As you recall we ended our last post with John standing in his church with a few others, after witnessing the Lord’s “strange act” and the literal beginning of the “Judgment for the Living”. Among the few were two church leaders, who had fought John’s message. They have survived, but why?
Let us now read from the prophet, about what will befall those who have fought the message.
Isa. 2:10 — “Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty.”
Here we are plainly told that the sinners will eventually find themselves unprepared for the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and when God thus manifests His Power they will indeed be terrified. They will as wild men run to the rocks and the mountains there to hide themselves. The event of this particular verse runs parallel with that of The Revelation:
“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:15-17.
Very evidently Isaiah’s prophecy meets its fulfillment in the time of the sixth seal, the time in which the Lord sits on the Throne of His Glory, not on the clouds, the throne before which gather all nations, whereupon the Judgment work begins: the separation takes place, the saints (sheep) are then put to His right and the sinners (goats) to His left (Matt. 25:33). The prophet Joel declares the day in these words:
“Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” Joel 3:13-16.
It is the time in which shall be said,
“The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.” Isa. 33:14-16, 24.
The sinners in Zion are first to cry to the rocks and to the mountains, then will the proclamation of the great and dreadful day of the Lord go forth far and wide saying: “Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge My might.” Isa. 33:13. (1 TG, vol. 5, p.10-12).
As we see from the above, there will be some who survive the initial church judgment but oh how it shall cause them to sink to the depths of despair! For they will feel their great mistake so loud and clear within their soul. One can only imagine to see your life before you with no chance to live for ever more. This is truly the most terrible and horrible feeling one could have.
But what they did was not right and in fact led to many deaths. The vast amount within the church was denied the message from the Lord, the Elijah message, because these leaders effectively stopped it from gaining any foothold within the church. They professed godliness but were indeed found out as “hypocrites” in that great and dreadful day.
Notice it says this running and hiding in the rocks, is in the “fulfillment of the sixth seal.” The Plagues happen during the seventh seal. So the Elijah message clearly points out this time as right after the church judgment, the closing of the sixth seal! That is not to say that there may be a second application for the sinners of the world as well, during the seventh seal.
Keep in mind, the light that Ellen White had on this was the application of this reference in the time of the plagues. Her message was not the Elijah message and the scroll advanced as far as was seen by her at that time.
Back to John. He had to work underground because his name was smeared to a certain degree, even those who may have had a chance to accept his message, were made prejudiced against John. It all was a truly miserable end result.
Our Lord spoke of this hindrance–
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” (Matt.23:13)
Now, when we read that they ” hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains.” We should keep in mind that our own houses are built of rocks. Plaster, drywall, stucco are all made from rocks and mountains. Therefore, this could indicate that they hide themselves up within their homes, and not necessarily go and drive or run out to the mountains literally.
So as the days go by, they must feel like despair beyond belief. The Lord decides to spare, but it’s for His righteous judgement and to recompense their ways for “blood on their hands” because they would not allow His sealing message of present truth to seal the people.
“Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay. In time their foot will slip, for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”(Deut. 32:35)
Let us look closely at the following word of God.
“And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt.22:12-13)
Obviously this is indicative of those who are not prepared when our Lord comes to invite the guests in. This is symbolic of the time right after day one of Ezekiel 9, and when the pre-millennial kingdom begins setting up in the Holy land. The very first phase of His kingdom as taught by Daniel 2. (See our post on this subject – https://godsloveandlaw.com/2011/11/26/the-daniel2-vision/
This, I believe, is showing the time of the immediate days following day one of Ezekiel 9. Those who have fought the message are “speechless” as they come to the deep realization that they have fought Christ. They now want to “come in” yet the door must close.
The Lord will do something similar in this solemn realization when He raises those who mocked and persecuted Him during His own ministry. They too, see the full realization of their terrible actions.
“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” (Revelation 1:7)
The seven days finally produces the 144,000 from the church. The “elect of God” prepare to go to work, no longer being hitched to the SDA leaders who stopped them from proclaiming His Elijah message. The world is now their stage, the Lord is to now work through them mightily and protect them.
“Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.” (Isaiah 58:8)
Summary
Let us recap what we have learned from the 3 posts of the solemn half-hour silence.
1) The day of Ezekiel 9 church judgment shall come as a great surprise to the non-believers, ignorant, and present truth haters. Malachi describes this–
“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Mal. 3:1)
Isaiah describes the after events of the church judgment–
“For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.”(Isaiah 66:15-19)
2) It shall not be so much a surprise to the believers as they know from the message that it will occur during or right after the next world war over Israel. (Tract 14, p.22)
3) There will be “few” that survive the church judgment, yet all have a chance , even right now to embrace His Elijah message and proclaim it. This requires strength and courage , to step forward and admit belief due to the fact that the leaders are fighting it.
But those who do, acutely remember that the Lord has always rewarded courage. Noah proclaiming a “strange and fanciful” message of world doom by flood. Moses courageously foregoing his privileged status among the Egyptians on behalf of his poor brethren. Joseph preferring to be thrown in jail rather that to sin by committing an adulterous affair. David taking on the powerful lion to protect his sheep and then later risking his life to go against the mighty warrior Goliath.The Apostles willing to die for Christ rather than submit to the non-believers.
The 144,000 likewise must choose to be courageous, even to the point of slander, demotion, false rumors and dis-fellowship, all for Christ’s last message of the “judgment of the living” , aka –the Elijah message.
“In concluding this narrative, I would say that we are living in a most solemn time. In the last vision given me, I was shown the startling fact that but a small portion of those who now profess the truth will be sanctified by it and be saved. Many will get above the simplicity of the work. They will conform to the world, cherish idols, and become spiritually dead. The humble, self-sacrificing followers of Jesus will pass on to perfection, leaving behind the indifferent and lovers of the world.” (Testimonies, vol. 1, p.608-609)
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.” (Matt. 7:13)
4) The “strange act”(Isaiah 28:21), the Lord’s execution of judgment, shall last seven days. The heavenly beings shall be silent as they witness the “great and dreadful day of the Lord.”
5) There will be some who survive the judgment, but it will be only for them to see what they have done. Who they have fought and what side they really were on.
6) The end of this seven-day silence shall be the beginning of the Loud Cry. Those who survive, the 144,000, then begin to prepare for their final mission. They know the word says they must head back to Israel, as the war is winding down. The Lord will be waiting there to meet them.
“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 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 first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.” (Rev. 14:1-5)
7) The world begins the final battle, which the Spirit of prophecy calls “The Great Controversy.” The sixth seal, and its truth, now passes into the seventh seal and it’s truth. The 3 angels are joined by the fourth angel and the world gets it’s message of truth whereby those who accept it, are sealed and spared the plagues.
“I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven, descending to the earth, and again ascending to heaven, preparing for the fulfillment of some important event. Then I saw another mighty angel commissioned to descend to the earth, to unite his voice with the third angel, and give power and force to his message. Great power and glory were imparted to the angel, and as he descended, the earth was lightened with his glory. The light which attended this angel penetrated everywhere, as he cried mightily, with a strong voice, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”
The message of the fall of Babylon, as given by the second angel, is repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the churches since 1844. The work of this angel comes in at the right time to join in the last great work of the third angel’s message as it swells to a loud cry. And the people of God are thus prepared to stand in the hour of temptation, which they are soon to meet. I saw a great light resting upon them, and they united to fearlessly proclaim the third angel’s message.
Angels were sent to aid the mighty angel from heaven, and I heard voices which seemed to sound everywhere, “Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” This message seemed to be an addition to the third message, joining it as the midnight cry joined the second angel’s message in 1844. The glory of God rested upon the patient, waiting saints, and they fearlessly gave the last solemn warning, proclaiming the fall of Babylon and calling upon God’s people to come out of her that they might escape her fearful doom.”(Early Writings, p.277-278)
We underlined the part that shows another angel (message of truth) comes to join the 3 angels’ messages. This is the “judgment for the living”message, which is to go to the world after it has went to the SDA church.
In closing, let us choose to live rather than die in the upcoming church judgment. The Lord is pleading right now to all who will listen. What it takes is courage to stand up and be counted! Those who sit back and say “Yeah I think this message is correct, but I’ll stay quiet about it” may be horribly saddened when they find that they missed their chance to “speak up” and be counted.
Remember when Joshua and Caleb came with the much scorned positive report on the promised land? Do we not think that some in the vast crowd, silently admired their courage? Of course there were some, possibly many (over 20 years old). yet did they make it to the promise land? Absolutely not. They clamped up and hid like cowards, afraid to speak up in support for the two courageous souls. God want’s us to “speak”!
“I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”(Isaiah 62:6-7)
“Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet;Tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” (Isaiah 58:1)
Brethren, the Lord is giving us a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to be among the 144,000. We need not fear the upcoming “half hour silence”. Rather it will set free all those who have waited on the Lord and believe that He will do as His word says, amen.
“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.“(Psalms 27:14)
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