Introduction
Dear reader, we are publishing this series of articles as a Final Warning before the terrible unleashing of the powers of Satan upon this world. Although none of us are prophets, and we are susceptible to making mistakes in our studies, we can truly say that the Holy Spirit has been guiding the Last Countdown ministry and these studies. These articles are intended to summarize the matter at hand, providing adequate proof but not so much as to weary the reader to make the warning of no effect. With that, let us begin.
Background
At the foundation of this study are two presentations available on www.lastcountdown.org. These studies are titled The Clock of God in Orion and The Vessel of Time. These studies set the foundation for this article series defining the exact date of the end of the investigative judgment on the Day of Atonement and High Sabbath of October 24, 2015. Additionally, you should know that God is on trial in the Great Controversy between good and evil, and that our redemption and high calling is to testify on His behalf, just like Job, no matter what trouble the enemy sends our way.
The 1335 Days
Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. (Daniel 12:12)
This verse contains two key words relating to the 1335 days. First, it is a time of “waiting.” Second, the word “cometh” could be better translated “toucheth” which reminds us of the Hebrew inclusive way of counting. The 1335 days, then, must be a waiting period inclusive of 1335 days. To find the beginning of the period, all we need to do is subtract 1335 days from the date of the end of the judgement. That brings us to February 27, 2012.
To be very precise according to the Hebrew reckoning of days, the first of the 1335 days begins at sunset on Sunday, February 26, 2012, and the last of the 1335 days ends at sunset on Friday, October 23, 2015. The last day does not include the actual day of the end of the judgment because the 1335 days are a “waiting” period, and there is no more waiting once the final sentence has been made.
What Happened on February 27, 2012?
He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? Even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations. (Ezekiel 8:6)
Ezekiel witnesses in this chapter the apostasy in the Church. It is so bad that God must leave it.
Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them. (Ezekiel 8:18)
In these verses, God is ready to leave the Church to its destruction as He did Jerusalem in AD 70. Chapter 9 describes this departure in more detail:
And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; (Ezekiel 9:3)
Above, we see that God the Father leaves His seat in the Most Holy and comes out to the threshold. From there He commands that the righteous be marked before the destruction.
In the book The Glory of God by Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson you can read:
The Departure of the Glory of God (Ezekiel 8-11). As Jeremiah (in chapter 7) states, the people were presumptuous in their relationship with God because they thought he would never let his temple be destroyed. In their minds, God lived in Jerusalem, so they could not imagine that city falling. Thus, they felt they could live with impunity, sinning and worshipping other gods. Jeremiah reminded them what Solomon had stated in his temple dedication service (1 Kings 8:27), that God did not really live in his temple. Jeremiah also reminded them of previous times when God in his judgment had destroyed the place where he was thought to dwell on earth (Jer. 7:12, for instance, where he cites the destruction of the tabernacle at Shiloh at the time of Eli).
Ezekiel addresses this presumption through a prophetic vision that describes the departure of the “glory of the LORD” from the temple. This divine abandonment of the temple thus becomes the preparation for its destruction by the Babylonians who are led by none other than the Lord himself. The extraordinary vision of Ezekiel 8-11 tells of God’s departure from the temple. (Footnote: That these chapters are a unified vision is clear from the fact that Ezek. 8:1-3 speaks of Ezekiel’s being taken in the vision to Jerusalem, and 11:24-25 describes his return by the Spirit to Babylon.)
The vision begins in chapter 8 when a “form that had the appearance of a man [JESUS]” (v. 2) came and grabbed Ezekiel and took him to Jerusalem and specifically to the “entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north” (v. 3). Here he came in to the presence of the “glory of God,” which he connects with what he saw earlier in the Kebar Valley (chap. 1).
God then took him on a tour of the temple. He visited four parts of the temple and witnessed the horrible goings-on there. First, in the entrance, north of the altar gate was an “image of jealousy.” The exact identification of this image is left unspecified (perhaps it is Asherah), but the jealousy it provokes is God’s. After all, the temple should be dedicated completely to the worship of Yahweh, yet here was an idol. The effect of this and the following abominations will be to “drive me [God] far away from my sanctuary” (v. 6). After this, God brought Ezekiel to the “entrance of the court” (v. 7). Here there was a hole that led to a den where there were vile engravings of unclean animals and idols. Seventy elders of Israel were offering incense to these abominations (v. 11). Yahweh then took Ezekiel to a third location, “the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD” (v. 14). Here they encountered women who were weeping for Tammuz, an ancient Mesopotamian deity. Finally, they went to the “entrance of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar” (v. 16). Here they found twenty-five men who were worshipping the sun. For these reasons, Yahweh told Ezekiel he will judge the city. Before judgment, though, comes divine abandonment. The next three chapters narrate Yahweh’s withdrawal from the city.
In chapters 9 through 11, we read of God’s response to Judah’s [the Seventh-day Adventist Church's] sacrilegious behavior. He will severely punish the city of Jerusalem. But before the judgment comes, God himself will abandon his temple. In these chapters, God’s glory is treated in an anthropomorphic fashion so that the glory stands and walks. This way of talking about God’s glory gives Ezekiel’s message a strong measure of vividness as well as concreteness.
The movement begins in 9:3 where we learn that “the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house.” The cherub is a reference to the fact that two cherub figures were placed above the ark of the covenant with their heads faced down so as not to be consumed by God’s glory above them. Thus, we learn that God had arisen from his throne and moved to the threshold of the temple. At this time, he also commissioned the devastation of the city.
Chapter 10 notes that the cherub-driven chariot that Ezekiel saw in chapter 1 is waiting for God on the south side of the house. As the glory of God moves out into the courtyard of the temple, the temple and the courtyard are filled with the cloud that represents his glorious presence. By the end of this chapter God’s glory has mounted the chariot: “the glory of LORD went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim” (v. 18). At the end of the vision, God’s glory mounted on the chariot was last seen hovering over the “mountain that is on the east side of the city” (Footnote: Presumably this is the Mount of Olives.) (11:23). God is heading east toward the land of Babylonia. The temple is now abandoned, ripe for its destruction.
The departure of the Father from the Most Holy Place parallels what happened near the beginning of the Advent movement when a special event occurred on October 22, 1844. Jesus, our High Priest, entered the Most Holy Place in the heavenly sanctuary to cleanse it from the record of our sins.
Ellen G. White saw this entering in two phases in her vision “The End of the 2300 Days”. It has never been sufficiently studied why she saw the Father entering the Most Holy Place first, and then our Lord Jesus some time later.
End of the 2300 Days
I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son. I gazed on Jesus’ countenance and admired His lovely person. The Father’s person I could not behold, for a cloud of glorious light covered Him. I asked Jesus if His Father had a form like Himself. He said He had, but I could not behold it, for said He, “If you should once behold the glory of His person, you would cease to exist.” Before the throne I saw the Advent people—the church and the world. I saw two companies, one bowed down before the throne, deeply interested, while the other stood uninterested and careless. Those who were bowed before the throne would offer up their prayers and look to Jesus; then He would look to His Father, and appear to be pleading with Him. A light would come from the Father to the Son and from the Son to the praying company. Then I saw an exceeding bright light [the midnight cry] come from the Father to the Son, and from the Son it waved over the people before the throne. But few would receive this great light. Many came out from under it and immediately resisted it; others were careless and did not cherish the light, and it moved off from them. Some cherished it, and went and bowed down with the little praying company. This company all received the light and rejoiced in it, and their countenances shone with its glory.
I saw the Father rise from the throne, and in a flaming chariot go into the holy of holies within the veil, and sit down. Then Jesus rose up from the throne, and the most of those who were bowed down arose with Him. I did not see one ray of light pass from Jesus to the careless multitude after He arose, and they were left in perfect darkness. Those who arose when Jesus did, kept their eyes fixed on Him as He left the throne and led them out a little way. [This marks a special time period in 1844, about which we will write later.] Then He raised His right arm, and we heard His lovely voice saying, “Wait here; I am going to My Father to receive the kingdom; keep your garments spotless, and in a little while I will return from the wedding and receive you to Myself.” Then a cloudy chariot, with wheels like flaming fire, surrounded by angels, came to where Jesus was. He stepped into the chariot and was borne to the holiest, where the Father sat. [The entry of Jesus to the Most Holy Place at October 22, 1844.] There I beheld Jesus, a great High Priest, standing before the Father. On the hem of His garment was a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate. Those who rose up with Jesus would send up their faith to Him in the holiest, and pray, “My Father, give us Thy Spirit.” Then Jesus would breathe upon them the Holy Ghost. In that breath was light, power, and much love, joy, and peace. [The Sabbath Truth given in 1846]
I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne, and pray, “Father, give us Thy Spirit.” Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was light and much power, but no sweet love, joy, and peace. Satan’s object was to keep them deceived and to draw back and deceive God’s children. {EW 54.2–56.1}
Similarly to how the Father and Son entered the Most Holy Place in two phases at the beginning of the movement, as we near the end of the Advent movement the Father left His seat of Judgment FIRST on February 27, 2012 to take His place on the trial bench and in His place Jesus remains to serve as the Great Judge and Intercessor. This is an important new phase of the Judgment, where the Father Himself prepares to go on trial and the 144,000 and the martyrs are called to the witness stand to testify in His defense.
The 40 Days
Afterward he brought me to the temple….and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth twenty cubits. (From Ezekiel 41:1-2)
The length of the Holy Place which the Father had to travel to reach the threshold of the courtyard was 40 cubits. If each cubit is one step, and each step is one day, then the time for the Father to get to His position at the threshold would be 40 days. Simultaneously, the witnesses must enter the Temple (figuratively) and travel that same distance to get to the witness stand in the Most Holy Place in front of the new Great Judge, Jesus Christ. The forty days began at the start of the 1335 days, with the 40th day starting at sunset on Thursday, April 5, 2012 and ending at sunset on Friday, April 6, 2012. On this day, the leaders of the 144,000 PASSED OVER the threshold from the Holy Place to the Most Holy Place and the Father PASSED OVER from the Holy Place to the courtyard. The very ending day of those 40 days was the correct day for the Lord’s Supper according to God’s calendar that we had studied in the Shadow Series, and the very antitypical day that in AD 31 Jesus Christ was crucified. It is only by His blood on the doorposts of our heart that we can enter the Most Holy (figuratively) and survive the angel of death that is coming upon the Church.
If you did not participate in the Lord’s Supper on April 5, please prepare your heart to observe it as we will explain in the third part of this article. Only those who partake worthily will be protected.
The Showbread and the Candlestick
If the Father is leaving the temple through His walk through the Holy Place and we are entering the same way, there would be a very special moment in that timeframe of 40 days: the very day when we would meet the Father in the middle of the Holy Place. This happened on Sabbath, March 17, 2012. Brother John even received a vivid dream on the morning of that day that brought clearly to our remembrance what we thought had to happen on that day.
Let us explore this in more detail.
There are definitely several applications of the services and furniture of the sanctuary. One of the most important applications is that the furniture of the sanctuary shows the progress of Christian life:
And the services illustrate the stages of Jesus’ ministry:
You can place a cross shaped shadow collocated over the of the sanctuary’s furniture:
Another explication of the same symbolism:
On March 17, 2012, we who had not given up in the small disappointment of February 27 figuratively reached the point in the Holy Place where we met with the Father at the cross point where the horizontal beam and the vertical beam are connected. Once more the symbolism points to the crucifixion of Christ.
The question is: what should we have expected on that day? Would something special happen when we would stand symbolically face to face with God the Father? Let us start to understand what might have happened on that day by applying the Christian way of progress to the progress of one of us who had entered in faith in the Holy Place at the beginning of the 1335 days.
Let us go back to 2010.
Since 2010, the Orion message has been given as a last warning to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. All those Adventists who accepted the message wanted to know more about the deeper studies that accompanied this message of God. Accepting the Orion message, we figuratively entered into the courtyard of the temple and passed the door called “the way”. The only thing we had to accept was the belief that we can see Jesus in Orion. We few remnant Seventh-day Adventists started to meet in a special place on the Internet, asking Brother John for admittance to the private study forum that he had founded; and there we studied together for many months.
In the forum, which we also call the “restaurant” or “the waiting room”, we were served loads of spiritual food in the form of studies and we had to sacrifice a lot of private time on the altar of the courtyard to understand what the voice of God wanted to tell us. And we had to learn by those studies like a Christian in the beginning of his spiritual life has to learn from the teachings that have been given by Jesus in the Bible.
A very special last study given by the Holy Spirit showed the consequences for the universe and God Himself, if the mission of the 144,000 and the martyrs should fail. Only we who understood our role in the end time events and our responsibility to follow Jesus OUR FORERUNNER in EVERYTHING, gave our solemn vows to testify for the Father before February 27, 2012 in the forum. This was the symbolic baptism necessary to pass the door to the Holy Place which is called “the truth”. This was the moment when we passed by the laver symbolizing baptism (baptismal vows) in the Christian life. On our way, it represented our solemn vows to testify for God the Father with complete understanding of the consequences if we should fail.
The door itself was a first test of our faithfulness to our vows. Only we stayed in the “restaurant” who really understood the three parts of the fourth angel’s message that we had learned before and passed the test of the small disappointment of February 27 and entered the Holy Place to begin our walk of the 40 days toward the Most Holy Place. Only we who saw with our spiritual eyes the Father coming out of the Most Holy Place on February 27 passed the test of the small disappointment. The others failed and left the sanctuary.
Jesus was tempted three times in the desert in His forty days. So we were tempted on the very day we first entered the Holy Place. We had to prove that our faith would stand disappointment.
On March 17, 2012 the remnant forum members had entered 20 steps (days) into the Holy Place coming from the threshold of the courtyard. The Father had also exited the Most Holy Place 20 steps (days) toward us, and we reached the location where the Father was. At the right of us was the table of showbread and at our left was the Father and the candlestick.
Let us first look at the table of showbread:
The original interpretation is that the 12 cakes of bread symbolize the 12 tribes of Israel as the body of Christ. The nutrition of the Word of God for the tribes was symbolized by the bread that Jesus broke at the Lord’s Supper. But you know that the 144,000 are made up of 12 “tribe leaders” and of each tribe will be sealed 12,000 members:
And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. (Revelation 7:4-8)
The 12 cakes of bread had been prepared for this very special day on March 17, 2012 when we passed by the showbread table so that each one of us could take one cake of bread with him to feed as teachers the 12,000 members of his own tribe. The type for this day had been David with his men who ate from this bread and David later became king of Israel:
But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? (Matthew 12:3-4)
God is cleaning for Himself a people of priests and kings, and those who made it to the showbread table were ready to take their bread that very same day. But there are two piles of 6 cakes of bread each, and this has a very special meaning that we will reveal in a later article of this last warning series.
Now we have to research the candlestick with the seven arms.
In Revelation we find:
The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. (Revelation 1:20)
Ellen G. White told us that the seven stars are the LEADERS of the seven churches. We know the deeper meaning that the stars also represent the Orion constellation and the doctrine that those future leaders have.
There are only two churches without blame: Philadelphia and Smyrna. The last spiritual Philadelphia is the Church of the 144,000 who will not see death and Smyrna is the Church of the martyrs that have to die under the fifth seal.
God the Father turned away from the worldly apostate Adventist Church on February 27 because it did not repent of its sins that have been written in Orion. He started to abandon His temple. This Church was about to lose its status as the bearer of the light for the world just like ancient Israel lost its status in AD 34.
But when would God the Father TRANSFER the light to the new spiritual church of Philadelphia and its leaders?
Jesus was warning our pioneers of the church of Ephesus that this one day could happen if they would lose their first love and go into apostasy in the Great Day of the Investigative Judgment:
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (Revelation 2:4-5)
But to whom would the candlestick be given?
“I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.” This labor of purifying the church is a painful work, but one that must not be neglected, if the church would have the commendation of God. But repent, because thou hast left thy first love. Here is plainly presented before us our work as members of the church of Christ. If we are faithless, we shall lose the crown of life and another will take it; for in the dropping out of the faithless the places are supplied by the faithful. If we refuse to let our light shine for the Master, if we do not do the works of God, others will do that very work which we might have done and could have done, but refused to do. When we cease to fulfill our mission, when the candlestick refuses to reflect light, and the great truths committed to us individually in trust for the world, are not given to them, then the candlestick will be removed. “I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place.” Another will be placed in his stead and will shine. Let prayer be ascending now without delay to Him who walketh in the midst of the golden candlesticks. Take not thy Holy Spirit from us. “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.... Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways: and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” {RH June 7, 1887, par. 17}
From the description of the Laodiceans, it is evident that many were deceived in their estimate of their spiritual condition. They regarded themselves as rich, as possessing all the knowledge and grace that was needed; but yet they lacked the gold of faith and love, the white raiment of Christ’s righteousness. They were destitute and poverty-stricken, walking in sparks of their own kindling, and preparing to lie down in sorrow. Jesus says to them, “I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works [when the glow of the love of God was upon you]; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” This warning would not be given if there were no danger of failure on the part of those who profess to be the children of God. {RH December 20, 1892, par. 2}
The candlestick was removed from Laodicea (the organized Seventh-day Adventist Church) on February 27, 2012 and after 3500 years, that one special candlestick remained for the remnant church of God. Its designated leaders passed by it on the very day of March 17, 2012!
And the Father was there at the same time and place to give this very special candlestick to His witnesses who had given their vows to Him before. The Father personally admitted His witnesses!
The candlestick is filled with “oil” of the Holy Spirit, and before we would be allowed to advance to the Holiest of Holies to testify for the Father, we needed this special unction which was a special blessing that the future leaders of the 144,000 received that day.
Later, in the loud cry, every single one of the 144,000 will follow this same way when we will teach them what happened during those solemn days. When they will come to understand what happened in the heavenly sanctuary, they will also receive their blessings with the light necessary to become one of the tribe members that will be sealed to form part of God’s remnant church, the antitype of Philadelphia.
Conclusion
Remember we are not prophets. However, the Holy Spirit has been leading us, just as the Millerite movement was led by God even though they did not have complete understanding at the time of the Great Disappointment. God leads us one step at a time. We thought there would be a visible world-changing event to occur at the beginning of the 1335 days, and we tried to prepare and warn accordingly. We took the safe path. When nothing visible happened, we were relieved but also disappointed because we had hoped for a powerful confirmation of the Second Coming.
Once more as it had happened in the time of the Millerite movement, we waited for a visible event in the world, instead of looking to the heavenly sanctuary understanding that corresponding events had to take place before the judgment of the living could begin. The Great Judge, Jesus Christ, presides over the judgment of the living, as God the Father presided over the judgment of the dead. The change of roles had to take place beforehand, and this was marked by the beginning of the 1335 days and the 40 days of the PASSING OVER of God the Father and of us to our correct positions for the last judgment of the living.
We continued to study in faith, and this final warning is a result of the clear understanding that the Holy Spirit has given us. We hope that the same Spirit spoke to you as you read this first article, and that you will take the remainder of this three-part warning seriously to prepare your heart and get ready for a very special Lord’s Supper to begin your own journey into the Most Holy Place to testify later at the witness stand.
Heed this warning if you want to be part of the 144,000 who are described as follows:
These are they which were not defiled with women [not even with the apostate part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church]; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth [even into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary where Jesus is now the Great Judge]. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. (Revelation 14:4)
Figure 1: The Start of the 1335 and 40 Days
Figure 2: The End of the 40 Days
Figure 3: The End of the 1335 Days
