The year Jesus was born and the 2,300 year prophecy

"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." (Dan. 8:14).

The time of year for Christ's birth was autumn.  A close approximation of Christ's birth date is determined per the explanation from a past post at the link below, being around the 10th day of the seventh month Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur (Hebrew, yom kaphar). The calculations for His birth month are done in a post I wrote at: 

https://biking4theblind.blogspot.com/2006/12/day-when-christ-was-born.html?m=1

Below is an internet article on the year King Herod died. The reason I'm pasting the article's last comment is for finding a better year for Christ's birth than the traditional 4BC. By having the death year for King Herod later than 4BC I can affix Christ's baptism to AD27, 483 years (the end of the 69th prophetic week) after the start of the already historically confirmed year of 457BC as the start of Daniel's 70 week Messianic prophecy. Thus, AD27, which started Christ's ministry, would also mark the beginning of the 70th prophetic week, this 70th week and the whole 70 week prophecy both ending at AD34. These two dates subsequently would put Christ's crucifixion at AD31, halfway into the 70th week. For 3 1/2 years He ministered to the Isrealites' needs, gained their confidences, and won their hearts. Through His abundant goodness He provided them His best of all gifts—repentance—the gift that keeps on giving. Then He laid down His life to ratify their repentance. Afterward, He would in Spirit, move His disciples to stay in Jerusalem for another 3 1/2 years to give the children of Abraham an extra grace period for repentance.

What a great privilege to be reconciled with the great offended God! But what would be the outcome for refusing the great privilege from heaven?

The Jews' determination to reject their Messiah Jesus would also determine their end in desolation, as forewarned in the 70 week prophecy. "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation [H3722, "kaphar"] for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." (Dan. 9:24). 

That brings us up AD34, and the conclusion of the 70 week Messianic prophecy. 

AD34, the end of the the 70 week prophecy, would then hand the prophetic focus over to the last segment of the larger 2,300 day prophecy, both prophecies having started simultaneously in 457BC. 1,810 years of the church age, starting in AD34, to the conclusion of the Daniel 8:14 2,300 year prophecy, would end in 1844. Ultimately, the Millerite message of Jesus coming was not a cunningly devised fable, but a providential event to turn the church's attention to the Most Holy Day of Atonement/period of imvestigative judgment.

Therefore, nailing down the key years of Messiah's baptism and crucifixion also tell us the fulfillment of Daniel 8:14. Shabby mathematics will create stumbling blocks for the saints who try to teach the truth of the heavenly sanctuary. The numbers must work. The dates must work. And 4BC doesn't work for a 30 year old Messiah beginning His ministry in AD 27.

So, the comment below is from the following link.

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/herods-death-jesus-birth-and-a-lunar-eclipse/

The above commenter's scholarly and detailed history has a lot of drama, but it gives the impression that Herod's sons were very much into power grabbing, licence, and without a conscience. But all their premature claims to reigning in their father's stead actually help us in that they put in question when their official reigns began. 4BC doesn't seem to be true for their successions of Herod, which therefore leaves their father's death-year also in question.

"Read an excerpt from Andrew E. Steinmann’s book From Abraham to Paul: A Biblical Chronology (St. Louis: Concordia, 2011), pp. 235–238 [footnotes removed]; see also his article 'When Did Herod the Great Reign?' Novum Testamentum 51 (2009), pp. 1–29.

"Originally Herod had named his son Antipater to be his heir and had groomed Antipater to take over upon his death. However, a little over two years before Herod’s death Antipater had his uncle, Herod’s younger brother Pheroras murdered. Pheroras had been tetrarch of Galilee under Herod. Antipater’s plot was discovered, and Archelaus was named Herod’s successor in place of Antipater. Seven months passed before Antipater, who was in Rome, was informed that he had been charged with murder. Late in the next year he would be placed on trial before Varus, governor of Syria. Eventually Herod received permission from Rome to execute Antipater. During his last year Herod wrote a will disinheriting Archelaus and granting the kingdom to Antipas. In a later will, however, he once again left the kingdom to Archelaus. Following his death his kingdom would eventually be split into three parts among Archelaus, Antipas, and Philip.

"Josephus is careful to note that during his last year Herod was forbidden by Augustus from naming his sons as his successors. However, in several passages Josephus also notes that Herod bestowed royalty and its honors on his sons. At Antipater’s trial Josephus quotes Herod as testifying that he had yielded up royal authority to Antipater. He also quotes Antipater claiming that he was already a king because Herod had made him a king.

"When Archelaus replaced Antipater as Herod’s heir apparent some two years before Herod’s death, Antipater may have been given the same prerogatives as Archelaus had previously enjoyed. After Herod’s death Archelaus went to Rome to have his authority confirmed by Augustus. His enemies charged him with seemingly contradictory indictments: that Archelaus had already exercised royal authority for some time and that Herod did not appoint Archelaus as his heir until he was demented and dying. These are not as contradictory as they seem, however. Herod initially named Archelaus his heir, and at this point Archelaus may have assumed royal authority under his father. Then Herod revoked his will, naming Antipas his heir. Ultimately, when he was ill and dying, Herod once again named Archelaus his heir. Thus, Archelaus may not have legally been king until after Herod’s death in early 1 B.C., but may have chosen to reckon his reign from a little over two years earlier in late 4 B.C. when he first replaced Antipater as Herod’s heir.

"Since Antipas would eventually rule Galilee, it is entirely possible that under Herod he already had been given jurisdiction over Galilee in the wake of Pheroras’ death. This may explain why Herod briefly named Antipas as his heir in the year before his death. Since Antipas may have assumed the jurisdiction over Galilee upon Pheroras’ death sometime in 4 B.C., like Archelaus, he also may have reckoned his reign from that time, even though he was not officially named tetrarch of Galilee by the Romans until after Herod’s death.

"Philip also appears to have exercised a measure of royal authority before Herod’s death in 1 B.C. Philip refounded the cities of Julias and Caesarea Philippi (Paneas). Julias was apparently named after Augustus’ daughter, who was arrested for adultery and treason in 2 B.C. Apparently Julias was refounded before that date. As for Caesarea Philippi, the date of its refounding was used to date an era, and the first year of the era was 3 B.C. Apparently Philip chose to antedate his reign to 4 B.C., which apparently was the time when Herod first entrusted him with supervision of Gaulanitis.

"Additional support for Philip having been officially appointed tetrarch after the death of his father in 1 B.C. may be found in numismatics. A number of coins issued by Philip during his reign are known. The earliest bear the date 'year 5,' which would correspond to A.D. 1. This fits well with Philip serving as administrator under his father from 4–1 B.C. He counted those as the first four years of his reign, but since he was not officially recognized by Rome as an independent client ruler, he had no authority to issue coins during those years. However, he was in position to issue coinage soon after being named tetrarch sometime in 1 B.C., and the first coins appear the next year, A.D. 1, antedating his reign to 4 B.C. While the numismatic evidence is not conclusive proof of Herod’s death in 1 B.C., it is highly suggestive.

"Given the explicit statements of Josephus about the authority and honor Herod had granted his sons during the last years of his life, we can understand why all three of his successors decided to antedate their reigns to the time when they were granted a measure of royal authority while their father was still alive. Although they were not officially recognized by Rome as ethnarch or tetrarchs until after Herod’s death, they nevertheless appear to have reckoned their reigns from about 4 B.C."

Add that cache of evidence for a 1BC death of Herod to the main body of the article from which that comment came, and a date later than 4BC for Herod's death gets firmer. Speaking of the main body of the article, based on lunar eclipse dates the king's death could have three possibilities other than 4BC: 5BC and two for 1BC. The December 29, 1BC lunar eclipse would work perfectly for the 2300 year prophecy ending in 1844 (if my homemade timelines are correct; and please do your own math).

Here is some of the article's main body:

"...Mr. Tempelman does a good job of pointing out arguments in favor of a 4 B.C. date following the arguments advanced long ago by Emil Schürer. The difficulty is that we have a fair amount of information, but it is equivocal.

"The key information comes, of course, from Josephus who brackets the [Herod the Great's] death by 'a fast' and the Passover. He says that on the night of the fast there was a lunar eclipse—the only eclipse mentioned in the entire corpus of his work. Correlation of Josephus with the Talmud and Mishnah indicate the fast was probably Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur occurs on the tenth day of the seventh month (mid-September to mid-October) and Passover on the 15th day of the first month (March or April) of the religious calendar. Josephus does not indicate when within that time interval the death occurred.

"Only four lunar eclipses occurred in the likely time frame: September 15, 5 B.C., March 12–13, 4 B.C., January 10, 1 B.C. and December 29, 1 B.C. The first eclipse fits Yom Kippur, almost too early, but possible. It was a total eclipse that became noticeable several hours after sundown, but it is widely regarded as too early to fit other information on the date. The favorite 4 B.C. eclipse seems too far from Yom Kippur and much too close to Passover. This was a partial eclipse that commenced after midnight. It hardly seems a candidate for being remembered and noted by Josephus. The 1 B.C. dates require either that the fast was not Yom Kippur or that the calendar was rejiggered for some reason. The January 10 eclipse was total but commenced shortly before midnight on a winter night. Lastly, in the December 29 eclipse the moon rose at 53 percent eclipse and its most visible aspect was over by 6 p.m. It is the most likely of the four to have been noted and commented on.

"None of the four candidates fits perfectly to all the requirements. I like the earliest and the latest of them as the most likely. The most often preferred candidate, the 4 B.C. eclipse, is, in my view, far and away the least likely one."

So, there stands a very good chance that Herod died and Jesus was born 2BC. Again, what's the significance? He then would be baptized in His 30th year of life, in AD27 (adding a 1 for the year zero). His atoning death be would be accomplished in AD31. And the finale of the 70 week Messianic prophecy would be AD34, 1810 years before 1844, which was the heavenly Day of Atonement.

We are made a spectacle ... to angels

"Which things the angels desire to look into." (1Pet. 1:12).

Many are the illustrations in this fallen world that proclaim the truth of the Creator's character. The children of Adam and the animal kingdom that He gave them tell to His holy hosts of heaven a love in His heart for them that they can never experience except through involving themselves in our redemption. An article from 2018 teaches us all what divine love is all about:

One loyal German shepherd in Argentina died this week beside his owner's grave, where he had been passing his days since his owner died 12 years ago, local media reported.

Capitan, age 15, first made headlines in 2012, when local papers reported the dog had been waiting at his owner's grave in the town of Villa Carlos Paz. His story soon spread, inspiring dog lovers around the world.

Miguel Guzmán died in 2006. Capitan disappeared from the family home shortly after, only to be found by Guzmán's widow, Veronica, at the gravesite.

Despite several attempts to take the dog home, Capitan always ran back to the cemetery, about 15 blocks from the house.

The canine was well-cared for by the cemetery caretakers, who fed him and made sure he received annual vaccinations. Nevertheless, graveyard life took its toll, as local media reported Capitan had lost his eyesight and could hardly walk last year.

Cristian Stempels, the veterinarian who treated Capitan until his last days, said Tuesday that the dog suffered from chronic kidney failure and had been treated for several years for the disease.

"We had detected the kidney problem four years ago, and all this time he had been taken care of with special food and medicine," the vet told La Voz newspaper.

"He is an iconic dog in Carlos Paz, and since he lived most of his life in the cemetery, we decided he should die there. He was buried the same day, and there was not much else we could do," Stempels said.

The municipality is currently mulling the best way to honor the dog's legacy.

How the dog first located his beloved master after death remains a mystery.

"We have no idea how he found the tomb because his owner did not die in Carlos Paz, but in Cordoba," retired cemetery caretaker Héctor Banegas told La Opinion last year.

"From there he was transferred to the village for the wake and from there directly to the cemetery, he did not return to his house and he did not see the dog again. The big mystery is how Capitan didn't forget the scent of his master's scent for months after his death."

Here's another article that fills in the same story with more details:

MAN’S BEST FRIEND Faithful dog dies next to his master’s grave after refusing to leave for 10 years

Capitan, a 15-year-old German Shepherd has died from kidney failure having remained by his master's graveside for a decade.

Capitan, a 15-year-old German Shepherd, who lived at the side of his owner’s resting place for 10 years, has died at his owner’s grave in the Municipal Cemetery of Villa Carlos Paz, a city in the Argentinian state of Cordoba.

Capitan’s owner, Miguel Guzman, died in 2006 and the dog went missing from the family home some months later.

Guzman’s family thought Capitan had run away, but were shocked to find the dog by its owner’s graveside months later.

No one is sure how Capitan found the cemetery where his owner was buried.

Hector Baccega, director of the the cemetery, had told local media at the time: “He turned up here one day, all on his own, and started wandering all around the cemetery until he eventually found the tomb of his master.

“During the day he sometimes has a walk around the cemetery, but always rushes back to the grave.

“And every day, at six o’clock sharp, he lies down on top of the grave and stays there all night.”

Capitan lived in the cemetery for ten more years, and became something of a global sensation picking up coverage around the world.

But he was taken to the vet four years ago and diagnosed with kidney failure.

The vet who treated the dog, Cristhian Sempels, told reporters: "Unfortunately, his age and this condition (kidney failure) meant he could not hold on.

"We could have admitted him to the vet, but only so that he could die in the veterinary surgery, so we preferred to leave him and attend to him in the cemetery, where he lived and felt calm."

Mr Guzman bought Capitan as a present for his 13-year-old son Damian in 2005 but died suddenly in March the next year.

When his family returned from the funeral Capitan was gone....

Capitan follows in the tracks of Hachiko, an Akita dog which is said to have waited at a Tokyo train station for its master to return each day for nine years from May 1925, following owner Hidesaburo Ueno’s death at work.

The most famous tale of a dog’s devotion beyond the grave is Greyfriars Bobby— a Skye Terrier which allegedly spent 14 years guarding the Edinburgh grave of John Gray, dying itself in January 1872.

A statue and commemorative fountain were built at the southern end of the George IV Bridge....

Capitan isn’t the only loyal pooch who just can’t let go. These other loyal animals have waited in hope by their masters’ graves.

When Wagner de Lim Figueiredo, 34, died in northeast Brazil last January, mourners were amazed as Sereno the horse sighed in grief as he “wanted to say goodbye” to his beloved owner. The saddened crowd watched him whimper and stomp on the ground. And, another:

“Deta, you have to leave the cemetary, come on”, Theresa Morini’s husband shouted to poor pooch Deta who couldn’t quite leave his 86 year old wife’s gravestone in New York. He later had to carry him back to the car.

Another:

Andrea Cossu died after a building collapsed on him during an earthquake in Pescara del Tronto in August 2016. But his committed canine Flash wouldn’t stop pawing at his coffin, holding out hope his owner would emerge unscathed.

Still another story of true devotion:

Saddened dog Cesur visits old owner Mehmet Illhan’s grave in northwest Turkey every single day. He painfully watched his master being lowered into the ground but will never forget him.

Lastly:

In September 2017, a video went viral in Malaysia showing an unknown mysterious cat circling the grave of a kitty-loving grandpa called Ismail. His relatives tried to lure away the feline by playing with it but it refused to leave his burial ground.

Then my testimony:

My own dog Pingo loved me, especially the times we spent on afternoon walks and early morning jogs. But he died because I spent months each year working 700 miles away. He died because of me, he died without me, and he died without my knowledge. 

I still can't forget or forgive my carelessness toward his love for me. Oh, how I mourned his death when my wife called me after he had died. She was afraid the final days might not be his last sickness, and that the long trip back to see him would be too much expense to waste on a false alarm. All I could imagine was his distress from his death pangs made doubly worse by the persistent lack of my comforting presence. Whenever he saw he always wagged his tail, "Welcome home!"

It still haunts me. How could I, how dare I, treat loving loyalty like that? No one on earth has done that for me. No one has loved me every day of their life, down to their dying day.

This kind of fidelity is what we see in some spectacular people.

We see Ruth, who was rewarded for loving and being clingy.

"Orpah kissed her mother in law" and went back "unto her people, and unto her gods." (Ruth 1:14,15).

But Ruth disobeyed Naomi's command, "return thou after thy sister in law." (Vs. 15). Instead, "Ruth clave unto her." (Vs. 14).

And Ruth got real insolent to her mother-in-law. She said, "Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.

Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me." (Vs. 16,17).

"Stop telling me to leave you and to stop following you. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. So stop talking like that. End of discussion."

And scripture says, "When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. So they two went until they came to Bethlehem." (Vs. 18,19).

Humans made in God's image are stubbornly clingy.

How about the few who loved what Paul said to all the intellectual greats. "And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them." (Acts 17:32-34).

There they go again, clinging to each other! WhatsApp with these human beings made in God's image?!

Then there was Elisha. "And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel." (2Kings 2:1,2).

"Wait here!" "No, I will not."

Such stubborn rebellion! Why should God the great Judge reward people who talk back to their elders like that? And it happened again.

"And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho." (Vs. 4).

And it happened a third time.

"And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on." (Vs. 6).

Not because Elisha craved double the power of Elijah did he stay close by his master's side. Elisha loved his master, and his people. He saw what they needed and he knew that in order to heal them he needed more power than Elijah had been given. It was right to disobey here; the commands to separate were only tests of his consecration and tenacity to serve God and man.

Hugging, clinging, and sorrowing for their inevitable separation. God was glorified by David and Jonathan.

"Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?

And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.

So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him.

And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him....

And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded." (1Sam. 20:32-36,41).

And, of course, Jacob and Jesus.

"And He said, Let Me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me....

And He blessed him there." (Gen. 32:26,29).

Insolent, weepy, and clingy. Useless wretches? Worst specimens of the great leaders of the world! How can such a motely crew ever make up a kingdom that will endure for eternity?

"God hath chosen the foolish things of the world... and God hath chosen the weak things of the world; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen." (1Cor. 2:27,28)

"To the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the basest of men." (Dan. 4:17).

"...the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase." (Vs. 37).

His kingdom is not built like anything Satan has ever made. Christ's kingdom is upside down to Satan's kingdom. 

"But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Matt. 20:26-28).

"A book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name." (Mal. 3:16).

If, if, and if, whoa!

"The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven: His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men.

The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul hateth.

Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup." (Psa. 11:4-6).

If the heavenly sanctuary is located just across the way in the next arm of our galaxy, and if Jesus will leave there at the close of probationary time, and if we can only endure a little of the great tribulation such as never was since there ever was a persecution, a crusade, a genocide, or a totalitarian regime, then Jesus must travel much faster than the speed of light.

The Orion Nebula is 1,350+ a few light-years distant. To travel at the speed of light for a year it would take Him 1,350 years to deliver His children. If they can endure at least a year of starving, being blamed for the tormenting plagues that will blanket the world, and therefore being hunted like fugitives or like dangerous animals, then He must travel 1,350 X 186,000 miles per second, 251,100,000 miles per second over a period of a year. But a year of endurance is not realistic.

Nevertheless, cosmic distances are immense. If they can't endure a year long, never-before-seen time of trouble, then He must travel faster, and if they can only endure 3 months, then He must travel 4 times faster, at 1,104,400,000 miles per second. If only 1 month of hiding, fasting, and furious praying and supplication is all they can endure, then Jesus must travel 3 times faster, at over three billion miles per second. (Please do your own math and correct me if I'm wrong.)

If they can only endure two weeks, then He would need to double the last speed to over six billion miles per second. But nothing is too hard for the Lord.

And that might explain why His cloud appears visibly dark at first sight. Even when He is slowing as He nears Earth, He is traveling faster than the speed of light until His entourage comes to a stop, and the glory is insufferably brilliant for the angry wicked.

Over twenty years of keeping a body toxin free

"It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones." (Prov. 3:8).

In the late 1990s an SDA health message apostle recommended the following practice. It sounded right,  costed nothing, and was so simple, that I immediately adopted it. It was so effective in giving me energy that I have continued it to this day. I got a deep, settled peace and it made me so energetic that I would run 2-3 miles afterwards. Water and a body free from toxin build-up is a strong, happy body. Like they say about mother's, "When Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!" The same goes for the colon and gut. Our bodies are exposed to pollutants from what we breathe, drink, even from the natural by-product from digesting a proper vegan diet. Even our thoughts can create stress, and thus, toxins. Every cell is working to fend off external pollution and expel the exhaust of all of its microacopic factories.

Aside from major catastrophes which are rare, under normal conditions when it comes to influencing our days and nights, the gut has the lion's share. When the GI tract isn't happy, "ain't nobody happy!" So, let's keep our gut rejoicing. Then our mind will be happier, and our spirit will be more open to Jesus.

The article below says it all:

"Daily Detox - A Simple Morning Routine for a Healthier Gut

Try this Japanese morning habit for better digestive health and increased overall vitality.

The Japanese are champions of health and longevity. 

Japan has ranked number one in the world in life expectancy for well over a decade — according to the World Health Organization’s life tables (2015) — with an average life expectancy of 83 years of age. The global average was around 72. These people are doing something right, and it may be worth paying attention to their daily habits.

A Morning Flush of Warm Water

 

For decades, the Japanese have used a simple but effective daily therapy: four glasses of water right after waking up — before food, coffee, or even teeth brushing. It is known to help cure headaches, body aches and obesity by detoxifying cells and cleansing the colon.

Starting the day with water seems logical, considering: 

The human body is 60% water.  

Water is main component of the body’s 100 trillion dynamic cells — that make up our tissues, organs and skeleton.  

Blood is mostly water, which transports nutrients and oxygen around the body. 

It doesn’t pack the same morning jolt as a cup of coffee or satisfaction as a breakfast sandwich, sure. It’s like a good opening band at a rock concert — it’s not what you’re there for, but it sets the stage for an electric performance.

A Great Way to Break the Fast

 

A six to twelve hour sleep is the longest time many people go without eating or drinking anything in a 24-hour period. It is essentially a fast. The digestive tract is free and clear, meaning the first guest will have the place to themselves.

This Japanese morning ritual (which is similar to an Ayurvedic practice called Ushapan) suggests that the best way to break this fast is with water, for the optimal health of our digestive system. Starting the day with water is a golden opportunity for the body to: 

Release Toxins — Warm water first thing in the morning helps your body with the elimination process, stimulating the digestive system and clearing it of toxins and waste.  

Maximize Absorption — For many, the gut is constantly bombarded with simple sugars, processed foods, caffeine, alcohol and prescription drugs that inhibit the absorption of important nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Morning water therapy is a gentle way to stimulate and wake up the fragile walls of the small intestine and colon so they can better absorb nutrients throughout the day.  

Stimulate Appetite — One benefit I have noticed is that when I wake up with knots in my stomach and feel I am unable to eat, morning water therapy helps to untwist those knots. When I finish the protocol, I’m ready to stomach a hearty breakfast. 

Immediate morning hydration also replenishes what was lost during sleep, through sweating, breathing and formation of urine, so the cells and blood are properly replenished first thing.

Admittedly, it can be difficult to steer away from a warm, aromatic cup of coffee or tea to get the day going. However, caffeine is a diuretic — meaning it drains the system of vital nutrients while stealing more than it’s value of liquid, dehydrating the body. For optimal health and digestive function, save the coffee for mid morning when you’re already hydrated and sufficiently cleansed.

Instructions — Best Practices for Morning Water Therapy 

Drink 4 glasses of water immediately after waking, before consuming anything else. Avoid cold water.  

Don’t eat or drink for 45 minutes. This is a good time to brush your teeth, get ready, stretch, shower or prepare breakfast.  

After 45 minutes, eat and drink as normal.  

After eating, avoid drinking for two hours.  

For first timers, or the sick or elderly that find 4 glasses difficult, start with a lower quantity and work your way up over time. 

The warmer the better.

This may sound counter intuitive — most people turn up their nose at a glass of warm water — but imagine jumping into an ice cold lake. Your skin tightens, as does your entire body. A warm bath however, opens up your pores and promotes relaxation of the skin.

This is what happens in your digestive tract as well. A warm glass of water will stimulate digestive enzymes while loosening and moving the bowels, and is easier for the body to absorb as hydration. It’s like giving your bowels a steam clean every morning before putting them to work.

Make It Your Own

 

Healthy morning routines shouldn’t feel like a chore. If they do, they’re not likely to last. Find different ways to make it work for you and your lifestyle. Some ways to make it a sustainable habit include: 

Timing — Sort out a way to fit it into your morning. You may have to wake up a little earlier, but sipping on water is as simple a task as you can start your day with. This can be a rare moment for yourself in the day, for reflection, reading or just relaxing. Reserve showering, getting dressed and teeth brushing for after you drink your four, as you’ll have to kill 45 minutes before eating.  

Lemon — This is outside the Japanese protocol, but if you’re bored with plain water this is a far better option than passing on morning water entirely. A splash of real lemon juice helps the taste while adding vitamin C to your morning. 

Other Tips 

Filtered Water — Not all water is created equal. Depending on location, building and pipes, you may have an abundance of healthy minerals, or a high concentration of harmful chlorine. To be safe, use a mineral water filter, and heat it in a pot or kettle.  

Pinch of Salt — If you don’t have much salt in your diet, consider adding a pinch of salt to one of your morning glasses. This helps the body absorb and retain the water. 

Disclaimer: Don’t overdo it. Drinking an extreme amount of water in a short time can lead to a condition called hyponatremia, which causes sodium levels in the body to drop and can be fatal. This is extremely rare, and occurs when one drinks several litres in one sitting, so if you’ve got some sense you’ll be just fine.

I once spent four months in Japan, working at a ski lodge. The cook — a sweet Japanese lady with a limited English vocabulary — often would hand me a strange dish while saying 'soooooo, just try'.

So, just try — challenge yourself to implement this morning routine for one full week. Assess how you feel after — digestion, morning brain fog, and of course, bowel movements."

(https://www.cimed.ca/single-post/2017/10/30/drink-water-first-thing-for-better-health)

Deep humiliation before the Father and deep repentance before the Son

"And Peter...went out, and wept bitterly." (Matt. 26:75).

The Passover lamb lived in the house, binding itself to the family's hearts. Theirs was an agrarian society so no one could be unfamiliar with the gentleness of the sheep, and especially of the innocent lambs.  After four days Jehovah had commanded that that loving animal be slain, who, without discrimination, only ever loved every person in the house. Nothing else but the death of a loved one who represented the Son of God, could create in them sorrow for sin. The same was true for Abel and Adam. This is why the people of God were given the agrarian life. Brokenness of heart was everything to the holy God. And their humbling and repentance was the only reason Jehovah could pardon them, individually and as a nation. This requirement has not changed for today's Israel of God, His church. 

When was the last time we did like Peter after he denied his beloved Master, when Jesus had the greatest need for His friend's loyalty and sympathy and to see a model of virtue and self-sacrifice, which He had trained Peter to be? And, seeing his Master look at him having the same tender, unchanged love that He had always had, Peter was totally ashamed and revolting at his act of betrayal. 

And sorry to no end, the despairing disciple ran back to where he last saw Jesus, and fell on the same spot, digging his fingers into the dewy earth in total anguish and wishing to do it all over again right, but hopeless to see that wish come true. The rest of that night, sobbing and wrestling and hating self, and wanting judgment day to happen then and there.

Peter, for the first time, saw himself as God saw him, as he really was. And the sight was a horror movie. In his vile wretchedness he passed in review before all heaven and Earth. It was Judgment Day, and forever afterward Judgment would abide on his head.

This experience, like none other in all his discipleship, prepared Peter for the ministry that Jesus needed for preparing the world to hear the truth about His Father and His coming eternal kingdom. All self-dependence, all self-confidence, must be pulled up by the roots, no matter how painful that would be.

The coming kingdom would be holy, no particle of self will exist there. Therefore no misrepresentation of true holiness can be permissible in the continuing work of making more disciples until Jesus would return. 

Now here we are, down at the other end of the work of cooperating in garnering people who will make up the kingdom. Are we in the same need to be tested as the disciples were during Christ's first ministry? Are we hearing about the big trials ahead, but letting it just go in one and out the other, just like the disciples did?

How else than by reliving Peter's terrible deed, and fearing to do the same, can we keep from repeating it. All our preparation for the big test ahead must come by remembering how Jesus' closest companions fled from laying down their lives for Him and His Father, and for Their eternal kingdom, and then wrestling before the accusations of the straight testimony of the true Witness. How else than by seriously fearing to bale out at the end.

"I saw some, with strong faith and agonizing cries, pleading with God. Their countenances were pale and marked with deep anxiety, expressive of their internal struggle. Firmness and great earnestness was expressed in their countenances; large drops of perspiration fell from their foreheads. Now and then their faces would light up with the marks of God's approbation, and again the same solemn, earnest, anxious look would settle upon them.

Evil angels crowded around, pressing darkness upon them to shut out Jesus from their view, that their eyes might be drawn to the darkness that surrounded them, and thus they be led to distrust God and murmur against Him. Their only safety was in keeping their eyes directed upward. Angels of God had charge over His people, and as the poisonous atmosphere of evil angels was pressed around these anxious ones, the heavenly angels were continually wafting their wings over them to scatter the thick darkness.

As the praying ones continued their earnest cries, at times a ray of light from Jesus came to them, to encourage their hearts and light up their countenances. Some, I saw, did not participate in this work of agonizing and pleading. They seemed indifferent and careless. They were not resisting the darkness around them, and it shut them in like a thick cloud. The angels of God left these and went to the aid of the earnest, praying ones. I saw angels of God hasten to the assistance of all who were struggling with all their power to resist the evil angels and trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance. But His angels left those who made no effort to help themselves, and I lost sight of them.

I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth....

I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God's people.

I saw that the testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance; all who truly receive it will obey it and be purified.

Said the angel, 'List ye!' Soon I heard a voice like many musical instruments all sounding in perfect strains, sweet and harmonious. It surpassed any music I had ever heard, seeming to be full of mercy, compassion, and elevating, holy joy. It thrilled through my whole being. Said the angel, 'Look ye!' My attention was then turned to the company I had seen, who were mightily shaken. I was shown those whom I had before seen weeping and praying in agony of spirit. The company of guardian angels around them had been doubled, and they were clothed with an armor from their head to their feet. They moved in exact order, like a company of soldiers. Their countenances expressed the severe conflict which they had endured, the agonizing struggle they had passed through. Yet their features, marked with severe internal anguish, now shone with the light and glory of heaven. They had obtained the victory, and it called forth from them the deepest gratitude and holy, sacred joy.

The numbers of this company had lessened. Some had been shaken out and left by the way. The careless and indifferent, who did not join with those who prized victory and salvation enough to perseveringly plead and agonize for it, did not obtain it, and they were left behind in darkness, and their places were immediately filled by others taking hold of the truth and coming into the ranks. Evil angels still pressed around them, but could have no power over them." Early Writings, p. 269-271.

If we aren't reliving Peter's terrible night, and if we aren't admitting to ourselves of being no better, no braver, than the disciples, then we will end up foolish virgins without the extra experience of humiliation and without repentance for all our unfaithfulness, and we will not be able to get that experience when danger is ever present. We will be too busy running and hiding in our own upper room. That won't be excusable at the last test.

But, if we play around with this issue, make no mistake, Jesus will have people waiting on Him when He comes in His Father's glory. But if we fail to heed the Spirit of Prophecy, we will be left in the dark, empty of the oil of His Spirit, and hoping It will lighten our hearts at the very end. But we will be scripural statistics. We will cry out for some mercy to those who afflicted their souls while Jesus was near, and agonized before Him in His straight testimony while He could be found as a Comforter and Transformer. 

And we will hear the helpful, yet,  horrific news, "Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves." (Matt. 25:9).

Righteousness by wretchedness

"Just persons, which need no repentance." (Luke 15:7).

A friend recommended this title be, Righteousness or Wretchedness, which is a good title, too. But I prefer it like it is because no one can be saved without going through the agonizing experience of Romans 7.

 

The hardest thing for righteous people is to be saved. Probably the best example of this is the subject of the first biblical book written. The all-important lesson learned by Job.

Jesus declared Job righteous. Job had made great strides in sanctification. He was keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. He was walking closely with Jesus like his contemporaries, Abraham, Isaac, and Isreal.

But Job had one deficiency--he knew that he was righteous. His eyes were not completely on Him who saved His child from his sins. He was not consumed by eternal indebtedness to his Lord. That self-awareness left him unfortified against accusing heaven of having it out for him. It left him convinced that God was arbitrary in His justice by giving him the common treatment of runaway slaves, cutting his heels.

"Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; Thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet." (Job 13:27).

After the first three workers of iniquity only hardened Job inpenitence, a young man of God spoke up. Elihu single-handedly did what all three couldn't do. They couldn't convince St. Job of sin,

when ganged up against him because they were bigger saints than Job was. Their self-made righteousness was bigger than his. "Compared to our righteousness, we declare you guilty."

"So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.

Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job." (Job 33:1-3).

So Elihu commenced to saving his elder by the Spirit of Jesus.

"Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,

I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.

Behold, He findeth occasions against me, He counteth me for His enemy,

He putteth my feet in the stocks, He marketh all my paths." (Job 33:8-11).

"There are some who seem to be always seeking for the heavenly pearl. But they do not make an entire surrender of their wrong habits. They do not die to self that Christ may live in them. Therefore they do not find the precious pearl. They have not overcome unholy ambition and their love for worldly attractions. They do not take up the cross and follow Christ in the path of self-denial and sacrifice. Almost Christians, yet not fully Christians, they seem near the kingdom of heaven, but they cannot enter there. Almost but not wholly saved, means to be not almost but wholly lost." Christ's Object Lessons, p. 118.

The love conundrum

"If ye love Me, keep My commandments.... He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me.... If a man love Me, he will keep My words." (John 14:15,21,23).

The Law of love requires love in order to be kept; the Law is not a creator of love. We can't say that by being a good person, and keeping the Law, that we love.

So if obeying the Law doesn't make me loving, and not loving is breaking the law for which I will be damned, and I can't create love, then what's the use bothering with God and religion? 

What if some people don't have the love gene? What if some people are socially challenged? Yet, people judge us if we don't love. In every culture the world round, not loving, not being a friend, not being social, gets people ostracized real quick.

Since the day I was born, when people didn't love me then I didn't feel like loving them. But, that makes me a breaker of the Law. And if God doesn't love me, or if my perception is that He doesn't love me, then I don't love Him, and can't therefore keep His Law. And I think that that is what has caused the worldwide sin problem. We are born separated from God and cut off from His bosom of everlasting love.

Paul's terrible Romans 7 struggle to do righteousness was caused by this very conundrum. Paul just didn't know it. But by the end of the struggle he learned that love was the only cause of right doing. Once he collapsed into a hopeless reprobate in verse 24, then came his spiritual meltdown, and God had the opening, the "access" (Rom. 5:2), that He was waiting for. Now His son could learn the science of obedience.

Only by being loved do we have the incentive to love, and thus become enabled to keep the Law. As creatures we don't have the strength to love without being loved. Only God can love without being loved. But when we are born from above, then His Spirit is in us, and we can love like He loves--under all circumstances. His Spirit is so big that His love is "shed abroad in our hearts." (Rom. 5:5), and "we glory in tribulations" (verse 3), i.e. we have the grace to love enemies. 

We can love when we are hated. We can love when we are castigated. We can love when calumny is heaped upon us. Even our imaginary enemies cease to be a problem. People don't have to love us first in order for us to love them in return. God initiated the process. He loved us first. In the rebirth, and apart from all earthly relationships, the cycle of "you love me first, and then I'll love you", happened spiritually with God, who alone could cope with the inequity of it all. Now no human has to bear the curse of being the initiator of a relationship.

So, the question is answered: how does love come? By having possessions? Prestige? Being respected? Having a good time? Seeing beauty? Being comfortable? Being busy? Having accomplishments? Wealth? Health? Does love come from philanthropy? From service to others? Symphathizing? By offering to God "thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?" (Mic. 6:7). And on and on we could go. But we all know deep down that love doesn't come from any of these things. None of them gives love. Love only comes when we are loved.

"Love for Christ was awakening in the [rich, young] ruler's heart; for love begets love." Desire of Ages, p. 519.

"Only by love is love awakened." Ibid. p. 22.

"We love Him, because He first loved us." (1John 4:19). We can't love Him until He first loves us.

Mother Theresa spent the last 50 years of her life dragging herself around to help others. She confessed to her confessors that Jesus wasn't with her, which left her in a deep depression. I believe that, despite her lack of connection, and therefore despite her less than perfect ministry for the lack of dwelling in God's love, she will come up in the great resurrection, glorying in her Saviour as she connects with Him face to face. She will be the first to cast her glittering crown at His feet.

 "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter [Jesus in Spirit], that He may abide with you for ever;... I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:16,18).

The Shaking labor and the Refreshing Sabbath from the presence of Jesus

"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." (Heb. 4:9).

"On page 33 is given the following: 'I saw that the holy Sabbath is, and will be, the separating wall between the true Israel of God and unbelievers; and that the Sabbath is the great question to unite the hearts of God's dear, waiting saints. I saw that God had children who do not see and keep the Sabbath. They have not rejected the light upon it. And at the commencement of the time of trouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully.' 

This view was given in 1847 when there were but very few of the Advent brethren observing the Sabbath, and of these but few supposed that its observance was of sufficient importance to draw a line between the people of God and unbelievers. Now the fulfillment of that view is beginning to be seen. 'The commencement of that time of trouble,' here mentioned does not refer to the time when the plagues shall begin to be poured out, but to a short period just before they are poured out, while Christ is in the sanctuary. At that time, while the work of salvation is closing, trouble will be coming on the earth, and the nations will be angry, yet held in check so as not to prevent the work of the third angel. At that time the 'latter rain,' or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come, to give power to the loud voice of the third angel, and prepare the saints to stand in the period when the seven last plagues shall be poured out.'"

Taking another look at this statement I understood something new about the Latter Rain.

First, the Latter Rain comes "while the work of salvation is closing". I have always assumed that that meant the work of salvation on earth. But that is not what the context indicates. Just prior to this phrase is its parallel phrase, "while Christ is in the sanctuary". Knowing the greater context being the first time of trouble, this part B of the parallelism must infer that the work of salvation that is closing is Jesus wrapping up His work in the Most Holy Place. 

This means that Christ's work of salvation that is closing is the end of the investigative judgment, and the finishing of the judgment of the living. So, we should view the work of salvation not as the 2,000 year, Christian Dispensation work. Rather, as a last days, Advent movement, work of salvation. It is specifically Christ's work of putting the seal of God in the foreheads of the elect.

Another new understanding, new to me, is its connection to the Sabbath, or Ellen White's qualification, "more fully". "...we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully.” Isn't this fuller presentation the product of being filled with the Holy Ghost? Isn't this presentation of the Sabbath parallel to the "refreshing from the presence of the Lord"? 

So, the picture is filling in that the revival of the Sabbath rest comes from being filled with the Spirit of the Lord, a refreshing from the presence of Him who is the Holy Ghost, in the sense that He is the Bearer of His Father's Holy Spirit because He alone inherited divinity. Since His begetting, from the days of eternity, He has been equal with God. "That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him." (John 5:23).

"The Holy Ghost sent down from heaven" (1Pet. 1:12) is Jesus who was present in the Early Rain as He was, more anciently, in the prophets when they "testified beforehand" of His first advent, "the Spirit of Christ" first testifying "in them." (1Pet. 1:11, cf 2Pet. 1:21; Rev. 1:1).

The Holy Ghost, or, Spirit, is synonymous with Jesus. He is "the Messenger of the covenant" (Mal. 3:1), the Apostle of apostles bearing the embassage of His Father's reconciliation. Jesus, who is the truth, is the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of Prophecy is His personal testimony, "God's thought made audible." Desire of Ages, p. 19.

But this reconciliation between God and man is a greater atonement than the antitype of the Leviticus 4 atonements. It is the atonement of Leviticus 16, the great cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. Its cleansing causes the Latter Rain of the Holy Spirit to fall. No more sins are coming into the heavenly sanctuary. 

But, how does it happen that sins stop coming into the heavenly sanctuary?Again, the context of Early Writings page 85 helps us know.

"Trouble will be coming on the earth." This must be a primary cause of another vision Ellen White had that spoke to the last preaching in the earth. That vision was the shaking. In that vision she wrote,

"I saw some, with strong faith and agonizing cries, pleading with God. Their countenances were pale and marked with deep anxiety, expressive of their internal struggle. Firmness and great earnestness was expressed in their countenances; large drops of perspiration fell from their foreheads. Now and then their faces would light up with the marks of God's approbation, and again the same solemn, earnest, anxious look would settle upon them...." Early Writings, p. 269.

This was the first of three shakings. It was the individual shaking. Following the individual came the church shaking. And finally a global shaking.

And I see another connection between the Shaking vision and the Refreshing vision because both end with great power being given to the final message. Regarding the Refreshing vision, Ellen White wrote: "At that time the 'latter rain,' or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come, to give power to the loud voice of the third angel...."

And regarding the Shaking vision, she wrote:

"'Look ye!' My attention was then turned to the company I had seen, who were mightily shaken. I was shown those whom I had before seen weeping and praying in agony of spirit. The company of guardian angels around them had been doubled, and they were clothed with an armor from their head to their feet. They moved in exact order, like a company of soldiers. Their countenances expressed the severe conflict which they had endured, the agonizing struggle they had passed through. Yet their features, marked with severe internal anguish, now shone with the light and glory of heaven. They had obtained the victory, and it called forth from them the deepest gratitude and holy, sacred joy....

I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power. It had effect.... I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, 'It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel.'

Great power was with these chosen ones...." Ibid. p. 272,273.

And what led up to this great power? "They had obtained the victory, and it called forth from them the deepest gratitude and holy, sacred joy." The victory over what? The victory over their sins. How? They overcame by the truth and grace from Christ, that is, by the pointed and powerful Law of God and the everlasting gospel. They overcame self through the blood of the Lamb and by agonizing and striving with all that was within them to accept the curse of the Testimony of Jesus against their idols, and for stronger faith to see Jesus.

"I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony." Early Writings, p. 270.

"Evil angels crowded around, pressing darkness upon them to shut out Jesus from their view, that their eyes might be drawn to the darkness that surrounded them, and thus they be led to distrust God and murmur against Him. Their only safety was in keeping their eyes directed upward.... struggling with all their power to resist the evil angels and trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance." Early Writings, p. 270. 

This is what all the agonizing was about. With the assistance of holy angels wafting their wings of light scattering the darkness that had covered the earth, the elect were purified, victorious, and chosen.  The struggle is described as "diligent effort" in The Great Controversy;

"Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil. While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God's people upon earth." Great Controversy, p. 425.

In conclusion, we see that the Latter Rain will be a time of deep gratitude and holy, sacred joy that follows a time of horrific battling to wrestle with the strong condemnation from the straight Testimony of Jesus and a severe fight to keep Jesus in our confidence and view. That battle will end in the victory over all deficiencies and deformities, and will result in a manifested blotting out of sin in the books of the heavenly sanctuary.

The cleansed sanctuary will be the reason for the greatest Sabbath refreshing since the first great revival 235 years after Adam fell. As it is written, "And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord." (Gen. 4:26).

The heavenly sanctuary cleansed will empower the 144,000 to preach the gospel to the whole world for a witness to "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people". (Rev. 14:6). Their faces had changed from "the agonizing struggle they had passed through.... their features, marked with severe internal anguish, now shone with the light and glory of heaven." "Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from heaven. By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given. Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers." Great Controversy, p. 612.

Then the Abomination of Desolation will react with superhuman strength to silence the Gethsemane victors over self. This eighth head of the Beast will exalt itself in the hearts of the world masses. It will stand as if heaven is on earth, and then will come the great time of trouble.

At the apex of that tribulation Satan will arrive to congratulate the efforts of his overthrow of Noah's Old World Order of familial love and righteous law. Amidst fire falling upon the earth in the sight of men, the finale of Satan's thrust to control the conscience of every human being will be accomplished.

All who refused the Third angel's message will be spellbound by Satan's masterpiece of deception, and beholden to follow his impersonation of Christ. Their end will be that of King Saul. The foolish professors of faith in Jesus, who refused to heed the straight testimony, will know they are cut off and hopelessly left out of the Latter Rain, which was the only preparation for "the saints to stand in the period when the seven last plagues shall be poured out". Early Writings, p. 85.

They wouldn't seek the Lord while He could be found, and He was never found in them. He never knew them.

"The careless and indifferent, who did not join with those who prized victory and salvation enough to perseveringly plead and agonize for it, did not obtain it, and they were left behind in darkness, and their places were immediately filled by others taking hold of the truth and coming into the ranks." Early Writings, p. 271.

 

Let no one think that the Latter Rain will fall on anyone who avoids wrestling with the Spirit of Prophecy counsels, like Paul did the Law in Romans 7. The Latter Rain of the Holy Spirit will be the refreshing Sabbath experience that always comes in "the presence of Him who has directed in every aggressive movement, who has accompanied the march of His cause through all the ages, and who has graciously pledged Himself to be with His people in all their conflicts to the end of the world. He will vindicate His truth. He will cause it to triumph." Selected Messages, bk. 3, p. 426.

That is Jesus.

No human measure for angels dancing on the head of a needle

"The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1Cor. 2:14).

Spiritual things can never be understood or measured by earthly instruments. Such absurd ventures can be only laughable. No Geiger Counter or dosimeter, no electron microscope, no seismometer, can see or experiment with or measure the effects of the grace of God and the work of holy angels upon the human heart. Audacious utter nonsense! How can electronics

detect the elect? The conscience is off-limits to proud sinners. Truth, the seal of God in the forehead, the spiritual attraction between the heart of God and man, the untouched mind asks, "How can these things be?" Take off your shoes, gentlemen! You, who would not be convicted by God's Law, are trespassing on holy ground!

There is no laser scalpel that can dissect the spirit in the human mind. No philosophy can boil love down to some kind of basic molecular structure or genetic predisposition. Everything material that involves itself in the manipulation of immaterial life and

spirit is crude and destructive. Gentlemen, your Maker warns you off, "He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad." (Matt. 12:30).

The search for the "God" particle through matter-antimatter accelerator colliders would be a complete mismanagement of taxpayer wealth. Technology can never chance upon the Creator! Pour your funding into selflessness. Expose your minds to His convicting commandments. Be convinced of its authority. "Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God." (Prov. 2:5).

The scales will fall off your eyes. You will disdain the deceptions from the National Academy of sciences. You will flee its atheistic approach to truth. You would see it as the pandemic that it is, which "shall devour the whole world." (Dan. 7:23). You will be disgusted at its falsehoods and its nefarious agenda to funnel humanity into the lake of fire so that their doomed masters can see the final exponential sorrow of the Father and Son.

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." (2Cor. 4:3,4).

Listen to the wise man teaching the folks of affluent and atheistic ancient Corinth. Listen to his instructive and personal appeals to faith for finding God.

"And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect [redeemed through faith]: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.

But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? but we have the mind of Christ." (1Corinthians 2).

God, being Spirit, doesn't make Him beyond time, space, or matter. He said, "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language...." (Gen. 11:7). He went down. He left heaven and came to planet Earth. Likewise, Daniel saw an event in the heavenly sanctuary. "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days 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.... 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. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." (Dan. 7:9,13,14).

Those were real angelic beings, escorted a real divine Being, Jehovah tsabaoth (Lord of hosts), Elohim. It showed the judgment of Satan and his work on earth. John could see that vision by faith, that is, he had surrendered to the grace of Jesus and thereby to the Law of God, and his spirit was made reconciled and united with the Spirit of the Ancient of days through the One like the son of Adam. His heart, for so long open to God's will, gave him the instrumentation needed to discern the message from God to Jesus through Gabriel.

Only trusting Christ's love, and obedience via that faith, open us to see the kingdom of God and its goings on. A debate will do nothing to open the heart and soul to enter and see God's kingdom. The most that apologetics and debates provide is human philosophy and tradition, persecution and death, because the spirit of Satan remains freed to work in the polluted spirits of his subjects.

Truth, under the all-wise Spirit of the only-begotten, self-sacrificing Saviour, the Spirit of truth, alone can provide the humbling conviction of pride and the entrance for the knowledge that leads to overthrow the grip of sin that Satan has on us. Humbling love and righteousness are the only hope for atheism. Satan laughs at logic, and every other created thing that is designed to describe the divine. Paintings of the Father are a blasphemy, and exorcists against Satan are his highest derision.

The presence of God's requirements alone, "the entrance of Thy word" (Psa. 119:130), will agitate and drive out the devils from the believing soul. This is the only true science that describes holy angelic spirits and the holy divine Spirit that unites the Father and Son. Curiosity gets no one anywhere. The real fountain of youth is in words that are correctly arranged, like apples of gold in pictures of silver. He that seeth the Son and receiveth Him will have everlasting (infinite) life. This is the will and provision of God the Father. John 6:40.

Let us exhort one another in the truth from God and the grace seen and heard from Jesus.

Beautiful art, exciting experiences, fun, adventures, hobbies, eating, substances breathed or drank, recreation, entertainment, exercise of the intellectual, money making, and even religion, are invented to be the comprehensive net spread out by the mastermind fiend "which deceiveth the whole world" (Rev. 12:9).

By one, or all of these, millions upon millions of apparently innocuous and/or obviously evil sidetracks eskew truth and grace from the biblical Father, Son, and Their holy family in heaven. Millions of voices purport to have the solution for this world's emptiness and anxiety. Jesus forrwarned concerning the end, "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." (Matt. 24:4,5).

The ancient Serpent, who deceives the world today, prevented the whole antediluvian world from getting on the ark. His multiplied prophets are doing the same today. Only the verified, last days prophet to the world faithfully kept before the Advent movement the warning of the apostles, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 

The divine science brings before the mind of men, women, and children all the conviction of sin, like an ax laid to the root of the tree. They are kept under the condemning curses of the Father's Law, completely shut away from the peace and grace that He will pour on their souls once He adjudges true sorrow for all their ingratitude and lusts, all their idols and secretly adored gods. 

Once the Father has accomplished His chastisement of their peace, and they are whittled down to genuine children confessing their wretchedness and seeking a Saviour from their life of sin, then He reveals His battered and murdered Servant. Under the shadow of the cross, His candidates for eternity are brought into magnified condemnation and sorrow. In their perfect rights to deserve eternal destruction, but hoping in infinite mercy, trembling they fall on their face awaiting their verdict. When they see that the sentence is the anointing, then they know that they are accepted of God. They rise up a new being, petrified in the image of Jesus. Heaven has been granted them. All that they ever wanted was His acceptance. And that they have.

The "high day" and the "three-days-three-nights"

"Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?

 She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.

 She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.

 Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man." (Prov. 8:1-4).

I've been confused by all the information that this subject has required for its resolution. I sure would like to see it resolved in my mind. While it's an old argument, is it solved? Do we disgard it because Ellen White wrote that Jesus rested in the tomb over the weekly, seventh day Sabbath? Does proving a three-days-three-nights rest before His resurrection destroy His testimony, which is the Spirit of Prophecy given to Sr. White? We have stood staunchly, not stubbornly, behind Ellen White's stance on many doctrines that clashed with the other denominations, even standing against the atheistic Evolution and allopathic-Pharmaceutical medical communities. And scientific discovery has vindicated us. Will the testimony of Jesus come through for us again on our Friday sacrifice-seventh day rest-Sunday sunrise conflict?

Is this an all important issue that might draw us away from the more important issues of the heart and of redemption? Is it so important that it can overshadow the investigative judgment that prepares us for the sealing and the Latter Rain? Could it supplant the message of God's love, which alone meets the needs of the soul? Or rather, can this issue add much needed credence to scriptures' hedge of protection against the incursion of pagan errors that so often have co-opted truth ultimately for the scriptures' demise?

Is there hiding behind the Good Friday burial really a secret holy war between Catholic and anti-Catholic human traditions? Might the truth be a third thing? 

Historically, it does seem that Truth and error meet at a juncture where error is divided between two livid enemies, and Truth cooly comes out of nowhere, and, in His divine self-control, wins the day. "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (Rev. 22:20).

Wikipedia states:

"The Gospel of John says of the day beginning following Christ's death, 'that sabbath day was a high day' (19:31–42). That night was Nisan 15, just after the first day of Passover week (Unleavened Bread) and an annual miqra ['called assembly'] and rest day, in most chronologies. (In other systems, it was Nisan 13 or 14, i.e., weekly but not annual Sabbath.) The King James Version may thus be the origin of naming the annual rest days 'High Sabbaths' in English.

As coincidental with weekly Sabbaths

High Sabbaths are considered by Seventh-day Adventists and other seventh-day Sabbath keepers to be a subset of the feast sabbaths. In their view, only those feast sabbaths that coincide with the weekly Sabbath are regarded as High Sabbaths." 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Sabbaths#Biblical_rest_days

I believe that Wikipedia is saying that only Sabbath-keeping churches hold that the "high day" of John 19:31 was high when the weekly Sabbath aligned with an annual Sabbath. But it can also infer that the seven annual feasts, five of which are shabbaton (sabbaths), are the real "high days" referred to by John.

If that were the case, then that could lend itself to a Thursday first day of the feast of unleavened bread sabbath and two days later the weekly Sabbath.

But, Adventist Pioneer Library makes a strong case for a Friday sacrifice from the perspectives of the "third day" and "the heart of the earth" elements. I am including the article's makeshift timeline, hoping that it comes through for the reader, but knowing from personal experience that it will be severely challenging for audiences using a cellphone like I am.

             FRIDAY                  SATURDAY                       SUNDAY         

  1st of the 3 days.             2nd of the 3 days.               3rd of the 3 days.  

==========         =========              ========== 

 NIGHT.           DAY.       NIGHT.           DAY.       NIGHT.              DAY. 

==========                      =========                    ==========   

1|—2----------|—3------|-4-|---------------5---------------------------|6        

                                                                

| 6th Day of Week.                | 7th Day of Week.           | 1st Day of Week.          |   

|______________________|____________________|___________________| 

EXPLANATION. - First, The figure “1” marks the betrayal, near the beginning of the sixth day of the week. Second, The figure “2” marks the trial, to the third hour of the daylight part of the same day. Third, The figure “3” marks the crucifixion, from the third to the ninth hour of the sixth day. Fourth, The figure “4” marks the burial, between the ninth hour and the close of the day. Fifth, The figure “5” marks the rest in the tomb during the night and day of the seventh day, and the night of the first day. Sixth, The figure “6” marks the resurrection, early the first day of the week. Mark 16:9.

When Christ said to the chief priests and captains of the temple, who had come out to take him, “This is your hour and the power of Darkness” (Luke 22:52, 53), he set apart a peculiar period in his experience during which he was in the hands of men. This was the time when he was “in the heart of the earth.” It began with his betrayal, at the beginning of the sixth day, and ended with the resurrection on the morning of the first day of the week. Thus it will be seen that all was in strict accordance with the Jewish manner of reckoning time, as in Genesis 42:17, 18; 2 Chronicles 10:5, 12; Esther 4:16; 5:1; and with the manner in which both Christ and Paul reckoned the third day (Luke 13:31, 32; Acts 27:18, 19); and with Christ’s repeated declarations that on the third day after his betrayal into the hands of men, followed by his suffering and death, he would rise again."

https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/1294.29#55

https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/1294.78#81

Already being familiar with the definitions of "third day" argument, the perspective I found most satisfying was "in the heart of the earth". Although their illustrations could have been stronger, the context and other scriptures do bear out that the heart of the earth didn't mean what seems might be the common reading. It is true that Jesus, while in the tomb, was literally in the heart, or bosom, of the earth. In the Jonah account, "heart" is a possible translation of the Hebrew word for "belly" (Jon. 1:17) from Strong's H4578 mêʻeh, as also can "womb". And the "heart" and "belly" of the Matthew 12:40 and Jonah 1:17 prepositional phrases indicate literally, spacially inside.

But, when seen in the context, Jesus was doing His normal speaking via parable. Directly after His "belly of the whale-heart of the earth" declaration, He shows the similitude representing Jonah successfully preaching to the Ninevites, and Himself, the greatest preacher, being among the Jews that day preaching in the heart of the earth! The context makes Matthew 12:40 completely disassociated from His burial. Nothing of the Matthew 12 context concerned His arrest and death.

And, besides the Jonah sign, the Queen of Sheba gladly came from great distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon, but greater wisdom was pouring out of Christ while He was in the heart of the earth. Yet they would not come to Him that they might hear the greatest wisdom. Both the Ninevites and Queen of Sheba examples were simply opportunities for Christ to declare that a greater than Jonah and Solomon was in the nation's midst for three years.

And, as it relates to the heart of the earth, it might also be appropriate to realize that the Hebrew concept of literal earth was not our 21st century, spherical concept of Earth. In Genesis chapter 1 a new idea is gaining acceptance among Hebrew scholars that creation week didn't describe Jesus speaking into existence our cosmic sphere, but simply its land and everything on it. "In the beginning God created [the atmosphere and heavenly bodies] and [all life on the emerged landmass]."

The ancient concept of earth originating from Genesis 1, the "heart of the earth" would mean the "midst of the land". Literally situated at the crossroads of three continents, Ezekiel 5:5 indicates that Israel was at the center of the world. And Jesus inferred the same three day message in Luke 13:32 when His enemies tried to use Herod in order to scare Him away from finishing His mission. 

"And He said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected."

The first two days of the three days in the heart of the earth was His ministry in the hearts of the people, healing their beloved diseased and demon possessed. And that work was in keeping with the typical Passover lambs. Those yearlings spent 3 1/2 days in the hearts of the families for whom they would die, just as the Messiah would work in the hearts of the Jews 3 1/2 years and then die "for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament", that "they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." (Heb. 9:15).

I would like to add one more thought to the "third day" prophecy that was actually 2 1/2 days per the Adventist Pioneer Library, when beginning at Christ's betrayal (and could it not begin earlier at the pouring out of His soul in Gethsemane?) until His resurrection from the tomb. Bible students often do not realize prophetic time periods until after their fulfillment, neither do Bible students calculate the time periods correctly before their fulfillment. 

For example, the 430 year "captivity" in Egypt did not begin at the Pharaoh who didn't know Joseph, but rather at the covenant between God and Abraham when the bad news of captivity was told to him. 215 years passed between that year and the entrance of Jacob's family to sojourn in the land of Goshen. And, after that, 215 years passed until the Exodus. This conflicts with many believing in a four century Egyptian enslavement still to our day.

"Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." (Exo. 12:40,41).

Similarly, "three days", "in three days", "on the third day" may calculate differently than the plain reading may expect. But taking all inputs and facts into consideration, the truth will win in the end.

So, the rest of the six part defense by Adventist Pioneer Library (originated by Uriah Smith) should be looked at. Ellen White was right. But I will paste the link for an opposing view, which was a bit invective against Adventism, and which I confess I haven't spent much time on. But I may if time permits.

http://intercontinentalcog.org/Appendix/Passover_dates_26-34_AD.php