EVIDENCES OF THE ADVANCING TRUTHNUMBER ONE: WHO HATH WARNED YOU?

“Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours, so that their prophesying is in force for us. ‘Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.’ 1 Corinthians 10:11. ‘Not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.’ 1 Peter 1:12. . . .

“The Bible has accumulated and bound up together its treasures for this last generation. All the great events and solemn transactions of Old Testament history have been, and are, repeating themselves in the church in these last days.” Selected Messages, book 3, 338–339.

1 Corinthians 14:32, 33

WHO HATH WARNED YOU?Matthew 3; Luke 3:1–18

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

WILLIAM MILLER“God sent His angel to move upon the heart of a farmer who had not believed the Bible,

to lead him to search the prophecies. Angels of God repeatedly visited that chosen one, to guide his mind and open to his understanding prophecies which had ever been dark to God’s people. The commencement of the chain of truth was given to him, and he was led on to search for link after link, until he looked with wonder and admiration upon the Word of God. He saw there a perfect chain of truth. That Word which he had regarded as uninspired now opened before his vision in its beauty and glory. He saw that one portion of Scripture explains another, and when one passage was closed to his understanding, he found in another part of the Word that which explained it. He regarded the sacred Word of God with joy and with the deepest respect and awe.

“As he followed down the prophecies, he saw that the inhabitants of the earth were living in the closing scenes of this world’s history, yet they knew it not. He looked at the churches and saw that they were corrupt; they had taken their affections from Jesus and placed them on the world; they were seeking for worldly honor, instead of that honor which cometh from above; grasping for worldly riches, instead of laying up their treasure in heaven. He could see hypocrisy, darkness, and death everywhere. His spirit was stirred within him. God called him to leave his farm, as He called Elisha to leave his oxen and the field of his labor to follow Elijah. With trembling, William Miller began to unfold to the people the mysteries of the kingdom of God, carrying his hearers down through the prophecies to the second advent of Christ. With every effort he gained strength. As John the Baptist heralded the first advent of Jesus and prepared the way for His coming, so William Miller and those who joined with him proclaimed the second advent of the Son of God.” Early Writings, 229, 230.

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GENERATION OF VIPERS: GENESIS 15“The message proclaimed by the angel flying in the midst of heaven is the everlasting

gospel, the same gospel that was declared in Eden when God said to the serpent, ‘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.’” Selected Messages, book 2, 106.

“The work of God in the earth presents, from age to age, a striking similarity in every great reformation or religious movement. The principles of God’s dealing with men are ever the same.” The Great Controversy, 343.

MALACHI 3:1–3“The words of the Lord in Malachi 3:1–3 lay down the work essential to be done in the

church of God: Malachi 3:1–3 quoted. A message which is as a two-edged sword must be given to the people, to clear away the evils that are seen among them. A living testimony that will awaken the paralyzed conscience is to be borne.” Review and Herald, December 1, 1896.

A TWO-EDGED SWORD“The Laodicean message, like a sharp, two-edged sword, must go to all the churches:

Verses 15–19 quoted. It is our work to proclaim this message.” Testimonies, volume 6, 77.

A FOUNDATIONAL WORK“With the calling of John and Andrew and Simon, of Philip and Nathanael, began the

foundation of the Christian church. John directed two of his disciples to Christ. Then one of these, Andrew, found his brother, and called him to the Saviour. Philip was then called, and he went in search of Nathanael.” The Desire of Ages, 141.

“Those who are engaged in proclaiming the third angel’s message are searching the Scriptures upon the same plan that Father Miller adopted. In the little book entitled Views of the Prophecies and Prophetic Chronology, Father Miller gives the following simple but intelligent and important rules for Bible study and interpretation:—

“[Rules one through five quoted.]“The above is a portion of these rules; and in our study of the Bible we shall all do well to

heed the principles set forth.” Review and Herald, November 25, 1884.

“We should know for ourselves what constitutes Christianity, what is truth, what is the faith that we have received, what are the Bible rules—the rules given us from the highest authority.” The 1888 Materials, 403.

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A FIRM PLATFORM“I saw a company who stood well-guarded and firm, giving no countenance to those who

would unsettle the established faith of the body. God looked upon them with approbation. I was shown three steps—the first, second, and third angels’ messages. Said my accompanying angel, ‘Woe to him who shall move a block or stir a pin of these messages. The true understanding of these messages is of vital importance. The destiny of souls hangs upon the manner in which they are received.’ I was again brought down through these messages, and saw how dearly the people of God had purchased their experience. It had been obtained through much suffering and severe conflict. God had led them along step by step, until He had placed them upon a solid, immovable platform. I saw individuals approach the platform and examine the foundation. Some with rejoicing immediately stepped upon it. Others commenced to find fault with the foundation. They wished improvements made, and then the platform would be more perfect, and the people much happier. Some stepped off the platform to examine it and declared it to be laid wrong. But I saw that nearly all stood firm upon the platform and exhorted those who had stepped off to cease their complaints; for God was the Master Builder, and they were fighting against Him. They recounted the wonderful work of God, which had led them to the firm platform, and in union raised their eyes to heaven and with a loud voice glorified God. This affected some of those who had complained and left the platform, and they with humble look again stepped upon it.

“I was pointed back to the proclamation of the first advent of Christ. John was sent in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way of Jesus. Those who rejected the testimony of John were not benefited by the teachings of Jesus. Their opposition to the message that foretold His coming placed them where they could not readily receive the strongest evidence that He was the Messiah. Satan led on those who rejected the message of John to go still farther, to reject and crucify Christ. In doing this they placed themselves where they could not receive the blessing on the day of Pentecost, which would have taught them the way into the heavenly sanctuary. The rendering of the veil of the temple showed that the Jewish sacrifices and ordinances would no longer be received. The great Sacrifice had been offered and had been accepted, and the Holy Spirit which descended on the day of Pentecost carried the minds of the disciples from the earthly sanctuary to the heavenly, where Jesus had entered by His own blood, to shed upon His disciples the benefits of His atonement. But the Jews were left in total darkness. They lost all the light which they might have had upon the plan of salvation, and still trusted in their useless sacrifices and offerings. The heavenly sanctuary had taken the place of the earthly, yet they had no knowledge of the change. Therefore they could not be benefited by the mediation of Christ in the holy place.

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“Many look with horror at the course of the Jews in rejecting and crucifying Christ; and as they read the history of His shameful abuse, they think they love Him, and would not have denied Him as did Peter, or crucified Him as did the Jews. But God who reads the hearts of all, has brought to the test that love for Jesus which they professed to feel. All heaven watched with the deepest interest the reception of the first angel’s message. But many who professed to love Jesus, and who shed tears as they read the story of the cross, derided the good news of His coming. Instead of receiving the message with gladness, they declared it to be a delusion. They hated those who loved His appearing and shut them out of the churches. Those who rejected the first message could not be benefited by the second; neither were they benefited by the midnight cry, which was to prepare them to enter with Jesus by faith into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. And by rejecting the two former messages, they have so darkened their understanding that they can see no light in the third angel’s message, which shows the way into the most holy place. I saw that as the Jews crucified Jesus, so the nominal churches had crucified these messages, and therefore they have no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and they cannot be benefited by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare.” Early Writings, 258–261.

JEREMIAH 6:16, 17“The enemy is seeking to divert the minds of our brethren and sisters from the work of

preparing a people to stand in these last days. His sophistries are designed to lead minds away from the perils and duties of the hour. They estimate as nothing the light that Christ came from heaven to give to John for His people. They teach that the scenes just before us are not of sufficient importance to receive special attention. They make of no effect the truth of heavenly origin and rob the people of God of their past experience, giving them instead a false science.

“‘Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein.’ Jeremiah 6:16.

“Let none seek to tear away the foundations of our faith—the foundations that were laid at the beginning of our work by prayerful study of the word and by revelation. Upon these foundations we have been building for the last fifty years. Men may suppose that they have found a new way and that they can lay a stronger foundation than that which has been laid. But this is a great deception. Other foundation can no man lay than that which has been laid.

“In the past many have undertaken the building of a new faith, the establishment of new principles. But how long did their building stand? It soon fell, for it was not founded upon the Rock.

“Did not the first disciples have to meet the sayings of men? Did they not have to listen to false theories, and then, having done all, to stand firm, saying: ‘Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid’? 1 Corinthians 3:11.

“So we are to hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. Words of power have been sent by God and by Christ to this people, bringing them out from the world, point by point, into the clear light of present truth. With lips touched with holy fire, God’s servants have proclaimed the message. The divine utterance has set its seal to the genuineness of the truth proclaimed.” Testimonies, volume 8, 296–297.

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ISAIAH 58:1“The voice of John was lifted up like a trumpet. His commission was, ‘Shew my people

their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins’ (Isaiah 58:1). He had obtained no human scholarship. God and nature had been his teachers. But one was needed to prepare the way before Christ who was bold enough to make his voice heard like the prophets of old, summoning the degenerate nation to repentance.” Selected Messages, book 2, 148.

THE LAODICEAN MESSAGE“Will you not seek God most humbly, that you may give the Laodicean message, with

clear distinct utterance in Battle Creek? Where are God’s watchman who will see the peril and give the warning? Be assured that there are messages to come from human lips under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. ‘Cry aloud, spare not; show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, as a people that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God.’” The 1888 Materials, 1605.

THE 1888 MESSAGE OF JONES AND WAGGONER“An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept this truth, lay at the

foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord’s message through Brethren [E.J.] Waggoner and [A.T.] Jones. By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them. The enemy prevented them from obtaining that efficiency which might have been theirs in carrying the truth to the world, as the apostles proclaimed it after the day of Pentecost. The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world.” Selected Messages, book 1, 235.

“The message given us by A. T. Jones, and E. J. Waggoner is the message of God to the

Laodicean church, and woe be unto anyone who professes to believe the truth and yet does not reflect to others the God-given rays. Elder Smith, had you been unprejudiced, had not reports affected you and led you to bar your heart against the entrance of what these men presented; had you, like the noble Bereans, searched the Scriptures to see if their testimony agreed with its instruction, you would have stood upon vantage ground, and been far advanced in Christian experience. If you had received the truth into a good and honest heart, you would have become a living channel of light, with clear perception and sanctified imagination. Your conceptions of truth would have been exalted, and your heart made joyful in God. God would have given you a testimony clear, powerful, and convincing. But the first position you took in regard to the message and the messenger, has been a continual snare to you and a stumbling block.” Manuscript Releases, volume 15, 92.

ORDAINED INSTRUMENTALITIES OF GOD “One mistake leads to another. Our brethren must learn to move intelligently and not

from impulse. Feeling must not be the criterion. A neglect of duty, the indulgence of undue sympathy, will be followed by a neglect to properly estimate those who are laboring to build up the cause of God. Jesus said: ‘I am come in My Father’s name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.’

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“Many do not look upon preaching as Christ’s appointed means of instructing His people and therefore always to be highly prized. They do not feel that the sermon is the word of the Lord to them and estimate it by the value of the truths spoken; but they judge it as they would the speech of a lawyer at the bar—by the argumentative skill displayed and the power and beauty of the language. The minister is not infallible, but God has honored him by making him His messenger. If you listen to him as though he were not commissioned from above you will not respect his words nor receive them as the message of God. Your souls will not feed upon the heavenly manna; doubts will arise concerning some things that are not pleasing to the natural heart, and you will sit in judgment upon the sermon as you would upon the remarks of a lecturer or a political speaker. As soon as the meeting closes you will be ready with some complaint or sarcastic remark, thus showing that the message, however true and needful, has not profited you. You esteem it not; you have learned the habit of criticizing and finding fault, and you pick and choose, and perhaps reject the very things that you most need.

“There is very little reverence for sacred things in either the Upper Columbia or the North Pacific Conference. The ordained instrumentalities of God are almost entirely lost sight of. God has instituted no new method of reaching the children of men. If they cut themselves off from heaven’s appointed agencies to reprove their sins, correct their errors, and point out the path of duty, there is no way to reach them with any heavenly communication. They are left in darkness and are ensnared and taken by the adversary.

“The minister of God is commanded: ‘Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.’ The Lord says of these people: ‘They seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness.’ Here is a people who are self-deceived, self-righteous, self-complacent, and the minister is commanded to cry aloud and show them their transgressions. In all ages this work has been done for God’s people, and it is needed now more than ever before.

“The word of the Lord came to Elijah; he did not seek to be the Lord’s messenger, but the word came to him. God always has men to whom He entrusts His message. His Spirit moves upon their hearts and constrains them to speak. Stimulated by holy zeal, and with the divine impulse strong upon them, they enter upon the performance of their duty without coldly calculating the consequences of speaking to the people the word which the Lord has given them. But the servant of God is soon made aware that he has risked something. He finds himself and his message made the subject of criticism. His manners, his life, his property, are all inspected and commented upon. His message is picked to pieces and rejected in the most illiberal and unsanctified spirit, as men in their finite judgment see fit. Has that message done the work that God designed it should accomplish? No; it has signally failed because the hearts of the hearers were unsanctified.

“If the minister’s face is not flint, if he has not indomitable faith and courage, if his heart is not made strong by constant communion with God, he will begin to shape his testimony to please the unsanctified ears and hearts of those he is addressing. In endeavoring to avoid the criticism to which he is exposed, he separates from God and loses the sense of divine favor, and his testimony becomes tame and lifeless. He finds that his courage and faith are gone and his labors powerless. The world is full of flatterers and dissemblers who have yielded to the desire to please; but the faithful men, who do not study self-interest, but love their brethren too well to suffer sin upon them, are few indeed.

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“It is Satan’s settled purpose to cut off all communication between God and His people, that he may practice his deceptive wiles with no voice to warn them of their danger. If he can lead men to distrust the messenger or to attach no sacredness to the message, he knows that they will feel under no obligation to heed the word of God to them. And when light is set aside as darkness, Satan has things his own way.” Testimonies, volume 5, 298–300.

9/11REVELATION FOURTEEN & EIGHTEEN

“God has given the messages of Revelation 14 their place in the line of prophecy, and their work is not to cease till the close of this earth’s history. The first and second angel’s messages are still truth for this time, and are to run parallel with this which follows. The third angel proclaims his warning with a loud voice. ‘After these things,’ said John, ‘I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory.’ In this illumination, the light of all the three messages is combined.” The 1888 Materials, 803–804.

MATTHEW TWENTY-FIVE“The parable of the ten virgins of Matthew 25 also illustrates the experience of the

Adventist people.” The Great Controversy, 393.

“I am often referred to the parable of the ten virgins, five of whom were wise, and five foolish. This parable has been and will be fulfilled to the very letter , for it has a special application to this time, and, like the third angel’s message, has been fulfilled and will continue to be present truth till the close of time.” Review and Herald, August 19, 1890.

THE SEVEN THUNDERS“The special light given to John which was expressed in the seven thunders was a

delineation of events which would transpire under the first and second angels’ messages. . . .“After these seven thunders uttered their voices, the injunction comes to John as to

Daniel in regard to the little book: ‘Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered.’ These relate to future events which will be disclosed in their order.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 7, 971.

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1977 Baptized1989 (Time of the End) Reform Lines1995 First public presentation (reform lines)1996 Message (Daniel 11:40–45) formalized9/11, 2001 Message Empowered

REFORM MOVEMENTS “Light Through Darkness“The work of God in the earth presents, from age to age, a striking similarity in every

great reformation or religious movement. The principles of God’s dealing with men are ever the same. The important movements of the present have their parallel in those of the past, and the experience of the church in former ages has lessons of great value for our own time.

“No truth is more clearly taught in the Bible than that God by his Holy Spirit especially directs his servants on earth in the great movements for the carrying forward of the work of salvation. Men are instruments in the hand of God, employed by him to accomplish his purposes of grace and mercy. Each has his part to act; to each is granted a measure of light, adapted to the necessities of his time, and sufficient to enable him to perform the work which God has given him to do. But no man, however honored of Heaven, has ever attained to a full understanding of the great plan of redemption, or even to a perfect appreciation of the divine purpose in the work for his own time. Men do not fully understand what God would accomplish by the work which he gives them to do; they do not comprehend, in all its bearings, the message which they utter in his name.” The Great Controversy, 343.

“But Satan was not idle. He now attempted what he has attempted in every other reformatory movement—to deceive and destroy the people by palming off upon them a counterfeit in place of the true work. As there were false Christ’s in the first century of the Christian church, so there arose false prophets in the sixteenth century.” The Great Controversy, 186.

“It was the work of Christ to present the truth in the frame-work of the gospel, and to reveal the precepts and principles that he had given to fallen man. Every idea he presented was his own. He needed not to borrow thoughts from any, for he was the originator of all truth. He could present the ideas of prophets and philosophers, and preserve his originality; for all wisdom was his; he was the source, the fountain, of all truth. He was in advance of all, and by his teaching he became the spiritual leader for all ages.

“It was Christ that spoke through Melchizedek, the priest of the most high God. Melchizedek was not Christ, but he was the voice of God in the world, the representative of the Father. And all through the generations of the past, Christ has spoken; Christ has led his people, and has been the light of the world. When God chose Abraham as a representative of his truth, he took him out of his country, and away from his kindred, and set him apart. He desired to mold him after his own model. He desired to teach him according to his own plan. The mold of the world’s teachers was not to be upon him. He was to be taught how to command his children and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment. This is the work that God would have us do. He would have us understand how to govern our families, how to control our children, how to command our households to keep the way of the Lord.

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“John was called to do a special work; he was to prepare the way of the Lord, to make straight his paths. The Lord did not send him to the school of the prophets and rabbis. He took him away from the assemblies of men to the desert, that he might learn of nature and nature’s God. God did not desire him to have the mold of the priests and rulers. He was called to do a special work. The Lord gave him his message. Did he go to the priests and rulers and ask if he might proclaim this message?—No, God put him away from them that he might not be influenced by their spirit and teaching. He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.’ This is the very message that must be given to our people; we are near the end of time, and the message is, Clear the King’s highway; gather out the stones; raise up a standard for the people. The people must be awakened. It is no time now to cry peace and safety. We are exhorted to ‘cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.’

“The light of the glory of God shone upon our Representative, and this fact says to us that the glory of God may shine upon us. With his human arm, Jesus encircled the race, and with his divine arm he grasped the throne of the Infinite, connecting man with God, and earth with heaven.

“The light of the glory of God must fall upon us. We need the holy unction from on high. However intelligent, however learned a man may be, he is not qualified to teach unless he has a firm hold on the God of Israel. He who is connected with Heaven will do the works of Christ. By faith in God he will have power to move upon humanity. He will seek for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. If divine power does not combine with human effort, I would not give a straw for all that the greatest man could do. The Holy Spirit is wanting in our work. Nothing frightens me more than to see the spirit of variance manifested by our brethren. We are on dangerous ground when we cannot meet together like Christians, and courteously examine controverted points. I feel like fleeing from the place lest I receive the mold of those who cannot candidly investigate the doctrines of the Bible. Those who cannot impartially examine the evidences of a position that differs from theirs, are not fit to teach in any department of God’s cause. What we need is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Without this, we are no more fitted to go forth to the world than were the disciples after the crucifixion of their Lord. Jesus knew their destitution, and told them to tarry in Jerusalem until they should be endowed with power from on high. Every teacher must be a learner, that his eyes may be anointed to see the evidences of the advancing truth of God. The beams of the Sun of Righteousness must shine into his own heart if he would impart light to others.

“No one is able to explain the Scriptures without the aid of the Holy Spirit. But when you take up the word of God with a humble, teachable heart, the angels of God will be by your side to impress you with evidences of the truth. When the Spirit of God rests upon you, there will be no feeling of envy or jealousy in examining another’s position; there will be no spirit of accusation and criticism, such as Satan inspired in the hearts of the Jewish leaders against Christ. As Christ said to Nicodemus, so I say to you, ‘Ye must be born again.’ ‘Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ You must have the divine mold before you can discern the sacred claims of the truth. Unless the teacher is a learner in the school of Christ, he is not fitted to teach others.

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“We should come into a position where every difference will be melted away. If I think I have light, I shall do my duty in presenting it. Suppose I consulted others concerning the message the Lord would have me give to the people, the door might be closed so that the light might not reach the ones to whom God had sent it. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, ‘the whole multitude of disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.’

“The Jews tried to stop the proclamation of the message that had been predicted in the word of God; but prophecy must be fulfilled. The Lord says, ‘Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.’ Somebody is to come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and when he appears, men may say, ‘You are too earnest, you do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper way. Let me tell you how to teach your message.’

“There are many who cannot distinguish between the work of God and that of man. I shall tell the truth as God gives it to me, and I say now, If you continue to find fault, to have a spirit of variance, you will never know the truth. Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.’ They were not in a condition to appreciate sacred and eternal things; but Jesus promised to send the Comforter, who would teach them all things, and bring all things, to their remembrance, whatsoever he had said unto them. Brethren, we must not put our dependence in man. ‘Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?’ You must hang your helpless souls upon Jesus. It does not become us to drink from the fountain of the valley, when there is a fountain in the mountain. Let us leave the lower streams; let us come to the higher springs. If there is a point of truth that you do not understand, upon which you do not agree, investigate, compare scripture with scripture, sink the shaft of truth down deep into the mine of God’s word. You must lay yourselves and your opinions on the altar of God, put away your preconceived ideas, and let the Spirit of Heaven guide you into all truth.

“My brother said at one time that he would not hear anything concerning the doctrine we hold, for fear he should be convinced. He would not come to the meetings, or listen to the discourses; but he afterward declared that he saw he was as guilty as if he had heard them. God had given him an opportunity to know the truth, and he would hold him responsible for this opportunity. There are many among us who are prejudiced against the doctrines that are now being discussed. They will not come to hear, they will not calmly investigate, but they put forth their objections in the dark. They are perfectly satisfied with their position. ‘Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.’

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“This scripture applies to those who live under the sound of the message, but who will not come to hear it. How do you know but that the Lord is giving fresh evidences of his truth, placing it in a new setting, that the way of the Lord may be prepared? What plans have you been laying that new light may be infused through the ranks of God’s people? What evidence have you that God has not sent light to his children? All self-sufficiency, egotism, and pride of opinion must be put away. We must come to the feet of Jesus, and learn of him who is meek and lowly of heart. Jesus did not teach his disciples as the rabbis taught theirs. Many of the Jews came and listened as Christ revealed the mysteries of salvation, but they came not to learn they came to criticize, to catch him in some inconsistency, that they might have something with which to prejudice the people. They were content with their knowledge, but the children of God must know the voice of the true Shepherd. Is not this a time when it would be highly proper to fast and pray before God? We are in danger of variance, in danger of taking sides on a controverted point; and should we not seek God in earnestness, with humiliation of soul, that we may know what is truth?” The 1888 Materials, 533, 534.

“The judgments visited upon the Israelites served for a time to restrain their murmuring and insubordination, but the spirit of rebellion was still in the heart and eventually brought forth the bitterest fruits. The former rebellions had been mere popular tumults, arising from the sudden impulse of the excited multitude; but now a deep-laid conspiracy was formed, the result of a determined purpose to overthrow the authority of the leaders appointed by God Himself.

“Korah, the leading spirit in this movement, was a Levite, of the family of Kohath, and a cousin of Moses; he was a man of ability and influence. Though appointed to the service of the tabernacle, he had become dissatisfied with his position and aspired to the dignity of the priesthood. The bestowal upon Aaron and his house of the priestly office, which had formerly devolved upon the first-born son of every family, had given rise to jealousy and dissatisfaction, and for some time Korah had been secretly opposing the authority of Moses and Aaron, though he had not ventured upon any open act of rebellion. He finally conceived the bold design of overthrowing both the civil and the religious authority. He did not fail to find sympathizers. Close to the tents of Korah and the Kohathites, on the south side of the tabernacle, was the encampment of the tribe of Reuben, the tents of Dathan and Abiram, two princes of this tribe, being near that of Korah. These princes readily joined in his ambitious schemes. Being descendants from the eldest son of Jacob, they claimed that the civil authority belonged to them, and they determined to divide with Korah the honors of the priesthood.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 395.

“And the Lord said unto Samuel: ‘Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken Me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.’ The prophet was reproved for grieving at the conduct of the people toward himself as an individual. They had not manifested disrespect for him, but for the authority of God, who had appointed the rulers of His people. Those who despise and reject the faithful servant of God show contempt, not merely for the man, but for the Master who sent him. It is God’s words, His reproofs and counsel, that are set at nought; it is His authority that is rejected.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 605.

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EVIDENCES OF THE ADVANCING TRUTHNUMBER TWO: EATING THE LITTLE BOOK

Revelation 1:8–11; Ezekiel 2 & 3; Jeremiah 15:16–21

THE BEGINNING OF ANCIENT ISRAELFORTY DAYS AND FORTY YEARS: NUMBERS 14:22–39

BROKEN COVENANT“The Lord declared that the children of the Hebrews should wander in the wilderness

forty years, reckoning from the time they left Egypt, because of the rebellion of their parents, until their parents should all die. Thus should they bear and suffer the consequence of their iniquity forty years, according to the number of days they were searching the land, a day for a year. ‘And ye shall know my breach of promise.’ They should fully realize that it was the punishment for their idolatry, and rebellious murmurings, which had obliged the Lord to change his purpose concerning them. Caleb and Joshua were promised a reward in preference to all the host of Israel, because the latter had forfeited all claim to God’s favor and protection.” Spirit of Prophecy, volume 1, 294.

MANNA: EXODUS 16:1, 35

VICTORY IN JERICHO“Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure. The Lord knoweth them that are His.

The sanctified minister must have no guile in his mouth. He must be open as the day, free from every taint of evil. A sanctified ministry and press will be a power in flashing the light of truth on this untoward generation. Light, brethren, more light we need. Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm in the holy mountain. Gather the host of the Lord, with sanctified hearts, to hear what the Lord will say unto His people; for He has increased light for all who will hear. Let them be armed and equipped, and come up to the battle—to the help of the Lord against the mighty. God Himself will work for Israel. Every lying tongue will be silenced. Angels’ hands will overthrow the deceptive schemes that are being formed. The bulwarks of Satan will never triumph. Victory will attend the third angel’s message. As the Captain of the Lord’s host tore down the walls of Jericho, so will the Lord’s commandment-keeping people triumph, and all opposing elements be defeated. Let no soul complain of the servants of God who have come to them with a heaven-sent message. Do not any longer pick flaws in them, saying, ‘They are too positive; they talk too strongly.’ They may talk strongly; but is it not needed? God will make the ears of the hearers tingle if they will not heed His voice or His message. He will denounce those who resist the word of God.” Testimonies to Ministers, 409, 410.

REBELLION AT KADESH: NUMBERS 14:40–45

THE ENDING OF ANCIENT ISRAEL: 27AD TO 34AD“‘Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The

time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel .’ Mark 1:14, 15. . . .

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“If the leaders in Israel had received Christ, He would have honored them as His messengers to carry the gospel to the world. To them first was given the opportunity to become heralds of the kingdom and grace of God. But Israel knew not the time of her visitation. The jealousy and distrust of the Jewish leaders had ripened into open hatred, and the hearts of the people were turned away from Jesus.

“The Sanhedrin had rejected Christ’s message and was bent upon His death; therefore Jesus departed from Jerusalem, from the priests, the temple, the religious leaders, the people who had been instructed in the law, and turned to another class to proclaim His message, and to gather out those who should carry the gospel to all nations.

“As the light and life of men was rejected by the ecclesiastical authorities in the days of Christ, so it has been rejected in every succeeding generation. Again and again the history of Christ’s withdrawal from Judea has been repeated. . . .

“The burden of Christ’s preaching was, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gospel.’ Thus the gospel message, as given by the Savior Himself, was based on the prophecies. The ‘time’ which He declared to be fulfilled was the period made known by the angel Gabriel to Daniel. ‘Seventy weeks,’ said the angel, ‘are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.’ Daniel 9:24. . . . From this time four hundred and eighty-three years extend to the autumn of A. D. 27. According to the prophecy, this period was to reach to the Messiah, the Anointed One. In A. D. 27, Jesus at His baptism received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and soon afterward began His ministry. Then the message was proclaimed. ‘The time is fulfilled.’

“Then, said the angel, ‘He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week [seven years].’ For seven years after the Savior entered on His ministry, the gospel was to be preached especially to the Jews; for three and a half years by Christ Himself; and afterward by the apostles. ‘In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.’ Daniel 9:27. In the spring of A. D. 31, Christ the true sacrifice was offered on Calvary. Then the veil of the temple was rent in twain, showing that the sacredness and significance of the sacrificial service had departed. The time had come for the earthly sacrifice and oblation to cease.

“The one week—seven years—ended in A. D. 34. Then by the stoning of Stephen the Jews finally sealed their rejection of the gospel; the disciples who were scattered abroad by persecution ‘went everywhere preaching the word’ (Acts 8:4); and shortly after, Saul the persecutor was converted, and became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.

“The time of Christ’s coming, His anointing by the Holy Spirit, His death, and the giving of the gospel to the Gentiles, were definitely pointed out. It was the privilege of the Jewish people to understand these prophecies, and to recognize their fulfillment in the mission of Jesus. Christ urged upon His disciples the importance of prophetic study. Referring to the prophecy given to Daniel in regard to their time, He said, ‘Whoso readeth, let him understand.’ Matthew 24:15. After His resurrection He explained to the disciples in ‘all the prophets’ ‘the things concerning Himself.’ Luke 24:27. The Savior had spoken through all the prophets. ‘The Spirit of Christ which was in them’ ‘testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.’ 1 Peter 1:11.” The Desire of Ages, 231–234.

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“‘And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.’ The ‘week’ here brought to view is the last one of the seventy; it is the last seven years of the period allotted especially to the Jews. During this time, extending from A.D. 27 to A.D. 34, Christ, at first in person and afterward by His disciples, extended the gospel invitation especially to the Jews. As the apostles went forth with the good tidings of the kingdom, the Savior’s direction was: ‘Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ Matthew 10:5, 6. . . .

“The seventy weeks, or 490 years, especially allotted to the Jews, ended, as we have seen, in A.D. 34. At that time, through the action of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the nation sealed its rejection of the gospel by the martyrdom of Stephen and the persecution of the followers of Christ. Then the message of salvation, no longer restricted to the chosen people, was given to the world. The disciples, forced by persecution to flee from Jerusalem, ‘went everywhere preaching the word.’ ‘Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.’ Peter, divinely guided, opened the gospel to the centurion of Caesarea, the God-fearing Cornelius; and the ardent Paul, won to the faith of Christ, was commissioned to carry the glad tidings ‘far hence unto the Gentiles.’ Acts 8:4, 5; 22:21.” The Great Controversy, 327, 328.

34AD“This vision conveyed to Peter both reproof and instruction. It revealed to him the

purpose of God—that by the death of Christ the Gentiles should be made fellow heirs with the Jews to the blessings of salvation. As yet none of the disciples had preached the gospel to the Gentiles. In their minds the middle wall of partition, broken down by the death of Christ, still existed, and their labors had been confined to the Jews, for they had looked upon the Gentiles as excluded from the blessings of the gospel. Now the Lord was seeking to teach Peter the world-wide extent of the divine plan.

“Many of the Gentiles had been interested listeners to the preaching of Peter and the other apostles, and many of the Greek Jews had become believers in Christ, but the conversion of Cornelius was to be the first of importance among the Gentiles.

“The time had come for an entirely new phase of work to be entered upon by the church of Christ. The door that many of the Jewish converts had closed against the Gentiles was now to be thrown open. And the Gentiles who accepted the gospel were to be regarded as on an equality with the Jewish disciples, without the necessity of observing the rite of circumcision.” Acts of the Apostles, 135, 136.

MOSES AND FORTY YEARS“When Moses was forty years old, ‘he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their

burdens; and he spied an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren.” Spirit of Prophecy, volume 1, 166.

“Moses was too fast in slaying the Egyptian. He supposed that the people of Israel

understood that God’s special providence had raised him up to deliver them. But God did not design to deliver the children of Israel by warfare, as Moses thought; but by his own mighty power, that the glory might be ascribed to him alone.” Spirit of Prophecy, volume 1, 167.

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BEFORE“‘Come up to Me into the mount,’ God bids us. To Moses, before he could be God’s

instrument in delivering Israel, was appointed the forty years of communion with Him in the mountain solitudes. Before bearing God’s message to Pharaoh, he spoke with the angel in the burning bush. Before receiving God’s law as the representative of His people, he was called into the mount, and beheld His glory. Before executing justice on the idolaters, he was hidden in the cleft of the rock, and the Lord said, ‘I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee,’ ‘merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth; . . . and that will by no means clear the guilty.’ Exodus 33:19; 34:6, 7, A.R.V. Before he laid down, with his life, his burden for Israel, God called him to the top of Pisgah and spread out before him the glory of the Promised Land.

“Before the disciples went forth on their mission, they were called up into the mount with Jesus. Before the power and glory of Pentecost, came the night of communion with the Savior, the meeting on the mountain in Galilee, the parting scene upon Olivet, with the angel’s promise, and the days of prayer and communion in the upper chamber.

“Jesus, when preparing for some great trial or some important work, would resort to the solitude of the mountains and spend the night in prayer to His Father. A night of prayer preceded the ordination of the apostles and the Sermon on the Mount, the transfiguration, the agony of the judgment hall and the cross, and the resurrection glory.” The Ministry of Healing, 508, 509.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8.

ISAAC AND FORTY YEARS“Isaac was highly honored by God in being made inheritor of the promises through which

the world was to be blessed; yet when he was forty years of age he submitted to his father’s judgment in appointing his experienced, God-fearing servant to choose a wife for him.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 175.

Eliezer: H461—From H410 and H5828; God of help. H410: strength; as adjective mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity). H5828: to surround, that is, protect or aid.

And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. Genesis 25:20.

MODERN ISRAEL’S BEGINNING: 1844 THROUGH 1850AFTER THE PASSING OF TIME IN 1844

“Many of our people do not realize how firmly the foundation of our faith has been laid. My husband, Elder Joseph Bates, Father Pierce, Elder [Hiram] Edson, and others who were keen, noble, and true, were among those who, after the passing of the time in 1844, searched for the truth as for hidden treasure. I met with them, and we studied and prayed earnestly. Often we remained together until late at night, and sometimes through the entire night, praying for light and studying the Word. . . .

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“During this whole time I could not understand the reasoning of the brethren. My mind was locked, as it were, and I could not comprehend the meaning of the scriptures we were studying. This was one of the greatest sorrows of my life. I was in this condition of mind until all the principal points of our faith were made clear to our minds, in harmony with the Word of God. The brethren knew that when not in vision, I could not understand these matters, and they accepted as light direct from heaven the revelations given.

“For two or three years my mind continued to be locked to an understanding of the Scriptures. In the course of our labors, my husband and I visited Father Andrews, who was suffering intensely with inflammatory rheumatism. We prayed for him. I laid my hands on his head, and said, ‘Father Andrews, the Lord Jesus maketh thee whole.’ He was healed instantly. He got up, and walked about the room, praising God, and saying, ‘I never saw it on this wise before. Angels of God are in this room.’ The glory of the Lord was revealed. Light seemed to shine all through the house, and an angel’s hand was laid upon my head. From that time to this I have been able to understand the Word of God.” Selected Messages. Book 1, 206, 207.

1846“In the autumn of 1846 we began to observe the Bible Sabbath, and to teach and

defend it. My attention was first called to the Sabbath while I was on a visit to New Bedford, Massachusetts, earlier in the same year.” Testimonies volume 1, 75.

1849“July 28, 1849, my second child, James Edson White, was born. When he was six

weeks old we went to Maine. September 14, a meeting was appointed at Paris.” Life Sketches, 261.

EARLY DECEMBER 1850“For two or three years my mind continued to be locked to the Scriptures. In 1846 I was

married to Elder James White. It was some time after my second son was born that we were in great perplexity regarding certain points of doctrine. I was asking the Lord to unlock my mind that I might understand His Word. Suddenly I seemed to be enshrouded in clear, beautiful light, and ever since, the Scriptures have been an open book to me.

“I was at that time [early December 1850] in Paris, Maine. Old Father Andrews was very sick. For some time he had been a great sufferer from inflammatory rheumatism. He could not move without intense pain. We prayed for him. I laid my hands on his head and said, ‘Father Andrews, the Lord Jesus maketh thee whole.’ He was healed instantly. He got up and walked about the room, praising God, and saying, ‘I never saw it on this wise. Angels of God are in this room.’ The glory of God was revealed. Light seemed to shine all through the house, and an angel’s hand was laid upon my head. From that time to this, I have been enabled to understand the Word of God.” Manuscript Releases, volume 3, 413, 414.

DECEMBER 1849“Until his death in December 1849, Miller expressed confidence in the divine guidance

of the Advent movement of the 1840s and felt that some minor error in the calculations would explain the Disappointment.” Gerard Damsteegt, The Foundations of Seventh-day Adventists Message and Mission, 134.

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AFTER 1849“After 1849 various Sabbatarian Adventists realized that the scattering time had passed

and the gathering time had commenced. . . .“In the beginning of 1850 E. G. White stressed the necessity for mission among other

Adventists but not their leaders, stating that ‘our work was not to the shepherds who have rejected the former messages, but to the honest deceived who are led astray.’ It seems that meetings were held among these Adventists which were also attended by some interested non-Adventists. The result was that even a few non-Adventists joined the Sabbatarian Adventists to that in February 1850 E. G. White could report that in Oswego, New York, ‘souls are coming out upon the truth all around here. They are those who have not heard the Advent doctrine and some of them are those who went forth to meet the Bridegroom in 1844.’” Gerard Damsteegt, The Foundations of Seventh-day Adventists Message and Mission, 271.

NOVEMBER, 1850“September 23d, the Lord showed me that he had stretched out his hand the second time

to recover the remnant of his people, and that efforts must be redoubled in this gathering time. In the scattering time Israel was smitten and torn; but now in the gathering time God will heal and bind up his people. In the scattering, efforts made to spread the truth had but little effect, accomplished but little or nothing; but in the gathering when God has set his hand to gather his people, efforts to spread the truth will have their designed effect. All should be united and zealous in the work. I saw that it was a shame for any to refer to the scattering for examples to govern us now in the gathering; for if God does no more for us now than he did then, Israel would never be gathered. It is as necessary that the truth should be published in a paper, as preached.” Review and Herald, November 1, 1850.

1850/1851“The Third Angel’s Message to be Made Plain by a Chart“In mid-September James White laid aside publishing the Advent Review, as there were

conferences to attend at Sutton, Vermont, September 26 to 29; at Topsham, Maine, October 12 and 13; and at Fairhaven, Massachusetts, October 19 and 20. The Whites could not visit Massachusetts without spending a little time at the Otis Nichols home, in Dorchester, near Boston. So on Monday, the day after the Fairhaven conference, they made their way there. That night, while in the home of a man whose business was lithographing, Ellen White was given instruction in vision. She wrote of it to Reuben Loveland and his wife, whom she had recently met on a visit to Vermont:

“‘There in the night God gave me a very interesting vision, the most of which you will see in the paper.—Letter 26, 1850.’ In her letter to the Hastings family she went into more detail concerning this vision and its call for an advance step in proclaiming the third angel’s message: ‘On our return to Brother Nichols’ the Lord gave me a vision and showed me that the truth must be made plain upon tables and it would cause many to decide for the truth by the third angel’s message, with the two former being made plain upon tables.—Letter 28, 1850.’

“In this vision she was also shown that which would give James White courage to continue publishing: ‘I also saw it was as necessary for the paper to be published as for the messengers to go, for the messengers need a paper to carry with them containing present truth to put in the hands of those that hear, and then the truth would not fade from the mind. And that the paper would go where the messengers could not go.—Ibid.’

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“Work on the new chart was begun at once, and opportunity was given to tell the brethren about it in the issue of Present Truth that James got out the next month: ‘The Chart. A chronological chart of the visions of Daniel and John, calculated to illustrate clearly the present truth, is now being lithographed under the care of Brother Otis Nichols, of Dorchester, Massachusetts. Those who teach the present truth will be greatly aided by it. Further notice of the chart will be given hereafter.—Present Truth, November, 1850.’

“By late January, 1851, the chart was ready and advertised for $2. James White was much pleased with it and offered it free to ‘those whom God has called to give the message of the third angel’ (Review and Herald, January, 1851). Some generous donations had helped meet the expense of publication.” Arthur White, Ellen White Biography, volume 1, 185.

GENESIS 15“In the last days of this earth’s history, God’s covenant with his commandment-

keeping people is to be renewed.” Review and Herald, February 26, 1914.

THE TEST OF FAITH“Abraham had accepted without question the promise of a son, but he did not wait for

God to fulfill His word in His own time and way. A delay was permitted, to test his faith in the power of God; but he failed to endure the trial. Thinking it impossible that a child should be given her in her old age, Sarah suggested, as a plan by which the divine purpose might be fulfilled, that one of her handmaidens should be taken by Abraham as a secondary wife. . . .

“God had called Abraham to be the father of the faithful, and his life was to stand as an example of faith to succeeding generations. But his faith had not been perfect. He had shown distrust of God in concealing the fact that Sarah was his wife, and again in his marriage with Hagar. That he might reach the highest standard, God subjected him to another test, the closest which man was ever called to endure. In a vision of the night he was directed to repair to the land of Moriah, and there offer up his son as a burnt offering upon a mountain that should be shown him.

“At the time of receiving this command, Abraham had reached the age of a hundred and twenty years. He was regarded as an old man, even in his generation. In his earlier years he had been strong to endure hardship and to brave danger, but now the ardor of his youth had passed away. One in the vigor of manhood may with courage meet difficulties and afflictions that would cause his heart to fail later in life, when his feet are faltering toward the grave. But God had reserved His last, most trying test for Abraham until the burden of years was heavy upon him, and he longed for rest from anxiety and toil.

“The patriarch was dwelling at Beersheba, surrounded by prosperity and honor. He was very rich, and was honored as a mighty prince by the rulers of the land. Thousands of sheep and cattle covered the plains that spread out beyond his encampment. On every side were the tents of his retainers, the home of hundreds of faithful servants. . . .

“The command was expressed in words that must have wrung with anguish that father’s heart: ‘Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, . . . and offer him there for a burnt offering.’ Isaac was the light of his home, the solace of his old age, above all else the inheritor of the promised blessing. The loss of such a son by accident or disease would have been heart rending to the fond father; it would have bowed down his whitened head with grief; but he was commanded to shed the blood of that son with his own hand. It seemed to him a fearful impossibility.

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“Satan was at hand to suggest that he must be deceived, for the divine law commands, ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ and God would not require what He had once forbidden. Going outside his tent, Abraham looked up to the calm brightness of the unclouded heavens, and recalled the promise made nearly fifty years before, that his seed should be innumerable as the stars. If this promise was to be fulfilled through Isaac, how could he be put to death? Abraham was tempted to believe that he might be under a delusion. In his doubt and anguish he bowed upon the earth, and prayed, as he had never prayed before, for some confirmation of the command if he must perform this terrible duty. He remembered the angels sent to reveal to him God’s purpose to destroy Sodom, and who bore to him the promise of this same son Isaac, and he went to the place where he had several times met the heavenly messengers, hoping to meet them again, and receive some further direction; but none came to his relief. Darkness seemed to shut him in; but the command of God was sounding in his ears, ‘Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest.’ That command must be obeyed, and he dared not delay. Day was approaching, and he must be on his journey. . . .

“Abraham at last summoned his son, telling him of the command to offer sacrifice upon a distant mountain. Isaac had often gone with his father to worship at some one of the various altars that marked his wanderings, and this summons excited no surprise. The preparations for the journey were quickly completed. The wood was made ready and put upon the ass, and with two menservants they set forth. . . .

“As they were about to begin the journey of the third day, the patriarch, looking northward, saw the promised sign, a cloud of glory hovering over Mount Moriah, and he knew that the voice which had spoken to him was from heaven. . . .

“At the appointed place they built the altar and laid the wood upon it. Then, with trembling voice, Abraham unfolded to his son the divine message. It was with terror and amazement that Isaac learned his fate, but he offered no resistance. He could have escaped his doom, had he chosen to do so; the grief-stricken old man, exhausted with the struggle of those three terrible days, could not have opposed the will of the vigorous youth. But Isaac had been trained from childhood to ready, trusting obedience, and as the purpose of God was opened before him, he yielded a willing submission. He was a sharer in Abraham’s faith, and he felt that he was honored in being called to give his life as an offering to God. He tenderly seeks to lighten the father’s grief, and encourages his nerveless hands to bind the cords that confine him to the altar.

“And now the last words of love are spoken, the last tears are shed, the last embrace is given. The father lifts the knife to slay his son, when suddenly his arm is stayed. An angel of God calls to the patriarch out of heaven, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ He quickly answers, ‘Here am I,’ And again the voice is heard, ‘Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me.’

“Then Abraham saw ‘a ram caught in a thicket,’ and quickly bringing the new victim, he offered it ‘in the stead of his son.’ In his joy and gratitude Abraham gave a new name to the sacred spot—’Jehovah-jireh,’ ‘the Lord will provide.’

“On Mount Moriah, God again renewed His covenant, confirming with a solemn oath the blessing to Abraham and to his seed through all coming generations: ‘By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of

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his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice.’

“Abraham’s great act of faith stands like a pillar of light, illuminating the pathway of God’s servants in all succeeding ages. Abraham did not seek to excuse himself from doing the will of God. During that three days’ journey he had sufficient time to reason, and to doubt God, if he was disposed to doubt. He might have reasoned that the slaying of his son would cause him to be looked upon as a murderer, a second Cain; that it would cause his teaching to be rejected and despised; and thus destroy his power to do good to his fellow men. He might have pleaded that age should excuse him from obedience. But the patriarch did not take refuge in any of these excuses. Abraham was human; his passions and attachments were like ours; but he did not stop to question how the promise could be fulfilled if Isaac should be slain. He did not stay to reason with his aching heart. He knew that God is just and righteous in all His requirements, and he obeyed the command to the very letter.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 145–152.

LEADING AND TEACHING“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has

led us, and His teaching in our past history.” Life Sketches, 196.

COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE“On this path the advent people were traveling to the city which was at the farther end of

the path. They had a bright light set up behind them at the beginning of the path , which an angel told me was the ‘midnight cry.’ This light shone all along the path, and gave light for their feet, so that they might not stumble.

“If they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the city, they were safe. But soon some grew weary, and said the city was a great way off, and they expected to have entered it before. Then Jesus would encourage them by raising His glorious right arm, and from His arm came a light which waved over the advent band, and they shouted ‘Alleluia!’ Others rashly denied the light behind them, and said that it was not God that had led them out so far. The light behind them went out, leaving their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and lost sight of the mark and of Jesus, and fell off the path down into the dark and wicked world below.” Christian Experience and Teachings of Ellen G. White, 57.

TO SEE GOD: 9/11MORIAH—H4179: From H7200 and H3050; seen of Jah; H7200: to see, literally or

figuratively: discern, gaze, stare, view, visions. H3050: Jah, the sacred name.

GALATIANS 4:22–31

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EVIDENCES OF THE ADVANCING TRUTHNUMBER THREE: TURNING POINTS

9/11: TURNING POINTS, CRISIS, LIGHT AND A TEST“There are lessons to be learned from the history of the past; and attention is called to

these, that all may understand that God works on the same lines now that He ever has done. His hand is seen in His work and among the nations now, just the same as it has been ever since the gospel was first proclaimed to Adam in Eden.

“There are periods which are turning points in the history of nations and of the church. In the providence of God, when these different crises arrive, the light for that time is given. If it is received, there is spiritual progress; if it is rejected, spiritual declension and shipwreck follow.” Bible Echo, August 26, 1895.

JOSEPH—THE MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT: GENESIS 37–40“Then his thoughts turned to his father’s God. In his childhood he had been taught to love

and fear Him. Often in his father’s tent he had listened to the story of the vision that Jacob saw as he fled from his home an exile and a fugitive. He had been told of the Lord’s promises to Jacob, and how they had been fulfilled—how, in the hour of need, the angels of God had come to instruct, comfort, and protect him. And he had learned of the love of God in providing for men a Redeemer. Now all these precious lessons came vividly before him. Joseph believed that the God of his fathers would be his God. He then and there gave himself fully to the Lord, and he prayed that the Keeper of Israel would be with him in the land of his exile.

“His soul thrilled with the high resolve to prove himself true to God—under all circumstances to act as became a subject of the King of heaven. He would serve the Lord with undivided heart; he would meet the trials of his lot with fortitude and perform every duty with fidelity. One day’s experience had been the turning point in Joseph’s life. Its terrible calamity had transformed him from a petted child to a man, thoughtful, courageous, and self-possessed.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 213, 214.

“While Joseph was still confined in prison, an event occurred which formed a turning-point in his life.” Signs of the Times, January 15, 1880.

CAPERNAUMOf Hebrew origin (probably [H3723] and [H5151]); Capernaum, a place in Palestine.H3723: From H3722; a village (as protected by walls). H3722: A primitive

root; to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel: - appease, make (an) atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, to pitch, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile (-liation).

H5151: From H5162; comfortable. H5156: A primitive root; properly to sigh, that is, breathe strongly; by implication to be sorry, that is, (in a favorable sense) to pity, console or (reflexively) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself): - comfort (self), ease [one’s self], repent (-er, -ing, self).

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HIS OWN CITY—MATTHEW 11:23, 24“At Capernaum Jesus dwelt in the intervals of His journeys to and fro, and it came to be

known as "His own city." It was on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and near the borders of the beautiful plain of Gennesaret, if not actually upon it.” The Desire of Ages, 252.

“‘And thou, Capernaum [Seventh-day Adventists, who have had great light], which art exalted unto heaven [in point of privilege], shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.’” Review and Herald, August 1, 1893.

CAPERNAUM—JUDAS “Christ’s discourse in the synagogue concerning the bread of life was the turning point

in the history of Judas. He heard the words, ‘Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.’ John 6:53.” The Desire of Ages, 719.

THIS IS AN HARD SAYING; WHO CAN HEAR IT?“The Crisis in Galilee (turning)“When Christ forbade the people to declare Him king, He knew that a turning point in

His history was reached. Multitudes who desired to exalt Him to the throne today would turn from Him tomorrow. The disappointment of their selfish ambition would turn their love to hatred, and their praise to curses. Yet knowing this, He took no measures to avert the crisis. From the first He had held out to His followers no hope of earthly rewards. To one who came desiring to become His disciple He had said, ‘The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.’ Matthew 8:20. If men could have had the world with Christ, multitudes would have proffered Him their allegiance; but such service He could not accept. Of those now connected with Him there were many who had been attracted by the hope of a worldly kingdom. These must be undeceived. The deep spiritual teaching in the miracle of the loaves had not been comprehended. This was to be made plain. And this new revelation would bring with it a closer test. . . .

“After a time He went to the synagogue, and there those who had come from Bethsaida found Him. They learned from His disciples how He had crossed the sea. The fury of the storm, and the many hours of fruitless rowing against adverse winds, the appearance of Christ walking upon the water, the fears thus aroused, His reassuring words, the adventure of Peter and its result, with the sudden stilling of the tempest and landing of the boat, were all faithfully recounted to the wondering crowd. Not content with this, however, many gathered about Jesus, questioning, ‘Rabbi, when camest Thou hither?’ They hoped to receive from His own lips a further account of the miracle.

“Jesus did not gratify their curiosity. He sadly said, ‘Ye seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.’ They did not seek Him from any worthy motive; but as they had been fed with the loaves, they hoped still to receive temporal benefit by attaching themselves to Him. The Saviour bade them, ‘Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.’ Seek not merely for material benefit. Let it not be the chief effort to provide for the life that now is, but seek for spiritual food, even that wisdom which will endure unto everlasting life. This the Son of God alone can give; ‘for Him hath God the Father sealed.’

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“For the moment the interest of the hearers was awakened. They exclaimed, ‘What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?’ They had been performing many and burdensome works in order to recommend themselves to God; and they were ready to hear of any new observance by which they could secure greater merit. Their question meant, What shall we do that we may deserve heaven? What is the price we are required to pay in order to obtain the life to come? . . .

“The fact that He claimed to be the Sent of God, and yet refused to be Israel’s king, was a mystery which they could not fathom. His refusal was misinterpreted. Many concluded that He dared not assert His claims because He Himself doubted as to the divine character of His mission. Thus they opened their hearts to unbelief, and the seed which Satan had sown bore fruit of its kind, in misunderstanding and defection.

“Now, half mockingly, a rabbi questioned, ‘What sign showest Thou then, that we may see, and believe Thee? what dost Thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’

“The Jews honored Moses as the giver of the manna, ascribing praise to the instrument, and losing sight of Him by whom the work had been accomplished. Their fathers had murmured against Moses, and had doubted and denied his divine mission. Now in the same spirit the children rejected the One who bore the message of God to themselves. ‘Then said Jesus unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven.’ The giver of the manna was standing among them. It was Christ Himself who had led the Hebrews through the wilderness, and had daily fed them with the bread from heaven. That food was a type of the real bread from heaven. The life-giving Spirit, flowing from the infinite fullness of God, is the true manna. Jesus said, ‘The bread of God is that which cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world.’ John 6:33, R. V.

“Still thinking that it was temporal food to which Jesus referred, some of His hearers exclaimed, ‘Lord, evermore give us this bread.’ Jesus then spoke plainly: ‘I am the bread of life.’

“The figure which Christ used was a familiar one to the Jews. Moses, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had said, ‘Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord.’ And the prophet Jeremiah had written, ‘Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.’ Deuteronomy 8:3; Jeremiah 15:16. The rabbis themselves had a saying, that the eating of bread, in its spiritual significance, was the study of the law and the practice of good works; and it was often said that at the Messiah’s coming all Israel would be fed. The teaching of the prophets made plain the deep spiritual lesson in the miracle of the loaves. This lesson Christ was seeking to open to His hearers in the synagogue. Had they understood the Scriptures, they would have understood His words when He said, ‘I am the bread of life.’ Only the day before, the great multitude, when faint and weary, had been fed by the bread which He had given. As from that bread they had received physical strength and refreshment, so from Christ they might receive spiritual strength unto eternal life. ‘He that cometh to Me,’ He said, ‘shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.’ But He added, ‘Ye also have seen Me, and believe not.’

“They had seen Christ by the witness of the Holy Spirit, by the revelation of God to their souls. The living evidences of His power had been before them day after day, yet they asked for still another sign. Had this been given, they would have remained as unbelieving as before. If they were not convinced by what they had seen and heard, it was useless to show them more

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marvelous works. Unbelief will ever find excuse for doubt, and will reason away the most positive proof. . . .

“The Jews were about to celebrate the Passover at Jerusalem, in commemoration of the night of Israel’s deliverance, when the destroying angel smote the homes of Egypt. In the paschal lamb God desired them to behold the Lamb of God, and through the symbol receive Him who gave Himself for the life of the world. But the Jews had come to make the symbol all-important, while its significance was unnoticed. They discerned not the Lord’s body. The same truth that was symbolized in the paschal service was taught in the words of Christ. But it was still undiscerned.

“Now the rabbis exclaimed angrily, ‘How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?’ They affected to understand His words in the same literal sense as did Nicodemus when he asked, ‘How can a man be born when he is old?’ John 3:4. To some extent they comprehended the meaning of Jesus, but they were not willing to acknowledge it. By misconstruing His words, they hoped to prejudice the people against Him.

“Christ did not soften down His symbolical representation. He reiterated the truth in yet stronger language: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.’ . . .

“The unbelieving Jews refused to see any except the most literal meaning in the Savior’s words. By the ritual law they were forbidden to taste blood, and they now construed Christ’s language into a sacrilegious speech, and disputed over it among themselves. Many even of the disciples said, ‘This is an hard saying; who can hear it?’

“The Savior answered them: ‘Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.’

“The life of Christ that gives life to the world is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, and the Savior desired to fix the faith of His followers on the word. When His visible presence should be withdrawn, the word must be their source of power. Like their Master, they were to live ‘by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ Matthew 4:4.

“As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life is sustained by the word of God. And every soul is to receive life from God’s word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the word for ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely through the medium of another’s mind. We should carefully study the Bible, asking God for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His word. We should take one verse, and concentrate the mind on the task of ascertaining the thought which God has put in that verse for us. We should dwell upon the thought until it becomes our own, and we know ‘what saith the Lord.’

“In His promises and warnings, Jesus means me. God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that I by believing in Him, might not perish, but have everlasting life. The experiences related in God’s word are to be my experiences. Prayer and promise, precept and warning, are mine. ‘I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth

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in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.’ Galatians 2:20. As faith thus receives and assimilates the principles of truth, they become a part of the being and the motive power of the life. The word of God, received into the soul, molds the thoughts, and enters into the development of character.

“By looking constantly to Jesus with the eye of faith, we shall be strengthened. God will make the most precious revelations to His hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a personal Savior. As they feed upon His word, they find that it is spirit and life. The word destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a Comforter. By the transforming agency of His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new creature. Love takes the place of hatred, and the heart receives the divine similitude. This is what it means to live ‘by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ This is eating the Bread that comes down from heaven.

“Christ had spoken a sacred, eternal truth regarding the relation between Himself and His followers. He knew the character of those who claimed to be His disciples, and His words tested their faith. He declared that they were to believe and act upon His teaching. All who received Him would partake of His nature, and be conformed to His character. This involved the relinquishment of their cherished ambitions. It required the complete surrender of themselves to Jesus. They were called to become self-sacrificing, meek and lowly in heart. They must walk in the narrow path traveled by the Man of Calvary, if they would share in the gift of life and the glory of heaven.

“The test was too great. The enthusiasm of those who had sought to take Him by force and make Him king grew cold. This discourse in the synagogue, they declared, had opened their eyes. Now they were undeceived. In their minds His words were a direct confession that He was not the Messiah, and that no earthly rewards were to be realized from connection with Him. They had welcomed His miracle-working power; they were eager to be freed from disease and suffering; but they would not come into sympathy with His self-sacrificing life. They cared not for the mysterious spiritual kingdom of which He spoke. The insincere, the selfish, who had sought Him, no longer desired Him. If He would not devote His power and influence to obtaining their freedom from the Romans, they would have nothing to do with Him.

“Jesus told them plainly, ‘There are some of you that believe not;’ adding, ‘Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of My Father.’ He wished them to understand that if they were not drawn to Him it was because their hearts were not open to the Holy Spirit. ‘The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.’ 1 Corinthians 2:14. It is by faith that the soul beholds the glory of Jesus. This glory is hidden, until, through the Holy Spirit, faith is kindled in the soul.

“By the public rebuke of their unbelief these disciples were still further alienated from Jesus. They were greatly displeased, and wishing to wound the Savior and gratify the malice of the Pharisees, they turned their backs upon Him, and left Him with disdain. They had made their choice,—had taken the form without the spirit, the husk without the kernel. Their decision was never afterward reversed; for they walked no more with Jesus.

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“‘Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner.’ Matthew 3:12. This was one of the times of purging. By the words of truth, the chaff was being separated from the wheat. Because they were too vain and self-righteous to receive reproof, too world-loving to accept a life of humility, many turned away from Jesus. Many are still doing the same thing. Souls are tested today as were those disciples in the synagogue at Capernaum. When truth is brought home to the heart, they see that their lives are not in accordance with the will of God. They see the need of an entire change in themselves; but they are not willing to take up the self-denying work. Therefore they are angry when their sins are discovered. They go away offended, even as the disciples left Jesus, murmuring, ‘This is an hard saying; who can hear it?’

“Praise and flattery would be pleasing to their ears; but the truth is unwelcome; they cannot hear it. When the crowds follow, and the multitudes are fed, and the shouts of triumph are heard, their voices are loud in praise; but when the searching of God’s Spirit reveals their sin, and bids them leave it, they turn their backs upon the truth, and walk no more with Jesus.

“As those disaffected disciples turned away from Christ, a different spirit took control of them. They could see nothing attractive in Him whom they had once found so interesting. They sought out His enemies, for they were in harmony with their spirit and work. They misinterpreted His words, falsified His statements, and impugned His motives. They sustained their course by gathering up every item that could be turned against Him; and such indignation was stirred up by these false reports that His life was in danger.

“The news spread swiftly that by His own confession Jesus of Nazareth was not the Messiah. And thus in Galilee the current of popular feeling was turned against Him, as, the year before, it had been in Judea. Alas for Israel! They rejected their Saviour, because they longed for a conqueror who would give them temporal power. They wanted the meat which perishes, and not that which endures unto everlasting life. . . .

“Many of the words and acts of Jesus appear mysterious to finite minds, but every word and act had its definite purpose in the work for our redemption; each was calculated to produce its own result. If we were capable of understanding His purposes, all would appear important, complete, and in harmony with His mission. . . .

“When Jesus presented the testing truth that caused so many of His disciples to turn back, He knew what would be the result of His words; but He had a purpose of mercy to fulfill. He foresaw that in the hour of temptation every one of His beloved disciples would be severely tested. His agony in Gethsemane, His betrayal and crucifixion, would be to them a most trying ordeal. Had no previous test been given, many who were actuated by merely selfish motives would have been connected with them. When their Lord was condemned in the judgment hall; when the multitude who had hailed Him as their king hissed at Him and reviled Him; when the jeering crowd cried, ‘Crucify Him!’—when their worldly ambitions were disappointed, these self-seeking ones would, by renouncing their allegiance to Jesus, have brought upon the disciples a bitter, heart-burdening sorrow, in addition to their grief and disappointment in the ruin of their fondest hopes. In that hour of darkness, the example of those who turned from Him might have carried others with them. But Jesus brought about this crisis while by His personal presence He could still strengthen the faith of His true followers.

“Compassionate Redeemer, who in the full knowledge of the doom that awaited Him, tenderly smoothed the way for the disciples, prepared them for their crowning trial, and strengthened them for the final test!” The Desire of Ages, 383–394.

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MOVING THE WAYMARKS“The proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages has been located by

the word of Inspiration. Not a peg or pin is to be removed. No human authority has any more right to change the location of these messages than to substitute the New Testament for the Old.” Counsels to Writers and Editors, 26–27.

“The great waymarks of truth, showing us our bearings in prophetic history, are to be carefully guarded, lest they be torn down, and replaced with theories that would bring confusion rather than genuine light.” Selected Messages, book 2, 101–102.

Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 1 Corinthians 15:46.

“Historical events, showing the direct fulfillment of prophecy, were set before the people, and the prophecy was seen to be a figurative delineation of events leading down to the close of this earth’s history.” Selected Messages, book 2, 101–102.

FIGURATIVE, a. [Fr. figuratif, from figure.] 1. Representing something else; representing by resemblance; typical. 2. Representing by resemblance; not literal or direct. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.DELINEATION, n. [L. delineatio.] 1. First draught of a thing; outline; representation of a form or figure by lines; sketch; design. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.

LITERAL TOWERS“Satan, by means of his success in turning man aside from the path of obedience, became

‘the god of this world.’ 2 Corinthians 4:4. The dominion that once was Adam’s passed to the usurper. But the Son of God proposed to come to this earth to pay the penalty of sin, and thus not only redeem man, but recover the dominion forfeited. It is of this restoration that Micah prophesied when he said, ‘O Tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto Thee shall it come, even the first dominion.’ Micah 4:8. The apostle Paul has referred to it as ‘the redemption of the purchased possession.’ Ephesians 1:14. And the psalmist had in mind the same final restoration of man’s original inheritance when he declared, ‘The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.’ Psalm 37:29.

“This hope of redemption through the advent of the Son of God as Saviour and King, has never become extinct in the hearts of men. From the beginning there have been some whose faith has reached out beyond the shadows of the present to the realities of the future. Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—through these and other worthies the Lord has preserved the precious revealings of His will. And it was thus that to the children of Israel, the chosen people through whom was to be given to the world the promised Messiah, God imparted a knowledge of the requirements of His law, and of the salvation to be accomplished through the atoning sacrifice of His beloved Son.” Prophets and Kings, 682.

“There are tower builders in our time. Infidels construct their theories from the

supposed deductions of sciences, and reject the revealed word of God.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 118–123.

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ZEPHANIAH’S TOWERS“An idol sabbath has been set up, as the golden image was set up in the plains of Dura.

And as Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, issued a decree that all who would not bow down and worship this image should be killed, so a proclamation will be made that all who will not reverence the Sunday institution will be punished with imprisonment and death. Thus the Sabbath of the Lord is trampled underfoot. But the Lord has declared, ‘Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and write grievousness which they have prescribed’ Isaiah 10:1. The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land. Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger. Zephaniah 1:14–18; 2:1–3.” Manuscript Releases, volume 14, 91.

ORGANIZATIONExodus 18:13–27 “In the appointment of the seventy elders Miriam and Aaron had not been consulted,

and their jealousy was excited against Moses. At the time of Jethro’s visit, while the Israelites were on the way to Sinai, the ready acceptance by Moses of the counsel of his father-in-law had aroused in Aaron and Miriam a fear that his influence with the great leader exceeded theirs. In the organization of the council of elders they felt that their position and authority had been ignored. Miriam and Aaron had never known the weight of care and responsibility which had rested upon Moses; yet because they had been chosen to aid him they regarded themselves as sharing equally with him the burden of leadership, and they regarded the appointment of further assistants as uncalled for.

“Moses felt the importance of the great work committed to him as no other man had ever felt it. He realized his own weakness, and he made God his counselor. Aaron esteemed himself more highly, and trusted less in God. He had failed when entrusted with responsibility, giving evidence of the weakness of his character by his base compliance in the matter of the idolatrous worship at Sinai. But Miriam and Aaron, blinded by jealousy and ambition, lost sight of this. Aaron had been highly honored by God in the appointment of his family to the sacred office of the priesthood; yet even this now added to the desire for self-exaltation. ‘And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath He not spoken also by us?’ Regarding themselves as equally favored by God, they felt that they were entitled to the same position and authority.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 382, 383.

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“In planning for the administration of the affairs of the kingdom, after David abdicated in favor of Solomon, the aged king and his son and their counselors regarded it as essential that everything be done with regularity, propriety, fidelity, and dispatch. So far as possible, they followed the system of organization given Israel soon after the deliverance from Egypt. The Levites were assigned the work connected with the temple service, including the ministry of song and instrumental music, and the keeping of the treasures. The men capable of bearing arms and of serving the king were divided into twelve courses of twenty-four thousand each. Over every course was a captain. ‘The general of the king’s army was Joab.’ ‘The courses. . . came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year.’ Thus every group of twenty-four thousand served the king one month during each year.

“David appointed Jonathan, his uncle, as ‘a counselor, a wise man, and a scribe’; Ahithophel also was ‘the king’s counselor. . . And after Ahithophel was Jehoiada... and Abiathar.’ Hushai was ‘the king’s friend.’ By his prudent example, the aged king taught Solomon that ‘in the multitude of counselors there is safety.’

“The thoroughness and completeness of the organization perfected at the beginning of Solomon’s reign; the comprehensiveness of the plans for bringing the largest number possible of all the people into active service; the wide distribution of responsibility, so that the service of God and of the king should not be unduly burdensome to any individual or class,—these are lessons which all may study with profit, and which the leaders of the Christian church should understand and follow.

“This picture of a great and mighty nation living in simplicity and comfort in rural homes, every person rendering willing and unsalaried service to God and the king for a portion of each year, is one from which we may gather many helpful suggestions.

“There was order in the church when Christ was upon the earth, and after his departure, order was strictly observed among his apostles. And now in these last days, while God is bringing his children into the unity of the faith, there is more real need of order than ever before; for, as the Lord unites his people, Satan and his evil angels are very busy to undo this unity and to destroy it.

“It is Satan’s studied effort to lead professed Christians just as far from heaven’s arrangement as he can; therefore he sometimes deceives even the professed people of God, and makes them believe that order and discipline are enemies to spirituality; that the only safety for them is to let each pursue his own course. But if we see no necessity for harmonious action, and are disorderly, undisciplined, and disorganized in our course of action, angels, who are thoroughly organized and move in perfect order, cannot work for us successfully. They turn away in grief; for they are not authorized to bless confusion, distraction, and disorganization.

“All who desire the co-operation of the heavenly messengers, must work in unison with them. Those who have the unction from on high, will in all their efforts encourage order, discipline, and unity of action, and then the angels of God can co-operate with them. But never, never will these heavenly messengers place their indorsement upon irregularity, disorganization, and disorder. All such evils are the result of Satan’s studied effort to weaken our forces, to destroy courage, and to prevent successful action. God desires that his work shall be done with system and exactness, in order that he may place upon it the seal of his approval.

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“It is nearly half a century since order and organization were established among us as a people. I was one of the number who had an experience in laboring for their establishment. I know of the difficulties that had to be met, the evils that organization was designed to correct, and I have watched its influence in connection with the growth of the cause. At an early stage in the work, God gave us special light upon this point; and this light, together with the lessons that experience has taught us, should be carefully considered.

“From the first our work was aggressive. Our numbers were few, and mostly from the poorer classes. Our views were almost unknown to the world. We had no houses of worship, but few publications, and very limited facilities for carrying forward our work. The sheep were scattered in the highways and byways, in cities, in towns, in forests. The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus was our message.

“‘Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: that no flesh shall glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.’

“Our numbers gradually increased. The seed that was sown was watered of God, and he gave the increase. At first we assembled for worship, and presented the truth to those who would come to hear, in private houses, in large kitchens, in barns, in groves, and in schoolhouses; but it was not long before we were able to build humble houses of worship. As our numbers increased, it was evident that without some form of organization, there would be great confusion, and the work could not be carried forward successfully. To provide for the support of the ministry, for carrying the work in new fields, for protecting both the churches and the ministry from unworthy members, for holding church property, for the publication of the truth through the press, and for many other objects, organization was indispensable.

“Yet the feeling against organization was very strong among our people. The Adventists generally, who had withdrawn from the churches of the various denominations under the call of the second angel’s message to come out of Babylon, opposed organization, and many Seventh-day Adventists were fearful that church organization would bring us under condemnation. We sought the Lord with earnest prayer that we might understand his will, and light was given to us by his Spirit, that there must be order and thorough discipline in the church,—that organization was essential. System and order are manifest in all the works of God throughout the universe. Order is the law of heaven, and it should be the law among God’s people on the earth.

“We had a hard struggle in establishing organization. Notwithstanding that the Lord gave Testimony after Testimony upon this point, the opposition was strong, and it had to be met again and again. But we knew that the Lord God of Israel was leading us, and guiding us by his providence. We engaged in the work of organization, and marked prosperity attended this advance movement.” Review and Herald, October 12, 1905.

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“The disciples of Jesus had reached a crisis in their experience. Under the wise leadership of the apostles, who labored unitedly in the power of the Holy Spirit, the work committed to the gospel messengers was developing rapidly. The church was continually enlarging, and this growth in membership brought increasingly heavy burdens upon those in charge. No one man, or even one set of men, could continue to bear these burdens alone, without imperiling the future prosperity of the church. There was necessity for a further distribution of the responsibilities which had been borne so faithfully by a few during the earlier days of the church. The apostles must now take an important step in the perfecting of gospel order in the church by laying upon others some of the burdens thus far borne by themselves.

“Summoning a meeting of the believers, the apostles were led by the Holy Spirit to outline a plan for the better organization of all the working forces of the church. The time had come, the apostles stated, when the spiritual leaders having the oversight of the church should be relieved from the task of distributing to the poor and from similar burdens, so that they might be free to carry forward the work of preaching the gospel. ‘Wherefore, brethren,’ they said, ‘look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.’ This advice was followed, and by prayer and the laying on of hands, seven chosen men were solemnly set apart for their duties as deacons.

“The appointment of the seven to take the oversight of special lines of work, proved a great blessing to the church. These officers gave careful consideration to individual needs as well as to the general financial interests of the church, and by their prudent management and their godly example they were an important aid to their fellow officers in binding together the various interests of the church into a united whole.

“That this step was in the order of God, is revealed in the immediate results for good that were seen. ‘The word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.’ This ingathering of souls was due both to the greater freedom secured by the apostles and to the zeal and power shown by the seven deacons. The fact that these brethren had been ordained for the special work of looking after the needs of the poor, did not exclude them from teaching the faith. On the contrary, they were fully qualified to instruct others in the truth, and they engaged in the work with great earnestness and success.

“To the early church had been entrusted a constantly enlarging work--that of establishing centers of light and blessing wherever there were honest souls willing to give themselves to the service of Christ. The proclamation of the gospel was to be world-wide in its extent, and the messengers of the cross could not hope to fulfill their important mission unless they should remain united in the bonds of Christian unity, and thus reveal to the world that they were one with Christ in God. Had not their divine Leader prayed to the Father, ‘Keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are’? And had He not declared of His disciples, ‘The world hath hated them, because they are not of the world’? Had He not pleaded with the Father that they might be ‘made perfect in one,’ ‘that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me’? John 17:11, 14, 23, 21. Their spiritual life and power was dependent on a close connection with the One by whom they had been commissioned to preach the gospel.

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“Only as they were united with Christ could the disciples hope to have the accompanying power of the Holy Spirit and the co-operation of angels of heaven. With the help of these divine agencies they would present before the world a united front and would be victorious in the conflict they were compelled to wage unceasingly against the powers of darkness. As they should continue to labor unitedly, heavenly messengers would go before them, opening the way; hearts would be prepared for the reception of truth, and many would be won to Christ. So long as they remained united, the church would go forth ‘fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.’ Song of Solomon 6:10. Nothing could withstand her onward progress. The church would advance from victory to victory, gloriously fulfilling her divine mission of proclaiming the gospel to the world.

“The organization of the church at Jerusalem was to serve as a model for the organization of churches in every other place where messengers of truth should win converts to the gospel. Those to whom was given the responsibility of the general oversight of the church were not to lord it over God’s heritage, but, as wise shepherds, were to ‘feed the flock of God, . . . being ensamples to the flock’ (1 Peter 5:2, 3); and the deacons were to be ‘men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom.’ These men were to take their position unitedly on the side of right and to maintain it with firmness and decision. Thus they would have a uniting influence upon the entire flock.

“Later in the history of the early church, when in various parts of the world many groups of believers had been formed into churches, the organization of the church was further perfected, so that order and harmonious action might be maintained. Every member was exhorted to act well his part. Each was to make a wise use of the talents entrusted to him. Some were endowed by the Holy Spirit with special gifts—‘first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.’ 1 Corinthians 12:28. But all these classes of workers were to labor in harmony.” Acts of the Apostles, 88–91.

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EVIDENCES OF THE ADVANCING TRUTHNUMBER FOUR: MIDNIGHT AND THE MIDNIGHT CRY

MIDWAY“‘While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a

cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.’ Matthew 25:5–7. In the summer of 1844, midway between the time when it had been first thought that the 2300 days would end, and the autumn of the same year, to which it was afterward found that they extended, the message was proclaimed in the very words of Scripture: ‘Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!’” The Great Controversy, 398.

MAY 17, 1843——LETTER FROM WILLIAM MILLER“Brother Himes:“My health is on the gain, as my folks would say. I have now only twenty-two boils, from

the bigness of a grape to a walnut, on my shoulder, side, back and arms, I am truly afflicted like Job. And about as many comforters—only they do not come to see me as did Job’s, and their arguments are not near so rational. I want to see Brother Bliss. I hope he is right about, the termination of the periods, but I think not. I will tell you why, if you will examine, you will find all the ceremonies of the typical law that were observed in the first month, or vernal equinox, had their fulfillment in Christ’s first advent and sufferings; but all the feasts and ceremonies in the seventh month or autumnal equinox can only have their fulfillment at his second advent. Let me notice some.

“1. The ark rested on the seventh, month seventeenth day. This has an appearance of a type, the rest of the gospel ark at the judgment. Genesis 8:4.

“2. The sanctuary, and worshippers, and all appertaining to it, were cleansed on the seventh month tenth to seventeenth day, Leviticus 16:29–34, surely a type.

“3. The Israelites of God were to afflict their souls, from the evening of the ninth to the evening of the tenth day, seventh month. Leviticus 23:27–32, a type of the troubles, Daniel 12:1.

“4. The holy convocation all Israel, seventh month, 1st–15th day, Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 29:1. A type of the gathering of the elect, Psalms 81:3–4; 98:6.

“5. The great feast, seventh month, fifteenth day, all Israel appeared before the Lord. Leviticus 23:34; 1 Kings 8:2. Type of the marriage supper. Hebrews 11:9, 10.

“6. The jubilee trump sounded, seventh month, tenth day, throughout all the land. Leviticus 25:9, 10. Type of final redemption. 1 Thessalonians 4:14–17.

“7. The time of release of all Hebrews in bondage, seventh month fifteenth day. Deuteronomy 15:1–15; 31:10, 11; Jeremiah 34:8–14, at the feast of tabernacles. This evidently is typical of the release of the Israel of God.

“8. The atonement was made on the tenth day seventh month, and this is certainly typical of the atonement Christ is now making for us. Leviticus 16:1–34, antitype. Hebrews 9:1–28.

“9. When the high priest came out of the holy of holies after making the atonement, he blessed the people. Leviticus 9:22, 23; 2 Samuel 6:18. So will our great High Priest. Hebrews 9:28. This was on the seventh month tenth day.

“10. This was in harvest time, the feast of harvest was kept in the seventh month, from the tenth day to the seventeenth. Leviticus 23:30. And the end of the world is compared to the harvest. Matthew 13:30. Christ says plain, in ‘harvest time.’

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“11. Also in the feast of tabernacles, in the great day of the feast in the last day. John 7:2, 37. So in the last great day, Jesus’ voice will call forth the righteous dead. John 5:28, 29; 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

“Will you and Brother Bliss examine and tell me what you think of my scribble on this point. If this should be true, we shall not see his glorious appearing until after the autumnal equinox. A few months more of trial and calumny, and then all will be over. I wish I could see you once more, but do not leave your work to gratify me; mine I expect is done. It is with great exertion I have written this. I am ashamed to write to any but you, brother Himes; you can and will pity the trembling hand of William Miller, Low Hampton, May 3rd, 1843.” Signs of the Times, May 17, 1843.

A LETTER——APRIL 3, 1844“Dear Brother Southard: I wish to present a few thoughts, for the careful consideration of

the dear brethren of the advent faith, on a point wherein differ from many of them, i. e. the termination of the prophetic periods. This I would do, not because I seek controversy; far from it ‘Let there be no strife between us, for we be brethren.’ Nor do I seek to discourage those who, with earnest desire are looking for the appearing of our blessed Master, within the present Jewish year, 1843. Nor yet have I any desire to put the glorious day afar off. My whole soul breathes forth the prayer, ‘Come, Lord Jesus and come quickly.’ But the Lord has shown me, I think, that we must wait and suffer a little longer.

“We all believe that the great week must be accomplished. That the 6000 years, which were shadowed forth by the six days of creation, must be completed; and then will come the seventh thousand—the glorious sabbath of rest ‘that remaineth to the people of God.’ How this long period—the aion or age of this present world, began in autumn. In proof of this, I offer a few considerations. First, it has been the concurrent opinion of chronologers, both Jewish and Christian. In the next place, man at his creation was to subsist upon the fruits and seeds. Genesis 1:29. It does not appear reasonable that these were ripe at any other season than autumn . Again, at the Exodus from Egypt, a change was made in the commencement of the year. Exodus 12:2, ‘This month shall be to you the beginning of months.’ Exodus 13:4, ‘This day came ye out, in the month Abib.’ It appears, then, that from the creation to the Exodus, the years were commenced with some other month. Accordingly, as appears from the tables of Jewish time, there have been, since the coming out of Egypt, two modes of beginning the year, one with the month called Ethanim or Tisri, in autumn—the other with Abib or Nisan, in the spring. The latter agreeing with the time of the Exodus—the former, with the reckoning of the years from creation. On the whole, therefore, I conclude that the 6000 years began in autumn. And as the dispensation of glory, at the appearing of Christ; is called by the apostle, ‘the dispensation of the fullness of times,’ (Ephesians 1:10,) I am constrained to believe that this period will comprise 6000 full years. And from all that I have as yet been able to discover in the chronology of the world, these years will be complete in the autumn of 1844.

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“The seven times of Moses, in Leviticus 26, amount to 2520 full years. They began with the breaking of the power of Judah, at the captivity of Manasseh, B. C. 677. This is the time that has always been given as the date or their commencement. But there has been an error in supposing them to terminate in 1843, as I shall now show.

“Had they begun with January 1, B. C. 677, they would not have ended before January 1, A. D. 1844. Or had they begun with the first day of the Jewish year, in 677, they could not end before the first day of the Jewish year, 1844. For it is evident that it requires 677 and 1843 entire years to make up the full period of 2520. But any point within B. C. 677, is only in the 667 th year before Christ. Reckoning back from the Christian era, we do not obtain 677 full years, till we arrive at the extreme point, i. e. the first day of B. C. 677. So also, reckoning forward from the commencement of the Christian era, we do not obtain 1843 full years, till we arrive at the extreme point, i. e. the end of A. D. 1843, or the first day of A. D. 1844. If, then, the captivity of Manasseh did not occur as early as the first day of the Jewish year, B. C. 677, the 2520 years cannot terminate till after the expiration of the present Jewish year. Now it is evident that Manasseh was not taken in the early part of the year, from the fact that Esarhaddon and the Assyrians were employed in carrying away the ten tribes out of their land, and placing foreigners in their stead, in the same year, and before the invasion of Judah. We find the history of this in 2 Kings 17:20–24. The prophecy concerning it we find in Isaiah 7:8. The date of this prophecy is B. C. 742. From this date count the sixty-five years, and it brings us to B. C 677. In that year, in fulfillment of the prediction in Hosea 5:5, Israel and Judah were both broken. But as it must necessarily require considerable time to remove the ten-tribes, and bring foreigners to fill their place—we cannot well date Manasseh’s captivity earlier than the autumn of that year. About one half, therefore, of the Jewish year B. C. 677, must be left out of the reckoning. This will necessarily extend the period of the 2520 years, down to the autumn of A. D. 1844.

“The 2300 days of Daniel 8, began with the 70 weeks B. C. 457. But they did not begin with the first day of that year. It is true that Ezra began to go up from Babylon on the first day of the 1st month. But this was not in the year B. C. 457, but in the year B. C. 456. The seventh year of Artaxerxes, in which Ezra went up, began, according to Dr. Hales analysis of chronology, in 457, and ended 456. It has been the practice of chronologers to count the years of the reign of monarchs, by the year in which they began to reign; making that their first year. Accordingly the year B. C. 457, in which the seventh year of Artaxerxes began, is counted as his seventh year. Now it appears, from the best light we can obtain in this point, that he began his reign in autumn. This seventh year, then, must have commenced in the autumn of B. C. 457. As it was in the spring that Ezra left Babylon—and in the seventh year of the king; (See Ezra 7.) it must have been the spring of B. C. 456—as no other spring is embraced in the king’s seventh year. But this is not the point from which to date the 70 weeks.

“The decree to restore and to build Jerusalem must have issued from the king before this. From Esther 2:16, we learn that she was made queen in the tenth month of the Jewish year, and in the seventh year of the king. Now this could not have been in the year B. C. 456, for his seventh year expired before the tenth month of that year began. It must therefore have been in the year B. C. 457. At that time a great feast was made, and a ‘release’ to the provinces; which, of course, embraced the Jews, as they were the people of the queen. But this release could not have been made without a previous decree.

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“The monarchs of Persia were the makers and dispensers of the laws, which were absolute, unchangeable. But in the account of this ‘release,’ nothing is said of any ‘decree,’ or law, made at that time. This was only the commencement of those acts of the king, in which the decree was carried into execution. It appears, then, that the decree, from which the seventy weeks and the 2300 days are to be dated, must have been issued by the king, some little time before the tenth month of the Jewish year, B. C. 457. From that time, according to Daniel 9:25, there were to be sixty-nine weeks, i. e. 483 years to the appealing of Messiah. It has been thought by many, that this period was fulfilled in A. D. 26. But this is a mistake. It requires 457 and 26 entire years to make 483. But, as we have seen a part of B. C. 457 must be left out of the reckoning, the time must, therefore, be made up by the addition of a part of A. D. 27.

“The fifteenth year of Tiberius, in which John began his ministry, (See Luke 3:1,) commenced in A. D. 26, and corresponds to a part of 26, and a part of 27. In the latter part, then, of A. D. 26, or in the former part of A. D. 27, John began his ministry. But it was after John was imprisoned, that Jesus came into Galilee, saying, ‘The time is fulfilled.’ This must have been, I think, in the autumn of A. D. 27. It is certain that it was after the Passover; as we learn by comparing John 2:23; 13:22–24, and 4:43; with Mark 1:14, 15. If then, the 69 weeks ended in the autumn of A. D. 27, when may we expect the 2300 days to end? The answer is plain. Deduct 483 from 2300, and the remainder is 1817. So many years remained to be fulfilled in the autumn of A. D. 27. Then add to that date, these 1817 years, and we see it brings us to the autumn of A. D. 1844.

“As it respects the 1290 and 1335 days of Daniel 12, they must of course begin together—the latter ending with the 2300 in 1844. And as there is a difference of only forty-five years between the two periods, the 1290 days could not have ended in February 1798, as forty-six have passed since that time. The periods must have begun in A D. 509—the 1290 days terminating in 1799, with the commencement of Napoleon’s career of blood and conquest, (see Daniel 11:40) 1335 days, ending in the autumn of 1844. 

“But, beloved! the vision ‘will speak and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry.’

“New York, February 16, 1844. Samuel S. Snow.” Advent Herald, and Signs of the Times Reporter, April 3, 1844.

ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF JULY“A Midnight Awakening“About the middle of July the blessing of God in reclaiming backsliders began to attend

the proclamation of the time, and those who embraced either of the views referred to, manifested a marked change in their deportment, and a sudden waking out of sleep, as was predicted. ‘At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.’ From July these movements were in different parts of New England, and distinct from one another; but they were all attended by the blessing of God in reclaiming many whose lamps had well-nigh gone out, and in the sanctification of his saints. At the Exeter camp-meeting, all these influences met, mingled into one great movement, and rapidly spread through all the advent bands in the land. . . .

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“In the Midnight Cry for Oct. 3, 1844, was an article written by George Storrs, under the heading, Go Ye Out to Meet Him, in which he said: . . .

“The Midnight of the Message“How long is the tarrying time?—Half a year. How do you know?—Because our Lord

says, ‘at midnight,’ while the Bridegroom tarried. The vision was for ‘twenty-three hundred evening-mornings,’ or days. An ‘evening,’ or night, is half of one of those prophetic days, and is, therefore, six months. That is the whole length of the tarrying time. The present strong cry of time commenced about the middle of July, and has spread with great rapidity and power, and is attended with a demonstration of the Spirit, such as I never witnessed when the cry was ‘1843.’ It is now literally, ‘Go ye out to meet him.’ There is a leaving all that I never dreamed could be seen. When this cry gets hold of the heart, farmers leave their farms, with their crops. There is a strong crying with tears, and a consecration of all to God, such as I never witnessed. There is a confidence in this truth such as was never felt in the previous cry, in the same degree, and a weeping or melting glory in it that passes all understanding except to those who have felt it. ” John. N. Loughborough, The Great Second Advent Movement: Its Rise and Progress, 159–162.

JULY 21, 1844“Miller had expressed his conviction that the seventh month, or autumnal types, would be

similarly fulfilled at the Second Advent. Snow, however, was more positive and specific, believing that the autumnal types would be fulfilled just as meticulously as to the day (the Day of Atonement) in connection with the Second Advent. At first he was not entirely clear as to the year—whether ‘1843’ or ‘1844’—but he was fully persuaded as to the autumnal aspect. So in February, 1844, Snow began to present his convictions publicly, stressing the end of the 2300 years, and of the other periods of Miller’s customary list, as destined to occur in the autumn of 1844.

“During January and February he had been preaching on the fall of Babylon and the coming of the Lord, as the Bridegroom to the ‘marriage,’ on the tenth day of the seventh (Jewish) month, 1844. However, there was but little interest or response at the time. In April he located his family in Worcester and went to New York, where hostility had lessened concerning the preaching of the seventh month of 1844— Miller’s ‘Jewish year 1843’ having then expired. After three weeks in New York, Brooklyn, and Newark he went on to Philadelphia upon request of George Storrs. In May he returned to Worcester, remaining until July 21. Then, by invitation, Snow preached that day in the large Boston Tabernacle on the text, ‘Behold, the Bridegroom cometh (on the tenth day of the seventh month), go ye out to meet him!’

“This began to arouse some from their apathy. But soon after, at the large Exeter, New Hampshire, camp meeting—August 12–17—he gave three remarkable discourses, to be noted more fully soon. The first was on the 1844 ending of the great prophetic time periods; the second on the Mosaic sanctuary service types, and their antitypical fulfillment in the Christian dispensation; and the third on the date of Christ’s crucifixion in the ‘midst’ of the seventieth prophetic week, which therefore brought an end of the 70 weeks in the seventh month of A.D. 34. And in consequence, the close of the 2300 years would similarly extend to the seventh month of 1844, which equated largely with the month of October.” L. Froom, Prophetic Fait5h of Our Fathers, volume 4, 802, 803.

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AUGUST 22, 1844S. S. SNOW

BEHOLD, THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH; GO YE OUT TO MEET HIMVOL. 1. EDITED BY S. S. SNOW, AND PUBLISHED BY E. HALL JR.; HAVERHILL,

MASS., AUG. 22, 1844. NO. 1.Our blessed Lord and Master has promised that he will come again and receive his people

to himself; that where he is, they may be also. The place where he and they are to dwell forever, is the New Jerusalem, that holy city, which God bath prepared for them, and which is to come down from God out of heaven, and that New Earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Concerning the time of that coming, he says, in Mark 8:32, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” It is thought by many, that this passage proves that men are never to know the time. But if it prove this, it likewise proves that the Son of God himself is never to know the time: for the passage declares precisely the same concerning Him that it does concerning angels and men. But can any person believe that our glorious Lord, to whom all power in heaven and earth is given, is, and will remain, ignorant of the time until the very moment that he comes to judge the world? If not, then certainly this test can never prove that men may not be made to understand the time.

An old English version of the passage reads, “But that day and hour no man maketh known, neither the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” This is the correct reading according to several of the ablest critics of the age.

The word know is used here in the same sense as it is by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:2. Paul well understood many other things, besides Christ and him crucified, but he determined to make known nothing else among them. So in the passage first quoted, it is declared that none but God the Father maketh known the day and hour, that is, the definite time of the second coming of his Son. And this necessarily implies that God makes the time known. The Old Testament contains the testimony of the Father concerning his Son, and concerning the time of both his first and second comings. Therefore the time is to be understood. See Daniel 12:10, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” Romans 15:4, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” It is by the teaching of his word, as we are led therein by the Holy Spirit, that we are to understand the time of the coming of our Glorious King.

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As further proof of this, see Daniel 9:25, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment, to restore and build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah, the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks.” Mark 1:14, 15, “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, and saying the time is fulfilled.” Luke 19:43, 44, “For the day shall come upon thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” 1 Peter 1:9–11, “Searching what, or what manner of time the spirit of Christ, which was in them, did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” Isaiah 40:1–5; Acts 17:30, 31, “He hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness.” Ecclesiastes 3:17, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” Ecclesiastes 8:5–7, “Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing; and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.” Jeremiah 8:6–9, “1 hearkened and heard, but they spoke not aright; no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, what have I done I every one turned to his course as the horse rusheth into the battle. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle, and crane, and the swallow. observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the lord. How do ye say, we are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken; lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them? Hosea 9:7–9, “The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come; Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad.” Romans 8:11–14, “And that knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.

The Six Thousand YearsThe period of time allotted for this world, in its present state, is 6000 years, at the

termination of which commences the great millennial Sabbath, spoken of in Revelation 20, and which will be ushered in by the personal appearing of Christ and the first Resurrection; see Isaiah 46:9, 10; Genesis 2:1–3; Hebrews 4:4–9; Isaiah 11:10; 2 Peter 2:8. According to Usher’s chronology, which is commonly received, the Christian era commenced in the year of the world 4004; but Usher has lost in the time of the judges 153 years. From the division of the Land of Canaan to the beginning of Samuel’s administration, he gives but 295 years: whereas Paul, in Acts xiii. 20, gives us “about the space of 450.” From the book of Judges we obtain 430 years, and Josephus gives us 18 more for the elders and anarchy, before any judge ruled; this added to 430 make 448 which agrees with Paul, supposing him to have spoken in round numbers. The difference between this time and that given by Usher is 153 years, and should be added to the age of the world, making for the commencement of the Christian era 4157, or, in other words, 4156 and a fraction had passed at the supposed point of the birth of Christ. Deducting this from 6000 years, the remainder is 1843 and a fraction. Therefore the period will end within A. D. 1844.

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The Seven Times of the GentilesThe seven times of Gentile domination over the church of God, spoken of in Leviticus

26, began with the breaking of the pride of their power at the captivity of Manasseh, king of Judah, B. C. 677. See Isaiah 10:5–12; Jeremiah 15:3–9; Jet. (sic) 1:17; 2 Chronicles 33:9–11. This is the date assigned by all chronologers for that event. The seven prophetic times amount to 2520 years. As proof of this, see Revelation 12:6, 14, where three and a half times are equivalent to 1260 years. A time therefore consists of 360 solar years, which multiplied by 7, make 2520.

Had this period commenced with the first day of B. C. 677 it would have terminated with the first day of A. D. 1844, for 677 full years on one hand, and 1843 on the other, make 2520 complete years. It has been supposed that the period would end in A. D. 1643. But as a part of B. C. 677 is left out, a corresponding part of A. D. 1844 must be taken in to make the period complete. It must have been in autumn that Manasseh was taken captive. As proof of this, see Hosea 5:5; Isaiah 12:8; 10:11. Hosea declares that Ephraim and Israel shall fall, and that Judah also shall fall with them; Isaiah represents the king of Assyria as threatening to do to Jerusalem as he had done to Samaria; therefore the final carrying away of the ten tribes was before the invasion of Judah, and in the same year. The prophecy of Isaiah 7:8, is correctly dated B. C. 742; 65 years from that point bring us to B. C. 677. In that year was the final breaking of Ephraim, that it should not be a people. The history of this we find in 2 Kings 17. Kings did not go forth on their warlike expeditions in autumn or winter, but in spring or summer. Therefore in spring or summer of B. C. 677, Esarhaddon, and the Assyrians commenced removing the remnant of the ten tribes out of the cities of Samaria; and when they had accomplished this, they brought foreigners and placed them in their stead, to inhabit those cities. Having performed this work, which necessarily occupied some months, they were then ready to invade Judah. So that in the autumn of B. C. 677 they took the city of Jerusalem, and bound her king with fetters and carried him to Babylon. From that time 2520 years reach to the autumn of A. D. 1844. Then the times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled, the dispensation of the fullness of times will come, the Redeemer will come to Zion, and all Israel shall be saved.

The 2300 DaysThe 2300 days of Daniel 8:14, are given as the length of the vision contained in that

chapter. The Ram is Medo Persia, the Goat is Grecia, and the little horn which waxed exceeding great is Rome. From the 2nd and 7th chapters of Daniel we learn that Rome will come to its end when the Ancient of days comes, the judgment is set, the Son of man comes in the clouds of heaven, and the God of heaven sets up an eternal kingdom. Therefore the 2300 days, which extend to the time when the exceeding great horn is to be “broken without hands,” and to the last end of the indignation” are so many years, and expire at the coming of Jesus in the Clouds of Glory. The period commenced with the 70 weeks of Dan. ix. 24, which are determined or cut off and constitute apart of the 2300 days. They must therefore commence together. From verse 25, we learn that they begin at the going forth of the commandment or decree to restore and to build Jerusalem. The point of time from which to reckon, must be either when the decree was first issued or when it was carried into execution; it could not be the former, because the decree embraces all that was decreed by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. See Isaiah 44:23; 45:13; 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23; Ezra 1:14; 6:1–15; 7.

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The decree embraces three grand objects: the building of the Temple, the restoring of the Jewish Commonwealth, and the building of the street and wall. Now had the 70 weeks, which amount to 490 years, commenced with the first issuing of the decree, B. C. 536, they would have ended B. C. 46; but 69 weeks were to extend to the manifestation of Messiah the Prince, and the 70th, or last week, covers the time of his crucifixion; we must therefore of necessity reckon from the other point, that is, the promulgation and execution of the decree in Judea From Ezra 7:8, 9, we learn that Ezra began to go up on the first day of the first month, and arrived at Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, in the 7th year of Artaxerxes, B. C. 457. Having arrived at Jerusalem, he appointed magistrates and judges, and restored the Jewish Commonwealth, under the protection of the king of Persia, as he was fully authorized to do by the decree of Artaxerxes. This necessarily required some little time, and brings us to the point when, the restoring having been effected, the building of the street and wall commenced. The 70 weeks are divided into three parts: 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 1 week-see Daniel 9:25. The connection shows that the 7 weeks were allotted for the building of the street and wall. They therefore commenced when they begin to build, in the autumn of B. C. 457; from that point 2300 years reach to the autumn of A. D. 1844.

The Seventy WeeksThe 69 weeks extend to the manifestation of the Messiah. It has been thought by many

that this was at his baptism, but this is a mistake; as fully appears from John 1:19–34. There we learn, that after the baptism of Christ, he was not known to the Jews as the Messiah; John says, verse 26, “There standeth one among you whom ye know not;” and in verse 33, 34, he declares that he knew him not, till he saw the Spirit descending and remaining on him at his baptism, which was previous to his giving this testimony. There is no proof that any one save John saw the Spirit thus descending. This proof therefore that Jesus was the Messiah, was given to none but John, unless it was given to others in John’s testimony. But the testimony of John was not sufficient fully to establish the point; for Jesus declares, John 5:33, 34, “Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man.” In verse 36, Christ says, “But I have greater Witness than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.” The miracles of Christ proved him to be the Messiah; but even his own testimony without those miracles was not sufficient to establish the point, as is evident from verse 21, “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.” The miracles of Christ publicly wrought, did not commence till after John was put in prison—see Matthew 11:2–6; Luke 7:19–23 The prophecy of Daniel 9:25 concerning the 69 weeks, was intended for the whole Jewish nation; and they were condemned because they understood it not. In Luke 19:43, 44, we find our Lord denouncing upon them the most awful judgments because they knew not the time of their visitation. The prophecy was plain, and they should have heeded it. Our Savior, also told them plainly when the period ended, saying, “The time is fulfilled.” See Mark 1:14, 15; Matthew 4:12, 17; Acts 10:37; thus we see that the 69 weeks ended, and the 70th week began, soon after John’s imprisonment.

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John began his ministry in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar—see Luke 3:1–3. The administration of Tiberius began, according to the united testimony of chronologers, in August, A. D. 12. Fourteen years from that point, extend to August A. D. 26, when his 15th year began. The ministry of John, therefore, commenced in the latter part of A. D. 26. From Luke 3:21, we learn that after John had been baptizing for some time, Jesus came and was baptized; and verse 23 informs us that at that time he was not far from 30 years of age. It is astronomically proved that our Savior was born four years before the Christian era. The proof is this.

About the year 527, Dionysius Exigus, a Roman monk fixed the beginning of the Christian era in the year of the Julian period 4713. This reckoning has been followed to the present time. But Josephus, in his Antiquities, Book 17, chapter 6, mentions particularly an eclipse of the moon, which occurred a short time before the death or Herod; and the astronomical tables prove this eclipse to have been on the 13th of March, in the year of the Julian period 4710. Our Lord was born some months previous to this; for after his birth Herod sought to destroy his life, and Joseph, being warned by the angel of the Lord in a dream, took the young child and his mother, and went into Egypt, where he remained till after Herod’s death—see Matthew 2:13–15. The latest point, therefore, that we can fix upon for the birth of Christ, is near the close of the year 4709, just four years earlier than the point of time given by Dionysius for the commencement of the Christian era. Consequently, Jesus was 30 years of age near the close of A. D. 26, and at his baptism was a little more than 30.

Soon after this, as is evident from John 2: 11–13, there was a Passover. This, being the first Passover after the beginning of John’s baptism, must have been in the spring of A. D. 27. After this Jesus had his interview with Nicodemus and taught him concerning regeneration—see John 3:1–21. In verse 22 we are informed that Jesus returned, after these things, in to the land of Judea, where he tarried and baptized. As he had previously been in Jerusalem at the Passover—see John 2:23—and now returned into Judea, he must have been absent from that land between these two points of time. This necessarily brings us down to the summer or autumn of A.D. 27. But “John was not yet cast into prison”—see John 3:24. We are therefore compelled to place the point of time at which Jesus began the proclamation of the gospel in Galilee, in the autumn of A. D. 27. Here ended the 69 weeks, and here began the week, during which the covenant was confirmed—see Daniel 9:27.

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In the midst of the week Jesus caused the sacrifice and the oblation to cease by offering himself as a Lamb, without spot, to God upon the cross. The Hebrew word translated “midst,” is by the Lexicon defined, “half, half part, middle, midst.” The week was divided into two halves, and the event which was thus to divide it was the death of’ Christ. This event took place, according to Dr. Hales, one of the ablest and best chronologers in the spring of A. D. 31. Ferguson has placed it in A D. 33; but in order to prove he assumes the Rabbinical mode of reckoning the year, which is not correct. They commence the year with the new in moon in March; but the Caraites with the new moon in April. The word Caraite signifies “one perfect in the law.” These accuse the Rabbins of having departed from the law, and conformed to the customs of the heathen; and the charge is just, as they regulate their year by the vernal equinox, in imitation of the Romans; whereas the law says nothing of the vernal equinox; but required, on the 16th day of the first month, the offering of the first fruits of the barley harvest. But if the year be commenced according to the Rabbins with the new moon in March, the barley harvest could not possibly be ripe in 16 days from that time. The Caraites are therefore undoubtedly correct.

Now our Lord was crucified on the day of the Passover, as is evident from John 18:28. It was likewise the day before the Sabbath, as is proved by John 19:31. According to the rabbinical reckoning, the Passover occurred on the day before the Sabbath in A. D. 33, and not for several years before and after. But according to the Caraite reckoning, the Passover occurred on that day in A. D. 31. Therefore that was the year of the crucifixion. The covenant was confirmed half a week by Christ, and the other half by his apostles—see Hebrews 2:3, 4: “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will?”

The covenant which was confirmed is the new covenant, i. e. the gospel. To confirm it signifies to establish it on a firm foundation. The foundation of the gospel, is Jesus and the resurrection—see Acts 17:18; 1 Corinthians 3:9–11; Ephesians 2:20. The gospel was established on this foundation by testimony, accompanied by miracles as those proofs which were indispensably necessary. But John performed no miracles—see John 10:41, therefore John’s ministry formed no part of the confirmation. God wrought through Christ in those mighty works, for half the week, and through the apostles the other half, who had a special work assigned to them, and for which they were duly qualified, and that was to testify concerning the works and Resurrection of our Lord–see Luke 1:2; John 15:27; Luke 24:48; Acts 1: 8, 21, 22; 2:32; 3:15; 10:36, 42; 1 John 1:1, 3. All these witnesses save one were regularly called and qualified, having been with Christ from the beginning of his ministry, after the imprisonment of John. But when Paul was converted, and received his dispensation of the gospel to the gentiles, a special witness was called upon the stand.

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These all testified to the one glorious, fundamental fact, that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. Galatians 1:10–12; 1 Corinthians 15:1–9. It was not with the apostles a matter of faith that Christ had risen, but a matter of knowledge. They had seen, handled, and conversed with him, they had eaten and drunken with him after his resurrection, and had received from him a command to testify to these things. By so doing they confirmed the covenant, or, in other words, established the gospel, upon the resurrection of Christ, which is the foundation of the faith and hope of all God’s children. But this testimony alone was not sufficient to establish the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead. Therefore we are told, Mark 16:20, “And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by signs following.” See also Hebrews 2:3, 4. When the last witness, that is Paul, had been called, and had given his testimony, confirmed by miracles, the gospel as a divine system of faith, hope, and love was established on its true foundation; in other words, the covenant was confirmed. Paul was converted in the autumn of A. D. 34. As Jesus Christ was crucified in the midst or middle of the week, and on the day of the Passover, which was the fourteenth (lay of the first month, it follows that the week began in the 7th month of A. D. 27, and ended in the 7th month of A. D. 34. This was the termination of the seventy weeks. From that point, 1810 years remained to the end of the 2300 days. And from the 7th month of A. D. 34, 1810 years extend to the 7th month of A. D. 1844.

The TypesThe Law of Moses contained a shadow of good things to come; a system of figures or

types pointing to Christ and his kingdom. See Hebrews 10:1; Colossians 2:16, 17. Everything contained in the law was to be fulfilled by him. In Matthew 5:17, 18, Jesus says, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Our Lord at his first coming, when he died on the cross, began the fulfilment of those types contained in the law; as our great High Priest he is still fulfilling them; and when he comes the second time, he will complete their fulfilment. Not the least point will fail, either in the substance shadowed forth, or in the time so definitely pointed out for the observance of the types. For God is an exact time keeper. See Acts 17:26, 31; Job 24:1; Leviticus 23:4, 37. These passages show that time is an important point in the law of the Lord; therefore type and antitype must correspond exactly as it regards time.

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One type fulfilled in Christ, was the killing of the Passover lamb. This was slain on the 14th day of the first month, See Leviticus 23:5. From Exodus 12:6, we learn that the lamb was killed in the evening. The margin gives the literal rendering from the Hebrew, “between the two evenings.” Joseph Frey, a converted Jew, in his work on the Passover, says the afternoon or evening of the day was by them divided into two parts, the lesser or former evening and the greater or latter evening. The dividing point between the two was three in the afternoon, the ninth hour of the day. Jesus died on the cross, on the same day, and at the same hour. See Mark 15:33–37. Thus Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Not one point of the law failed here. Time was most strictly regarded. In Leviticus 23:6, 7, we are informed that the day after the Passover was to be a special Sabbath; and in verses 10 and 11, is a command to offer the first fruits of the harvest on the morrow after the Sabbath. This was a type of the resurrection of Christ. And on the same day, that is, the day after the Sabbath. he burst the bonds of the tomb, and arose triumphant, the sample of the future harvest, the first fruits Of them that slept. See I Corinthians 15:20–23. Again, in Leviticus 23:15, 16, we have the time of the feast of weeks, or, as it is called, the Pentecost, which is the fiftieth day. This was the anniversary of the Lord’s descent on Mount Sinai at the giving of the law; and was fulfilled, as we learn from Acts 2:1–4, when the Holy Spirit descended as a rushing mighty wind, and as cloven tongues of fire, by which the apostles were endued with power from on high, qualifying them to go forth and execute the great commission which the Master had given them, to preach the gospel to every creature.

Thus we see that those types that pointed to events connected with our Lord’s first coming, were fulfilled exactly at the time of their observance. And every one who is not willingly blind must see, and feel too, that those which remain unfulfilled, will be fulfilled with an equally strict regard to time. Not only so, but Christ himself confirms this argument from analogy by saying that one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Those types which were to be observed in the 7th month, have never yet had their fulfilment in the antitype.

On the first day of that month, as we learn from Leviticus 23:23–25, was the memorial of blowing of trumpets. See Psalms 81:3, “Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.” See also Revelation 10:7, “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” On the first day of the 7 th month, 6000 years being complete, from the first day of the week of creation, the great millennial Sabbath will be introduced, by the sounding of the seventh trumpet. Another type is given in Leviticus 23:26–32, that is, the day of atonement or reconciliation, on the tenth day of the 7 th month, in which the high priest went into the most holy place of the tabernacle, presenting the blood of the victim before the mercy-seat, after which on the same day be came out and blessed the waiting congregation of Israel. See Leviticus 9:7, 22, 23, 24, and chapter 16; Hebrews 5:1–6, and 9:1–12, 27, 28. Now the important point in this type is the completion of the reconciliation at the coming of the high priest out of the holy place.

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The high priest was a type of Jesus our High Priest; the most holy place a type of heaven itself; and the coming out of the high priest a type of the coming of Jesus the second time to bless his waiting people. As this was on the tenth day of the 7th month, so on that day Jesus will certainly come, because not a single point of the law is to fail. All must be fulfilled. The feast of tabernacles, which began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, (see Leviticus 23:33–43,) was a type of the marriage supper of the Lamb; which will be celebrated in the New Jerusalem, the tabernacle of God which is to be with men. In Leviticus 25:8–13, 23, 24, we find that on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the fiftieth year, the jubilee trumpet was always to be blown, and redemption granted to all the land. Let any man read carefully the connection of this subject, and he must surely see that this is a most striking type of the glorious deliverance of the people of God, and of the whole creation which is now groaning under the curse, when the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and accomplish the redemption of the bodies of all his saints, and the redemption of the purchased possession. See Romans 13:19–23; Ephesians 1:9–14. Our blessed Lord will therefore come, to the astonishment of all them that dwell upon the earth, and to the salvation of those who truly look for him, on the tenth day of the seventh month of the year of jubilee: and that is the present year, 1844.

“If they hear not MOSES and the PROPHETS, neither will they be persuaded, although one arose from the dead.”

May be had at 14 Devonshire St. Boston—9 Spruce St. N. Y. and of E. Hale, Jr. Haverhill, Massachusetts at 50 cents per hundred. From the Midnight Cry. Written in New York, February 16, 1844. Samuel S. Snow. Printed April 3, 1844. THE ADVENT HERALD, AND SIGNS OF THE TIMES REPORTER, 69, Joshua Himes Publisher.

“I have been shown that many who profess to have a knowledge of present truth know not what they believe. They do not understand the evidences of their faith. They have no just appreciation of the work for the present time. When the time of trial shall come, there are men now preaching to others who will find, upon examining the positions they hold, that there are many things for which they can give no satisfactory reason. Until thus tested they knew not their great ignorance. And there are many in the church who take it for granted that they understand what they believe; but, until controversy arises, they do not know their own weakness. When separated from those of like faith and compelled to stand singly and alone to explain their belief, they will be surprised to see how confused are their ideas of what they had accepted as truth. Certain it is that there has been among us a departure from the living God and a turning to men, putting human in place of divine wisdom.

“God will arouse His people; if other means fail, heresies will come in among them, which will sift them, separating the chaff from the wheat. The Lord calls upon all who believe His word to awake out of sleep. Precious light has come, appropriate for this time. It is Bible truth, showing the perils that are right upon us. This light should lead us to a diligent study of the Scriptures and a most critical examination of the positions which we hold. God would have all the bearings and positions of truth thoroughly and perseveringly searched, with prayer and fasting. Believers are not to rest in suppositions and ill-defined ideas of what constitutes truth. Their faith must be firmly founded upon the word of God so that when the testing time shall come and they are brought before councils to answer for their faith they may be able to give a reason for the hope that is in them, with meekness and fear.

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“Agitate, agitate, agitate. The subjects which we present to the world must be to us a living reality. It is important that in defending the doctrines which we consider fundamental articles of faith we should never allow ourselves to employ arguments that are not wholly sound. These may avail to silence an opposer, but they do not honor the truth. We should present sound arguments, that will not only silence our opponents, but will bear the closest and most searching scrutiny. With those who have educated themselves as debaters there is great danger that they will not handle the word of God with fairness. In meeting an opponent it should be our earnest effort to present subjects in such a manner as to awaken conviction in his mind, instead of seeking merely to give confidence to the believer.

“Whatever may be man’s intellectual advancement, let him not for a moment think that there is no need of thorough and continuous searching of the Scriptures for greater light. As a people we are called individually to be students of prophecy. We must watch with earnestness that we may discern any ray of light which God shall present to us. We are to catch the first gleamings of truth; and through prayerful study clearer light may be obtained, which can be brought before others.” Testimonies, volume 5, 707, 708.

MIDNIGHT AND THE MIDNIGHT CRY

Miller’s article   Letter          Article       Midnight       Midnight Cry     Paper          3rd AM

    5/17/43    2/16/44    4/3/44   7/21/44    8/15/44     8/22/44  10/22/44

            l                             l                         l                         l                           l                           l                             l          

                                      Boston           Exeter                          Fulfilled

THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH (1D1M)STRANGE WIVES: EZRA 10:16–17

Strange woman put away (separation process)

MESSAGE OF BABYLON: EZEKIEL 29:17–21King of the North paid; Sprinkling begins

SETTING UP THE SANCTUARY: EXODUS 40:2, 16–17; 33–38

CLEANSING THE SANCTUARY FOR SERVICE (A PROCESS): 2 CHRONICLES 29:17

CLEANSING THE SANCTUARY IN ADVANCE OF A HOLY CONVOCATION (A PROCESS): EZEKIEL 45:18–21

THE FLOOD ENDS: GENESIS 8:13

ESTHER 3:7

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THE FIRST OF THE FIFTH MONTH (1D5M)August 15th (The First Day of the Fifth Month) Numbers 33:38; Deuteronomy 10:6–8;

Malachi 3:1–4

120 & THE MIDNIGHT CRYA PROBATIONARY PERIOD MARKED

120 days/years: Genesis 6:3“But Noah stood like a rock amid the tempest. Surrounded by popular contempt and

ridicule, he distinguished himself by his holy integrity and unwavering faithfulness. A power attended his words, for it was the voice of God to man through His servant. Connection with God made him strong in the strength of infinite power, while for one hundred and twenty years his solemn voice fell upon the ears of that generation in regard to events, which, so far as human wisdom could judge, were impossible.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 96.

DISPENSATIONAL CHANGE120 Levites and the cloud filled the temple: 2 Chronicles 5:1–3, 11–14, Exodus 40:33–38; Daniel 7:13; Revelation 15:8; Numbers 9

MALACHI’S OFFERING120 talents of gold as a pleasant offering by the church to the king: 1 Kings 10:7–10; 2 Chronicles 9:8, 9; Malachi 3:4.

LEADERSHIP CHANGES NAMESMoses dies at 120 and the leadership passes to Joshua: Deuteronomy 31:1–3; 34:7–10; Aaron also dies and passes the priesthood to Eleazar: Lazarus in Greek.

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THREEAaron died when he was 123 years old: Numbers 33:39.

“Abraham was one hundred and twenty years old when this terrible and startling command came to him, in a vision of the night. He was to travel three days’ journey, and would have ample time for reflection. Fifty years previous, at the divine command, he had left father and mother, relatives and friends, and had become a pilgrim and a stranger in a land not his own.” Signs of the Times, March 27, 1879.

THE SEALING120 princes and three presidents that rebel against Daniel: Daniel 6.

THE SAMARITAN WOMAN’S WORKFour months: John 4:31–41.

WHEAT AND TARES SEPARATED120 gathered together to replace Judas: Acts 1:15; (Joseph: add—Barabbas: son of an army [Chaldean]—Justus: just [Latin]; Matthias: gift of God.)

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COMBINING THE MESSAGES

PARALLELED, COMBINED & BLENDED“God has given the messages of Revelation 14 their place in the line of prophecy, and their work is not to

cease till the close of this earth’s history. The first and second angel’s messages are still truth for this time, and are to run parallel with this which follows. The third angel proclaims his warning with a loud voice. ‘After these things,’ said John, ‘I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory.’ In this illumination, the light of all the three messages is combined.” The 1888 Materials, 803–804.

“The three angels’ messages are to be combined, giving their threefold light to the world. In the Revelation, John says, ‘I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.’ [Revelation 18:2–5 quoted.] This represents the giving of the last and threefold message of warning to the world.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 7, 985.

“The first and the second angels’ messages are of great importance, and are followed by the third angel’s message. All three should be understood and combined. The warning contained in these messages means much more to the whole world than the majority of God’s people comprehend.” Manuscript Releases, volume 17, 236.

“The Lord is about to punish the world for its iniquity. He is about to punish religious bodies for their rejection of the light and truth which has been given them. The great message, combining the first, second, and third angel’s messages, is to be given to the world. This is to be the burden of our work.” Kress Collection, 105.

“Thus the substance of the second angel’s message is again given to the world by that other angel who lightens the earth with his glory. These messages all blend in one, to come before the people in the closing days of this earth’s history. All the world will be tested, and all that have been in the darkness of error in regard to the Sabbath of the fourth commandment will understand the last message of mercy that is to be given to men.” Selected Messages, book 2, 116.

FRACTALS

THE SEVEN THUNDERSLAST SEVEN SOUTHERN KINGS

Manasseh: H4519—causing to forget.Amon: H526—properly to build up; architect.Josiah: H2977—foundation.Jehoahaz: H3059— Jehovah seized.Jehoiakim: H3079—Jehovah will raises; to rise.Jehoiachin: H3078—Jehovah will establish; erect; hence (causatively) to set up, tarry.Zedekiah: H6667—to make right (in a moral or forensic sense): cleanse.

677“Faithfully the prophets continued their warnings and their exhortations; fearlessly they

spoke to Manasseh and to his people; but the messages were scorned; backsliding Judah would not heed. As an earnest of what would befall the people should they continue impenitent, the Lord permitted their king to be captured by a band of Assyrian soldiers, who ‘bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon,’ their temporary capital.” Prophets and Kings, 382.

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Earnest: 1. First fruits; that which is in advance, and gives promise of something to come. . . . Hence earnest or earnest-money is a first payment or deposit giving promise or assurance of full payment. . . . This sense of the word is primary, denoting that which goes before, or in advance. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.

A PROGRESSIVE FALL“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. But the message of the second angel did not reach its complete fulfillment in 1844. The churches then experienced a moral fall, in consequence of their refusal of the light of the advent message; but that fall was not complete.” The Great Controversy, 389.

THE LAST: UNITED STATES—1844“The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord, Satan will work ‘with all power

and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness;’ and they that ‘received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved,’ will be left to receive ‘strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.’ 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11. Not until this condition shall be reached, and the union of the church with the world shall be fully accomplished throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete. The change is a progressive one, and the perfect fulfillment of Revelation 14:8 is yet future.” The Great Controversy, 389.

LAST SEVEN NORTHERN KINGSJeroboam II: a people; figuratively a flock.Zechariah: to mark (so as to be recognized), that is, to remember; (call). John 10:16.Shallum: to be completed; end, finish, restore, reward. Isaiah 56:3–8.Menahem: comforter. to sigh, breathe strongly; repent. Acts 3:19–23.Pekahiah & Pekah: to open (the senses, especially the eyes). Revelation 14:8.Hoshea: deliver, rescue, bring (having) salvation, get victory. Daniel 12:1.

EZEKIEL 37

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http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/36682/Artabanus

ESTHER

RUTHTHE SECOND PASSOVER

2 Chronicles 29–30 (began on FDFM, took eight days for priest/sanctuary and eight days for Levites/courtyard). Numbers 9 (journeying or dead bodies) Journeying forbidden, public evangelism; dead bodies (Naomi’s husband took a long journey to Moab when the cloud was upon the sanctuary, so he and his sons died) Revelation 3:1–6 (dead, defiled garments)

DAN TO BEERSHEBAJudges 20:1 (a gathering, unity)1 Samuel 3:19–21, 1; (restoration of the Spirit of Prophecy)2 Samuel 3:1–10 (house of David established—church triumphant, controversy between

Abner and Ishbosheth the image of the beast test)2 Samuel 17:11 (one of two false prophecies in Absalom’s rebellion promising to unify

God’s people, typifying the M/C time period)2 Samuel 24:2; 1 Chronicles 4:22 (David’s numbering of the people2 Samuel 24:15 (pestilence for numbering the people 70,000)1 Kings 4:25 (After Solomon deals with four persons from his father’s past his kingdom

is unified at the Sunday law)2 Chronicles 30:5 (the second Passover; the decree at the Midnight Cry)Amos 8:14 (counterfeit M/C message “liveth” “liveth” Samaria: watchtower/ false

watchmen; Dan judgment hour message/ false messengers; Beersheba/ professing to walk in old paths–2520)

HARVEST AND VINTAGE“Every seventh year special provision was made for the poor. The sabbatical year, as it

was called, began at the end of the harvest. At the seedtime, which followed the ingathering, the people were not to sow; they should not dress the vineyard in the spring; and they must expect neither harvest nor vintage.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 531.

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And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. Leviticus 26:5.

“Under the Jewish system the people were taught to cherish a spirit of liberality both in sustaining the cause of God and in supplying the wants of the needy. For special occasions there were freewill offerings. At the harvest and the vintage, the first fruits of the field—corn, wine, and oil—were consecrated as an offering to the Lord. . . . The first fruits were to be presented before the Lord at the sanctuary and were then devoted to the use of the priests.” Acts of the Apostles, 336.

THE FIRST FRUITS “Christ arose from the dead as the first fruits of those that slept. He was the antitype

of the wave sheaf, and His resurrection took place on the very day when the wave sheaf was to be presented before the Lord. For more than a thousand years this symbolic ceremony had been performed. From the harvest fields the first heads of ripened grain were gathered, and when the people went up to Jerusalem to the Passover, the sheaf of first fruits was waved as a thank offering before the Lord. Not until this was presented could the sickle be put to the grain, and it be gathered into sheaves. The sheaf dedicated to God represented the harvest. So Christ the first fruits represented the great spiritual harvest to be gathered for the kingdom of God. His resurrection is the type and pledge of the resurrection of all the righteous dead. ‘For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.’ 1 Thessalonians 4:14. . . .

“During His ministry, Jesus had raised the dead to life. He had raised the son of the widow of Nain, and the ruler’s daughter and Lazarus. But these were not clothed with immortality. After they were raised, they were still subject to death. But those who came forth from the grave at Christ’s resurrection were raised to everlasting life. They ascended with Him as trophies of His victory over death and the grave. These, said Christ, are no longer the captives of Satan; I have redeemed them. I have brought them from the grave as the first fruits of My power, to be with Me where I am, nevermore to see death or experience sorrow.” Desire of Ages, 785, 786.

“The Passover was followed by the seven day’s feast of unleavened bread. The first and the seventh day were days of holy convocation, when no servile work was to be performed. On the second day of the feast, the first fruits of the year’s harvest were presented before God. Barley was the earliest grain in Palestine, and at the opening of the feast it was beginning to ripen. A sheaf of this grain was waved by the priest before the altar of God, as an acknowledgment that all was His. Not until this ceremony had been performed was the harvest to be gathered.

“Fifty days from the offering of first fruits, came the Pentecost, called also the feast of harvest and the feast of weeks. As an expression of gratitude for the grain prepared as food, two loaves baked with leaven were presented before God. The Pentecost occupied but one day, which was devoted to religious service.

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“In the seventh month came the Feast of Tabernacles, or of ingathering. This feast acknowledged God’s bounty in the products of the orchard, the olive grove, and the vineyard. It was the crowning festal gathering of the year. The land had yielded its increase, the harvests had been gathered into the granaries, the fruits, the oil, and the wine had been stored, the first fruits had been reserved, and now the people came with their tributes of thanksgiving to God, who had thus richly blessed them.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 540.

These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. Revelation 14:4.

TWELVE AND SEVENTY“As He had sent out the twelve, so He ‘appointed seventy others, and sent them two and

two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself was about to come.’ Luke 10:1, R. V. These disciples had been for some time with Him, in training for their work. When the twelve were sent out on their first separate mission, other disciples accompanied Jesus in His journey through Galilee. Thus they had the privilege of intimate association with Him, and direct personal instruction. Now this larger number also were to go forth on a separate mission.

“The directions to the seventy were similar to those that had been given to the twelve; but the command to the twelve, not to enter into any city of the Gentiles or of the Samaritans, was not given to the seventy. Though Christ had just been repulsed by the Samaritans, His love toward them was unchanged. When the seventy went forth in His name, they visited, first of all, the cities of Samaria.” Desire of Ages, 488.

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EVIDENCES OF THE ADVANCING TRUTHNUMBER FIVE: ELIZABETH & REVELATION NINE

LUKE 1ZACHARIAS: GOD REMEMBERS; PRIESTHOODELIZABETH: GOD OF THE OATH/SEVEN TIMESJOHN: GOD FAVORS: ELIJAH–FIRST ANGEL’S MESSAGEMARY: MIRIAM, REBELLIOUS, BITTER

9/11Zachariah struck dumb, because of disbelief; tarriesElizabeth hidden five months

MIDNIGHT CRYThe sixth month; Mary inquiresMary and Elizabeth both loudly prophesy, Elizabeth filled with Holy Spirit

SUNDAY LAWJohn born, Mary’s third month, new name given, eighth day of circumcision, Zacharias

prophesies and is filled with the Holy Spirit

DANIEL 11:44–45Mary’s ninth month

“In the days of the early Christians, Christ came the second time. His first advent was at Bethlehem, when He came as an infant. His second advent was at the Isle of Patmos, when He revealed Himself in glory to John the Revelator, who ‘fell at His feet as dead’ when he saw Him. But Christ strengthened him to endure the sight, and then gave him a message to write to the churches of Asia, the names of which are descriptive of the characteristics of every church.” Manuscript Releases, volume 19, 41.

“The two armies will stand distinct and separate, and this distinction will be so marked that many who shall be convinced of truth will come on the side of God’s commandment-keeping people. When this grand work is to take place in the battle, prior to the last closing conflict, many will be imprisoned, many will flee for their lives from cities and towns, and many will be martyrs for Christ’s sake in standing in defense of the truth.” 1888 Materials 484.

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REVELATION 9: THE SEALING1989: THE TIME OF THE END (FIFTH TRUMPET)

Revelation 9:1–3; 606 Mohammed a star fallsThe key—Battle of Nineveh, fall of Chosroes 628/629/ 1989; Daniel 11:40

9/11: THE TARRYING TIME (TORMENT)Revelation 9:4–11; 5 months; Elizabeth hidden; Revelation 2:17 (you are what you eat)Othman first entered the territory of Nicomedia July 27, 1299 through July 27, 1449

SIXTH MONTH: JULY 27, 1449 (SIXTH TRUMPET)Four horns and four winds; 391 years and 15 days1449 the last Greek emperor takes throne forms an alliance with the Roman church to hold off Islam, but is still forced to submit to Islam; 1451 Mohammed II set his heart on securing Constantinople as the seat of his empire, May 1453 Constantinople falls—Four years—July 27, 1449 through 1453

MIDNIGHT CRY (INTERNAL: CHURCHES—EXTERNAL: SEALS)Four Years to the seventh month, 1449–1453; Seat had changed from Greece (allied to Rome) to Islam; August 11, 1840 through October 22, 1844; seat changes from Holy to Most Holy Place, USA Protestant horn aligns with Rome

SUNDAY LAW (SEVENTH TRUMPET)October 22, 1844; Daniel 8:14; Revelation 10:5–7; third part of men killed (modern Babylon: dragon, beast, false prophet); Revelation 9:15, 18; Isaiah 9:14–16; Habakkuk 2:3; Jeremiah 15:19; Revelation 13:11

MICHAEL STANDS UP (THIRD WOE)“I saw that Michael had not stood up, and that the time of trouble, such as never was, had

not yet commenced. The nations are now getting angry, but when our High Priest has finished his work in the Sanctuary, he will stand up, put on the garments of vengeance, and then the seven last plagues will be poured out. I saw that the four angels would hold the four winds until Jesus’ work was done in the Sanctuary, and then will come the seven last plagues.” Experience and Views, 20.

NUMBERS 22—239/11

Two servantsVerses 22, 23—out of the way; Jeremiah 6:16, 17

MIDNIGHT CRYVerses 24, 25—double walls; Judges 5:12; Isaiah 51, 52;

SUNDAY LAWVerses 26 through 34Narrow place: enemies, adversary, foe, distress, trouble—Zephaniah 1:14–18Dumb ass speaks; Zacharias; Daniel 10:15–21

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1989For Bin Laden, as for the United States, the turning point came in 1989, with the defeat

of the Soviets in Afghanistan.To the United States, which had supported the Afghan resistance with billions of dollars

in arms and ammunition, the soviet retreat was the beginning of the end of the cold war and the birth of a new world order; to Bin Laden, who had supported the resistance with money, construction equipment and housing, it was an affirmation of Muslim power and an opportunity to recreate Islamic political power and topple infidel governments through jihad, or holy war.

He declared to an interviewer in 1998 “I am confident that Muslims will be able to end the legend of the so-called superpower that is America.”

In its place he built his own legend, modeling himself after the prophet Muhammad, who in the seventh century led the Muslims to rout the infidels, or nonbelievers, from North Africa and the Middle East. Just as Muhammad saw the Koran revealed to him amid intense persecution, Bin Laden regarded his expulsion from Saudi Arabia and then Sudan in the 1990’s as signs that he was a chosen one.

In his vision, he would be the “emir,” or prince, in a restoration of the Khalifa, a political empire extending from Afghanistan across the globe. “These countries belong to Islam,” he told the same interviewer, “not the rulers.” New York Times, May 07 2011.

DAVID’S FOUR ANOINTING’SFIRST ANOINTING: 1 SAMUEL 16 (1989)SECOND ANOINTING: 2 SAMUEL 1:1; 2:1–4 (9/11)THIRD ANOINTING: 2 SAMUEL 5:1–7, 17–25 (M/C)FOURTH: 2 SAMUEL 12:1–25 (VERSE 20) (S/L)

INCREASE OF POWER—ESTHER 9:4; 1 CHRONICLES 11:9; 2 SAMUEL 5:10“The truth for this time, the third angel’s message, is to be proclaimed with a loud voice,

meaning with increasing power, as we approach the great final test.” Manuscript Releases, volume 10, 315.

THIRTY YEARS OLD2 Samuel 5:1–5; Genesis 41:45, 46; Luke 3:23; Numbers 8:24, 25“It was not customary for the Levites to enter upon their peculiar services until they were

twenty-five years of age, but Samuel had been an exception to this rule. Every year saw more important trusts committed to him; and while he was yet a child, a linen ephod was placed upon him as a token of his consecration to the work of the sanctuary.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 574.

FIRST ANOINTINGTime of the End—Daniel 12:3, 4, 9, 10; 1989The Spirit leaves Saul comes upon David 1 Samuel 16Begins a time of a noise (Daniel 11:40–45; David’s harp), and a shaking (Saul’s hatred)

Ezekiel 37:7, 8David flees to wilderness of Engedi. 1 Samuel 24:1

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SECOND ANOINTINGDavid anointed as king of Judah and reigns in Hebron 7 or 7 ½ years—2 Samuel 2:11;

5:5; 1 Kings 2:11; 1 Chronicles 3:4; 29:27David is in the wilderness of Paran 1 Samuel 25:19/11—Psalms 132:8–18; Ezekiel 29:17–21 (1D1M)

THIRD ANOINTINGDavid anointed king over Israel and reigns 33 years at Jerusalem

FOURTH ANOINTINGCorrupted marriage precedesVerse 20—David arises, washes, anoints himself, changes clothes and eatsBathsheba: daughter of the seven times, Solomon: peaceful; Jedidiah: Jehovah’s oath

(seven times)

RAISING UP A PRIESTHOODIsaiah 61:6; 1 Samuel 2:31–36; 3:16–21“Since the days of Joshua the government had never been conducted with so great

wisdom and success as under Samuel’s administration. Divinely invested with the threefold office of judge, prophet, and priest, he had labored with untiring and disinterested zeal for the welfare of his people, and the nation had prospered under his wise control.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 603.

“The great issue near at hand will weed out those whom God has not appointed and He will have a pure, true, sanctified ministry prepared for the latter rain.” Selected Messages, book 3, 385.

JOSIAH, PHARAOHNECHO, & MEGIDDO2 Kings 23:29, 30; 2 Chronicles 35:20–24; Jeremiah 46:1, 2

THE ARCHERS1 Samuel 31:3; 28:8Archers: Genesis 21:20; Isaiah 21:17, 22:3; Jeremiah 50, 51 (50:29, 51:1–3)Kedar: Jeremiah 49:28; Ezekiel 27:21; Jeremiah 2:1–13; Isaiah 22, 21; 23:1; Psalm 120

SAUL1 Samuel 10 (anointing, filled with the Spirit; coronation); 1 Samuel 16:11–23 (possessed

of an evil spirit); 1 Samuel 28 (Saul disguises himself/ the witch of Endor: the all-seeing eye); 1 Samuel 31:3 (dies by the archers)

AHAB1 Kings 22:30, 34, 35 (Ahab disguises himself and dies by the archers)

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HYPOCRITESHYPOCRITE, n. 1. One who feigns to be what he is not; one who has the form of

godliness without the power, or who assumes an appearance of piety and virtue, when he is destitute of true religion. And the hypocrite’s hope shall perish. Job 8:13. 2. A dissembler; one who assumes a false appearance.

“To Meet the Bridegroom . . .“The class represented by the foolish virgins are not hypocrites.” Christ’s Object Lessons,

411.

SANHEDRIN“If the leaders in Israel had received Christ, He would have honored them as His

messengers to carry the gospel to the world. To them first was given the opportunity to become heralds of the kingdom and grace of God. But Israel knew not the time of her visitation. The jealousy and distrust of the Jewish leaders had ripened into open hatred, and the hearts of the people were turned away from Jesus.

“The Sanhedrin had rejected Christ’s message and was bent upon His death; therefore Jesus departed from Jerusalem, from the priests, the temple, the religious leaders, the people who had been instructed in the law, and turned to another class to proclaim His message, and to gather out those who should carry the gospel to all nations.

“As the light and life of men was rejected by the ecclesiastical authorities in the days of Christ, so it has been rejected in every succeeding generation. Again and again the history of Christ’s withdrawal from Judea has been repeated. When the Reformers preached the word of God, they had no thought of separating themselves from the established church; but the religious leaders would not tolerate the light, and those that bore it were forced to seek another class, who were longing for the truth. In our day few of the professed followers of the Reformers are actuated by their spirit.” The Desire of Ages, 232.

THE FOUNDATION“With the calling of John and Andrew and Simon, of Philip and Nathanael, began the

foundation of the Christian church. John directed two of his disciples to Christ. Then one of these, Andrew, found his brother, and called him to the Savior. Philip was then called, and he went in search of Nathanael.” The Desire of Ages, 141.

MIRIAMNumbers 20:1–13, 13:26Meribah: quarrel, hold a controversy, defend, debate–Numbers 20:24; Numbers 27:14;

Exodus 17:7 (Massah: testing; Kadesh: sanctuary); Numbers 20:1, 14, 16, 22 (Zin: to prick; Kadeshbarnea: sifting of the sanctuary) Numbers 32:8; Deuteronomy 1:2, 3, 19, 2:14–16, 9, 10; Joshua 10:41, 14:6–8; Isaiah 27:8; Jeremiah 15:18

ZACHARIAH STRUCK DUMB

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EVIDENCES OF THE ADVANCING TRUTHNUMBER SIX: THE BINDING OFF

ANGELS ARE SYMBOLSREVELATION 14

“I have had an experience in the first, second, and third angels’ messages. The angels are represented as flying in the midst of heaven, proclaiming to the world a message of warning, and having a direct bearing upon the people living in the last days of this earth’s history. No one hears the voice of these angels, for they are a symbol to represent the people of God who are working in harmony with the universe of heaven. Men and women, enlightened by the Spirit of God, and sanctified through the truth, proclaim the three messages in their order.” Life Sketches, 429.

REVELATION 18“John saw ‘Another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the whole

earth was lightened with his glory.’ Revelation 18:1. That work is the voice of the people of God proclaiming a message of warning to the world.” The 1888 Materials, 926.

MESSAGES CRUCIFIED“Those who rejected the first message could not be benefited by the second; neither were

they benefited by the midnight cry, which was to prepare them to enter with Jesus by faith into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. And by rejecting the two former messages, they have so darkened their understanding that they can see no light in the third angel’s message, which shows the way into the most holy place. I saw that as the Jews crucified Jesus, so the nominal churches had crucified these messages, and therefore they have no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and they cannot be benefited by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare.” Early Writings, 258–261.

THE LATTER RAIN“To John were opened scenes of deep and thrilling interest in the experience of the

church. He saw the position, dangers, conflicts, and final deliverance of the people of God. He records the closing messages which are to ripen the harvest of the earth, either as sheaves for the heavenly garner or as fagots for the fires of destruction.” The Great Controversy, 341.

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SEPARATIONTHE CLEAVER OF TRUTH

“God has called His church in this day, as He called ancient Israel, to stand as a light in the earth. By the mighty cleaver of truth, the messages of the first, second, and third angels, He has separated them from the churches and from the world to bring them into a sacred nearness to Himself. He has made them the depositaries of His law and has committed to them the great truths of prophecy for this time. Like the holy oracles committed to ancient Israel, these are a sacred trust to be communicated to the world. The three angels of Revelation 14 represent the people who accept the light of God’s messages and go forth as His agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth.” Testimonies volume 5, 455.

WORDS OF TRUTH“‘Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat

into the garner.’ Matthew 3:12. This was one of the times of purging. By the words of truth, the chaff was being separated from the wheat. Because they were too vain and self-righteous to receive reproof, too world-loving to accept a life of humility, many turned away from Jesus. Many are still doing the same thing. Souls are tested today as were those disciples in the synagogue at Capernaum. When truth is brought home to the heart, they see that their lives are not in accordance with the will of God. They see the need of an entire change in themselves; but they are not willing to take up the self-denying work. Therefore they are angry when their sins are discovered. They go away offended, even as the disciples left Jesus, murmuring, ‘This is an hard saying; who can hear it?’” The Desire of Ages, 392.

TRIALS“Trials are to come upon God’s people and the tares are to be separated from the

wheat.” Review and Herald, March 19, 1895.

“Let both tares and wheat grow together until the harvest. Then it is the angels that do the work of separation.” Selected Messages, book 2, 69.

THE FIRST ANGEL“Jesus commissioned a mighty angel to descend and warn the inhabitants of the earth to

prepare for His second appearing. As the angel left the presence of Jesus in heaven, an exceedingly bright and glorious light went before him. I was told that his mission was to lighten the earth with his glory and warn man of the coming wrath of God.” Early Writings, 245.

“The mighty angel who instructed John was no less a personage than Jesus Christ.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 7, 971.

REVELATION 7“The mighty angel is seen ascending from the east (or sunrising). This mightiest of

angels has in his hand the seal of the living God, . . . It is the voice of this highest angel that had authority to command the four angels to keep in check the four winds . . .

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“This sealing of the servants of God is the same that was shown to Ezekiel in vision . John also had been a witness of this most startling revelation. He saw the sea and the waves roaring, and men’s hearts failing them for fear.” Testimonies to Ministers, 445.

“I saw that the four angels would hold the four winds until Jesus’ work was done in the sanctuary, and then will come the seven last plagues. . . .

“I saw four angels who had a work to do on the earth, and were on their way to accomplish it. Jesus was clothed with priestly garments. He gazed in pity on the remnant, then raised His hands, and with a voice of deep pity cried, ‘My blood, Father, My blood, My blood, My blood!’ Then I saw an exceeding bright light come from God, who sat upon the great white throne, and was shed all about Jesus. Then I saw an angel with a commission from Jesus, swiftly flying to the four angels who had a work to do on the earth, and waving something up and down in his hand, and crying with a loud voice, ‘Hold! Hold! Hold! Hold! until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads.’

“I asked my accompanying angel the meaning of what I heard, and what the four angels were about to do. He said to me that it was God that restrained the powers, and that He gave His angels charge over things on the earth; that the four angels had power from God to hold the four winds, and that they were about to let them go; but while their hands were loosening, and the four winds were about to blow, the merciful eye of Jesus gazed on the remnant that were not sealed, and He raised His hands to the Father and pleaded with Him that He had spilled His blood for them. Then another angel was commissioned to fly swiftly to the four angels and bid them hold, until the servants of God were sealed with the seal of the living God in their foreheads.” Early Writings, 38.

“And what a representation is given in Revelation 7 for our consideration and comfort and encouragement! The four angels are commissioned to do a work upon the earth. But One who purchased the world by giving Himself for its ransom has a chosen few. Who? Those who are keeping all of the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.

“John’s attention was called to another scene: ‘And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God’ (Revelation 7:2). Who is this? The Angel of the covenant. He comes from the sun rising. He is the Dayspring from on high. He is the Light of the world. ‘In Him was life; and the life was the light of men’ (John 1:4). This is the One Isaiah describes: ‘Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace’ (Isaiah 9:6). He cried, as One who had superiority over the hosts of angels in heaven ‘to whom it was given to hurt the earth, and the sea, saying, “hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads” (Revelation 7:2, 3).’

“Here is the divine and human united. The command is given to the four angels to hold in check the four winds until they receive His summons. Read the entire chapter. The cry, ‘Hurt not,’ is uttered by the Restorer, the Redeemer.” Manuscript Releases, volume 15, 221, 222.

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THE SEALINGBINDING

Matthew 13:30“I then saw the third angel. Said my accompanying angel, ‘Fearful is his work. Awful is

his mission. He is the angel that is to select the wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly garner. These things should engross the whole mind, the whole attention.’” Early Writings, 119.

“There have been and always will be tares among the wheat, the foolish virgins with the wise, those who have no oil in their vessels with their lamps.” Signs of the Times, October 23, 1879.

SEPARATION“Again, these parables teach that there is to be no probation after the judgment. When

the work of the gospel is completed, there immediately follows the separation between the good and the evil, and the destiny of each class is forever fixed.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 123.

NUMBERING“An angel with a writer’s inkhorn by his side returned from the earth and reported to

Jesus that his work was done, and the saints were numbered and sealed.” Early Writings, 279.Deuteronomy 18:15–22; Acts 3:19–26

NUMBERINGGenesis 46:1–3, 27 (First Mention “marah”); Acts 1:20–26

“The disciples assembled in the upper chamber, uniting in supplications with the believing women, with Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. These brethren, who had been unbelieving, were now fully established in their faith by the scenes attending the crucifixion, and by the resurrection and ascension of the Lord. The number assembled was about one hundred and twenty. While they were awaiting the descent of the Holy Ghost, they supplied the office left vacant by Judas. Two men were selected, who, in the careful judgment of the believers, were best qualified for the place. But the disciples, distrusting their ability to decide the question farther, referred it to One that knew all hearts. They sought the Lord in prayer to ascertain which of the two men was more suitable for the important position of trust, as an apostle of Christ. The Spirit of God selected Matthias for the office.

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“Both men who had been selected were considered to be persons of stern integrity, and in every way worthy of the vacant position; but notwithstanding the disciples were intimately acquainted with them, they felt that their own judgment was imperfect, and trusted the selection only to the Lord, whose eyes could read the hidden secrets of the heart. There is a lesson for our time in this occurrence. Many who are apparently well qualified to labor for God, are urged into the ministry, without a proper consideration of their case, and at length become a grievous burden to the church instead of burden-bearers. If the church of the present time would act as cautiously and wisely as did the apostles in filling the vacancy among them, much perplexity and serious injury might be saved the cause of God. The work has often suffered much by putting persons forward to do that which they were not capable of doing.

“After filling the vacancy in the apostolic number, the disciples gave their time to meditation and prayer, being often in the temple, testifying of Christ, and praising God. The Pentecost was a feast celebrated seven weeks after the Passover. Upon these occasions the Jews were required to repair to the temple and to present the first-fruits of all the harvest, thus acknowledging their dependence on the great Giver of all good, and their obligation to render back to God, in gifts and offerings to sustain his cause, that which he had entrusted to them. On this day of divine appointment, the Lord graciously poured out his Spirit on the little company of believers, who were the first-fruits of the Christian church.” Spirit of Prophecy, volume 3, 264, 265.

WILDERNESSES——1260; 70; 40Revelation 12:6, 14“God’s church on earth was as verily in captivity during this long period of

relentless persecution as were the children of Israel held captive in Babylon during the period of the exile.” Prophets and Kings, 714.

70 WEEKS—DANIEL 9:24–27

TWELVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY YEARS“He thus mentioned certain events to precede His coming, and fixed the time when the

first of these should be witnessed: ‘In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.’ Mark 13:24. The 1260 days, or years, terminated in 1798. A quarter of a century earlier, persecution had almost wholly ceased. Following this persecution, according to the words of Christ, the sun was to be darkened. On the 19th of May, 1780, this prophecy was fulfilled.” The Great Controversy, 306.

“‘When they shall have finished [are finishing] their testimony.’ The period when the two witnesses were to prophesy clothed in sackcloth, ended in 1798.” The Great Controversy, 267–269.

CHRIST’S FORTY DAYS—MATTHEW 4:2

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THIRTY DAYS; ONE MONTH; HIDING & THE NUMBER FOURLuke 1, Revelation 9

BOWING1 Samuel 25:20–23

TWENTY-FIVEEzekiel 8:16–9:5; 11:1, 2

3/4Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13, 2:1, 4, 6; Proverbs 30:15–29; Ezekiel 8:14

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS—LEVITES’ AGE AND SERVICENumbers 8:24, 25“It was not customary for the Levites to enter upon their peculiar services until they were

twenty-five years of age, but Samuel had been an exception to this rule. Every year saw more important trusts committed to him; and while he was yet a child, a linen ephod was placed upon him as a token of his consecration to the work of the sanctuary.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 574.TWENTY-FIVE DAYS: MIDNIGHT TO THE MIDNIGHT CRY——JULY 21ST TO AUGUST 14TH

FOURTH DAY IN THE FIFTH MONTH (JULY 21ST 1844)Ezekiel 1:1; 8:3; 40:2; 43:3

THE MARAHH4759—Feminine of H4758; a vision; also (causatively) a mirror: - looking glass,

vision. H4758: mar’eh—From H7200; a view (the act of seeing); also an appearance (the thing seen), whether (real) a shape (especially if handsome, comeliness; often plural the looks), or (mental) a vision:—X apparently, appearance (-reth), X as soon as beautiful (-ly), countenance, fair, favoured, form, goodly, to look (up) on (to), look [-eth], pattern, to see, seem, sight, visage, vision.

CHA ̂ZO ̂NH2377—From H2372; a sight (mentally), that is, a dream, revelation, or oracle:

—vision. H2372: A primitive root; to gaze at; mentally to perceive, contemplate (with pleasure); specifically to have a vision of:—behold, look, prophesy, provide, see.

FIRST MENTIONGenesis 46:2; 28:10–22 (the Gate of Heaven)

THE LOOKING GLASSExodus 38:8; 1 Corinthians 13:9–13; 2 Corinthians 3:18; James 1:22–25

THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECYNumbers 12:6; 1 Samuel 3:15

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EVIDENCES OF THE ADVANCING TRUTHNUMBER SEVEN: THE PROPHETIC EXPERIENCE

AS ONE DEAD“True holiness and humility are inseparable. The nearer the soul comes to God, the more

completely is it humbled and subdued. When Job heard the voice of the Lord out of the whirlwind, he exclaimed, ‘I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.’ It was when Isaiah saw the glory of the Lord and heard the cherubim crying, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts,’ that he cried out, ‘Woe is me, for I am undone!’ Daniel, when visited by the holy messenger, says, ‘My comeliness was turned in me to corruption.’ Paul, after he was caught up into the third Heaven and heard things that it was not lawful for a man to utter, speaks of himself as ‘less than the least of all saints.’ It was the beloved John, that leaned on Jesus’ breast, and beheld his glory, who fell as one dead before the angel. The more closely and continuously we behold our Savior, the less shall we see to approve in ourselves.” Review and Herald, December 20, 1881.

DEATH“You know, just as soon as the heavenly Messenger came from heaven and revealed

Himself to Daniel he said, ‘My comeliness was turned in me into corruption’ [Daniel 10:8]. He had such a view of the glory of God that he fell as one dead. He could not talk; he could not see; but the angel took him and set him upon his knees, and yet he could not look at Him.” Sermons and Talks, volume 1, 104.

DANIEL 10:4–19—MARAHTHREE TOUCHES

Verses 10, 16, 18; Matthew 26:33–46; Matthew 4:1–11

THE MIDNIGHT CRY“When the angel was about to unfold to Daniel the intensely interesting prophecies to be

recorded for us who are to witness their fulfillment, the angel said, ‘Be strong, yea, be strong’ (Daniel 10:19). We are to receive the very same glory that was revealed to Daniel, because it is for God’s people in these last days, that they may give the trumpet a certain sound.” Selected Messages, book 3, 390.

1 CORINTHIANS 14:32“Let God’s workmen study the sixth chapter of Isaiah, and the first and second

chapters of Ezekiel.“To the prophet the wheel within a wheel, the appearances of living creatures

connected with them, all seemed intricate and unexplainable. But the hand of Infinite Wisdom is seen among the wheels, and perfect order is the result of its work. Every wheel works in perfect harmony with every other. . . .

“Please read carefully the third chapter of Ezekiel.” Testimonies to Ministers, 213, 214.

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“The sixth chapter of Isaiah has a deep and important lesson for every one of God’s workmen. Study it with humility and earnest prayer. The first and second chapters of Ezekiel should also be carefully studied. The wheels within wheels represented in this symbol was confusion to the finite eye. But a hand of infinite wisdom was revealed amid the wheels. Perfect order is brought out of the confusion. Every wheel works in its right place, in perfect harmony with every other part of the machinery.” Christian Leadership, 213.

ISAIAH 6:1–3 (9/11)“As they [the angels] see the future, when the whole earth shall be filled with His

glory, the triumphant song of praise is echoed from one to another in melodious chant, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts.’ They are fully satisfied to glorify God; and in His presence, beneath His smile of approbation, they wish for nothing more. In bearing His image, in doing His service and worshiping Him, their highest ambition is fully reached.” Review and Herald, December 22, 1896.

THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD’S POWER

“Isaiah had a wonderful view of God’s glory. He saw the manifestation of God’s power, and after beholding His majesty, a message came to him to go and do a certain work.” Review and Herald, June 4, 1889.

“The angel who unites in the proclamation of the third angel’s message is to lighten the whole earth with his glory. A work of world-wide extent and unwonted power is here foretold. The advent movement of 1840–44 was a glorious manifestation of the power of God . . .

“The work will be similar to that of the Day of Pentecost.” The Great Controversy, 611.

LAODICEAN“Isaiah had denounced the sin of others; but now he sees himself exposed to the same

condemnation he had pronounced upon them. He had been satisfied with a cold, lifeless ceremony in his worship of God. He had not known this until the vision was given him of the Lord. How little now appeared his wisdom and talents as he looked upon the sacredness and majesty of the sanctuary. How unworthy he was! how unfitted for sacred service! His view of himself might be expressed in the language of the apostle Paul, ‘O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?’

“But relief was sent to Isaiah in his distress. [Isaiah 6:6, 7 quoted.] . . .“The seraphim before the throne are so filled with reverential awe in beholding the glory

of God that they do not for an instant look upon themselves with self-complacency, or in admiration of themselves or one another. Their praise and glory are for the Lord of Hosts, who is high and lifted up, and the glory of whose train fills the temple. As they see the future, when the whole earth shall be filled with his glory, the triumphant song of praise is echoed from one to another in melodious chant, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts.’ They are fully satisfied to glorify God; and in his presence, beneath his smile of approbation, they wish for nothing more. In bearing his image, in doing his service and worshiping him, their highest ambition is fully reached.

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“The vision given to Isaiah represents the condition of God’s people in the last days. They are privileged to see by faith the work that is going forward in the heavenly sanctuary. ‘And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.’ As they look by faith into the holy of holies, and see the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, they perceive that they are a people of unclean lips,—a people whose lips have often spoken vanity, and whose talents have not been sanctified and employed to the glory of God. Well may they despair as they contrast their own weakness and unworthiness with the purity and loveliness of the glorious character of Christ. But if they, like Isaiah, will receive the impression the Lord designs shall be made upon the heart, if they will humble their souls before God, there is hope for them. The bow of promise is above the throne, and the work done for Isaiah will be performed in them. God will respond to the petitions coming from the contrite heart.” Review and Herald, December 22, 1896.

EXTERNAL (SEALS), INTERNAL (CHURCHES)“In the visions given to Isaiah, to Ezekiel, and to John, we see how closely heaven is

connected with the events transpiring upon the earth. We see the care of God for those who are loyal to him. The program of coming events is in the hands of the Lord; the world is not without a ruler. The Majesty of heaven has the destiny of nations, as well as the concerns of his church, in his own hands.” Testimonies, volume 5, 753–754.

“It is with an earnest longing that I look forward to the time when the events of the day of Pentecost shall be repeated with even greater power than on that occasion. John says, ‘I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.’ Then, as at the Pentecostal season, the people will hear the truth spoken to them, every man in his own tongue.

“God can breathe new life into every soul that sincerely desires to serve Him, and can touch the lips with a live coal from off the altar , and cause them to become eloquent with His praise. Thousands of voices will be imbued with the power to speak forth the wonderful truths of God’s Word. The stammering tongue will be unloosed, and the timid will be made strong to bear courageous testimony to the truth. May the Lord help His people to cleanse the soul temple from every defilement, and to maintain such a close connection with Him that they may be partakers of the latter rain when it shall be poured out.” Review and Herald, July 20, 1886.

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