At the Time Appointed the End Shall Be by GEORGE I. BUTLER

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 12, 1908

At the Time Appointed the End Shall Be

By GEORGE I. BUTLER

GEORGE I. BUTLER

THIS is the statement made by Gabriel, the angel of God, sent to explain to Daniel the meaning of the vision of the ram, the he goat, the little horn that waxed exceeding great, and the wonderful prophetic period of twenty-three hundred year-days—the longest prophetic period in the Bible. Dan. 8:19. Upon the appointment of the time of the judgment hinges the true and genuine advent proclamation now being given by our people. Is it a fact that God appointed, ages beforehand, the time when this judgment period should begin? Paul so declares, in so many words: “Because he [God] hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man [Christ Jesus] whom he hath ordained.” Acts 17:31. Long before the apostle’s time God made this appointment.

We would again call the attention of the reader to the definiteness, the specific nature, of the true force of this word “appoint.” We are in danger of not grasping its real meaning—to appoint, “to fix by a decree . . . the time and place of.” This is the leading, most important definition of the word. An other definition given is, “to fix with power or firmness, to establish.” This is a strong word. Especially is it true of anything which God appoints. Man makes appointments of times to meet emergencies. If he is a sensible man, he will make very strong efforts to meet his appointment. But even the best of men sometimes fail to do what they agreed to do, because of difficulties they did not foresee, or providences which interfere. But God is the one who declares in his Word that he did appoint the time when the judgment should begin. He never makes mistakes, and his power is infinite; and he declared that a message should go forth at that particular time “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” calling attention to that fact. This surely will be a world-wide proclamation. It will lighten the earth with its glory. It must be seen by every candid person that this will be a most important matter, the greatest and most solemn thing in all the world at the time it goes forth, involving the eternal destiny of every intelligent creature.

The question before us in this theme now under consideration is when and where this appointment was made. The very central idea of an appointment is that the persons interested shall have the facts placed before them—the data by which they may be able to know when this grandest assize of the universe begins. When God places before mankind this information, he has discharged his responsibility in the matter. If men sneer at it, declare they do not believe it, treat it with indifference, even as the antediluvians did Noah’s message, and thus court a similar doom, the Lord is not responsible, for he has given them the data and the message announcing the great fact of the beginning of the judgment period.

The scripture, “At the time appointed the end shall be,” used as the heading of this article, is therefore worthy of the closest consideration. These preliminaries naturally bring us to the time and place where God did announce the time when the judgment should begin in heaven. In the vision of Daniel 8, this announcement is made. Let those interested carefully read that chapter. Here the symbolic beasts—the ram, the he goat, the exceeding greatness of the horn—are introduced and explained by the angel. The ram symbolizes Media and Persia; the “two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.” These kings united, conquered Babylon, and succeeded it in holding the supremacy of the world.

“The rough goat,” the angel declares, “is the king of Grecia,”—Alexander the Great, as the world calls him. After his death his kingdom was divided into just four parts which were ruled by his leading generals.

From one of these horns, a little horn was seen by the prophet to make its appearance, which “waxed exceeding great.” The ram was said to be “great,”

the goat “very great;” the little horn at its beginning was small, but grew to be larger than either. It put to death our Lord Jesus Christ by Pilate, the Roman governor. The little horn became imperial Rome.

After these three powers had been mentioned, there was introduced in the vision another point of exceeding interest: “Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Verses 13, 14. Daniel was anxious to know the meaning of this vision, so Gabriel, Christ’s angel, was sent with this message: “Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.” He said to the prophet, “At the time of the end shall be the vision.” Verse 17. This vision, then, was to reach from the height of the Medo-Persian power down to the time of the end—to the very last days of time. The vision embraced the period of Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome, which, in its divided state, reaches to our own time.

Gabriel at once explained to Daniel that part of the vision relating to the three kingdoms mentioned, but did not say one word in explanation of the twenty-three hundred prophetic days. Why?—Because “Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days.” The vision was too much for his strength. He did not understand it. He said, “I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.” Verse 27.

In Daniel’s intense interest for his, the Jewish people, he could not comprehend the meaning of the vision. Had Gabriel then fulfilled his command from God, “Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision”?—Not fully, for Daniel distinctly declared that he did not understand it. Gabriel must therefore explain the part not explained; i. e., the twenty-three hundred days. This he did fully explain in the very next chapter.

He most earnestly prayed for light, confessed his and his people’s sins, and pleaded for the favor of God: “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, harken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. . . . Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.” Verses 19, 21, 23. “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people,” etc. How wonderfully plain it must be to every candid mind that Gabriel has now come to complete the explanation of the vision, only partially explained when Daniel fainted and was sick! There had been no other vision given between these two interviews of Daniel and Gabriel. The angel begins his discourse precisely where he left off before. He says nothing further concerning the three earthly powers,—Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome,—which he had explained. He begins with the period of time which he had not explained, but has now come to explain. This connection between the eighth and ninth chapters of the prophecy is absolutely necessary to the proper understanding of the prophecy. This explanation, in which the time of the beginning of the judgment is given, will be considered in the next article.

Bowling Green, Fla.