I was at Camp Meeting in the Summer of 1992 among the giant California Redwoods—a most beautiful setting. I was receiving a blessing from all the speakers and had shared some comments as well. A friendly woman asked me to share with her what I knew about the Lion of Daniel 7 and I joined her in her trailer after lunch to share.
I stood inside the door of the trailer and began to speak about how the Lion represented Christ as it stood upon its feet as a man and a man’s heart was given to it.
Suddenly I saw, in my spiritual vision, an entire Angelic Host at my left hand—so huge that they filled the entire sky. The vision was so profound that I literally turned my head and stared at them. In my mind I asked the question, “What are you guys doing here?”
Dazed, I looked back at the woman, but before I could speak another word, a vicious, foaming attack came at me from my right hand. The woman’s husband was seated at the kitchen table on my right side. I hadn’t even seen him yet because I had entered from the bright sunshine to a dim room. He was cursing and swearing and shouting with a face snarled like a demon.
The woman turned to her husband and asked him, “What’s the matter with you? Why are you talking to her like that?” He continued cursing and screaming.
Then I saw the situation. On my right hand had formed a demonic host. In that instant I realized many things. The first was that the battle was fully engaged and it was not my battle. I took a step backwards to remove myself from the middle of the fight and stared in wonder!
I saw many things in that moment that are important lessons for us all.
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- The battle is not ours! We are only to serve the Lord by speaking truth and let Him do the warfare.
- Before we even know that there is a fight brewing, the Lord’s heavenly host is already on the scene. The Lord will be there before we need Him!
- The Devil is furious about the truth of the Lion—in the same way, or more so, as he despises the truth of God’s Feasts. The Feasts redirect us to the true worship of God and that is important truth. But I’m sure you have already seen the Devil take people away into error after they have accepted the Feast Day message. So he plans to distract them from that message in another way. But the LION reveals the Antichrist in his true form and that exposes the lies of the Devil just as it also reveals the most beautiful understanding of Christ that mankind has ever seen. These truths the Devil cannot tolerate!
- One of the most important things that stood out for me in this experience was this: All the power of heaven is behind the truth!
I have no clear recollection of what happened next in that trailer.
I never doubted the message the Lord had given me about the Lion of Daniel, but this was a powerful confirmation of its importance. It surely caused the Devil to reveal his hand. Do not under-estimate the power and significance of this Lion!
Revelation 10 tells us about 7 Thunders that rumble through the earth when the book of Daniel is unsealed. Through the Holy Spirit, Mrs. Ellen White reveals to us that these are “most wonderful and advanced truths” that are revealed in their proper order during the time of the first 2 Angels’ Messages of Revelation 14:6-8.
If you picture thunder, you know that first there is a lightning strike that not everyone sees. But everyone hears the thunder that follows as it rolls through the earth. Here is a picture for us about a wonderful flash of new light that God gives the earth. Perhaps not everyone sees the flash, but eventually, even the message of the Feast Days reaches to the farthest and most remote corner of Africa. And then the lightning flashes out again and reveals a Lion! How far and wide will that message go? “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations; then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)
That first Thunder must do its work in the hearts of believers before they are prepared to accept the second Thunder. And likewise that message must be accepted and understood before the next Thunder can be received. No wonder the rest of what Mrs. White revealed about the 7 Thunders is that they are tests of faith for the people of God. Our people, God’s people, will be tested to receive new light and to grow from its knowledge. Pray that God will give us the heart and mind and strength to endure every test!
And we need never fear the attacks of the devil or the test of our faith because,
All the power of heaven is behind the truth!
Do we have a love of the truth that we might be saved?
