Edom, Moab, and the Chief Children of Ammon

Dear Brother Jeff,
Our small group of brethren spent this Sabbath listening to your White Salmon messages. One brother in particular (who was not at the Monday night meeting that we had with you) is struggling with your explanation of Moab, Edom and the chief children of Ammon in Daniel 11:41. He does not see the word ‘people’ in the verse i.e. these shall escape from his hand, ‘people’ from Moab, ‘people’ from Edom and ‘people’ from the chief children of Ammon. He sees the wording stating that the complete entities of Moab, Edom & Ammon escape, so he does not see your logic in saying that some people from each of these entities escapes from the Papacy’s hand. Am I making sense?
His other question was regarding your statement that probation closes for SDAs at the Sunday Law. His question is: Are you saying that those who are sealed at the Sunday law will live a sinless life and there is no more forgiveness for them? God’s Blessings to you and your family, KB.
Response
KB,
Testimonies volume 5, page 214 and onward speaks of those who are sealed. I am out of the country right now, so I will paraphrase this passage. She states: “Those who receive the seal of God will not have one spot or stain upon their character. . . It is left with us to remedy the defects of our character. . . When the decree goes forth their characters will remain pure and spotless for eternity.” This brother ’s argument is one of the arguments that is consistently raised against this message. I have heard this question many, many times. I always turn to this passage in Testimonies, (but this is not the only place where this truth is identified). But my answer is this. No, I did not say that, “When the Sunday law arrives, those who receive the seal of God will no longer sin”: Inspiration says that: “their characters will remain pure and spotless for eternity”.
1 Corinthians 14:32 teaches that the prophets all agree with one another, and the next verse states that God is not the author of confusion. 1 Corinthians 10:11 teaches that the prophets were all identifying the end of the world. There are several passages in the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy that uphold these two principles.
Once we acknowledge these two principles, then we understand that all histories of the Bible are illustrating the end of the world. Sister White identifies another principle several times, and in one place she states about this principle, “All the books of the Bible meet and come to an end in the book of Revelation.” The book of Revelation is the point of reference for the end of the world.
Therefore, if all the prophets are describing the end of the world, then all the prophet’s testimonies must line up with the end of the world scenario that is set forth in the book of Revelation. In the book of Revelation there are three enemies at the end of the world, i.e. the beast, the papacy; the dragon, the United Nations; the false prophet, the USA.
When the different prophets describe the threefold enemy at the end of the world, they each approach the enemies from a different perspective. In Numbers 22, just before the children of Israel are to enter the Promised Land, (clearly an illustration of the end of the world) there are three enemies: Moab, Balaam and Balak. These are Moses’ illustration of the beast, the dragon and the false prophet. Balak the king, is the ten kings, the civil authority, the dragon power of Revelation 16 and 17. Moab is the papacy and Balaam is the false prophet.
But in Revelation 16 the beast, dragon and false prophet are described as leading the world to Armageddon. In Numbers 22 they are not describing that aspect of modern Babylon. In Numbers 22 the three enemies are describing how modern Babylon infiltrates and attacks modern Israel, the Seventh-day Adventist church, just before the end of time. These are two lines of prophecy dealing with the same subject, but each line emphasizes a different aspect of the overall testimony of modern Babylon and its threefold manifestation.
In Daniel 11:41 you have Daniel’s illustration of the threefold enemy, but it is not emphasizing how modern Babylon leads the world to Armageddon, or how it infiltrates the Seventh-day Adventist church. Here Daniel is emphasizing those that come out of Babylon during the Sunday law crisis. You find a second witness to this in Isaiah 11:14 and onward where once again Isaiah employs, as does Daniel, Edom, Moab and Ammon as symbols of those who come and stand with God’s people during the Sunday law crisis.
As a teacher I am not threatened by this brother’s questions. Information is reinforced through the question and answer process.
I would add one other thought: our history, the history of God’s people at the end of the world, has been illustrated over and over again in the Bible. When we look at these illustrations of God’s people at the end of the world we find that in most of those historical illustrations there is emphasis upon the specific way by which the Lord teaches His people. God’s people who accept the message of the Lord during those histories understand the method that He employs to teach His people, and those among His people who do not accept the message of their particular history, do not understand the method He always employs to convey His message. The method is called parables. Parables are symbolic language, or prophetic language. God speaks to His people through the prophetic language in order to convey His testing message. The Pharisees of Christ day did not understand the parables, for though they had eyes, they could not see, and though they had ears, they could not hear. There are many people in Adventism today who cannot apply the prophetic rules to the Sacred Word. It is not that they have no ability to do so—it is because they refuse to do so. This is nothing new. Solomon tells us that there is nothing new under the sun.
The three enemies of Bible prophecy are illustrated over and over again. Yes, there are those who do not understand them, but that will always be the case. . .God bless. Jeff.