Archive for the ‘End times’ Category

The Short 100 years after the Millennium

July 18, 2015

short 100 years

Last week we mentioned that the subject of the short 100 years on earth, brought about by the 2nd resurrection of the wicked, was not largely understood. We’d like to delve into this fascinating study to give a more clear view.

First, we’d like to make a correction. Last week we mentioned that this understanding first came by way of the Spirit of Prophecy. However,  although the following comments were made in the “Signs of the Times” in 1893, we are not certain the answer given was from the prophetess. There were several early pioneers who addressed issues on the paper and this may have been someone other than EGW. The reason we feel this is the case is the very last comment “We present the suggestion for what it is worth.” This was not a statement that suggests the inspired prophetess would make.

752 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. Vol. 19, No. 47. OAKLAND, CAL., MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1893

“Will you please explain Isa. 65:20 and oblige? F. a. L.”

The text reads as follows: “There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be destroyed.” A suggested plausible explanation is as follows : The first part of the verse, to the first semicolon, refers to the new earth (see verse 17), and simply declares that there shall be no death in that state. The last part of the verse refers to the wicked which are raised from the dead (see Rev. 20:1-9), and remain upon the earth “a little season,” or one hundred years. During this time the wicked youth will grow up and the hardened sinner will abide, but at the end of that period sin and sinners are no more, while the people of the Lord endure forever. We present the suggestion for what it is worth.”

However, let us note that the Elijah prophet confirms this understanding , therefore it should be authoritative and restoring -truth. Let us read his comments.

“Isa. 65:17-19, speak of the new earth.  Isa. 65:20, is here quoted from the Hebrew translation by Isaac Lesser.  “There shall no more thence an infant of few days, nor an old man that shall not have the full length of his days; for as a lad shall one die a hundred years old; and as a sinner shall be accursed he who (dieth) at a hundred years old.”  It seems this translation makes the meaning of the verse just a little plainer than the King James’. 

The scripture speaks of the time at the end of the 1000 years (millennium) after the resurrection of the wicked.  At that time there will not be any births to infants.  “There shall no more thence an infant of days.” 

The lesson therefore is not so difficult for one to comprehend.  All the wicked are called forth in the second resurrection, whether old or young (at the time of death).  All come up at the same time.  This hour becomes the birth of all the wicked in the second life. 

There is to be no natural, or unnatural death, for all must live to the time of the second  death, which is by “fire come down from God out of heaven and devoured them.” Read Rev. 20:7-10.  “And as a sinner shall be accursed he who (dieth) at an hundred years old.”  This scripture predicts the span of life of the wicked after they are resurrected as being 100 years.  “For as a lad shall one die a hundred years old; and as a sinner shall be accursed he who (dieth) at a hundred years old.”  During this 100 year period, the wicked make preparation for their attack on the holy city.  Read Rev. 20:8, 9.” (SRod, vol. 1, p.164-165)

Here we see that God’s purpose is to raise the wicked (all those who ever lived who were unbelievers) to make what they will of the earth for 100 years. They shall ultimately find that their one united desire will be to overtake the glorious kingdom which sits upon the earth in all its majestic glory. Satan shall do his very last deception, complete with mankind’s great historic generals and leaders. In other words , God gives them all the resources and abilities they ever had to unload upon His people and their kingdom, yet we know Christ rises up just as they come to the apron of the city and they are then paralyzed and all bow down in the final acknowledgment of their creator. The world’s historic wisdom forgets Who sits upon the throne! Then fire comes down and destroys them all.

The final bowing of every knee is thus fulfilled —

“For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” (Romans 14:11)

Scripture explains this final short period after the millennium —

“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is  as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” (Rev. 20:7-9)

Our last prophetess beautifully explains this final scenario–

Now Satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for the supremacy. While deprived of his power and cut off from his work of deception, the prince of evil was miserable and dejected; but as the wicked dead are raised and he sees the vast multitudes upon his side, his hopes revive, and he determines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshal all the armies of the lost under his banner and through them endeavor to execute his plans.

The wicked are Satan’s captives. In rejecting Christ they have accepted the rule of the rebel leader. They are ready to receive his suggestions and to do his bidding. Yet, true to his early cunning, he does not acknowledge himself to be Satan. He claims to be the prince who is the rightful owner of the world and whose inheritance has been unlawfully wrested from him. He represents himself to his deluded subjects as a redeemer, assuring them that his power has brought them forth from their graves and that he is about to rescue them from the most cruel tyranny.

The presence of Christ having been removed, Satan works wonders to support his claims. He makes the weak strong and inspires all with his own spirit and energy. He proposes to lead them against the camp of the saints and to take possession of the City of God. With fiendish exultation he points to the unnumbered millions who have been raised from the dead and declares that as their leader he is well able to overthrow the city and regain his throne and his kingdom.

In that vast throng are multitudes of the long-lived race that existed before the Flood; men of lofty stature and giant intellect, who, yielding to the control of fallen angels, devoted all their skill and knowledge to the exaltation of themselves; men whose wonderful works of art led the world to idolize their genius, but whose cruelty and evil inventions, defiling the earth and defacing the image of God, caused Him to blot them from the face of His creation.

There are kings and generals who conquered nations, valiant men who never lost a battle, proud, ambitious warriors whose approach made kingdoms tremble. In death these experienced no change. As they come up from the grave, they resume the current of their thoughts just where it ceased. They are actuated by the same desire to conquer that ruled them when they fell.

Satan consults with his angels, and then with these kings and conquerors and mighty men. They look upon the strength and numbers on their side, and declare that the army within the city is small in comparison with theirs, and that it can be overcome. They lay their plans to take possession of the riches and glory of the New Jerusalem. All immediately begin to prepare for battle. Skillful artisans construct implements of war. Military leaders, famed for their success, marshal the throngs of warlike men into companies and divisions.

At last the order to advance is given, and the countless host moves on–an army such as was never summoned by earthly conquerors, such as the combined forces of all ages since war began on earth could never equal. Satan, the mightiest of warriors, leads the van, and his angels unite their forces for this final struggle. Kings and warriors are in his train, and the multitudes follow in vast companies, each under its appointed leader. With military precision the serried ranks advance over the earth’s broken and uneven surface to the City of God. By command of Jesus, the gates of the New Jerusalem are closed, and the armies of Satan surround the city and make ready for the onset.

Now Christ again appears to the view of His enemies. Far above the city, upon a foundation of burnished gold, is a throne, high and lifted up. Upon this throne sits the Son of God, and around Him are the subjects of His kingdom. The power and majesty of Christ no language can describe, no pen portray. The glory of the Eternal Father is enshrouding His Son. The brightness of His presence fills the City of God, and flows out beyond the gates, flooding the whole earth with its radiance.(GC p. 664-666)

I have often thought of this fitting end to this solemn and woeful last stance of the Godless of mankind. Upon the encroaching of the kingdom by the people and armies of the Satanic world, all those who fought God’s people in their prior life, either with disdain, distrust or evil actions, will look up upon the high walls of the kingdom city and notice the faces of those they fought against who stand safely and happy within God’s kingdom!

The Lord’s Elijah message gives us more understanding, and shows the case why Isaiah 65:20 is the short 100 year period for the wicked.

Isa. 65:17 — “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”

   Here we are brought down to the time the Lord finally renews the heaven and the earth.

Isa. 65:18, 19 — “But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.  And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.”

We are encouraged to rejoice because Jerusalem, as well as her people, are created for joy.

Isa. 65:20 — “There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.”

   Concerning the wicked in the earth made new, who come up in the second resurrection, the resurrection of the unjust (Rev. 20:5), there shall be neither birth nor death among them for one hundred years.  Thus the only children that shall be among them will be those who are raised from the dead.  Consequently both those who are old and those who are young will have lived a hundred years from the resurrection of the unjust to the second death.  Thus the child and the sinner, becoming a hundred years old in the earth made new, shall both succumb in the end of the century.  Then the righteous shall inhabit the whole earth.

Isa. 65:21, 22 — “And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.  They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”

   Again we see that the Hereafter is to be as real and as natural as was the Garden of Eden in the day it was created.  So the message of Elijah shall indeed restore all things — all that was lost through sin.

Isa. 65:23 — “They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.”

Much of our labor on this earth is done in vain, and many of our sons and daughters are also born in vain.  But in the earth made new, no one shall labor in vain, and nothing shall be brought forth for trouble.

Isa. 65:24 — “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”

   For the answers to some of our prayers we often wait long, and most of them are not answered as we want them to be.  But in the earth made new there shall be no delay and no disappointment.

Isa. 65:25 — “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat.  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith the Lord.”

   There shall be peace all around.  We shall not see men quarreling nor beasts fighting and eating one another.  There shall be real and perfect peace among them all.

   If we could only realize what God has prepared for them that love to study His Word and to walk in His ever-increasing Light, then we would make God’s business our chief interest; then we would no longer waste our energies striving for the material things of life.  They will be added unto us while we diligently labor for the upbuilding of His Kingdom, for He Himself says: “The workman is worthy of his hire.” (Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 44 , p.8-10)    

This small study of the 100 year period is quite thrilling to those of us who thank the Lord often that He sent His end time Elijah to “restore”(Matt 17:11)  and to “interpret” (TM, p.475) His Holy Word.  Oh, let us do all we can to avoid being in the second resurrection, as we see clearly that it will end horribly.

As we learned from last weeks chart study, we the SDA church, will be the first to be judged when the Lord’s judgments start among the living. Now is our time to do all to be within that glorious kingdom!

May God be your strength today, and you make the decision to forgo the sins of the world and come under the umbrella of His last message for His church–His Elijah message.

Timing of End Time Events

July 11, 2015

scan0003

( Click to enlarge)

As we get closer and closer to the revealing of the Lord’s final events, let us look at the above map and the events therein.

We as Seventh-day Adventists are well familiar with the 1844 date. This began our Lord’s coming to the heavenly Sanctuary to begin the judgment for the dead. All those who professed their belief in God began to be reviewed by the Judge. We are fast closing in on Christ’s last review of the dead.

Then there is a transfer of judgement–the dead to the living! As shown in our profile this is when the four winds are let loose, Ezekiel 9 church judgment commences and the 144,000 are united and sealed.

The Elijah message describes in detail this transfer of events–

“…since the distinctive truth of the Investigative Judgment in heaven is the Seventh-day Adventist doctrinal magnifying glass, let us use it on the subject of the separation.

That part of the Investigative Judgment of the living, by which is determined who are to have their sins blotted out and, as a result, be given eternal life, is paralleled on earth by the work of the angel with the “writer’s inkhorn,” who is charged to “mark” (seal) everyone who sighs and cries for all the abominations in Judah and Israel-the church.

And the work of the five others who follow on to slay all who have not the “mark” (seal), is paralleled in heaven by the blotting out of the sinners’ names from the Book of Life. (See Ezekiel 9 Testimonies to Ministers, p. 445; Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 211).

Thus we see that this dual prophetic work of separating the names of the sinners from the names of the righteous in the sanctuary, and separating the sinners from the righteous in the church, is the same as the work decreed in the parables: separating the tares from the wheat (Matt. 13:30); the bad fish from the good (Matt. 13:48); those who have not the wedding garment from those who have it (Matt. 22:1-13), those who have not improved their talents from those who have (Matt. 25:20-30).

As all these equivalent separations take place during the Investigative Judgment, before the wedding, the coronation, the reception of the kingdom (Dan. 7:9, 10, 13, 14), it is evident that the harvest and the Judgment are counterparts and that they take place before probation closes—when the Lord suddenly comes to His temple to “purify the sons of Levi.” Mal. 3:1-3.

And as the Judgment of the dead is followed by the Judgment of the living, so the Judgment of the church is followed by the Judgment of the world. And “if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17)—when the Great Judge sits upon the throne of His glory, when all the nations gather before Him, when as a shepherd He divides His sheep (Matt. 25:31-46).”

As we have posted many times before, the doubters of which are legion, in our SDA church, do not teach or discuss this very important transfer of Judgment. They are stuck on the judgment of the dead and do not generally have a clue about the judgment for the living. But Spirit of Prophecy shows a real “game changer” in the following Inspired reference.

“The sealing of the servants of God is the same that was shown Ezekiel in vision. John also had been a witness of this most startling revelation.” (TM, p.445)

Here we see that the 144,000 sealings are one and the same as Ezekiel 9. This being so we can then know that the 144,000 are sealed prior to the Sunday law. Here are two most important references that supports this timeline.

In Rev. 7 we find our evidence as to when the sealings/Ezek. 9 are done. It is before the winds are let loose. So what does the winds of Rev.7 represent?

The time is coming when we cannot sell at any price. The decree will soon go forth prohibiting men to buy or sell of any man save him that hath the mark of the beast. We came near having this realized in California a short time since; but this was only the threatening of the blowing of the four winds. As yet they are held by the four angels. We are not just ready. There is a work yet to be done, and then the angels will be bidden to let go, that the four winds may blow upon the earth. That will be a decisive time for God’s children, a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. Now is our opportunity to work.”

So the winds represent the Sunday law.Hence the sealing/Ezek. 9 take place before the Sunday law. The next reference backs this up as well.

“Just before we entered it (time of trouble) we all received the seal of the living God. Then I saw the 4 angels lease to hold the 4 winds.” (7 BC, p.968)

Although Ellen White was speaking in the terms of “we”, which would appear to say she was one of them, we know as Bible students that she was foreseeing into the future. Much like a reporter living vicariously through their report. We know as present truth believers that our beloved prophetess is sleeping peacefully in the grave but will soon join the servants of God in the final work upon the world.

“Your work, my work, will not cease with this life. For a little while we may rest in the grave, but, when the call comes, we shall, in the kingdom of God, take up our work once more.” (Testimonies, vol. 7, p.17)

Let us now look at the middle of the chart, the most intense part. Once the “great and dreadful day of the Lord” commences, we see many simultaneous events occur.This is the time of gigantic unparalleled happenings worldwide. Words really fail to speak of these colliding of events. The world will be completely changed.

And these all happen rapidly. “The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.” (Testimonies, vol. 9, p.11)

The Loud Cry, the false Satanic kingdom, the Lord’s Israel kingdom, the miracles, the gathering of the great multitude, the Sunday law, all this and more happens within a few short years!

The world will have witnessed the dreadful end of probation for the SDA church. Amazingly, because of this, there will be two dividing camps in the world. Those that believe the testimony of the 144,000 as God true servants and those who are skeptical and allow themselves to be fooled by Satan’s counter plan.

Let us remember that as they say “hindsight is 20/20” and applies to those who do not know the future, but the Davidians SDA will be proven correct concerning end time events and as such, with the spreading of the prophetic events, videos, blogs, reports, all made prior to the events, this will solidify many truth seekers as to who is truly with God. These will be known as foresight 20/20 people. These 144,000 servants go to work bringing in the final “great multitude”(Rev. 7:9) from around the world. The Lord’s headquarters–Israel, will be the safe haven for all believers.

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”(Isaiah 2:2-3)

Just as the SDA were the first to receive the final warning from a God who is exceedingly angry and fed up with sin, due to the continual abominations through out His church, so too will the world be warned by the 144,000 and should they reject the warning, the final wrath of God is poured out by the 7 last plagues.

So we see that God’s servants have warned two groups, the SDA and the world. Two fateful eternal decisions are made–Eternity or non-existence.

The plagues come upon all those who have rejected Christ, through the message of His servants, and then that glorious “second coming” appears to all the faithful –praise the Lord!

As the chart shows, there will be 1000 years in the heavenly kingdom, at which time the saints will have the privilege of reviewing God’s righteous judgments passed upon all  whomever they will review. The end of this time will be the Lord’s kingdom descending down upon a people who are the raised wicked who were given 100 short years to witness the futility of a world without God.

This short 100 years is briefly mentioned in Isaiah–

“There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.” (Isaiah 65:20)

The short 100 years is generally not well know among us, and we hope to have a post on it soon. The understanding of this originally came from the Spirit of Prophecy.

In closing,  when we carefully study the Bible, Spirit of Prophecy and the Elijah message, we see that the shown chart outline is truly the timing of end time events. Let us determine to be part of this glorious end time world. Yes there will be a two-fold division, but those who make preparations now, and keep their garments clean and walk daily in His Commandments and sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done in their life and in the church–will witness it all!

The 666 Man

May 30, 2015

pope-francis-600  maitreya4  obama

A few weeks ago we did a post entitled, “666 and the Two-Horned Beast”.  In it we explored the two prophetic entities. But this week we’d like to focus in  more on who this 666 man may be. Obviously we are not prophets, and as such we can only give our opinions based on understanding Scripture, SOP and the Elijah message. Also knowing the events taking place in the world right now kind of sheds light on certain aspects of prophecy.

The Lord, as He often does, starts a seed of thought on a subject, and we “sup” and it leads to thoughts and ideas that germinate into a post. I would like to present some thoughts on this prophetic man, and narrow down our understanding to bring into focus a clearer view of real possibilities based on the Inspired writings.

As our three pictures show, there appears to be basically three leading candidates that could soon remove all doubt that one of them represents the prophesied “666” man.  They are 1) Pope Francis 2) The Maitreya  3) The president of the United states — Barrack H. Obama

Brief descriptions 

1)  Pope Francis–   Almost everyone around the planet knows about the Pope. To summarize , he is the first Jesuit Pope ever to hold the position of the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Well liked and admired for his apparent “humility”. This Pope has been a “one man PR machine”! His popularity in the world ranks right there with  the greatly popular and deceased Pope John Paul II.

A recent NBC article stated–

“Pope Francis is more popular than ever in the U.S., with 95 percent of Catholics who go to church every week — and even two-thirds of those with no religion — giving him high marks. The Pew Research Center says that two years after Francis was named the leader of the world’s 1 billion Roman Catholics, his popularity has eclipsed any numbers his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, ever posted and puts him on par with Pope John Paul II in the 1980s and 1990s.”(NBC online, March 6, 2015)

2)  The Maitreya–   He is less well-known. He is sort of the mysterious  religious man, who is thought by many of assorted faiths, to be the future “Christ” who is now living on this planet. Some think that a man named Benjamin Creme,  a Masonic leader and a sort of John the Baptist type to the followers of Maitreya, has authentically proclaimed that he is now publicly speaking around the world. There is a view that a  man named –Raj Patel, an Indian ancestry  appearing man, who is world renown for his “food for everyone” message,  is the Maitreya.

According to the followers, and some are well-known men and women, being world movers and shakers as well, this man will soon usher in a world peace movement. CNN even had commercials about him https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfGEp2TErrw
There have been claims he has appeared unannounced in certain parts of the world, preparing people for his soon world-wide appearance. In one case,  some claimed he has disappeared in their view. For more information you can go to YouTube and see a diverse selection of reports on him.

3) Barrack H. Obama —   Love him or hate him, this president has been quite a polarizing figure. There is no doubt he has taken steps to “fundamentally  change America”, as he promised before being elected. For the good? That is debatable, depending on your liberal or conservative stance. One thing we know, he is also strangely mysterious just as the Maitreya is.  No one seems to knows his true background, his college record, etc. All this info has been “locked up”.

So there are some brief descriptions of our candidates. I’m sure there are other candidates, but in the grand scheme of things, these appear to be the three leading ones.

But thank God we have a road map! And that is–Scripture, Spirit of prophecy, and the Elijah message. These writings hold the keys for us, that should provide a clear view which one of our candidates is the clear leading candidate for the 666 title.

To begin with let’s review what Rev.13:1-18 says in context. As we do this,  we see that verses 1 to 10 describe the “Leopard” like beast (LLB). Then we notice that verses 11 to 18 describes the “Two-Horned Beast” (THB). Chapter 13 is broken down into two descriptions of two beasts. Because the second part of Chap. 13 involves the 666 man, let’s review it again.

Verses 11-18

“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Here we clearly see that the 666 man is connected with the second beast, the THB. In further support of this, we know that Scripture always connects the LLB with the wound as seen in Rev. 13:3, 13:12, 13:14.  Therefore, the verse 13:18 saying only “the beast” indicates it’s not the LLB, but rather the THB in the context of verses 11-18.

SOP also puts the 666 man with the THB.

“..the last oppressive power has not ‘come to his end’; and Michael has not stood up. This last power that treads down the saints is brought to view in Rev. 13:11-18. His number is 666..” (Word to the Little Flock, p.8-9)

“I saw that the number (666) of the Image Beast (the two-horned beast) was made up; and that it was the beast (leopard-like) that changed the Sabbath, and the image Beast had followed on after, and kept the Pope’s and not God’s Sabbath.” (Ibid, p.12)

Now that we see that the 666 man is connected with the THB , what then is the Two Horned Beast? We as SDA know well that it can only represent the United States of America. Without going into much detail, suffice to say that the great nation that was “coming up out of the earth” can only mean the USA.

“But the beast with lamblike horns was seen “coming up out of the earth.” Instead of overthrowing other powers to establish itself, the nation thus represented must arise in territory previously unoccupied and grow up gradually and peacefully. It could not, then, arise among the crowded and struggling nationalities of the Old World—that turbulent sea of “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” It must be sought in the Western Continent.

What nation of the New World was in 1798 rising into power, giving promise of strength and greatness, and attracting the attention of the world? The application of the symbol admits of no question. One nation, and only one, meets the specifications of this prophecy; it points unmistakably to the United States of America.” (The Great Controversy, p.440)

So this means that the 666 candidate cannot be the Pope. He is not connected to the USA but rather to the LLB.  The Pope does and will have an important role to play in final events but it appears he will be more of a cheerleader for the Sunday law and not as ruling king or authorial dictator.

Right now we see him as a world spokesman, highly regarded for his views, yet apparently,  he divinely knows that he must be active now for his time will be short.

Marco Politi, a Vatican expert, said in a recent article–

“This Pope (Francis) seems to be in a hurry to get as much done as he can, as if he’s got a deadline..He keeps talking about how his time is short.” (The Daily Beast, March 29, 2015)

So that leaves us with the two remaining candidates. By the same logical reasons, we must, therefore, eliminate the Maitreya. He is not connected with the USA as well. However it may be noted that he certainly may qualify for the “false Prophet” or the “false Christ”.

So we can now say with clarity that the 666 likely candidate can logically be– Barrack Hussein Obama!

Right now we see the announcing of many candidates for the US presidency. TV coverage is widespread and almost daily news reports come out on what they are promising for the USA and the world. However, Scripture predicts the awful final world war over Israel, as we have posted before. So what  is likely to transpire?

Barrack Obama, may stay on past the two term deadline. If the war breaks out and the USA gets involved,  an emergency declaration will be called and then, we as present truth believers know, the 144,000 come on the scene. The world dramatically changes, the great controversy begins! Christ’s servants against Satan’s servants. And who will be at head of the USA? The 666 man, the man representing the THB.

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Rev. 13:16-17).

 

In explaining more on the THB and the 666 man, the Elijah messages states–

“Having only two horns, not ten, the beast therefore  depicts a local, not a universal, government.  Nevertheless, he will influence all Christendom  to “make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live”; that is, he will engineer a world-wide governmental setup, re-enthroning the principles of the church-state rule of Ecclesiastical Rome. 

Being the restorer of these principles, he, along with the prophet, will become the world’s chief dictator, and shape not only the political and the religious policies of the governments, but also the world’s commerce.  He shall decree “that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Rev. 13:17.

 

   This beast represents a man who stands at the head of a nation, and whose influence goes far and wide among the kings of the earth. He is further identified by a number — the mystical  number “six hundred threescore and six.” Rev. 13:18.

   The prevailing belief that the number “666” is the numerical identification of some other power, is the spawn of the Prince of Darkness, and is calculated to conceal if possible the identification of this two-horn power.  Inspiration puts the number on the two-horn beast, and there we must leave it.  When the number is finally made up, the servants of God will be able to  convince all the “wise” as to just whom the beast symbolizes. 

We now see, though, that no one who studies the Word of God, need be deceived when this power does appear on the stage of  action.  Yet notwithstanding God’s warning against giving allegiance to the beast, the world fails to give heed, with the result that even after his number is made up, “he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their  foreheads.” Rev. 13 :16.

 

   The passage, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,” denotes that all who, after hearing the truth, continue to pay homage, either religiously or secularly,  to the image, “shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation.” Rev. 14:9, 10. (Tract 12, p.26-28)

The beast we are told is a man (Rev. 13:18).  The demand to worship, obey the beast’s command, therefore, is a demand to worship (obey) man in place of God.  Both marks are for no other purpose but to define who is who — who is for God and who is for the beast.  Those who obey God’s Judgment message rather than the beast’s decree, receive God’s mark.  And those who obey the beast’s decree rather than God’s message receive the beast’s mark.  These two different marks, you see, separate the worshipers of God from the worshipers of men.(Jezreel Letter, no.2, p.11-12)

 In Summary

We are soon, very soon, to experience dramatic changes in the world as we know it. Based on the signs given by the Lord, both Scripture being fulfilled and direct outward signs (ie. 4 Blood moons, dead animals around the world, etc.) the great last world war will break out shortly. Israel is paranoid of Iran, and may make a first strike which will draw Russia in, which will snowball the USA and other countries in  as well.

Our current president is strangely gifted at speaking and as such his influence may soon be catapulted around the globe, when the world war comes painfully to a close. Desolation and world-wide shock will set in because the great and vast protestant world has falsely taught that God will “protect Israel” and her enemies will be defeated. But they have been confused (rightly so as part of Babylon), they have mistakenly taught that the current people over in Israel, the current Jews  (not the Israel that God speaks of in the Scriptures concerning the last days), are to receive the covenant  promises of the Lord.

The land will be basically wiped out and desolate, there will appear a great need to “understand it all” , and as such religion will take the world’s center stage. During or at the close of this war, the SDA church judgment happens and the 144,000 are revealed (See Tract 14, p.22). Shortly after this they take up  their journey to the promised land (Israel). The land becomes miraculously beautiful again and much rejoicing occurs in the land (see Isaiah  2:1-4 and 11:1-10)

This fulfills Scripture –

“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, 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.” (Rev. 14:1-3)

God’s ” full spirit”  is then poured out among them and healings and miracles of all kinds are witnessed by the world. They begin to bring the honest of heart out of Babylon.

Satan then begins his counter plans and attacks. The 666 man, being without God, is directly influenced by Satan and has powers that work together with the false prophet. The Pope is instrumental in advising the need for a Sunday Law, and because of the great works done by the 144,000, Satan convinces the masses of unbelievers, through the 666 man, the false prophet, and the Pope, to solidify a united religious law. Satan is granted power to do, through the false prophet, counterfeit miracles “in the sight of the beast.”

The world will soon be at a crossroads–God’s way (seal) and obeying His Commandments, or Satan’s way (mark) and obeying mankind through his puppets, specifically his 666 man, the false prophet and the Pope. Time will tell all the exact details.

“Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. 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.”(Joel 3:9-13)

 “Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.” (Zech. 14:1-4)

 

Signs Speaking Loud and Clear

March 28, 2015

china river-red

(China’s Yantzee River turns Red-Sept. 7, 2012)

God has always faithfully warned His people prior to making an earth shaking move. The Spirit of prophecy explains–

“God does not send judgments upon His people without first warning them to repent. He uses every means to bring them back to obedience and does not visit their iniquity with judgments until He has given them ample opportunity to repent.” (Testimonies, vol. 4, p.179).

What you are about to read should awake every truth seeker to the fact that something is up, something is ready to happen. We have no time to be whistling Dixie as the storm is approaching, even “at the door”.

There are many clues piling up now, all pointing to the nearness of the “great and dreadful day of the Lord.” Let us start with our first clue.

1)World unrest–  The world is cracking up! Be-headings shown on mass media. Wars and battles and rumors of war. Crime gone a muck. The middle east is a powder keg ready to explode. Israel’s enemies are closing in. Iran is going forward, somewhat unmolested, in developing it’s bomb. The UN is aligning with the Palestinians and declaring Israel as possibly doing illegal land grabs and unjustified killings. Israel is getting it’s back pushed to the wall. Will she make a serious blunder shortly?

Just recently the president of Syria said,  “I can say with complete confidence that we welcome any widening of the Russian presence in the eastern Mediterranean and on Syrian coasts and ports,” including the port of Tartus, Assad said. “For us, the larger this presence in our neighborhood, the better it is for stability in this region,” he told journalists.” (WesternJournalism.com)

The West’s big boys (USA,England,Germany, France) are taking sides with Israel and the East big boys (Russian and China) are siding with Syria and Iran. The battle lines are being drawn, the pieces are rapidly falling into place. The Great I AM is orchestrating the final world war conflict.

We as present truth believers know all too well the Scripture–

“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.”(Zeph. 2:1-3)

The Jewish state is now “gathered together” and appears ready to take a mis-step into the “anger of the Lord.” This is very important to know. Let us look at this powerful statement from the Elijah message–

“..while the powers of earth are engulfed in a gigantic war, the wicked in the church shall be cut off, no more to pass through her.” (Tract 14, p.22)

The war starts and during it the mighty “great and dreadful day of the Lord” appears. The church experiences the “first stroke of God” (Testimonies for the Church, vol.5, p.211).

2)The Blood Moon Tetrad.  One blood moon is rare. When you add FOUR of them and put them on Biblical holy days, back to back to back to back, well let’s just say this is a sign from God, no doubt about it!  This is how our Savior works.

“The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.”(Joel 2:31)

The date of the last blood moon is Sept. 28, 2015

This is a warning my brethren! Make no mistake about it.

3)The Summary Chart. We did a post on this. When we see that the final last section of time (now) cannot be longer than any other section as shown in the chart, we know that time is just about up. Please see our post herehttps://hearyetherod.wordpress.com/2014/03/16/the-chart-a-summary-chart-of-types-part-1-of-2/    (Note: This chart is primarily for the more advanced Elijah message students)

4) Seven Billion people now in the world. Recently the world just crossed the 7 billion mark. We as present truth believers all know that the number–7, is a complete number. In terms of billions, it is now complete. Although it has now passed this mark slightly, due to God’s mercy, the world appears to have all its suppose to have.

5) Mass distribution of the message. The Elijah message has now become available to nearly all SDA people around the world. Internet,  smart phones and tablets have made the message within nearly all SDA members worldwide, as the Lord does not bring judgment until all have been sufficiently warned, we can see that very shortly there will be no more excuses.

The message is available like never before. Proclamation is ever-widening, take Wikipedia article on the DSDA for example. Each month there is about 1200 plus views and these people are spreading the word on His Truth. Blog sites are well read, YouTube videos are getting many worldwide views. Facebook has many active Elijah message sites going. Present Truth packages are being sent out all through out the month worldwide. Study groups are forming, particularly in the poorer countries, eagerly studying the message.

“And just as soon as this message reaches every church member, just that soon will the purification take place.” (Timely Greetings, vol.1, no.12, p.26)

6) The circle will soon be complete.  On July 2nd, 2015, the SDA General Conference Session will be held near the same area of the world that the headquarters of the Elijah message started– near Mt. Carmel in Waco, Texas! Only 180 miles away! Conveniently enabling the DSDA people to converge on the session and distribute His final warning to His church via DVD’s CD”s Tracts, and other literature. Oh, what circuitous divine perfection and pleading!

7) SDA church is filled to the brink with abominations. All one has to do is see that His beloved church has sunk so low that the sickle is about to be put in. Abortions, gay SDA churches, Rock and Rap music in the sanctuary, dress reform a thing of the past. Health reform ignored. SDA churches being rented out to Sunday keepers on Sunday. Sunday pastors encouraged to come and speak in God’s house. The sanctuary defiled with “Foreigners” now practicing their Sunday worship in God’s house.We did a post on this very abomination, called “Backs to the Temple.”https://godsloveandlaw.com/2013/08/17/backs-toward-the-temple/

8) Blood red rivers, beaches and lakes. For the last 4 years, rivers beaches and lakes,  have mysteriously turned blood red, just as the moon is currently doing during the Blood Moon Tetrad. Here are some of the larger locations: Yantzee River in China( Sept. 7, 2012), River in Netherlands (Nov. 1, 2013), Beach in Sydney Australia (Nov.27, 2012), The Azoz Sea in Russia (July 25, 2012), Lake in Southern France (Aug.9, 2012).

“And I will show wonders in the heavens and the earth.. before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” (Joel 2:30-31)

Anciently this sign of the water turning red (blood or blood like) was performed with the Israelites  right before they were to be delivered from their Egyptian bondage (Exodus 4:9). Could this sign serve again to warn us that God is  about to move upon His people, to deliver them?

9) Birds and fish being “taken away”. In Hosea 4:1-3 God gives His remnant people, the SDA church “children of Israel” a heads up warning of a direct sign that  the end is near. We read a striking prediction of the last days utter disgust of God and His pin point description of mankind’s shameful and sinful ways.

“Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.”

The following  pictures shows fish being “taken away” recently in mass numbers. God’s word above in fulfillment.

Fish die off  Dead birds

Look at this partial list of dead birds and fish reports:

Jan. 1, 2011: 5000 blackbird fall from sky dead Beebe, Arkansas

Jan. 3, 2011: 2 million dead fish wash up in Chesapeake bay

Jan. 7, 2011: 8000 doves fall from sky dead in Italy

Feb. 16, 2011: Estimated 5 million fish wash up shore dead in Kenya

March 8, 2011: Millions of fish found dead in King Harbor Marina in Calif.

Jan. 2, 2012: 20 tons of dead fish wash ashore in Norway

Nov. 12, 2012: Massive dead sea gulls turn up in beaches in Morocco

Dec.31, 2012: Thousands of dead herring wash ashore in Iceland

April 8, 2013: Thousands of birds wash up dead in England

Jan.26, 2014: Report of 10 million scallop[s wash up dead in waters near Vancouver, Canada

June 26, 2014: Thousands of dead sea birds found along coast of Peru

Some say there were more than 2000 more reports of these strange deaths around the world in the last 4 years!

The big question is–are we as God’s remnant people ready? Are we doing the work that the Lord would have us do? Are we proclaiming the “great and dreadful day of the Lord” as faithful Elijah messengers?

ADDITIONAL NOTE: The Latino Fox News outlet reported just recently – “Precisely this Friday, in an interview on Mexico’s Televisa television, the first Latin American pope made a surprising statement in acknowledging that “I have a feeling my pontificate will be brief. Four or five years, I don’t know.” (March 14, 2105)  Does he instinctively know something will cut short his reign? Yes, something will, it’s God’s army, the 144,000 , that is who.

So there we have it. The clues stack up to one clear unmistake conclusion– the time is ripe for harvest.

“And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in Thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.”(Rev. 14:14-16)

” Do not sit down in Satan’s easy chair of do-little, but arise, and aim at the elevated standard which it is your privilege to attain. It is a blessed privilege to give up all for Christ. Look not at the lives of others and imitate them and rise no higher. You have only one true, unerring Pattern. It is safe to follow Jesus only. Determine that if others act on the principle of the spiritual sluggard you will leave them and march forward toward the elevation of Christian character. Form a character for heaven. Sleep not at your post. Deal faithfully and truly with your own soul.”(Testimonies, vol.1, p.241)

“The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor.” (Testimonies, vol. 5, p.80)

God loves His remnant church SO MUCH He is giving us sign after sign, are we paying attention? Make no mistake these signs are for His people, they show He is about to “suddenly come to His temple” (Mal.3:1) and purge His floor.

Let’s have our garments clean and be ready!

“The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis.Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.” (Testimonies, vol.9, p.11).  

The Church and the Dragon

March 21, 2015

The church and the dragon

(One of the original drawings depicting Rev.12 by brother Houteff)

(Note: we did a prior post called “The Woman and the Dragon” but that dealt with all of Revelation 12. Here we shall concentrate on the part that prophetically shows God’s SDA church becoming victorious by His taking the reins into His own hands(TM, p.300)

Have you ever been a part of a club, or maybe even a class, where there were troublemakers? All they wanted to do was to disrupt, cause trouble, destroy the purpose of the gatherings however subtly ? Sadly this condition is prevalent within our SDA church today. It is overrun with tares. The unconverted vastly out number the converted. What I mean is those who obey all the light given to them via Scripture, SOP and the Elijah message are very few. What will God do about this?  Let us look at Revelation Chapter 12 and see.

One of the most fascinating Biblical interpretations given us by the Lord’s last messenger, is the prophetic message of Revelation 12. We as Adventists like to pride ourselves as having much light on Scripture and particularly–Revelation. But those of us who search further and are not satisfied with our level of spiritual knowledge and attainment can receive a great blessing once we know the Revelation 12 story of our ultimate victory–God’s remnant church defeating Satan and his centuries old practice of infiltrating God’s church with the unconverted–ie. tares.

Let us look at God’s lesson and hope for us as written in Revelation 12, particularly 12:15-17

“And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev. 12:15-17)

Before we can correctly understand this prophecy, we must understand the symbols employed here. Many of us are familiar with God’s pin point and exact designs in nature. For instance the flower. When we pick one and closely examine it, we find a perfect symmetry of designs. The lines all flow in a direction, the flower is color coded, etc.

How much more will He be EXACT and measured in His word? Does He not place each word carefully? Will He not have meaning and purpose for us in each of His words? Each and every word means something and we must not skip over them as if they are not relevant. Only when we approach God’s word as such will we comprehend the true and correct meaning of His powerful word. Now, let us look at the purposeful and prophetic word spoken above.

1) The serpent represents Satan (Rev. 12:9)

2) The woman represents God’s church (Rev. 12:5,6,17: GC p.381,7 BC, p.972)

3) The dragon casts a flood of water after the woman hoping thereby to cause her to be carried away of the flood.

4) Water represents people (Rev. 17:15). Naturally a “flood” would represent a large amount of people.

5) Since the dragon causes these people (flood) to infiltrate the church, they must reflect his character and attributes. Such as non-converted, allowing sins to be fostered in the church, etc.

6) The SOP describes a “worldly flood” coming into the church (GC, p.385)

7) Obviously the dragon’s chief objective in flooding the church with the unconverted (tares)  to cause the church to be “carried away” by the flood, to secure her downfall.

“While the Lord brings into the church those who are truly converted, Satan at the same time brings persons who are not converted into its fellowship. While Christ is sowing the good seed, Satan is sowing the tares. There are two opposing influences continually exerted on the members of the church. One influence is working for the purification of the church, and the other for the corrupting of the people of God ((TM, p.46)

8) The earth helps the woman by “opening” her mouth and swallowing up the flood. A miraculous event happens that causes the “flood” to disappear.The church is helped. This same type of event was shown us as a perfect example of the Lord “helping” His people in the days of Moses.

In Numbers 16:28-32, we read–

Verse 28– “And Moses said: ‘By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. If these men die naturally like all men , or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me.

But if the Lord creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.”

Now it came to pass , as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods.” (Verse 28-32)

There can be no doubt that this perfect prior example of the Lord’s direct cleansing of His people by opening the earth’s mouth, was meant for His future word in Revelation 12:16.

9) After, and let us keep this time schedule firmly in mind- after, this swallowing (helping of God’s church) the dragon is angry. The church being relieved of Satan’s tares, makes him furious. He then goes forth to “make war” with the remnant of her seed .Let us keep in mind that Satan has mixed the church with his tares since the early days after Pentecost. Now for the first time since then he is powerless to infiltrate God’s pure church. He is furious and knows this prophetic time clock event has shown him his days are extremely short!

10) This warring by Satan brings on the “time of trouble such as never was”(Dan 12:1).

So we see that this perfect example of the earth opening her mouth indicates a cleansing. The false brethren, those who would not listen to God’s appointed spokesmen were eliminated from God’s people.

Recently I have seen two examples of sincere meaning Christians, where even unbeknownst to themselves,  are taking the adversaries side in going directly against God’s revealed word as said through Scripture, SOP and the Elijah message.

Why I would like to bring this up is that if we are not careful, we too shall be swallowed up by the earth just as Korah and his followers were. Remember that Korah and his men had declared that they were being directly guided by God just like Moses was. In other words God really did not need to send a prophet because these deceived men thought that they stood highly exalted in God’s eyes and basically showed severe doubt that God knew what He was doing!

Both of the two examples I have seen recently are based on this same premise!  “So what if God said to do this or that, I know He is guiding me” — huh?? This is really a sinister deception. Korah and his followers basically did the same thing, and threw out what God said through His prophet Moses. The sad example of self-exaltation has not changed through time. God is right through His word–not us through what we think!

This is the lesson God is trying to give us in Rev.12. Satan has for centuries be able to cast a “flood” (unconverted) into the woman (church) BUT God decides to “take the reins into His own hands”(TM, p.300) and does a cleansing and it “helps the woman”. This is the prophesied Ezekiel 9 church judgment.

Yes, the earth swallowing is symbolic in Rev. 12, but it should not be mis-construed for what it stands for– a church cleansing.

A pure church cannot be flooded any longer. The prophesied “time of trouble as never was” begins–the Great controversy! Satan and his human agents war against God and His servants–what a gigantic end time struggle! The victory is Gods–praise the Lord!

The Lord’s Rod teaches us that Revelation is not only a history book but a prophetic future event guideline. There is hope for His church today. We look around and see –NO dress reform, NO health reform, NO worship reform, NO Tithe reform, and on and on. Yet, Revelation 12:15-17 gives us great hope!   “But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon spewed out of his mouth.”(Rev. 12:16)

After God’s direct hand gets involved, the Spirit of Prophecy and Scripture  tells us–

“Clad in the armor of Christ’s righteousness, the church is to enter upon her final conflict. “Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” (Song of Solomon 6:10), she is to go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer.”(Prophets and Kings, p.725)

“In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”(Isaiah 25:9)

“Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.” (Isaiah 52:1)

Hallelujah!

(Printable Rev. 12 Study Outline — http://www.shepherds-rod-message.org/outlines/rev_12.pdf )

World War III is at the Door

March 7, 2015

Hydrogen bomb

This week we saw Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu come before the United States Congress and give a most dire warning. Yes, he warned that unless strong action is taken now on Iran, there are serious chances that war may soon break out. Oh  how right he is. You see the Lord has His plan all set. Sadly, His word says a gigantic war is soon to appear over Israel. Let us look at this eminent event to come.

“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.

For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.

And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity” (Zephaniah 2: 1-7).

This war is an important landmark of the church purification. The Elijah message says —

…while the powers of earth are engulfed in a gigantic war, the wicked in the church shall be cut off, no more to pass through her.” (Tract 14, p.22)

So once this war begins it is during it that we shall experience the solemn church judgment. But let us look at what the great Satan tricks are in this area.

Recently during my work schedule , driving in my truck, I was listening to a protestant Christian radio station. They were discussing how Israel is “God’s timepiece.”  The great majority of “Christians” , protestant mostly, believe that all the Biblical prophecies concerning Israel are to be fulfilled to the current Jews of today–the two tribes of Judah.

So they interpret Isaiah , Ezekiel, Jeremiah, etc. to be applicable to the literal Jews today who live in Israel today. They envision a great “re-awaking”  among the Jews and God will magically save them despite their unbelief! Wow, not if that is not pulling rabbits out of hats I don’t know what is.

Let us look at brother Houteff and what is revealed in this area. Describing the above quoted Zephaniah.

The fourth verse definitely implies that the “nation” is to gather together in the cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron, in the land of the Philistines, in the land of Canaan — in Palestine.

   In view of the fact that this scripture is now being unfolded, and also the fact that there is but one people, one nation (the descendants of the ancient scribes, priests, and Pharisees who rejected the Lord and who have not even to this day accepted Him, that are hardly desired anywhere in the world) that is now doing all she can to gather together in Palestine — in view of all this, the present-day Jews are that undesired nation.  Upon her, therefore, the Lord’s anger is to fall if she continues to deny Christ.  Yes, the universally hated Jew is the only nation that has been scattered throughout the Gentile world, and is the only one that is now gathering together in Palestine.

Moreover, in these verses, two truths stand out clearly: (1) that in vain the Jews seek to establish themselves in the Promised Land; (2) that we who are bearing the message of the great and dreadful day of the Lord are counselled to seek meekness and righteousness, for thus only shall we “be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger,” that is, merely bear knowledge of the message will not save us, there should be corresponding deeds with it.

So what happens after this gigantic war? Let us read.

“And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities have become fenced, and are inhabited.Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places,and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.” (Ezek. 36:35-36)

So we see that there is going to be this last war and it is the Lord’s purpose to drive out the unbelievers and replace them with His remnant, those who believe and obey. When we see the leaders of Israel today say that they are going to defend “their” land, we know that they are not the ones to decide.

This is  the prophesied word of a pre-millennial kingdom  to be shortly set up over the promised land. God’s word cannot return void.

“For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.” (Jeremiah 30:3)

Has this word ever happened? Of course not. But it soon will, are we ready? Do we really want to be a part of this “first phase” of His kingdom? The Elijah message says we must be lest we fail due to our unbelief just like the Exodus Jews failed to make the kingdom due to their unbelief.

The land of Israel is to be the headquarters for the final proclamation of the Gospel. Lets be willing and ready. The world war will serve a God-given purpose. His final pleading message to the world to ‘come out of Babylon” must have a home base, a headquarters. And that land shall be Israel.

“The servants of God” shall certainly gather all their brethren out of all nations (Isa. 66:20).  Indeed so, for the legs of the Gospel are the legs of the people who proclaim it.  Of course, only with perfect co-ordination and a bullet-proof army can the gospel work be finished when the two-horned beast declares “that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” Rev. 13:15.( Timely Greetings, vol. 2, no.8, p.20)

To the World or to the Church?

January 10, 2015

3 Angels messages

One of the hardest things I had to come to grips with, yet clearly saw after I studied the Lord’s Elijah message was–  not to go to the world right now with His gospel message. I know that those, who like me at one time, who do not know the Lord’s final plans for His remnant church, would feel as if not going to the world right now with His gospel plan would be truly foreign and almost heretical.

Yet, this is what we are told to do in His Elijah message! If we take the time to understand this, we see by God’s grace the wisdom and great love from our King , in these instructions. Let us look deeply into this subject.

First, as an example of where our church is at and what her motivations and goals are, let us look at a recent memo from James W. Gilley, 3ABN President. In their monthly magazine, he wrote the following-

“In all my years of ministry, I haven’t found a more effective, efficient, and powerful ministry than 3 ABN. Think about it–there’s not another ministry in the world with the impact and coverage that 3 ABN has when it comes to spreading the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14. Virtually every television and radio ministry of the Remnant Church uses 3 ABN as its primary carrier of Present Truth!

“Our work is to make sure that we’re listening to the Holy Spirit and are in full cooperation with Him, so we can be His tool for spreading these messages to a world that’s truly messed up with sin. Thank you for standing with us with the courage and determination to finish the task our Lord has given us.

“The Gospel to the World!” if not by television, radio, Internet , and media, then how? If not now when? Keep on keeping On with Jesus,”  —James W. Gilley, 3 ABN President (January 2015 magazine)

Unbeknownst to our friend, Mr. Gilley , those points and questions he makes are truly answered by the last message to His church. Unfortunately , 3 ABN, and almost every other mainstream outlet for our church has– ignored and/or rejected the only message that contains our “Present Truth.”

But this is all understandable, however unfortunate, due to the fact that Satan and his minions know all too well Scripture, and they know that the Lord’s Elijah message, if obeyed, hastens their demise! As soon as the 144,000th one is found  upon acceptance of His sealing message, their final time clock begins and it’s extremely short. Do we not think that Satan memorizes ALL Scripture and knows about the last prophet to come to the remnant church and his message(Mal. 4:5-6)? He hasn’t sit still whistling Dixie, rather went to work full time to trash and disrupt the Elijah message.

Ok, let us look at a direct question asked of brother Houteff concerning our subject–

WORK WITHIN OR WITHOUT?

Question No. 32:

On the one hand I find your literature teaching its believers not to leave the ranks of the Mother church, while on the other hand I find it causing no end of trouble to the church. How do you reconcile your precept with your example? Why not devote your time to evangelistic efforts, bringing erring souls to the knowledge of the Truth, and let the church alone?

Answer:

Assuredly we do believe that this is no time to be pulling apart, but indeed to be pressing together. And the message which we are bearing to the church, not only does not contain any doctrine or teaching which would warrant our leaving her ranks to become a separate cult, but does on the contrary absolutely forbid our doing so. For these reasons, we have from the beginning steadfastly refused, even in the face of abusive treatment, to leave the Mother church.

So far as we are concerned, therefore, existing controversy and schism is the responsibility of the Denomination’s leading brethren and none of ours, for we are only carrying out the Lord’s express precept and example never to sacrifice Truth. And they themselves admit that we should obey God rather than men. Upon them, therefore, rests the heavy guilt of repeating the tragic folly of the Jews in Christ’s time, by rejecting the message of the hour, “entering not in themselves” into the expansion of Truth, hindering those who would enter in, and casting out those who do enter in.

So, to devote our time to evangelizing the world while neglecting the church, would be a criminal act, one of highest treason both to God and to His people. The church must first be saved from her Laodicean condition of being “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” She, not the world, is just about to be spued out. She “is the only object on earth on which He bestows His supreme regard.”-Testimonies to Ministers, p. 15.

But in her present deplorable state of blindness and destitution as exposed by the True Witness (Rev. 3:14-18), she is utterly unfit for the task assigned her, and must be rescued from her sad deception before she can become a safe refuge and a saving influence to those who would join her ranks. Should God leave her in the Laodicean condition in which she now languishes, not only would she herself be lost but, in consequence, so also would the whole world along with her. He must therefore rouse her up or else raise up another to do the work which remains to be done.

Think, though, what an eternal joy it would be for Him to fit her up and use her to His glory, rather than to have to forsake her! So before raising up another as a last resort, He is trying to save her, and He will save her, as He promises:

“Satan will work his miracles to deceive, he will set up his power as supreme. The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out. The chaff is separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouth. The remnant that purify their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process, exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy ….

“The great issue so 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.”-B-55-1886.

Were the Lord—Who Himself when upon earth spent all His time in the exclusive endeavor to save His lost church then—to send us to the world rather than to His lost church today, He would not only be bringing in the innocent to perish with the guilty, but would also be completely reversing His own practice and contradicting His own orders to His apostles that they preach present truth to the church first (Matt. 10:5, 6).

In mercy and in consistency with His eternal procedure, therefore, He purposed that “while the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among [His] people upon earth.” This is her special work. “Then the church which…at His coming [He] is to receive to Himself will be ‘a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.”’-The Great Controversy, p. 425.

“The Lord does not now work to bring many souls into the truth,” furthermore says the Spirit of Truth, “because of the church-members who have never been converted, and those who were once converted but who have back slidden. What influence would these unconsecrated members have on new converts? Would they not make of no effect the God-given message which His people are to bear?”-Testimonies, Vol. 6, p. 371.

But when the back slidden and the unconverted, the tares, are taken away, “then she will look forth ‘as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.”’-The Great Controversy, p. 425.

Yes, the honest heathen must and will be evangelized, but “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 10:6) must be sought first. How thankful, therefore, and how cooperative they ought to be, and will be, when they discover that rather than being rich and increased with goods, and in need of nothing, they are actually “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”—in need of everything- and that the Lord is waiting for them to wake up to the fact so that He can make them what they ought to be.

For these reasons, God says now to work within the Laodicean congregation rather than without. And what He says, that He means, and we dare not disobey, regardless what men may say or do.

There can be no doubt about these instructions. We are to work within rather than work without. Yes, the time is coming when the great work (Loud Cry) will be exclusively that of reaching the world. For this is the crowning act of God’s final plan of redemption.

However the message tells us that there will be “Syrophoenicians” who by the Lord’s guiding shall come to us due to the fact that they are spiritually ready for the “message of the hour”. Brother Houteff speaks about this subject–

Question: When we are not working for sinners in Zion, then why not for sinners in the world? They are all sinners in the sight of God….He has given us light since 1844 and He does not mean for it to be hidden “under a bushel” but to lighten the world.”

   Answer: What is here said is true. If we are not working for sinners in Zion, we should be working for sinners in the world. However, if we truly understand and believe the message, we will be working for the sinners in Zion so much of the time that we will have no time left to work for the sinners in the world, save for the “Syrophoenicians.”

Then we would be doing our full part to hasten the day of the Loud Cry when the light, which He gave us in 1844 for to lighten the world, but which we have all along hid “under a bushel,” will finally reach every sinner.

   If the opposers of the SRod had lived in the days of John the Baptist, in the days of Christ, or in the first 3 1/2 years of the apostles, and had been in their present frame of mind, they would have taken their stand on the side of the rulers of Israel against the truth of that time.(Sym. Code, vol.1, no.7, p.7)

Let us look at a different perspective. Why do you suppose God would send someone in the “spirit and power of Elijah” as the last prophet instead of someone in the spirit and power of Noah for example?

Had He chose Noah, then this would have to be the type which the anti-type (our latter day prophet) would have to exemplify.  Noah preached his message to the world. He gave it for many years and it was solemn.

Elijah on the other hand did not give it to the world , did he? His was strictly to his people, God’s true church at that time. Therefore Elijah’s solemn message of revival and reformation perfectly fits His end time message today in anti-type. This is what our dear beloved brother Victor T. Houteff started, and was inspired to do. This message , which the Lord began through him, is now our message. It goes strictly to the church.

Let us ever remember that in Rev. chapter 3, we the people of the Laodicean church are about to be “sprued out” unless we humble ourselves and accept an unpopular and often despised message of the Lord’s–Shepherd’s Rod. The world is not about to be sprued out–we are!

So let us now answer Mr. Gilley’s questions and concerns.

1)“In all my years of ministry, I haven’t found a more effective, efficient, and powerful ministry than 3 ABN.

Effective by what measure? By numbers added to the church roll? The number of Baptisms?

“The Lord does not now work to bring many souls into the truth, because of the church members who have never been converted and those who were once converted but who have backslidden. What influence would these unconsecrated members have on new converts? Would they not make of no effect the God-given message which His people are to bear?” (Testimonies, vol. 6, p.371)

Whose work is it then now? If our Lord must have a pure church in which to pour out His Spirit to, to enable them to heal the sick , raise the dead, call the honest in heart out of Babylon, then the current effort to pollute (co-mingle the wheat and the tares) the church cannot be of God rather our adversary!

2) Virtually every television and radio ministry of the Remnant Church uses 3 ABN as its primary carrier of Present Truth!

Present Truth? How about truly looking at what “Present Truth” is? Did not the Lord promise to send His last day prophet Elijah to His church? Is not THIS MESSAGE our Present Truth today? is the prior present truth message of the “judgment of the dead” present truth now?

3)“The Gospel to the World!” if not by television, radio, Internet , and media, then how? If not now when?

When?

“But the days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true. In the mighty sifting soon to take place we shall be better able to measure the strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor.”(Testimonies, vol. 5, p.80)

Do we now think that 3ABN and other host SDA channels, such as Amazing facts, Hope channel, etc,  are spreading the  3 angels’ messages to the world right now? How can this be when anyone and everyone can stand before a pulpit, a studio , a YouTube video, and attempt to proclaim it to the world, whether a over-comer or not?

God has promised a remnant church purification prior to the Loud Cry not after

“Only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One, will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it (The 3rd angel message) when it shall have swelled into the Loud Cry.” (Review and Herald, No. 19, 1908)

“The Lord will work to purify His church. I tell you in truth, the Lord is about to turn and overturn in the institutions called by His name. Just how soon this refining process will begin I cannot say, but it will not be long deferred.” – Testimonies to Ministers, p. 373

“The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out–the chaff separated from the wheat.This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place.” (Selected messages, vol. 2, p.380)

The world’s churches shall be purified as well–

“Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.” (Isaiah 52:1)

“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…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 66:15,16,19,20)

In closing, we have seen that right now , in God’s perfect plan, we are to spend our time reaching those within our church with His message of the hour. Later we will , God willing, proclaim the Loud Cry which shall give the final Gospel proclamation to the world.

The big difference being that, instead of any and all non-overcomers trying to promote a false Loud Cry, the real over-comers will do it with the Lord’s power and majestic abilities. The church purification produces His servants who will do this, whom He calls– a great people and a strong (people) there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.”

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. (Joel 2:1-2)

The Solemn Half Hour Silence (Part 3 of 3)

December 20, 2014

Man frightened

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)

The Solemn Half Hour Silence (Part 2 of 3)

December 13, 2014

Ezekiel 9

(NOTE: Due to the Lord’s guiding, we’ve had to expand upon this subject, so we’ll have three parts)

It’s a regular Sabbath morning, John get’s up and then shortly begins to get ready for the local Sabbath service in his town. After cleaning up, grabbing a bite to eat, he heads out the driveway down to the local SDA church. He arrives about a half hour before service.

John has been a member for several years. But he now has a  unique relationship with his church. You see, he once was a deacon. A man who was “going places” within his church. He’d advanced fairly rapidly in the circle of the church, being frequently asked to go up before the church on occasions and give a motivational talk based on Scriptures and Ellen White.The local laity had shown much appreciation for the talks, as he was one to “tell it like it is”, in other words–the straight testimony.

However his last pre-Sabbath school speech, he was particularly straight, pointing out sins in the church and startling Scriptural revelations of what God was soon to do to purify His church. Unfortunately, there were a couple in the pews who objected to the straight talk. Later he found out that the pastor wanted to speak to him in his office later that week.

He was asked point blank– Are you a Davidian and believe in the Shepherd’s Rod? He did not flinch and said–Yes. The three against one conversation then proceeded to discuss what the leaders called a meeting of passion. A meeting to help steer John back into the regular SDA beliefs. But John pointed out that he still believed in them however he found “new light” which the Scriptures foretold would come to God’s people through His Elijah prophet, right before the “great and dreadful day of the Lord.”

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Mal. 4:5-6)

Prophecy must be fulfilled. The Lord says: “Behold, I will 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.”(Testimonies to Ministers, p.475)

The meeting went nowhere as far as John was concerned, he had looked deeply into the Elijah message and it all clicked it was harmonious with Scripture and Ellen White. A true majestic message with power and strength to convert the worst of sinners into the Lord’s bountiful and righteous light! John himself has witnessed this power in his own life. He converted completely to the Lord, his Master was now his passion.

But it all fell on deaf ears, they would have none of it. They steadfastly spoke of deceptive teachings from  the man who brought the Elijah message to the SDA church. John wanted specifics, but none were given. They closed the meeting by making the ultimatum, either John gives up his new beliefs and acknowledges it, or they would have to demote him and remove him from being as deacon.

He wrote a resignation letter (upon their request) within the week. But in that letter he warned them that they were making a serious mistake and an unjust one as well.

So soon the word spread among the church. Gossip and heresy was spread. John kept going to church faithfully but it would not be the same. A couple months later the head elder called a meeting, which John chose to attend, pointing out to the members that John was a Shepherd’s Rod believer. As if to not only demote him but to smear his name as if he had gone apostate. John defended himself and surprisingly most in attendance were on John’s side that day.

Being convicted that the Elijah message, though solemn , was true, he continued to look for opportunities to reach out to members in the hope that someone would study it as well and learn the Lord’s final plans for His church. He’d talk to this one and that one, and they’d give an excuse why they didn’t have the time or they’d get back to him later.

He sent out packages to some (Cd’s, DVD’s, literature) and no one would want to study it. They remained relatively silent about the contents after receiving it. In other words, no engagement occurred. He therefore continued to go to church with a heavy heart, for he knew that someday soon each one that rejected this last “pleading message” from the Lord would not escape the church judgment. This Elijah message was THE LORD’S LAST to His church, there would be no other!

So this was the church situation as John walked into church that morning. He sat down in his regular area and looked over the church bulletin. He said hello to some of the members as they walked by or came down his aisle. The church, this day, was surprisingly full. As if by some divine power many were drawn to services this day.

The service begins on time and starts with the first song. The schedule moves along. John starts to feel eerily strange. Something or someone is tugging on him as if to alert him of something. The service continues, yet John is really feeling something alarming! He knows it is not human. For since his conversion he has remained faithful to the Lord and knows the Lord’s voice.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28)

John tries to remain calm but he knows something is up. Now, the time has come for the pastor to get up for his sermon. All are quiet and attentive.

Suddenly there is a strong wind within the sanctuary! A howling is heard, as the wind gusts up and down and side to side. People start to look at each other, some get up to walk out of the sanctuary. The door is closed, it has locked itself! The wind and howling continues. What is going on? All are wondering. Some young ones and women start to cry out amid the strange occurrence. The pastor begins to speak, and says, “Please remain calm, please.” He is visably shaking.

By now the congregation is very fearful–what is this???!! They are frozen in fear. Suddenly a thunderous Voice speaks, ” Why have you not listened to my servant John — ?”  Those within the church who know John, and what he said, now begin to shake tremendously. The others are now even more confused. The Voice continues, “I sent him to you, he had a message from Me, yet you rejected it.” The wind continues to howl, the Voice stops for a few moments to let it sink in, particularly to those who had heard John’s  solemn message of church judgment. They start to feel a deep sense of wrong doing from their past actions. But the majority church members have no clue what the Voice is talking about because the leaders had effectively silenced the Lord’s message through John, to a large degree.

Suddenly John stands up and cries aloud “Save them my Father if You can!!”. He is weeping and pleading on behalf of his church, his hands stretched out. He now knows this is the great and dreadful day of the Lord! The time has come, the word of the Lord has began to be fulfilled. It is the beginning of the prophesied “half hour silence” –Ezekiel 9!

The Voice responds , “My judgment now begins!”. Suddenly, the leaders of the church begin to fall to the ground. There are screams every where within the locked church. The Lord’s angels begin to execute His righteous judgment. John kneels and prays, he cannot look, as the wind continues to howl and blow. There is now a earthquake in the sanctuary, the building shakes. The angels have gone through the church.

Suddenly after what seemed eternity, it is now quiet in the church. The wind stops. John feels a calmness over him. He gets up and is startled, there are only a few others standing. But he is perplexed, he sees two of the leaders who fought his message still standing(?) But he quickly realizes why that is, he silently kneels in prayer, for he knows it will turn out horribly for them. The rest is laying dead on the church floor! Ezekiel 9 has come! His prophesied word has been fulfilled.

“And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them  forth with silence.” (Amos 8:3)

“In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of  their tinkling ornaments , and  cauls, and  round tires like the moon, The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, The rings, and nose jewels, The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.” (Isaiah 3:18-24)

And I will come near to you in judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger, and fear Me not, saith the LORD of hosts.”(Mal. 3:5)

John has now witnessed the Lord’s coming “near” for judgment. His heart is heavy yet he feels as if the yoke has been lifted off him. No more is he bound by the restraint of the false shepherds.  The Elijah message of Zech. 6:1-8 comes to his mind, where the  Lord’s true horse team (real leaders) which were hitched and bound by the SDA horse team(false leaders) in the hitched chariot, is now unhitched and free to go throughout the world. (link to the Zech. 6 prophecy- http://www.shepherds-rod-message.org/tracts/tract_2.html

The Three Angels Message is about to be proclaimed to the world with God’s power entrusted to His “Jewels.” The fourth angel has now come to join fully with the other angels. John now realizes  that he has been counted worthy to go to work in this last great proclamation known as the –Loud Cry.

“And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” (Mal. 3:17)

In this part two we have covered the day itself, but remember that there are “7” days of silence in heaven. In other words the heavenly beings are in solemn silence as the Lord works those 7 days to do His “strange act.”(Isaiah 28:21)

Next week we’ll close by looking at what happens those other six days.And if you can believe it , it’s even worse than the first day!

My brethren please seriously consider accepting His final pleading message , it is your future destiny we are talking about! Eternity! Our Lord is pleading to all who are listening, let’s get away from false shepherd’s and listen to His true messengers.

“The message of the True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that deception. They know not that their condition is deplorable in the sight of God. While those addressed are flattering themselves that they are in an exalted spiritual condition, the message of the True Witness breaks their security by the startling denunciation of their true condition of spiritual blindness, poverty, and wretchedness. The testimony, so cutting and severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True Witness who speaks, and His testimony must be correct.”(Testimonies, vol. 3, p.253)

Questions and Answers–

If Ezekiel 9 starts in America, let’s say east coast, then won’t the west coast people hear about it several hours prior to services, and then be scared and not go to church that day?

As the message of Elijah did indeed start in the USA, possibly the church judgment would start here as well (before going around the world). One scenario would be that the doors on all the churches, starting in the east coast would stay locked by the Lord’s angels, for the necessary hours until the west coast services have been underway. This would stop, at least for the first few hours, the panic that would surely spread once the doors are open. This is just our conjecture and obviously the Lord has His plan.

Once Ezekiel 9 is over, what happens to the churches? Do they remain or are abandoned?

As the message tells us , there will be few who survive the judgment because of the prevalent pride and rich and increased with goods attitude among the SDA members. The rejection of His Elijah message is THE specific message the Lord had in mind (they would not heed) when He wrote the rebuke of Rev. 3 to the SDA church. So logically the church will be quite silent after the judgment. We know that the surviving “elect” of God will very quickly be on their way to Israel to set up the headquarters for the final proclamation of the –Loud Cry to go around the world. Rev. 14:1 -5 describes the time right after Ezek. 9 where the Lord meets up with His people (the 144,000).on Mt. Zion. As the elect help bring the people out of Babylon, it may well be that the former SDA churches will be a new gathering place for those who come out of the Sunday churches. We are not told in Inspiration much about this unfortunately. We do know that many around the world will come to Israel to join the 144,000. Keep in mind, Israel will then be protected from Satan’s attacks by the Lord Himself, so naturally many will want to relocate there for safety.

“And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her. (Zech 2:3-5)

Will there be any immediate warning that Ezekiel 9 is about to happen, such as a month or week in advance?

The Elijah message does tell us the approximate time when it happens. In explaining this brother Houteff says,

They are enjoined to fix their vision upon the feet of him who brings “good tidings” (message from the Lord), who publishes “peace” (the peace of Christ’s Kingdom), and who declares that while the powers of earth are engulfed in a gigantic war, the wicked in the church shall be cut off, no more to pass through her.  Specifically, the prophet exhorts all penitently to turn unto  the house of Judah (the latter-day Kingdom of Judah — Mic. 4; Ezek. 37:16-22), the church in the purification of which are to be sealed 12,000  out of each of the 12 tribes, as firstfruits.  

And he urges the subjects of the kingdom to perform their religious duties and to keep their promises to the Lord.  In short, he admonishes them to give heed to the message of the hour — the message which announces the imminence of the church’s purification, after which, as the promise is, “the wicked shall no more pass through” her, for “he is utterly cut off.” (See also Matt. 13:30, 47-50, Isa. 66:16, 19, 20). (Tract 14, p.22-23)

Here we see that it is during the upcoming great world war 3 over Israel that this occurs. Some say right after, but this does serve as the great sign that it’s about to happen.

The Solemn Half Hour Silence (Part 1 of 3)

December 6, 2014

Half hour silence

The mystical “half hour silence”, what does this really mean? Our standard SDA teachings doesn’t tell us much about this important word of God. But the Lord’s word, through His Elijah prophet certainly does. It is indeed described as an extremely serious and disturbing event to take place within the S.D.A. Church. Please know that the following will happen, yet He loves each and every S.D.A member immensely. When we look at a specific prophecy describing Ezekiel 9 we notice a “pleading” is done before the act.

“For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.” (Isaiah 66:16)

Fire represents the Holy Spirit —  “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matthew 3:11)  — “There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:3-4).

Sword can be the Holy Word of God– “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”(Eph 6:17)

So we add it up and we see that before the Lord slays he pleads with His people with the Holy Spirit and His word. But nevertheless His judgment comes once the pleading is over.

It is up to each one of us individually to surrender our pride and fall not asleep with the “peace and safety”message so prevalent in our church today.

The Spirit of prophecy writes, “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.” (Early Writings, p.277)

The “event” we shall look into, Scripture mentions as the “half hour silence” in Rev. 8:1,

“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”(Rev. 8:1)

This subject , we as SDA know, is very rarely discussed within our church, yet it will happen to be one of the most important and earth changing acts in mankind’s history.

To first get a little background surrounding this half hour silence we shall read,

In graphic demonstration that He will come to earth with all His angels to execute judgment upon the living, the Lord revealed Himself prophetically to Ezekiel as being brought enthroned to earth by four living creatures just before the slaughter of the hypocrites in the church takes place. And as each of the living creatures has the face of a lion, the face of a calf, the face of a man, and the face of an eagle (Ezek. 1:10), — the same judicial insignia as have the beasts who are before the throne in the heavenly sanctuary (Rev. 4:7) in the time of the judgment of the dead, — and as they descend to earth, they thereby symbolically show that the work of the mediatorial-judicial throne which convenes and presides over the judgment of the dead is extended to earth.

   This extension, so far as we are able to know now, must take place at the opening of the seventh seal (Rev. 8:1), for at that time the celestial voices, which opened the judgment of the dead, cease in the heavenly sanctuary and begin, after the half hour’s silence, to sound on earth. In other words, just as in heaven at the opening of the judgment of the dead, there were “lightnings and thunderings and voices” (Rev. 4:5), likewise on earth at the opening of the “judgment of the living,” there are “voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” Rev. 8:5.

   With the judgment of the dead, however, the work of separation takes place in the books in the heavenly sanctuary; whereas with the judgment of the living, the separation takes place among the people in the church as well as among their names in the books in the heavenly sanctuary, thus showing that both sanctuaries will finally be cleansed.

   Inescapably, therefore, the Lord’s coming to His temple (Mal. 3:1-3), His coming with all His angels (Matt. 25), and His coming enthroned above the living creatures (Ezek. 1), — all three representing the same event as has been shown, — take place at the beginning of the judgment of the living: the time in which the judicial activities of the heavenly sanctuary extend to the earthly sanctuary — the church. (Tract 3, p.46-47)

But when the seventh seal is opened, there is silence in heaven (the beasts hold their peace, also the “lightnings,” the “thunderings,” and the “voices” cease — Rev. 4:5) “about the space of half an hour.” Rev. 8:1.  The silence clearly  reveals that the first session of the Judicial  proceedings comes to a close, and that the second session commences after the silence is over.(Tract 15, p.17-18)

As we have seen, the silence divides the two pre-millennial Judicial sessions, the one for the dead and the other for the living, and the fire from the heavenly altar, the voices, lightnings, and thunderings, descend to earth.  These facts, along with a number of scriptures on the subject, besides the remainder of The Revelation, the chapters after the breaking of the seventh seal, prove that the Judgment of the living, the cleansing of the earthly temple, is something which takes place on earth, not in heaven only!

   “Behold,” declares the Lord, “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,… But who may abide the day of His coming?  and who shall stand when He appeareth?  for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap.” Mal. 3:1,

   Yes, the work of the second Judicial session includes the earthly sanctuary, the church.  At that time the Lord’s “fire” is “in Zion, and  His furnace in Jerusalem.” Isa. 31:9.(Tract 15, p.65)

So we see that this silence is the beginning of the judicial judgment of the “LIVING”,  the dead session being completed. In other words it appears that when the judgment begins and extends down to the earth, and when the Lord begins to put His sickle upon the “earth”(Rev. 14:14-16), the SDA church purification begins. This, as we as present truth believers well know is–the Ezekiel 9 church judgment. It produces the “jewels” of God, the 144,000.

“And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.”(Mal. 3:17)

This half hour silence is solemnly adhered too,  by the heavenly beings due to the fact that  the “great and dreadful” day of the Lord is taking place. It is also known as the Lord’s “strange act”and His “day of vengeance”.

“For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do his work, His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act.”(Isaiah 28:21)

“For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” (Isaiah 63:4)

But let us ask the question–Why a “half hour”? What does this mean?

First, we have to take the Biblical understanding of time measurement to arrive at what a half hour of time would mean to us in real actual time. In the Bible, a day represents a year in prophecy, according to Ezekiel 4:6, “I have appointed thee each day for a year.” If we apply this prophetic yardstick, one half hour of time would be just about a week or seven literal days.

So we see that the actual work of Ezekiel 9 shall compromise about seven literal days in length. As we continue we shall trust that you are already aware of the solemn act of Ezekiel , as described in Scripture..

Let us look at one of the more popular understandings within the SDA (remember the vast amount of SDA do not know about the true Elijah message or it’s interpretations) concerning our subject.

They teach that this silence is concerning the Lord coming to the earth in the well-known “Second Coming.” But brother Houteff shows why this cannot be so.

The silence in heaven for about half an hour cannot be the second coming of Christ, as some have thought, for afterward the angel with the golden censer and incense, offered the prayers for the saints from the golden altar.  The altar is in the holy place, just opposite the throne that is in the most holy.  The two apartments were separated by a vail.  In the day of atonement, the vail or door of the earthly tabernacle was opened and the high priest went in. 

But let it be remembered that the door (vail) was left open while the high priest officiated.  Thus the two apartments became one.  For this reason the congregation were not permitted in the holy place on that day, as they were at other times, for the vail being lifted, the holy place also became most holy.  So while the door to the most holy was open, the entrance to the holy was closed. 

Therefore, the high priest alone used both apartments on the day of atonement. (See Lev. 16:17.)  Thus the golden altar before the throne, from which the angel offered the prayers of the saints, was, and is, used in both periods — before, and in the time of the judgment.  As the entire judicial tribunal (Judge, Advocate, Elders, etc.) were in the temple after the seventh seal had been opened, it is evident that the judgment was in progress, and probation had not closed at the time of the “silence.”  For after the judgment has ceased and probation closed, no man can enter the temple. (See Rev. 15:8.)

   Had the “silence” of “half an hour” pointed to the coming of Christ, at which time He takes his saints with Him, there would be no necessity for the angel to offer their prayers.  Furthermore, it would be unnecessary to “cast” fire, which is the Spirit of God, from the golden altar to the earth. 

Again, if the opening of the seventh seal means the coming of Christ, then only those under the six seals would have been considered in the judgment, and there could be no seventh seal, which would show lack of perfection and completeness of the judgment, and of the gospel.  It would also be contrary to the number of seals on the book.  As the six seals have reference to six periods in which the saints were sealed, the seventh must also apply to a sealing period; otherwise it cannot be called, seventh “seal.”(SRod, vol. 2, p.215)

Ok so now we have shown that this half hour silence is the Ezekiel 9 church judgment, which is to take about 7 days. But logically we can ask– Why seven days? If Ezekiel 9 is to be the church judgment, why does God extend the solemn act for 7 days instead of more  like, one and done?

Those are great questions and there appears good answers that we’ll show in part 2. Let us keep in mind that the main purpose of the Elijah message is to prepare us for the “great and dreadful day of the Lord”. So if this subject we are now studying is to truly be thorough we should cover every angle.

Let us know the Lord’s plans and be prepared. The Lord is soon to do His work and those who blindly skip along without taking pains to know His plans, shall fall under His word–

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” (Hosea 4:6)

“All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’”(Amos 9:10) 

Those who are saying this Ezekiel 9 church judgment will not happen are saying “Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.”

Spirit of Prophecy illuminates this special work this way–

“Those who train the mind to seize upon everything which they can use as a peg to hang a doubt upon, and suggest these thoughts to other minds, will always find occasion to doubt. They will question and criticize everything that arises in the unfolding of truth, criticize the work and position of others, criticize every branch of the work in which they have not themselves a part. They will feed upon the errors and mistakes and faults of others, “until,” said the angel, the Lord Jesus shall rise up from His mediatorial work in the heavenly sanctuary and shall clothe Himself with the garments of vengeance and surprise them at their unholy feast, and they will find themselves unprepared for the marriage supper of the Lamb.”(Testimonies, vol. 5, p.690)

Did you catch when this surprise visit (Ezekiel 9) happens? During, not after, His mediatorial  work in heaven. That is in probationary time, because it is in during the  “unfolding of truth” period of time.

Ellen White well knew under Inspiration , the upcoming church purification was a real event.

“But the days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true. In the mighty sifting soon to take place we shall be better able to measure the strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor.”(Testimonies , vol. 5 , p.80)

Next week we’ll look at the specific ramifications that occur and prophetic references explaining the immediate after effects that take place. We’ll focus on some specifics during the seven days. Remember this one act will truly shake the world and it starts the final event clock that ushers in the Loud Cry. As Scripture says it shall be “great and dreadful”.