questions

LESSON XXVI.
The Seventy Weeks and 2300 Days
(Prophecy of Daniel pp. 34-43)

1. Are the 2300 days explained in Daniel VIII?

2. Were those days evidently designed to cover the duration of all the great empires [of history] brought to view in the prophecy?

3. How much time would 2300 literal days cover?

4. What then must those days be?

5. How much time is embraced in a symbolic or prophetic day?

6. What Scriptures prove this?

7. How much time, then, is literally denoted by the 2300 [prophetic] days?

8. When must this period begin?

9. What command was given to Gabriel in Daniel VII. 16?

10. Why did not Gabriel explain the time to Daniel in Chapter VIII?

11. What does Daniel say in the last verse of that chapter?

12. To what must this have particular reference?

13. How do we know that this refers exclusively to the 2300 days?

14. With what does the 9th chapter of Daniel commence?

15. From the language Daniel there uses, what is evident?

16. Gabriel was then sent to him a second time; for what purpose was he sent?

17. To what does Daniel cite us in verse 21?

18. What statement is made by Gabriel in verse 22?

19. This being the object of Gabriel's mission what may we conclude?

20. What follows from Daniel's testimonies at the close of chapter 8, that none understood the vision?

21. What language does this fact call forth from Gabriel on his second visit to Daniel?

22. What command does he give Daniel in verse 23?

23. Of what is all this undeniable proof?

24. If any ask further evidence on this point, what fact furnishes it?

25. In Gabriel's further explanation of the vision, with what point does he commence?
[Ans. The very point omitted in chapter VIII, namely, time.]

26. As Gabriel proceeds to explain the time, what is the first declaration he utters?

27. What does the word 'determined' literally mean?

28. What did the vision which Gabriel came to explain, contain?

29. In his explanation, what did he tell us?

30. Of what, therefore are the 70 weeks a part?

31. Of what is the commencement of the 70 weeks the date?

32. In how many (literal historical) years were the 70 [prophetic] weeks fulfilled?

33. Of what is this fact a demonstration?

34. What does Gabriel give as the date of the 70 weeks?

35. When did this command or decree for the restoration of Jerusalem go forth?
[Ans. In the seventh year of the Persian king Artaxerxes, according to Ezra VII.]

36. For how long a period does the Bible give us the data for a complete system of chronology?
[ See p. 38, top.]

500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation (1517-2017) The Age-long Struggle for Religious Liberty and our Democratic Freedoms.

37. From the birth of Cyrus downward, what have we to establish dates?

38. What important period of time is fixed by the canon of Ptolemy?

39. In what year does this canon place the 7th year of Artaxerxes?

40. By what is the accuracy of this canon demonstrated?

41. Were there any decrees between the 7th and 20th [years] of Artaxerxes?

42. The 70 'weeks' or 490 [literal] years, dating from the 7th [year] of Artaxerxes, must begin and end where?

43. Commencing with the 20th [year], where would they begin and where [would they] end?

44. Did any event occur in A.D. 47, to mark their termination?

45. Can we then reckon from the 20th [year] of Artaxerxes?

46. From what must we reckon?

47. To show that the 7th [year] of Artaxerxes is not rightly fixed to B.C. 457, what must be done?

48. Commencing at this point, the 70 weeks would end in A.D. 34; what event marked their termination at that time?

49. When did the crucifixion take place?

50. Sixty-nine of the 70 weeks were to extend to the Messiah the Prince; when did they end?

51. What took place at that time?

52. What did the Saviour preach in regard to time immediately after his baptism?

53. What is the only time that can here be referred to?

54. In what month of the year A.D. 34, did the 70 weeks end?

55. As the 70 weeks are the first 490 years of the 2300, how many years of that period remain after the 490 years are cut off?

56. As the first 490 years of the 2300 end in the autumn of A.D. 34, where will the whole period end?

57. As it takes only 457 years before Christ, and 1843 years after Christ, to make 2300, how is it shown that those days ended in 1844, instead of 1843?

Source: (Review and Herald Vol. XXII, Oct 13, 1863, No. 20)

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The subtext of world history is played out within the larger context of Salvation (or Redemption history), until the end of the world and the Apocalyptic consummation at Christ's return. The earthly priestly ministry in the Tabernacle Sanctuary under the Mosaic ordinances foreshadowed the true ministry of Jesus for mankind's salvation, which is done once only for all eternity. The worldwide proclamation of the Gospel and the 3 Angels' Messages of Revelation 14 will be the completion of the Protestant Reformation and the Great Commission. Matt. 24 [See 2nd Quarter 2002 Sabbath School Bible Study Guide - Great Apocalyptic Prophecies.]

[ A coming future world union of Church and State under the political dominion of the Papacy will bring to an end the time of liberal democracies and Religious Freedom. ]

( Revelation 13:15 )

LESSON 46 - THE ANTICHRIST

Memory verse: Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. - 1 John 2:22

Scripture passage: [ The Great Apostasy that arose from within the Christian church ]

2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that [the] Antichrist shall come, even now are there many
antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they
had been of us, they would [no doubt] have continued with us: but [they went out,] that they might be made manifest
that they were not all of us. 20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 21 I have
not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
- 1 John 2:18-23

Antichrist means opposition to Jesus Christ. The mission and purpose of the Anti-Christ is to put himself in the place of Christ [in the eyes of the world]. He opposes the Father (God) and the Son.

Outline: Other names of the Antichrist - The mission of the Antichrist - The end of the Antichrist

Other names and expressions describing the Antichrist:

a) The Little Horn. - DAN. 7:8
b) Man of sin - 2 Thess. 2:3
c) The beast - REV. 13:2-8
d) False christ - Matt. 24:24-25
e) The liar - 2 Thess. 2:4
f) Son of perdition - 2 Thess. 2:3

Origin of the Antichrist:
1. From which religion or religious group/organisation did the Antichrist arise?
2. When did the Antichrist arise?
3. What empire was the ruling world power when the Antichrist first arose?
4. How long was/is the Antichrist to endure?
5. Has the Antichrist arisen during the Christian era (i.e. since the 1st century AD)?
6. Does the Antichrist have its own sovereign kingdom or political state (territory)?
7. In what way does the Antichrist power differ from all other worldly powers or kingdoms?

Mission of the Antichrist:
a) He will receive power from Satan to rule the world. DAN. 7:25-26
b) He sets up the Abomination of Desolation [spoken of through the prophet Daniel but was still yet future to Christ's own time] and forces all people to worship him. 2 Thess. 2:4; Matt. 24:15
c) He speaks great things (haughty and arrogant claims to authority) and blasphemies. REV. 13:5
d) He will make war against the saints and shall overcome them. REV. 13:7
e) He will speak and prophesy lies to confuse and deceive the whole world. 2 Thess.2:4
f) He will also persecute the remnant who remain faithful to Christ and even cause (decree) them to be killed. REV. 12:17
g) He will take control of both the political and economic powers of the world, as well as all the churches. REV. 13:16-17
h) He will cause (by decree) all people to be given a mark such that only those who have this mark are able to buy or sell. He will control the economic system and those who reject his authority and control [so as to not receive the mark of the beast] will be killed. REV. 13:18

The end of the Antichrist:
a) Christ will bind the beast/Antichrist and cast him into the lake of fire. REV. 19:20
b) Those who accept and follow the Antichrist and receive the mark of the beast [will be raised up in the resurrection of damnation to face the judgement and] will also be cast into the lake of fire. REv. 19:20
c) Christ will take the kingdoms of the world from the Antichrist and establish His own everlasting kingdom. DAN. 7:26-27

Some manifestations of the coming up and presence of the Antichrist [Religio-political] system:
a) Increased and powerful deceptions and false doctrines (including religious), all-pervasive but persuasive propaganda.
b) Anti-Christian legislation and the gradual loss of religious and/or political freedoms (democratic freedoms).
c) Ecumenism led by the Papacy to merge all the Christian churches and world religions [syncretism] into a one world apostate religion under its own authority. The formation of a one world government to bring the political kingdoms of the world under the domination of the Papacy's political power and worldwide influence.

d) The Papacy claims to be 'another Christ' [usurps Christ's prerogatives and authority] and demands to be obeyed as if the Pope (or succession of the Papal ecclesiastical absolute monarchs) were God himself. The Papacy claims the right to rule over the political kingdoms of the world on the basis of those corrupt claims to religious authority [usurps Christ's place in the eyes of the world].

e) The Medieval Inquisition (c. 1232-1798) ['Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis'] and persecution of Bible-believing Christians who were condemned by Papal Rome as 'heretics' during the long centuries of the Dark Ages under Christendom and the Holy Roman Empire, etc. Those Christians who chose [ 'haeresis' ] to follow the Bible and Jesus Christ alone were often slaughtered at the instigation of the Papacy, who also often controlled or blackmailed the secular power [secular kingdoms and political rulers of states - governments or the 'sword of the state']. See Albigensian Crusade, Waldenses, Hussite Wars, Wars of Religion, Thirty Years War, and the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation against the Protestant Reformation, Council of Trent, Jesuits, etc. verifiable in Church history and world history, and the Papacy itself boasts about in their claims of authority and power.

Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther declared, We are of the conviction that the Papacy is the seat of the real Antichrist (quoted in LeRoy Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol.2, p. 256).

John Calvin declared, I deny him to be the vicar of Christ... He is Antichrist — I deny him to be head of the church
(John Calvin Tracts, Vol. 1, pp. 219,220).

John Knox stated, That tyranny which the Pope himself has for so many ages exercised over the church, [he is] the very Antichrist and son of perdition of whom Paul speaks (The Zurich Letter, p.199).

John Wesley concluded that [the] Roman Papacy, he is [the Antichrist], in an emphatical sense, the man of sin (John Wesley, Antichrist and His Ten Kingdoms, p.110).

Of what is there to be deceived about, when even in this age of freedom and democracy, there are very few actual liberal democracies in the world today, and even fewer or none for most of world history. Most of the nations of the world are Catholic This will be the only period in world history where we will ever have democratic and religious freedom. It was only the Protestant Reformation that made this possible, and only in those few nations that have remained both free and Protestant down to the present time. If we give up or lose our freedoms we will probably never regain them, and certainly not under a future world union of Church and State through which the Papacy will again enforce its corrupt Religio-political claims to authority, through tyranny.

Study for this week:
Sun. Read Dan. 7; 2 Thess. 2; Rev. 13 and Rev. 17-19.
Mon. All earthly powers and kingdoms belong to God. DAN. 7:26-27; Ps. 62:11; Matt. 28:18
Tues. To not be deceived by false prophets or the powers of the world. DAN. 7:25
Wed. To not accept the mark of the beast [when it appears in the future]. REV. 13:18; REV. 14:9-11
Thurs. Have no other gods besides (or apart from) God. Ex. 20:3
Fri. Remain faithful to Jesus Christ and endure until the end. Matt. 24:30-31
Sabbath. The word of prophecy of the end times will surely be [and is already being] fulfilled. Matt. 24:35

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THE CHURCH AT STUDY

Download PDF files of the following Sabbath School Bible Study Quarterlies :

1895 Study on Religious Liberty - 1918 Study on Daniel - 1918 Study on Revelation part 1

SS1895RL-04.pdf

SS1918dan2.pdf