pope captive, and removes civil power
from Vatican (until 1929 when Italy under Mussolini restored it to the Pope).
WEEK OF PROPHECY: RAFIKI SDA CHURCH
LESSON #5 – THE FALL FROM THE CALL TO LOVE

Following the great clock of this world's history, the hour hand is almost striking 12 now. We arrive at this point
of history where our grandparents meet, give birth to our parents and we exist. Prophecy is finally catching up
with us and becoming chronologically (or historically) significant (and also explaining to us why Jesus delayed;
it was already fixed in prophecy).
So, what happens at some point after 1798?
In 7:8, Daniel is staring with amazement at the terribly successful career of the apostate church of the dark ages
as it trampled on the dignity of God's authority, the validity of His commandments and the wellbeing of His
children. In the next text, we read:
"I beheld till the thrones were cast down [that is, some royal linen cushions were arranged in a room for some dignitaries to
sit] and the Ancient of days [i.e. God] did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool:
his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him:
thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him [these are angels]: the
judgment was set, and the books were opened."
What is happening here? The little horn has been triumphing in overthrowing the principle of others-
centeredness, but God responds by calling for a judgement.
And God is just. Before He executes judgement, investigation first precedes. "Judgement is set," that is, the judge
asks all to sit, "and the books [containing the evidences] are opened". But so far we have only seen the judge [the
Father]. We also have a faint idea of who one of the parties to the case is: the little horn. In fact, when the verdict
is read, this becomes even clearer, "the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his [the little horn's] dominion . .
. And the kingdom and dominion . . . shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High" (v. 26-27).
If we were to write it in modern legal order, we would say,
Parties to the case: Little horn and 4 other beasts (defendant) vs. The people of the saints (plaintiff)
Presiding judge: God the Father
Yet notice one thing, v. 1-8 happens in the sea, but v. 9-14 happens in a courtroom. The scene has changed from
earth to heaven. So, this investigative judgement is not happening on earth; it is happening in heaven.
Notice also, that neither the little horn nor the saints are present in heaven. We only see the Ancient of days, the
ministering angels and the son of Man (more on that in a bit).
But this makes when you consider Revelation 22:12, "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to
give every man according as his work shall be."
Jesus does not come to earth (during the second coming) to decide who goes where. Before He leaves heaven,
He already has that data. Which means, there's nothing like waiting till you hear the trumpet sound so that you
repent. Books are already closed, judgement has been passed.
If I tell you guys, let's meet next Sunday. I am leaving Nairobi with gifts to give everyone according to how they
have been serving in Rafiki. Question: At what point do I decide who gets what reward, before leaving Nairobi,
or after arriving in Rafiki? Before leaving Nairobi. So, that means, if Jesus is coming with rewards, then before
He left heaven, He already knew, "to this, five talents, to the other, two talents, but to this guy here, my cup of
indignation".
So that means, the process of deciding who gets what reward (here, reward means either positive commendation
or negative punishment) must have already happened before He left heaven to return to earth
So, the judgement (to judge means to decide/apportion) happened before second coming of Jesus. This
judgement where rewards are determined and punishments decided after going through the records of our lives
is what I call investigative judgement. Then that judgement where Jesus now gives to everyone as the
investigation revealed, I call "executive judgement".
WEEK OF PROPHECY: RAFIKI SDA CHURCH
LESSON #5 – THE FALL FROM THE CALL TO LOVE

A good example is Sodom. God first comes down to investigate before executing. Another is Cain, God
investigates before declaring punishment. Another is Eden, God comes and investigates before executing.
Another is tower of Babel. Same pattern: investigation then execution of judgement.
There is a second coming. But it is not the time when God now starts deciding if we go to heaven or hell. It is
decided before then, so second coming is when the ruling of a concluded case is read.
We see the chronology of judgment in Daniel 7:22, "Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to
the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom."
So, the saints win the case and earn the kingdom way before they enjoy the fruits of their victory. Just like the
Kenyan lawyers of freedom fighters go to London on their behalf, win a case on their behalf, earn the
compensation on their behalf, but there is some time between close of case and when the compensation money
meets the hungry hands in Mt Kenya.
I hope that is clear. There is a pre-advent judgement that happens in heaven in our absence, and determines
what rewards Christ gives to us at His second coming, whether eternal life, or eternal damnation. John 5:28-29.
Awesome. So, who is our lawyer who has gone to London on our behalf?
"I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient
of days, and they brought him near before him." Daniel 7:13.
John puts it this way, "if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:" 1 John 2:1. Of
course the accuser/prosecutor on the other side is the devil (Zech. 3:1-3; Rev. 12:10), but He that is for us is
greater than he that is against us. Amen!
In Daniel 7, this work of pre-advent investigation is presented as the work of an advocate. In Daniel 8, it will be
presented as the work of a High Priest. Essentially, the common characteristic of Jesus as Advocate and Jesus as
High Priest is intercession on our behalf. On behalf of love.
You notice that in the final account there are only two teams: the people of the saints and the people of the
persecutors. You are either a perpetrator or a victim in the great judgement. Jesus puts it this way, "He that is not
with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." Matt. 12:30. So, do not say that you are a
good person. That is not sufficient. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven
given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12. You must confess Him, accept Him, believe Him, and let
Him transform you into likeness with Him. Those who will suffer perdition will not be those who violently
opposed the gospel only. No. Hebrews 2:3 uses a very harmless word, "if we neglect so great salvation". Just
neglecting it. Ignoring it. Treating it as if it is not the most fundamental and valuable thing in life. And what
does that transformation look like? It looks like moving from living on the principle of selfish self-centeredness,
to the other extreme end of selfless self-sacrificing. Jesus, who is love, stands for those who have accepted Him
[i.e. love] in their hearts. [The three categories of people in heaven.]
Jesus is the one who wins the case, not like the earthly lawyers who present the good merits of their clients, but
by presenting the good merits of His own righteousness. Independent of Him, we all constitute the little horn -
blaspheming God by enthroning ourselves in our hearts instead of Him; substituting laws of our own
establishment in the place of His because ours are more convenient and pleasant; and persecuting our
brethren by treating them with less than divine love; - yet by grace are we accepted into the Holy Advocate's
clientele as though we had never sinned. Holy love. We are as bad as the nondescript beast, if we do not choose
to follow the Lamb. But there is another significant point: everyone who does spitefully to God's children, has
done it to Christ Himself, and will not face the offended brother at the judgement, but will face Jesus Himself.
Every time you do not act in accordance to the principle of love, you are not simply violating a brother; you are
violating the fundamental principle of God's own existence - love. And that is what the judgement is all about:
did you think, speak and act as actuated by love, or by self?