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Identifying Modern Rome and the Prophetic Vision in the Last Days
Key Takeaways
The prophetic interpretation of Daniel 11:14 and its implications for identifying the power of Modern Rome is crucial for understanding the final test faced by the one hundred and forty-four thousand. This test, rooted in the vision unsealed in 1989, distinguishes between the wise and the foolish, the righteous and the wicked. The verse underscores the necessity of having a vision to avoid perishing, as highlighted by Solomon in Proverbs 29:18. This article explores the prophetic significance of this vision, the final rise and fall of the papal power, and the methodology necessary to correctly interpret these end-time events. It is a life-or-death proposition for those aspiring to be part of the elect in the last days.
- Prophetic Context and Significance
- Daniel 11:14 speaks of opposition to the “king of the south” and the role of “robbers” in establishing the vision, crucial for the last days.
- The “vision” is a Hebrew term linked to spiritual insight essential for survival, as Solomon emphasized in Proverbs 29:18.
- Dual Classes of Worshippers
- Prophetic messages create a division between those who embrace the vision and those who do not.
- Solomon’s words and the parable of the ten virgins illustrate the two classes: the wise who keep the law and the foolish who do not.
- Modern Rome and Prophetic Fulfillment
- The term “Modern Rome” symbolizes the papal power, not the United States, as established through prophetic interpretation.
- The unsealed vision in 1989 revealed the final rise and fall of the papal power, correlating with the events of Daniel 11:40-45.
- Testing Process and the Role of Knowledge
- The testing process for the one hundred and forty-four thousand is based on understanding the increase of knowledge from the unsealed vision.
- This knowledge sifts the wise from the wicked, aligning with Daniel 12’s purification process.
- Historical Parallels
- The experiences of John the Baptist, Christ, and the Millerites parallel the message and work of the one hundred and forty-four thousand.
- These historical figures illustrate the process of warning and preparation for the close of probation.
- Methodology of Interpretation
- Correct interpretation relies on the line-upon-line methodology, as employed by William Miller and endorsed by Ellen White.
- Misapplication or rejection of this methodology leads to incorrect understanding and spiritual peril.
- The Test
- Identifying the “robbers of thy people” is the first test question in the final sifting process.
- The distinction between the papal power and the United States is critical, with prophetic evidence favoring the former as Modern Rome.
- Consequences of Rejection
- Rejecting the increase of knowledge leads to spiritual rejection, as emphasized in Hosea 4:6 and Revelation 22:10-11.
- Understanding the vision is vital for becoming part of the one hundred and forty-four thousand.
- Continuing Exploration
- Future discussions will further elaborate on these prophetic themes and their implications for the faithful in the last days.
This article underscores the essential nature of correctly identifying Modern Rome through prophetic vision, emphasizing its salvational significance and the rigorous testing process that will determine the final faithful.
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And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall. Daniel 11:14.
The correct identification of the power in the last days that is represented as Modern Rome, and therefore the power that “establishes the vision” is essential and salvational. It represents an element of the final testing process of the one hundred and forty-four thousand. The word “vision” in the verse is the same Hebrew word which Solomon chose when he identified why God’s people perish.
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:18.
All the prophets are speaking more directly concerning the last days than any other period of sacred history, and Solomon’s warning about the need of possessing the “vision” is a life-or-death proposition. Truth always divides and produces two classes of worshippers, In the verse there is a class that perishes and a class that happily keeps the law. It should be noted however, that Solomon’s counsel is placed in the context of a controversy over “truth.” It is also in the context of the parable of the ten virgins, for the parable of the ten virgins is a primary illustration of the experience of God’s people in the last days.
A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked. The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the Lord lighteneth both their eyes. The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established forever. The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall. Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul. Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:11–18.
It is not my intent to point a finger at those that may hold to a different understanding of Modern Rome than I do. My intent is to illustrate that Solomon is addressing two classes of worshippers, which he identifies as a “wise man” and a “fool.” The “fool” is also identified as the “wicked.” The wise and foolish virgins of the parable are also identified in the prophetic line of Daniel chapter twelve as the wise and the wicked.
Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. Daniel 12:10.
Solomon and Daniel agree with one another, for all the prophetic testimony aligns in the last days. The wise understand the “increase of knowledge.”
And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Daniel 12:3, 4.
Verse ten identifies the three-step testing process that sifts the virgins, who are called to be among the one hundred and forty-four thousand. In both cases the sifting and testing process is based upon whether the virgins understand the increase of knowledge (the vision) that was unsealed at the time of the end in 1989.
“The time of the end” in the last days was 1989, when verses forty through forty-five of Daniel eleven were unsealed. It was then established that the subject of the verses was the final rise and fall of the king of the north. It was then established that the king of the north in the verses is the papal power of the last days. Inspiration never uses the expression “Modern Rome.” The expression was invented by me, to represent the papal power of the last days, for prophetically “modern” represents the last days. Ellen White never used the expression “Modern Rome.”
There are incorrect views of who the king of the north represents in the last six verses of Daniel eleven, but there is only one correct understanding. The understanding that the king of the north in the verses is the papal power was derived from many prophetic witnesses. Verse forty begins by identifying the papacy receiving a deadly wound in 1798, then verses forty-one through forty-three identify the dynamics involved with the healing of the deadly wound. Verse forty-four describes the message that enrages the papacy and leads into verse forty-five when the papal power comes to its final and complete end. The vision that was unsealed in 1989, is the vision of the final rise and fall of the papal power in the last days. That vision is the increase of knowledge that produces and manifests two classes of worshippers, based upon their acceptance or rejection of the knowledge located in those verses.
According to the very same chapter where the increase of knowledge was unsealed in 1989, the “robbers of thy people,” who “exalt themselves” and ultimately “fall” are the symbol that establishes the “vision.” In the final sifting, the first testing question is who is represented as the “robbers of thy people,” for they are the prophetic symbol that establishes the “vision.” Are the robbers the papal power or are they the United States?
The books of Daniel and Revelation are the same book, representing two witnesses of the same line of prophecy. Daniel is the beginning and Revelation is the ending, and together they represent two witnesses of the truth that is unsealed at the time of the end in 1989.
Daniel describes the purification process that was produced when the Lion of the tribe of Judah unsealed verses forty to forty-five in 1989. At that time a testing process began to determine and manifest who would be the “priests” that make up the covenant people who are the one hundred and forty-four thousand in the last days. Hosea contributes that those who reject the increase of knowledge of the last days will not become one of the priests who make up the one hundred and forty-four thousand.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hosea 4:6.
The book of Revelation identifies that the knowledge that is unsealed and rejected by one class accomplishes their rejection just before probation closes.
And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. Revelation 22:10, 11.
The Millerite history illustrates the history of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, and together the Millerites and the one hundred and forty-four thousand represent the beginning and ending of the message and work of the three angels of Revelation chapter fourteen. The parallel histories identify the events connected with the close of probation. The work of both histories has been typified by Elijah and John the Baptist.
“With trembling, William Miller began to unfold to the people the mysteries of the kingdom of God, carrying his hearers down through the prophecies to the second advent of Christ. With every effort he gained strength. As John the Baptist heralded the first advent of Jesus and prepared the way for His coming, so William Miller and those who joined with him proclaimed the second advent of the Son of God.” Early Writings, 229, 230.
The Millerite message identified the “events” connected with the close of probation, as represented by both Elijah and John the Baptist.
“It was needful that men should be awakened to their danger; that they should be roused to prepare for the solemn events connected with the close of probation.”
The Great Controversy, 310.
In 1989, with the collapse of the Soviet Union the portion of the book of Daniel that related to the last days was unsealed and a testing process began. The test was based upon the ability or inability of God’s people to understand or reject the increase of knowledge that is represented in the last six verses of Daniel chapter eleven; verses that lead to the first verse of chapter twelve, which identifies the “close of probation.” The message of the “events connected with the close of probation” was then unsealed, and the work of those who were the candidates to be the “priests” of the one hundred and forty-four thousand began. Their work was to “understand” and proclaim the message represented in the passage. The message and the work of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, was to present the unsealed message in order to rouse men “to prepare for the solemn events connected with the close of probation.”
“Today, in the spirit and power of Elias and of John the Baptist, messengers of God’s appointment are calling the attention of a judgment-bound world to the solemn events soon to take place in connection with the closing hours of probation and the appearance of Christ Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords. Soon every man is to be judged for the deeds done in the body. The hour of God’s judgment has come, and upon the members of His church on earth rests the solemn responsibility of giving warning to those who are standing as it were on the very brink of eternal ruin. To every human being in the wide world who will give heed must be made plain the principles at stake in the great controversy being waged, principles upon which hang the destinies of all mankind.” Prophets and Kings, 715, 716.
The history of John the Baptist and Christ, as well as the history of the Millerites illustrates the message and work of the one hundred and forty-four thousand. Both John and Christ understood their message as representing the close of probation.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Matthew 3:7.
Christ represented the destruction of Jerusalem, the same destruction which John had warned the quibbling Jews as approaching. Jesus employed the destruction as a symbol of the “wrath” that begins when He, as Michael, stands up in Daniel chapter twelve, verse one.
“Christ saw in Jerusalem a symbol of the world hardened in unbelief and rebellion, and hastening on to meet the retributive judgments of God. The woes of a fallen race, pressing upon His soul, forced from His lips that exceeding bitter cry. He saw the record of sin traced in human misery, tears, and blood; His heart was moved with infinite pity for the afflicted and suffering ones of earth; He yearned to relieve them all. But even His hand might not turn back the tide of human woe; few would seek their only Source of help. He was willing to pour out His soul unto death, to bring salvation within their reach; but few would come to Him that they might have life.
“The Majesty of heaven in tears! the Son of the infinite God troubled in spirit, bowed down with anguish! The scene filled all heaven with wonder. That scene reveals to us the exceeding sinfulness of sin; it shows how hard a task it is, even for Infinite Power, to save the guilty from the consequences of transgressing the law of God. Jesus, looking down to the last generation, saw the world involved in a deception similar to that which caused the destruction of Jerusalem. The great sin of the Jews was their rejection of Christ; the great sin of the Christian world would be their rejection of the law of God, the foundation of His government in heaven and earth. The precepts of Jehovah would be despised and set at nought. Millions in bondage to sin, slaves of Satan, doomed to suffer the second death, would refuse to listen to the words of truth in their day of visitation. Terrible blindness! strange infatuation!” The Great Controversy, 22.
The warning message proclaimed by John the Baptist and also by Christ was the same warning message, just as the warning message of the Millerites was the same message identifying the events connected with the close of probation as the one hundred and forty-four thousand will proclaim. Three witnesses; John the Baptist, Christ and the Millerites testifying that the work and message of the one hundred and forty-four thousand is a life-or-death testing process accomplished by the increase of knowledge that was unsealed in 1989. The message unsealed at that time is the last day vision that must be understood by the wise if they are to be the “priests” that make up the one hundred and forty-four thousand. If those candidates do not understand that vision, they are identified as wicked, or as fools, and they perish. They and their children are rejected in agreement with their rejection of the vision that is the increase of knowledge.
God’s Word identifies that Rome is the power that exalts itself, robs God’s people, and then falls and establishes the vision. The question of whether Modern Rome is the papal power or the United States is the test that identifies that those candidates are either wise or foolish virgins. The test is a prophetic test derived from the book of Daniel, that is thereafter confirmed and brought to perfection in the book of Revelation. The subject of Modern Rome is not simply a choice between the papal power or the United States, it is the final test for the one hundred and forty-four thousand. It is a prophetic test, and correctly understood it encompasses every representation of the final testing process that is set forth within God’s sanctified prophetic testimony.
The testing process of the time of John the Baptist and Christ was derived from the book of Daniel, as was the testing process in the time of the Millerites. As a prophetic test, the methodology of how truth is established is as essential for those candidates to correctly apply, as is simply holding to the correct view of who is Modern Rome. Whether the correct identification of Modern Rome, or the application of the correct methodology is considered, both elements of the test are couched in the book of Daniel. In Daniel chapter one, Daniel navigated through a three-step testing process beginning with diet, then a visual test, followed by a test accomplished by Nebuchadnezzar, a biblical symbol of the King of the North, the papal power of the last days.
As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm. Daniel 1:17–20.
“At the end of the days,” which is prophetically the last days when the one hundred and forty-four thousand are tested, Daniel and the three worthies were found “ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm,” and Daniel had “understanding in all visions and dreams.” Daniel represents the one hundred and forty four thousand, who in the last days understand the increase of knowledge that arrived when Christ, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, unsealed “that portion of the book of Daniel that related to the last days,” in 1989.
Daniel did not simply understand more than others concerning dreams and visions, he had “understanding in all visions and dreams.” He represents those who employ the methodology of line upon line, for that methodology brings “all visions and dreams” together into one cohesive message. The message that brings together all dreams and visions into one prophetic line identifies the “events connected with the close of probation.” That message is established by the prophetic symbol that is Modern Rome, the power who exalts itself, robs God’s people, and falls.
That power can only be established by applying the correct methodology. Most who profess to study the Bible reject the methodology of line upon line, and some who profess to employ it, misapply the rules that make up the methodology of line upon line. Those rules were first put into the public record by the Millerites, and God’s last day people have been forewarned that those who are actually the messengers of the third angel will be using William Miller’s rules of prophetic interpretation.
“Those who are engaged in proclaiming the third angel’s message are searching the Scriptures upon the same plan that Father Miller adopted.” Review and Herald, November 25, 1884.
William Miller represented the beginning of the three angels of Revelation fourteen, and he was typified by John the Baptist, who was the beginning of the message of which Christ was the ending. Sister White directly aligns the testing process of John the Baptist to Christ with the testing process of the three angels. John began the message, and it was not until just before the cross, when Christ had taken His disciples to Caesarea Philippi, that Jesus then added the details of the message that John had begun. The first (the beginning) truth John identified when He saw Christ was identifying Christ as the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. John 1:28–30.
Then began the three-and-a-half-year period of testing that ended at the cross. After John was murdered just before the cross, Jesus then began to explain that very first statement of John.
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Matthew 16:13–21.
Caesarea Philippi is the name of Panium in the time of Christ, and Panium is identified in the verse which follows verse fourteen of Daniel eleven, where the robbers of thy people, who exalt themselves, but fall, are introduced. The message of John the Baptist, inspired and perfect, was the message at the beginning that represented the Millerite message, that had been established upon Miller’s rules. Christ’s message at the ending, built upon and expanded John’s message, and it typified the message at the ending of the three angels, that is based upon Miller’s rules and the details that are added to Miller’s message when the methodology of line upon line arrives at the ending.
To arrive at an incorrect understanding of the symbol that establishes the vision with the symbol of Modern Rome parallels those in the history of Christ that rejected the message of the cross. We are informed that the Jews who rejected the message of John the Baptist could not be benefitted by the teachings of Jesus, and that the history of those Jews that did that very thing represents those who rejected the first angel’s message. The Millerites identified the robbers of thy people, which I later coined with the words, “Modern Rome,” as the papal power.
We will continue these considerations in the next article.
