~ 2520 : Nebuchadnezzar & Belshazzar ~
2520 : Nebuchadnezzar & Belshazzar
The Lord has recently unfolded a very simple but powerful confirmation of the truth we teach concerning the 2520 time prophecy of Leviticus 26.
"The truths that we received in 1841, ‘42, ‘43, and ‘44 are now to be studied and proclaimed. The messages of the first, second, and third angels will in the future be proclaimed with a loud voice. They will be given with earnest determination and in the power of the Spirit." Manuscript Releases, volume 15, 371.
It is impossible to rightly proclaim the loud cry of the three angels messages' without proclaiming the truths of 1840 through 1844.
The 2520 is located upon both the 1843 pioneer chart and the 1850 pioneer chart. From May of 1842 the 1843 chart was employed by every Millerite preacher, and the truths represented upon that chart were the only message they proclaimed until the Midnight Cry in August of 1844. When the Millerites called men and women out of the fallen churches in the summer of 1844 they employed the 1843 chart to illustrate their message.
"God is not giving us a new message. We are to proclaim the message that in 1843 and 1844 brought us out of the other churches." Review and Herald, January 19, 1905.
God has given us commandment concerning those truths and it would be well for every Seventh-day Adventist to recognize that the time has come to seek the Lord's direction concerning where our time and strength should now be placed.
"God bids us give our time and strength to the work of preaching to the people the messages that stirred men and women in 1843 and 1844."
Manuscript Release, Number 760.
"Those who stand as teachers and leaders in our institutions are to be sound in the faith and in the principles of the third angel's message. God wants His people to know that we have the message as He gave it to us in 1843 and 1844." General Conference Bulletin, April 1, 1903.
On the most recent edition of The Words of the Pioneers CD Rom we find 185 hits for "2520," 391 hits for the word "scattering," 379 hits for the year "677," and 305 hits for the year "723."
We start by identifying that Nebuchadnezzar's conversion in Daniel four symbolically represents the everlasting gospel.
The everlasting gospel is first set forth in Genesis 3:15, and, based upon biblical the rule of First Mention all the components of the gospel will be included the first time it is mentioned.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15.
In Daniel chapter four Nebuchadnezzar experienced the everlasting gospel as his human pride was humbled into the dust and he allowed the Lord to work a transformation in his character that allowed him to glorify the Lord, when the chastening of the Lord had reached its conclusion.
The Lord had placed an enmity against sin in Nebuchadnezzar's heart.
Nebuchadnezzar learned to fear God as he spent seven years living as an animal, and from that experience he then gave glory to the God of heaven, and in so doing his testimony became the warning message that marked the judgment for his grandson Belshazzar, and the whole kingdom of Babylon.
Therefore, Nebuchadnezzar is a symbol of the First Angel's message.
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. Revelation 14:6-7.
The Millerites fulfilled the First Angel's message BY proclaiming a warning message from the book of Daniel and in so doing they were the antitype to the warning message from the book of Daniel represented by Nebuchadnezzar. The Millerites presented their warning message to the world, and Nebuchadnezzar presented his warning message to Belshazzar.
This is how: after Belshazzar had brought the sacred vessels into his party and drank from them the hand writing appeared upon the wall and he ultimately sought the counsel of Daniel.
Daniel 5:17-31.
"Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.
But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old."
It is worthwhile to remind ourselves of the characteristic connected with the fall of Babylon in order to get the full impact of this passage. When Babylon fell there was first a warning message that was rejected, and after it was rejected there followed a pronouncement identifying the rejection, which is then followed by judgment.
This same three-step process can be demonstrated in the fall of Babel.
Patriarchs and Prophets, 120.
"But at what a loss to those who had set themselves against God! It was His purpose that as men should go forth to found nations in different parts of the earth they should carry with them a knowledge of His will, that the light of truth might shine undimmed to succeeding generations. Noah, the faithful preacher of righteousness, lived for three hundred and fifty years after the Flood, Shem for five hundred years, and thus their descendants had an opportunity to become acquainted with the requirements of God and the history of His dealings with their fathers. But they were unwilling to listen to these unpalatable truths; they had no desire to retain God in their knowledge; and by the confusion of tongues they were, in a great measure, shut out from intercourse with those who might have given them light."
Noah and his descendents left a message of warning for Nimrod and his associates, but Nimrod failed to heed the warning. Because of this the Lord descended to make a pronouncement identifying their rejection of the message.
Genesis 11:5-6
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
After the pronouncement is noted, then judgment is executed:
Genesis 11:7-9
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Truth is established upon the testimony of two witnesses, and we find the identical sequence in the history of the Millerites.
The Millerites presented the warning message from the book of Daniel and fulfilled the First Angel's message, but that message was rejected by the Protestant churches. Therefore, in the summer of 1844 the pronouncement concerning their rejection was proclaimed, and it concluded with judgment on Oct. 22, 1844.
"In June, 1842, Mr. Miller gave his second course of lectures in Portland. . . With few exceptions the different denominations closed the doors of their churches against Mr. Miller." Testimonies, volume 1, 21.
"The second angel's message of Revelation 14 was first preached in the summer of 1844, and it then had a more direct application to the churches of the United States, where the warning of the judgment had been most widely proclaimed and most generally rejected, and where the declension in the churches had been most rapid." The Great Controversy, 389.
On October 22, 1844 judgment began and the same sequence had taken place in the Millerite history that was recognized with the history of Nimrod and the tower of Babel.
This is the same sequence as the fall of Belshazzar's Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar left a warning message that Belshazzar rejected. His rejection brought about the proclamation of Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin, and Belshazzar's judgment was carried out that very night.
It is interesting to note that the pronouncement contains a numerical message encoded in the words of the symbolic message, for though Daniel deciphered the message represented by the words, the words themselves represent monetary value which adds up to 2520!
Shekel is pronounced Tekel in the Chaldean language.
This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. Exodus 30:13
A MENE is fifty shekels or tekels, which equals one thousand gerahs.
UPHARSIN is understood as a dividing of the mene.
Mene is one thousand gerahs,
Tekel is twenty gerahs,
Upharsin represent half a mene, or five hundred,
Therefore; "mene, mene, tekel, upharisn" equals 2520!
The fall of Belshazzar's Babylon is a type of the Millerite history from 1798 through 1844.
The Millerite history begins with the conclusion of the 2520 time prophecy against the northern kingdom of Israel that began in 723 BC and concluded in 1798. At that point in time the book of Daniel was unsealed and the First Angel's message as represented in Daniel 8:14 (that the Sanctuary would begin to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 years) was recognized and became the warning message from the book of Daniel that fulfilled the First Angel's message of Revelation 14:6-7.
When that message was rejected in June of 1842 a pronouncement to that effect went forth in the summer of 1844. This fulfilled the Second Angel's message of Revelation 14:8 announcing the fall of Babylon, and that message concluded when judgment arrived on October 22, 1844, when the 2520 time prophecy against the southern kingdom of Judah was fulfilled, along with the 2300 years of Daniel 8:14.
At that point Christ our High Priest opened the door that no man could open.
The history of the Millerites is an antitype of the history of Belshazzar.
The warning message from the book of Daniel for Belshazzar was the testimony of Nebuchadnezzar, which was completed when the 2520 days against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled and his reason and kingdom were restored unto him.
Once that history was complete Nebuchadnezzar became a changed human being, fitly representing the everlasting gospel of the First Angel's message, and that history is specifically identified as the very warning message that Belshazzar rejected.
The warning message for Belshazzar came after the conclusion of a 2520 time prophecy.
The warning message for the Millerites came after the conclusion of the first 2520-year time prophecy.
The warning message in both histories is the everlasting gospel of the First Angel.
When that warning message was rejected there came a pronouncement that culminated in a judgment event after the conclusion of both 2520 time prophecies.
Just as the Medes and the Persians opened the two-leaved gates into Babylon at the very time the judgment began, so also Jesus opened the door into the Most Holy Place at the very time the judgment began.
Identifying the two 2520 time prophecies against the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel that end in 1798 and 1844 respectively, is in clear agreement with the type-antitype relationship of the fall of Belshazzar's Babylon, and the fall of Protestantism's Babylon in the history of the Millerites.
The Spirit of Prophecy states:
"All the messages given from 1840-1844 are to be made forcible now, for there are many people who have lost their bearings. The messages are to go to all the churches.
"Christ said, ‘Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them' [Matthew 13:16, 17]. Blessed are the eyes which saw the things that were seen in 1843 and 1844.
"The message was given. And there should be no delay in repeating the message, for the signs of the times are fulfilling; the closing work must be done. A great work will be done in a short time. A message will soon be given by God's appointment that will swell into a loud cry. Then Daniel will stand in his lot, to give his testimony." Manuscript Releases, volume 21, 437.
Here we find that the Lord is informing us that "all" the messages proclaimed during the history of 1840 through 1844 are to be made forcible, and that the 2520 was one of the messages taught during that history.
Not only are we to proclaim it, but it has a direct connection with the Loud Cry of the Third Angel!
