Athen's Library

THE SECOND ADVENT

THE COMING OF “ONE LIKE THE SON OF MAN”

Letter #7 In The Series

December 1998

The Kingdom In Symbols

The message of the angel who joins the Third Angel (T.M. 300, E.W. 277, G.C. 424-5, 604) gives authority to those who approach the altar (Throne of Grace). “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16), from the Lord so that they are able to become perfect.  The perfection comes when the literal application of Daniel 8 & 9 comes.  Perfection comes by beholding the reality, not the symbols.

For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father: when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.  For he hath put all things under his feet.  But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.  1 Corinthians 15:16-28.

Sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, (symbol of Son) hath gotten him the victory.  The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.  Psalms 98:1-2.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

In Adam we have a “symbol” and if we do not understand this symbol there is no way we will ever understand the plan of salvation.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...  Genesis 1:26.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:  Romans 1:19-20.

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.  Genesis 2:21-23.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female created he them.  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it...  Genesis 1:27-28.

...forasmuch as he (man) is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.  For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.  1 Corinthians 11:7-8.

From these verses we see that God took woman out of Adam and to be fruitful is to have seed.  So in Adam were the woman and the seed.  Woman, the glory of man, and the seed, the glory of the father.  Adam is a symbol or a type, Christ is the literal or the antitype, so Christ also contains His Woman and His Seed.  Now if this is not true then when Jesus hung on the cross striped of His clothes, we would have a report that, as some think, He was not a whole man, or that He was without reproductive organs.  In Isaiah 53:10, talking about the Messiah it says, “he shall see his seed” and in verse 8 it says, “who shall declare his generation?”  In declaring His generation we are showing what is “in Christ”.  Why is this so important?  Because all symbols point to the work of the Family that restores mankind back into the Family of God.  In the creation the Son made all things.  The type, in the redemption the Father is the testator and the Son the heir, the heir that mankind are joint heirs with.  Romans 8:17

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.  1 Corinthians 15:24-26.

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.  Matthew 24:14.

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.  John 14:1-3.

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Matthew 28:18-19.

In these verses we see several things, one of which is the kingdom.  The kingdom is to be delivered to the Father.  Jesus delivered to His Father the kingdom of grace. Jesus said,  “I go and prepare a place for you.”  In preparing a place He, according to Isaiah 9:6, is the “everlasting Father”.  Bringing forth His heir, that delivers to Him (the everlasting Father- Jesus), the kingdom of Glory, is the way that He prepares a place.

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.  For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.  And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.  Acts 3:19-23.

According to these verses, Jesus Christ will stay in Heaven until, “Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things”.  The “restitution of all things” is bringing to the Father the kingdom, with interest, and according to Exodus 22:4, the thief had to make restitution of double the value stolen.  We know that “the wages of sin is death”, and Satan is the father of sin, but the thief, if he cannot pay the interest, pays with his life, so Satan will have to pay twice.

The act of restoring to the rightful owner something that has been taken away, stolen, lost, or surrendered is found in Leviticus 6:1-7.  This gives the Mosaic Law of restitution. This law establishes the procedure to be followed in restoring stolen property.  Full restitution of the property had to be made with an added 20 percent (one-fifth of its value) to be paid as compensation (Lev. 5:16).  If a man stole an ox or donkey or sheep, and the animal was recovered alive, the thief had to make restitution of double the value stolen (Ex. 22:4).  If the thief had killed or sold the animal however, he had to make a fourfold (for a sheep) or a fivefold (for an ox) restitution (Ex. 22:1). Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

The kingdom of grace was instituted immediately after the fall of man, when a plan was devised for the redemption of the guilty race.  It then existed in the purpose and by the promise of God; and through faith, men could become it’s subjects.  When the Saviour yielded up His life, and with His expiring breath cried out, “It is finished”, then the fulfilment of the plan of redemption was assured.  The promise of salvation made to the pair in Eden was ratified.  The kingdom of grace, which had existed by the promise of God, was then established. (this paragraph follows the next two in order)

The announcement which had been made by the disciples in the name of the Lord was, in every particular, correct, and the events to which it pointed were even then taking place.  “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand”, had been their message.  At the expiration of “the time” -the sixty-nine weeks of Daniel 9, which were to extend to the Messiah, “the Anointed One”, Christ had received the anointing of the Spirit after His baptism by John in Jordan.  And the “kingdom of God” which they had declared to be at hand was established by the death of Christ.  This kingdom was not, as they had been taught to believe, an earthly empire, nor was it that future, immortal kingdom which shall be set up when “the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High;” that everlasting kingdom, in which “all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” Daniel 7:27.  As used in the bible, the expression “kingdom of God” is employed to designate both the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory.  The kingdom of grace is brought to view by Paul in Epistle to the Hebrews.  After pointing to Christ, the compassionate intercessor who is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” the apostle says: Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.  Heb 4:15,16.   The throne of grace represents the kingdom of grace; for the existence of a throne implies the existence of a kingdom.  In many of His parables Christ used the expression “the kingdom of heaven” to designate the work of divine grace upon the hearts of men.

So the throne of glory represents the kingdom of glory; and this kingdom is referred to in the Saviour’s words.  “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered all nations.” Matthew 25:31,31.  This kingdom is yet future.  It is not to be set up until the second advent of Christ.  G.C. 346-347.

The kingdom of grace was ratified, then cometh the end, when he (the Son) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father.  The prophetic view of Daniel 9 brings us to the first advent of Christ, when Christ, the Son of God, delivered up the kingdom of grace to His Father.  The literal application of Daniel 9 is the Second Advent of Christ, when Christ’s Son has the privilege of delivering up the kingdom of glory to His Father.  To him that overcometh (1 John 5:4) will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.  Revelation 3:21.

Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.  For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: John  5:19, 21-22.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.  For as the ‘ Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.  John 5:25-27.

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.  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?  He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.  Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowedgeth the Son hath the Father also.  Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning.  If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.  And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.  1 John 2:21-25.

And said unto them, whosoever shall receive this child (Son) in my name receiveth me (the Father): and whosoever shall receive me (the Son) receiveth him (the Father Most High) that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.  Luke 9:48.

These verses show the two that deliver a kingdom to their Father, the Son of God (the Second Adam) and the Son of Man (the Son of the Second Adam).  These are the two that deliver to the Father the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory.  Jesus, in giving the Lord’s prayer was telling the Disciples that the kingdom of glory was not for their day but to pray for it to come.  Jesus said that He came in His Father’s name (John 5:43) so when He sends a Son He would have His Father’s name.

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 for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.  Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built, again and the wall, even in troublous times.  And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.  Daniel 9:24-27.

And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine. Deuteronomy 14:23.

And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.  2 Kings 21:4.

And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth.  Revelation 10: 1 -2.

Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.  Genesis 13:17.

And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts...  Zechariah  14:16.

Because these feet are on the One that shall choose to place his name, and in Jerusalem will “I put My Name”, then he set his right foot upon the sea, the place where the Jerusalem “that now is” occupies, and his left foot on the earth, showing the locations of the capitals of the kingdoms, the Old and New Jerusalem.  Where the redeemed of the world will go to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.  He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.  Galatians 3:16.

So when He told Abraham to walk, that where his feet went (symbol) would be his for his heirs.  That same promise is for Christ.  When “the Angel”, which is Christ, stood with His feet on the old world (sea), and on the new world (earth); we understand that first, the kingdom is where His right foot is; where the symbolic goat, whose lot fell for the Lord, made the atonement.  Then His left foot on the Earth depicts the wilderness, the place where the One symbolized by the scapegoat, will make His Atonement.  This is why the literal woman of Revelation 12 flees into a place in the wilderness where God has prepared a place for Her, even the New Jerusalem.  Going back to the literal 70 weeks, from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built, again and the wall, even in troublous times.  During the “time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation”, is the time when He chooses to set up His kingdom.  John in Revelation says it this way,

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.  Revelation 7:1-3.

Daniel tells us:  Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.  And four great beasts (world kingdoms) came up from the sea, diverse one from another.  Daniel 7:2-3.

When the four winds strove on the sea, the old country, four world kingdoms came up.  When the four angels let the four winds loose on the earth, the place in the wilderness where the beast with the “Lamb Like horns” came up, God’s kingdom comes out of the Earth and will be established.  Winds are ‘strife’, or a ‘time of trouble’, so even though when the kingdoms of this world came up, it is nothing in comparison to the time of trouble when God sets up His Kingdom.  Why is this time so great?  Satan knows the prophecies and the types.  He knows that the man of sin was put into prison during the prophecy of Daniel 8&9.  The 2300 days, he knows, is a type for when the Angel comes down to bind him (Satan) and put him into the bottomless pit.

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.  Revelation 12:17.

The testimony of Jesus is a revelation of the two tablets of stone, a symbol of the “right arm” that shall have delivered up the kingdom to the Father.  The two tablets of stone that were placed in the Ark.  The ark is a symbol of God’s Kingdom a place of safety.

Ps. 119:161 in the START PCSB HEBREW.  The Shin, in Hebrew, looks like a “w” with a dot in it.  The Shin, as I understand, is one of the “names” of God in Hebrew.  I have seen a photo taken from the satellite of Jerusalem.  Jerusalem has valleys in the shape of the “shin” and where Abraham offered Isaac is the place where the “dot” is and that is where the Temple was built.  God placed His “Name” where He put His Capital city, the Jerusalem, of His kingdom.

When God brought Israel to Mt. Sinai, He made them a kingdom and had them build a “Tabernacle” so He could dwell with them.  This is a symbol or type for the kingdom in the wilderness.

John says ...Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  Revelation 21:3.

The beast with the “Lamb Like horns” speaks like a dragon, Satan.  When this Nation was set up, it was set up upon the “separation of Church and State”.   This visibly shows that the “Lamb Like horns” are separate from the mouth that speaks “like a dragon”.  In other words, the mouth does not have the power unless it is given by the power of the “Lamb Like horns”.  This Nation has the Gospel and sends out more missionaries than any other Nation because this is where the left foot is standing, or the last place that God gave His Good News.  Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;  Luke 1:68-69.

We know that Jesus is the “lamb of God”, but now we see that He is “the horn of salvation”.  So the “horns”, symbol of His kingdom, have many applications.  This shows that at the end of the 2300 prophetic day prophecy, beginning in the Earth, is the announcement of the Judgment of the dead then the Judgment of the living. Since there are two (the two goats symbol - Leviticus 16) that make the atonement, the announcement of the two that give the Father the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory is the “closing up of the atonement”, as Sister White puts in Testimonies Vol. 5 page 472.  The two that have “life” (John 5:26-27). The two that rule with Their Father.  In the story of Abraham there is the symbol of the “Ram”, the father of the Lamb, and Isaac, the promised son that escaped death.  The two “horns” are the two that bring “salvation”, one in death the other in life. 

The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.  John 5:19.

A part of the 70 weeks prophecy is to prepare the streets for the city.  Several years ago the Spirit told me to write a letter to T. B. N. and tell Paul that the Lord not only would like him to film the bringing out of the ark but also the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven.  Later I was given a dream of the streets being built and how there are to be two lanes each way with a bicycle lane and with parking on each side of the street.  With this size of a street, you can see that it will be visible from the air for a long distance.  The design of the city will show up and it is a very outstanding design.  The streets will be put in with modern equipment, and at the entrance of the city is a fountain.  I was given to understand that a large place of worship and study will be built.  Ezekiel calls this “the profane place or the common place”.

…And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof.  Ezekiel 48:14-15.

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.  And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.  Isaiah 2:2-4.

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.  Isaiah 11:6.

Yours to meet Christ in His Kingdom

Athen Slawson