We got mail…

Duped and hypnotized

Hello there! Those of us who left the Seventh-day Adventist church and were hypnotized by the writings of Ellen White often have a difficult time getting her doctrines out of our heads. I devoured her books in that church and spent little or no time reading the Bible—a big mistake! Her writings, especially Messages To Young People,  completely discouraged me. She set extremely high standards. I knew that I was full of sin with many flaws and weaknesses. I felt there was no hope for me, and that salvation was either a lie or only for the fortunate few who would make it through to the end. A resentment toward God crept up in me. Even anger at times! 

So I left the False Christian Cult, still believing that it was the true church for years afterward. Only after gaining access to the internet and doing my own research did I realize that Adventism was a false Christian cult, and I had been duped! 

My original reason for leaving was that I felt that there was no hope of being saved, not the false doctrines. Now, though, I still sometimes find I have remnants of Adventist theology and Ellen White rattling around in my head!

Kind regards. 

—VIA EMAIL

 

Satan has blinded you

Your interpretation and understanding of Adventism is a complete failure. There are also a bunch of lies and twists in your statements. Satan has blinded you so that you do not even discern what is true and has turned you against God. But Christ will come very soon and has given you His grace to know him and to surrender to him.

—VIA EMAIL

 

Abomination confusion

I am in the process of reading the article by Dale Ratzlaff, “Daniel 8:14 Studied In Context”. 

I am having some problems with dates. The article quotes from 1 Maccabees and says that the abomination of desolation was erected in the 145th year, and the temple was cleansed in the 148th year. Here’s my question: how can the temple be cleansed in 148 BC, three years prior to the abomination of desolation being erected in 145 BC?

GotQuestions.org says Antiochus Epiphanes set up an altar to Zeus in 167 BC, and the biography of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the online Brtannica says that he died in 164 BC. 

Can you clarify these dates, please?

—VIA EMAIL

Response: I went to 1 Maccabees online and discovered that the designations of the years 145 and 147 are not the actual dates of HISTORY but the year of the Greek Empire.

Here’s 1 Maccabees 1:10: 

10 From them came forth a sinful root, Anti′ochus Epiph′anes, son of Anti′ochus the king; he had been a hostage in Rome. He began to reign in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.[b]

The footnote at the end of the passage above [b] identifies that 137th year of the kingdom of the Greeks as the year 175 BC.

So, fast-forwarding to 1 Maccabees 1: 20 we read this:

20 After subduing Egypt, Anti′ochus returned in the one hundred and forty-third year.[c] 

Again, the footnote at the end of that passage indicates that the 143rd year is the year 169 BC.

Then in 1 Mac. 1:54-55 we read:

54 Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-fifth year,[d] they erected a desolating sacrilege upon the altar of burnt offering. They also built altars in the surrounding cities of Judah, 55 and burned incense at the doors of the houses and in the streets. 

The 145th year of the Greek Empire is 167 BC.

Then, in 1 Mac. 4:52–54 we read:

52 Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth year,[e] 53 they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering which they had built. 54 At the very season and on the very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals.

So, the the sanctuary was cleansed in the 148th year of the Greek Empire—which was the actual year 164 BC!

I find the NASB (1995 ed) footnote on Daniel 8:14 helpful as well:

There were two daily sacrifices for the continual burnt offering (9:21; Ex 29:38–42), representing the atonement required for Israel as a whole. The 2,300 evenings and mornings probably refer to the number of sacrifices consecutively offered on 1,150 days, the interval between the desecration of the Lord’s altar and its reconsecration by Judas Maccabees on Kislev 25, 165 BC. The pagan altar set up by Antiochus on Kislev 25, 168, was apparently installed almost two months after the Lord’s altar was removed, accounting for the difference between 1,095 days (an exact three years) and the 1,150 specified here.

All to say, thank you for asking! I should have caught that confusion 15 years ago when we first published this piece and added an explanation.

Oh, and if you haven’t seen them, these two talks by Gary Inrig at the 2016 FAF conference were amazing and helpful:

• Daniel And His Book: God’s Key for the Future
• Daniel And His Meaning: Curious Interpretations