TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF, MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS SABBATH, MARCH 22, 1947 MT. CARMEL CHAPEL WACO, TEXAS
TEXT FOR PRAYER
Our Necessities Supplied
I shall read from “The Mount of Blessing,” p. 190, the paragraph beginning in the middle of the page:
M.B., pg. 190 — “Every promise in the Word of God furnishes us with subject-matter for prayer, presenting the pledged word of Jehovah as our assurance. Whatever spiritual blessing we need, it is our privilege to claim through Jesus. We may tell the Lord, with the simplicity of a child, exactly what we need. We may state to Him our temporal matters; asking Him for bread and raiment as well as for the bread of life and the robe of Christ’s righteousness. Your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things, and you are invited to ask Him concerning them. It is through the name of Jesus that every favor is received. God will honor that name, and will supply your necessities from the riches of His liberality.”
Let us now summarize what we should pray for this afternoon. We need to pray for solid faith in the assurance that regardless what spiritual and temporal blessings we may need, it is our privilege to go to the Lord with the simplicity of a child and claim these blessings in the name of Jesus. We need to pray for help to take God at His word; pray for a realization that He means just what He says when He promises to honor the name of Jesus and to supply our necessities from His immeasurable riches.
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THE DISPERSION, THE TIME, AND THE DELIVERANCE
This afternoon we are to study Isaiah, chapters 31 and 32. In these chapters we shall see the cause of Zion’s captivity by the Gentiles, their time limit, and antitypical Israel’s deliverance:
Isa. 31:1-4 — “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord! Yet He also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back His words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not Spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out His hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together. For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.”
Though the Lord permitted His ancient kingdom
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to be taken by the Gentiles, this scripture shows that He will soon deliver it. Not only will He deliver His people and Mount Zion, but He will defend them, too.
Isa. 31:5, 6 — “As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also He will deliver it; and passing over He will preserve it. Turn ye unto Him from Whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.”
Having now come to the time of their deliverance, the Lord is pleading with His people to turn to Him — to reform.
Isa. 31:7 — “For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.”
To turn to Him, He explains, is to cast away every idol. When such great revival and reformation takes place among God’s people, He continues:
Isa. 31:8, 9 — “Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited. And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the Lord, Whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem.”
Because of idolatry, the Assyrian was permitted to take God’s ancient people and their pleasant land. And certain it is that the Assyrian will control the land just so long as God’s people continue in idolatry. But, just as soon as all idols are cast aside, — yes, as soon as the great revival and reformation takes place
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in the hearts of the people, — then the Assyrian (the power that now rules them) shall certainly fall, and God’s people shall just as certainly return. The Assyrian shall thus fall, not at the sword of a mighty man, and not of a mean man, but “through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.” Isa. 30:31.
Isa. 32:1-8 — “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place; as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
“The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.”
Turning again to his ancient people, Inspiration declared, that though their kingdom was doomed to fall, yet one day a King shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment; that in that day a Man shall be as an hiding place, as water in a dry place, and as a shadow of a great rock in a weary land (Isa. 32:2); that though the people were spiritually blind and could not see, yet there is a day coming
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when those who have eyes shall clearly see, and those who have ears shall plainly hear; that the heart of the rash shall then understand knowledge and the tongue of the stammerer be ready to speak plainly; that the vile person shall then be recognized as vile, and the churl shall no more be called bountiful; that the vile persons and hypocrites shall be known as those who speak error against the Lord and who endeavor to cheat the spiritually hungry and thirsty soul; that, on the other hand, the churl will be seen to be those who devise wicked means by which to make the poor ever poorer (Isa. 32:7).
Isa. 32:9-14 — “Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear My voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto My speech. Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come. Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
“They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. Upon the land of My people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city: because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks.”
The “women” here referred to are doubtless “Aholah” and “Aholibah” (Ezek. 23), the figurative names of Judah and Israel. Here is described their dispersion among the Gentiles, the punishment which they were to bear.
Isa. 32:15 — “Until the Spirit be poured upon us from
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on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.”
Here we are told that the people are to be among the Gentiles, and the land remain desolate until the Spirit be poured upon them from on high. Then will they return.
We have now already seen the reason for the dispersion and that the pouring of the Spirit marks the people’s deliverance. Yes, then no longer will their land be in captivity, no longer will their houses be desolate. Even the wilderness shall become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be counted for a forest — there shall be then an abundant harvest of souls.
Isa. 32:16-20 — “Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places; when it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place. Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.”
Now what have we learned from these two chapters of Isaiah? Actually we have had a summary of the subject which the previous chapters treated. Now even more vividly than before we see that ancient Israel’s idolatry forced God to permit them to be ruled by the Assyrians. He is, however, well able to deliver them when His people hear His plea and lay aside their idols; when they turn again unto the Lord, when this great revival and reformation called for in this chapter is finally effected. Thus it is that
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“through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.” Isa. 30:31. Hence forth a King shall reign in righteousness. Then the vile persons and hypocrites shall be treated as such. In that day shall there be a great and glorious harvest of souls. Now that we have plainly seen the time, the need, and the deliverance, let us Brother, Sister, bring that day closer by parting with all our idols, and turning our hearts fully and unreservedly unto our God.
Please explain Matthew 16:15-19. Why did Christ give the Keys to Peter? Why not to another, or to all?
Answer:
Peter was the only one who gave the right answer to the question, “But whom say ye that I am?” Therefore to Peter and to none other, Jesus said, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” having first assured him that “flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto” him but His Father which is in heaven.
When God makes man to understand something which is beyond finite knowledge, the Bible terms the act, Inspiration. Hence, Jesus pronounced Peter inspired. This Inspiration and Jesus’ testimony, therefore, were the Keys to the central theme of man’s salvation–knowledge of the Son of God. This is the truth, the gospel, that had to be proclaimed. It was the Present Truth–an inspired message direct from God. Thus possessed of a revelation by which every man was to be judged either for salvation or for condemnation, Peter and his associates became responsible either to lock or to unlock salvation to every living soul under heaven.
Consequently, when Christ gave the Keys to Peter, He gave him the gospel and a divine commission to preach it. And so long as Peter and his co-workers were true to this charge, just so long did they possess the Keys to lock or to unlock to men the kingdom of God, and to have sanctioned in heaven whatever they bound or loosed on earth. Accordingly, with Inspiration and progressive revelation, Present Truth, go the Keys.
Obviously, therefore, a message from heaven, proclaimed by God’s chosen servants, is all-powerful, and by it man’s eternal destiny is decided.
Plainly, then, the Keys are not the church herself, but are in the message which she proclaims. So no man or set of men has power to loose or bind with Heaven’s approval save at the instance of a message vouchsafed directly from Heaven for them to bear for the time then present: “Different periods in the history of the church have each been marked by the development of some special truth, adapted to the necessities of God’s people at that time.”–The Great Controversy, p. 609. It has been so from time immemorial.
Noah, too, had the Keys, and was thus able to loose or bind both in heaven and on earth. The fact that even “the gates of hell” could not prevail against the ark, bears witness to this.
And God’s promise to Abraham, “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3), shows that he, too, had the Keys of heaven.
Also, in the Providentially controlled hand of Moses, the Keys swung open the gates of the kingdom to the freedom and salvation of the righteous, and closed them in doom upon the wicked. Thus “Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord hath not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all the appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord. And it came to pass as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.” Num. 16:28-32.
Through Moses God committed the Keys to the Hebrew host, and withdrew them in Christ’s day when the Jews rejected Him. Then He transferred the Keys to the founders of the Christian church.
But notwithstanding the example of the past the adherents of the apostles eventually also repeated the mistakes of Moses’ followers. Yet throughout the Dark Ages, and especially during the Reformation period, God continued to entrust messenger after messenger, and Movement after Movement, with the Divine legacy. But again and again down through the Reformation to the call of William Miller, each successive group repeated the folly of becoming satisfied with a static message, until finally when all the Protestant churches of Miller’s day rejected the message for that time, they, too, unwittingly refused to be any longer the custodians of the sacred Keys.
Thus Miller and his associates possessed them until the time of God’s next message, the judgment of the dead, when the sacred Keys passed from the Millerite Movement to the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. But if it now rejects God’s pleadings to anoint its eyes with the eyesalve which He is offering to it, it too, will let the Keys slip from its grasp and pass into the hands of those who are to proclaim the additional message, the judgment of the living, the message of the Loud Cry. (See Early Writings, pp. 277-279). And, tragedy of tragedies! this very thing the Laodiceans are in their blindness doing, thereby repeating the history of God’s people through the ages.” (Answer Book, vol. 4, p.37-41)
Let us give undivided attention to the scriptures which record the things that are to take place just before the thousand years begin — the things which will bring about the millennial age of peace, as revealed to John:
“…I saw…a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True…. He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God…. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written,
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KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Rev. 19:11, 13, 16.
Here Christ reveals Himself, not as a priest or as a lamb, but as the King of kings, treading “the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” Rev. 19:15. This is His
Slaying of the Wicked.
The “angel standing in the sun…cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.
“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant [the “kings” and “captains” and “mighty men” and “horses” and “them that sit on them” and “all men, both free and bond, both small and great”] were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the
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horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh” (Rev. 19:17-21) — a final work from which it is readily seen that the wicked are
Slain Just Before the Millennium.
Since after the millennium, the wicked are not slain and their flesh is not eaten by the fowls, but rather destroyed with fire (Rev. 20:9), Revelation 19:17-21 is seen to refer to a pre-millennial destruction.
Decisively, therefore, the King of kings is to slay, just before the millennium, all except the righteous — except those who get “the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.” Rev. 15:2. Then shall the righteous dead be raised, whereas the wicked dead remain in their graves and, along with the wicked living, all of whom are then slain by the Lord, live “not again until the thousand years” are “finished.” Rev. 20:5.
Since, moreover, at the commencement of the millennium, when the wicked are slain, the heaven and the earth pass away, then, as a result,
The Saints Remove to Another Sphere.
As The Revelation says that “they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4), Christ does not therefore,
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live with them on the earth, but rather they live with Him in “the place” which He prepared for them, and of which John says (after seeing “the first heaven and the first earth were passed away” and replaced with “new heaven and a new earth” — Rev. 21:1): “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Rev. 21:2.
The wicked being then hid in their graves, and the righteous being gone to live with Christ, hence
Satan Is Left Alone.
Wandering in the earth until the resurrection of the wicked (Rev. 20:13), Satan is confined to a thousand years of solitaire! Bound by this chain of circumstances, he is unable to “deceive the nations” (Rev. 20:3), till the dead who “lived not again until the thousand years were finished,” arise to life, following the
Judgment During the Millennium.
If an earthly judge does not convict and condemn a criminal without benefit of trial by jury, certainly, then, the all-just God of Heaven will not. He will not pass final sentence upon the wicked, convicting them of sin and condemning them to die “the second” death (Rev. 20:14), until after He has given the saints (the jury) opportunity to witness for themselves the judgment of the wicked — the husbands, wives, children, relatives,
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friends, and acquaintances then missing from the mansions above — and to examine their records which show why they are not there, but instead are moldering in their graves below.
That no excuse be left to anyone for ignorance or error on this truth, John was shown not only the great white throne on which sits the Judge Eternal, “from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away” (Rev. 20:11), but also other thrones, or seats, on which evidently sit the jury. And instead of only “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (Rev. 5:11) of angels as witnesses, he saw present on this occasion also “the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years… This is the first resurrection.” Rev. 20:4, 5.
The fact, though, that “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished” (Rev. 20:5), shows that those present before the throne were resurrected.
But the dead, “small and great,” who do not rise in the first resurrection (Rev. 20:6), John saw figuratively “stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the
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Book of Life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Rev. 20:12. With the close of this work, come the events
After the Judgment.
When the judgment was over and the thousand years gone, “the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. ” Rev . 20: 13.
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Rev. 21:2-4.
Having descended with the saints, who are to reign forever with Him on the earth made new Christ calls forth the wicked dead from their graves, while simultaneously, “a great voice out of heaven” is heard, “saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He
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will dwell with them” (Rev. 21:3), whereas during the thousand years, they have “lived” with Him (Rev. 20:4). Whereupon,
Satan Is Loosed For a Little Season.
By the resurrection of the wicked dead, “…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.” Rev. 20:7, 8.
Concerning this “little season” in which Satan will be allowed to deceive the nations, the prophet Isaiah heard the Lord say:
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 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. 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.” Isa. 65:17-20.
The reader will observe that when the Lord creates the new heavens and the new
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earth, then from the time that the wicked arise from their graves to the time that they are destroyed forever by the second death, — the “little season,” — “there shall be no more thence [among them] and infant of days [no more births], nor an old man that hath not filled his days [no more deaths before man’s days are fulfilled]: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.” Both the old and the young (that is, those who remain in their graves during the millennium) will afterward come forth together, each to live “an hundred years” — “the little season” in which Satan will again deceive them. There will be neither death nor birth, but all the wicked will then be forever accursed by
The Second Death.
That portion of the new earth which the feet of the wicked have trodden and defiled during the “short season,” will be purified by the fire’s coming “down from God out of heaven” and burning them and their works, while those who will inhabit the new earth for eternity, will be shielded in and about “the holy city.” Rev. 21:2.
“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. And the devil
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that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever…. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:9, 10, 14, 15.
Since not only Satan, but also “whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life, was cast into the lake of fire,” the fire in the lake simply continues the same destruction wrought by the fire which comes “down from God out of heaven.” Rev. 20:9. After the thousand years, in other words, the fire which comes “down from God out of heaven,” results in “the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:10) and in eternal extermination of all sinners. Of this final destruction, a pre-millennial demonstration is to be given when the beast and the false prophet are cast into the “lake of fire” — their grave for the thousand years. And as the fire does not, of course, keep burning during the thousand years, the statement, “the devil…was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are” (Rev. 20:10), shows therefore that there are both a typical and an antitypical destruction; the lake of fire before the millennium, being a type of the one after the millennium.
“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,” says the apostle,
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“What Manner of Persons Ought Ye To Be?”
The Scriptures exhort that those in the Truth be “in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless” (2 Pet. 3:11-14), and the more so now while He is SETTING UP HIS KINGDOM. (Tract 9, p. 31-40)
There have been over 500,000 views on YouTube of the series entitled “The Pinnacle of Prophecy” and over that viewership on Facebook. Pastor Doug Batchelor, who needs no introduction, has produced a series of 14 studies on different end-time prophecies. It is supposed and implied that Amazing Facts and their leader are authorities enough to give us a “pinnacle” or top-rated and knowledgeable explanation of these prophecies. But is that so? In our analysis of some of this series, we’ll carefully look at what Doug interprets from these prophecies.As present truth believers, we know the message of the hour says —“..the two golden pipes, which carry the golden oil from the trees to the bowl, are the only two mediums which God has employed since 1844 A.D. to interpret the Scriptures.” ( 5 SC, no. 1-5. p.3)
Is Doug one of those pipes? Does he have the light of God to interpret the prophecies for us? We shall carefully examine his studies and see first hand.
In our first report, we’ll examine report no. 14, entitled “Satan’s Mark of God’s Seal?” We’ll quote his comments and then compare them to what the message says. We’ll discuss the high points or noteworthy remarks and label him –DB.
To prep his speech and explain the “Key” to knowing prophecy, DB begins by telling us how you and I can interpret prophecy–
DB –“We’ve told us along the way, the key to understanding these prophecies in Revelation are the stories in the Bible. Out of 404 verses in Revelation 278 are found in the Old Testament. That’s where the keys are.”
We need to point out something profound right here. The Scriptures say something completely different concerning unlocking prophecy, let us read —
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”(2 Peter 1:19-21)
So are we to think that everyone is “holy”, a prophet of God, able to interpret the prophecies? Apparently, DB thinks so. For he makes no distinction between who is private (not a prophet) and God’s prophets. In other words, God’s very important “Key” is thrown out for DB’s — any and all can privately interpret the prophecies with studious effort! This sets the stage for great error to come in.
DB– “In the days ahead everybody is going to be marked one way or another…. There are only two roads… We want to know what God’s seal is. We either have the seal of God in our foreheads or the mark of the beast.”
We know this is not accurate here because many (those within the SDA who fail to get the mark of Ezekiel 9) will get neither the mark nor the seal, but are to be slayed. So not “everybody” will get one or the other. Doug bypasses the very important prophetic event of our Lord’s next “sudden” coming (Mal. 3:1-5) and subsequent church judgment (Ezekiel 9 and Isaiah 66:15-21). This leaves a large prophetic hole in his study of the seal/mark as we shall see.
DB then brings up Isaiah 4:1 —
“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.”
DB then goes on to explain this Scripture applying to today’s multitude of Christian sects. This is true for today’s application of the prophecy to the world due to the hypocrisy. Yet DB fails to state the context or REASON why God places this worldly hypocritical setting there. This prophecy helps us to know the “time of the season” we are living in today to prepare us for what God is soon to do with our church! The context as seen in verses 2 to 6 shows WHY we should know the time we are living in. The full contextual explanation is found in 1 TG, no. 30 —
“SEVEN WOMEN TAKE HOLD OF ONE MAN”
Today we are to continue our study of the book of Isaiah, beginning with the first verse of the fourth chapter.
Isa. 4:1 — “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by Thy name, to take away our reproach.”
The first thing we need to know is the time indicated by the term “in that day.” The antecedent of the words “that day” is found in verses 13 and 14 of the preceding chapters of which the fourth chapter is a continuation. These verses point out that “that day” is the Judgment day, the day in which the sanctuary (the church) is cleansed — the harvest day. So, pointing to the day in which we are now living, to the Judgment day, the scripture figuratively reveals that all (for that is what the Biblical number “seven” indicates) the churches have arrived at the place where by their actions they are in reality saying to the Lord: “We want nothing from you but Your name. Just let us be called Christians is all we want from You. We want Your name because it takes away our reproach; that is, if we be called Christians, then what we do can be blamed on You; You get the credit for it.”
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Accordingly, the world has reached the day when God, in order to save the Church, is finally compelled to do something as great and as revolutionary as brought about by the first Advent of Christ. And what could that be? — The remaining verses of the chapter give the answer.
Isa. 4:2 — “In that day [when seven women take hold of one man] shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.”
This verse shows that the time is now ripe for this glorious revolutionizing of the church and of the world. Let us remember that history repeats, and that a dark cloudy day is always followed by a bright one. So this great apostasy is to be followed not by chaos, but by glorious revival and reformation, by glory and prosperity for all the saints who escape the vengeance of a great God. The faithful shall reap a harvest of souls as did the Apostles on and after the Pentecost.
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days [in the Christian era] Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Jer. 23:5, 6.
This very message, therefore, is the message of “Righteousness by Faith” to them that believe. In the day the “righteous branch” is raised, Judah and Israel shall be saved, and they shall dwell safely.
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Yes, the day is here when God’s vengeance is to fall upon His adversaries, and the once trodden-down kingdoms of Judah and Israel are to rise to prominence and power. “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.” Jer. 23:7, 8.
Plainly this is the final harvest of the earth, the gathering of the people from all countries. It is the day in which to sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. This is to be the second and last Exodus Movement. So great will it be that it will entirely eclipse the Movement of Moses’ day. Do we, then, realize that we are on the verge of a new day? — a great day for the faithful and a dreadful one for the unfaithful?
Isa. 4:3 — “And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem.”
This verse clearly shows that while none of the wicked in the church will survive the purification, yet none of the righteous will perish. Indeed, all that are left, will be called holy, and will enjoy even greater security than did His ancient people at the time they left Egypt.
“Behold,…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. But who may abide the day of his
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coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Mal. 3:1-3.
Isa. 4:4-6 — “When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.”
“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. 2:5.
Anyone who knows the Bible can see that all these events are premillennial. So it is that this present apostasy is to bring forth the “Lord’s fruitful branch”; that the wicked who are among God’s people are to be taken out of the way, and the faithful, those that escape, are to be the servants of God and reap a harvest of souls, of “such as should be saved,” that the day of vengeance is already at the threshold of the house; that His faithful ones are to be raised to prominence and power; that the greatness and the glory of the movement is to cause the wonders of the Exodus Movement and of the early Christian church to fade into insignificance.”
Instead of applying the context of Isaiah 4:1 to our church and the soon-to-come church purification, he cuts out God’s intended meaning and simply applies it to the world with no applicable lesson to our SDA church. Clearly proving God’s word — “knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
Next DB asks– “What is the seal? We want to know that.” “Seal the Law among my Disciples (Isaiah 8:16). Have you noticed the connection between the seal and the Law? The seal of God can be found in the Law of God.”
DB then goes into the point that the seal of God is found in the 4th Commandment. A well known SDA doctrinal teaching. True, we as Adventists have always taught this basic doctrine but the scroll has unrolled since our prophetess’ time. There is a “present truth” understanding here on the seal or mark for us today, let us read more about present truth–
“In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation. The old truths are all essential; new truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it. It is only as the old truths are understood that we can comprehend the new. When Christ desired to open to His disciples the truth of His resurrection, He began “at Moses and all the prophets” and “expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Luke 24:27. But it is the light which shines in the fresh unfolding of truth that glorifies the old. He who rejects or neglects the new does not really possess the old. For him it loses its vital power and becomes but a lifeless form. ” (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 127)
So while DB does accurately describe the “old” understanding of the seal for God’s people, an understanding held for over a century by our church, he neglects to expound upon the present truth of this seal upon God’s people today. To his credit he does mention Ezekiel 9 but he neglects the application God would have us to understand today. But God is faithful! He indeed made sure we understand this seal or mark.
“WHAT IS THE SEAL?
Question No. 21:
What is the seal of God upon the foreheads of the 144,000 (Rev. 7:3)? Is it the Sabbath seal or something else?
Answer:
Being sealed in Christ “with that Holy Spirit of promise,” after having “heard the word of truth” (Eph. 1:13; 4:30), the saints are consequently sealed by Present Truth–the truth preached in their own day.
“The seal of the living God,” the Truth, by which the 144,000 are sealed (Rev. 7:2), is a special seal, being the same as “the mark” of Ezekiel 9. (See Testimonies to Ministers, p. 445; Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 267; Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 211). It demands one’s sighing and crying over the abominations which defile him and which desecrate both the Sabbath and the house of God, especially against selling literature and raising goals during Sabbath services. As the saints have this seal or mark on their foreheads, the angels will pass over them, not slay them. It is equivalent to the blood on the door post on the night of the Passover in Egypt. The angel is to place a mark upon the foreheads of all who by sighing over their own sins, and over the sins in the house of God, show fidelity to the Truth. Then the destroying angels will follow, to slay utterly both old and young who have failed to receive the seal. (See Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 505.)
So, the former seal enables the receiver to rise from the dead in the resurrection of the just, while the latter seal enables the sighing-crying one to escape death and forever to live for God.” (2 Answerer, p. 31-33)
DB then goes on to emphasize that the Sunday Law is coming and all, including the SDA must have God’s seal or mark. However this again is falsely leading our people to a comfort or should we say, ignorance of that secretive coming of Mal. 3:1-5 and His judgment of Ezekiel 9 and Isaiah 66:15-21. Thus many SDA won’t be around to even see and experience God’s sealing or marking. A false leading of the SDA chain of prophetic events!
DB — “So what is this seal, we want to know that. As a matter of fact, I think it’s more important that we know what the seal is than the mark. Because you don’t want to be an expert in the mark and get the mark, you want to be an expert in the seal, amen.”
No, the final message of Elijah tells us all about the mark. This mark must be disquished from the Sunday law mark! Let us read —
“Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a [deadly weapon in his hand.” And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn [at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill;[do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. Utterly[slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple. Then He said to them, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” And they went out and killed in the city. So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?”
Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’ And as for Me also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head.”
Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, “I have done as You commanded me.”(Ezekiel 9:1-11)
Yes, we want to know all about this mark because God sent us , by way of His prophetess, the following counsel on this mark —
“Study the 9th chapter of Ezekiel. These words will be literally fulfilled; yet the time is passing, and the people are asleep. They refuse to humble their souls and to be converted. Not a great while longer will the Lord bear with the people who have such great and important truths revealed to them, but who refuse to bring these truths into their individual experience. The time is short. God is calling; will you hear? Will you receive His message? Will you be converted before it is too late? Soon, very soon, every case will be decided for eternity.(Manuscript Releases, p. 260)
Instead of just quoting Ezekiel 9 about the mark as DB does and then applying it to the coming of Jesus in the clouds, we are to KNOW about it for it will affect EVERY SDA , before the Lord’s coming in the clouds and even before the mark of the Beast (Sunday Law). Once again we can see that DB fails to instruct us as to the lessons God has for His people in these last days. The prophetic timelines are incorrectly pointed out and will only lead to us failing to obtain that “extra oil” (Matt. 25:8-9).
Summary —
There is little doubt that Pastor Doug Batchelor has not “rightly divided the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). Showing that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20). God’s intended lessons concerning the seal or mark MUST be rightly understood by us SDA because —
“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17)
“The class who do not feel grieved over their own spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be left without the seal of God. The Lord commissions His messengers, the men with slaughtering weapons in their hands: “Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.”
Here we see that the church—the Lord’s sanctuary—was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God’s power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus “Peace and safety” is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God’s people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together.” (Testimonies, volume 5, p.211)
In giving his presentation did DB give our church warning of this beginning judgment in God’s church? Did DB give us a warning that we must study and know what the end time “mark” will be for us SDA? No. Instead, assumptions and false teachings are given that “everybody”, including ALL SDA members will soon experience the times of the Sunday Law and be able to say yes or no. Not true, the message of God through His Elijah prophet is that the soon-to-come Ezekiel 9 judgment is come upon His church PRIOR to the Sunday Law, and only those who “sigh and cry for all the abomination done in the church” will escape. They are to be the — 144,000. Solemn and the Truth.
“Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those “that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done” in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in agony, even sighing and crying. Read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel.” (Testimonies, volume 3, p.267)
As we witness a war in Israel, we should be concerned that prophecies may soon be fulfilled in rapid succession. We have put out a video explaining more about the final Gospel Proclamation headquarters. For Seventh-day Adventists in particular, we MUST know the times of the seasons we live in. For the link please click below. May you be blessed.
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF, MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS SABBATH, MAY 15, 1948 MT. CARMEL CHAPEL WACO, TEXAS
TEXT FOR PRAYER
Christ Reproduced In His People
Christ’s Object Lessons, page 69, beginning with the first paragraph:
“‘When the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.’ Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own. It is the privilege of every Christian, not only to look for, but to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Were all who profess His name bearing fruit to His glory, how quickly the whole world would be sown with the seed of the gospel. Quickly the last great harvest would be ripened, and Christ would come to gather the precious grain.”
Here is truth that tells when we may expect Christ to come and gather His own: “When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people.”
We should now pray that we put forth the effort to grow as Christians, to love and work for others, to reproduce Christ’s character in us, then this old world will come to an end, and the new world will for us commence.
Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 36, page 2
DEMOCRACY, COMMUNISM, CATHOLICISM, OR PROTESTANTISM–WHICH IS NEXT TO RULE THE WORLD?
Are the nations from now on to live in two worlds? Man may guess, but he cannot predict. God alone knows the future. And if He does not tell us, then we shall never know ahead of time.
Daniel 7; Revelation 13, 17
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On this charted symbolism is seen the world in prophecy from the prophet Daniel’s time down to our day, and beyond. In this symbolical prophecy, therefore, we must search to see if there is any information given on the subject in question.
We and the majority in Christendom commonly believe that the lion represents the ancient empire of Babylon, the bear Medo-Persia, the leopard Grecia, and the non-descript beast in his two phases the empires of Pagan and Papal Rome. But as to the leopard-like beast, and the scarlet-colored, we may not hold views alike. And that is why we need to study now as never before if we are to know the Truth.
If the beasts of Daniel, the first four beasts on the chart, represent four periods of time, one following the other, then why should not the last three likewise represent three periods of time, one following the other? — Logically they should. We need not, however, wholly depend upon logic, for the symbols themselves should define the time and the systems they portray.
In contrast to the crownless horns on the non-descript beast (Daniel’s fourth beast) you see the crowned horns on the leopard-like beast of Revelation 13.
Why crowns on the one and no crowns on the other? — The only logical and scriptural answer that can be given is this: The angel explained to Daniel that the horns on the non-descript beast symbolize kings that had no kingdom as yet, that they would someday arise, take up their crowns and reign. (Daniel 7:24). And history records that
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this happened when Pagan Rome fell, and that the kings that then took their crowns, kingdoms, are the kings who reach down to our day. These kings have now almost dwindled away, their thrones are being taken by Fascism, Communism, or by some form of Republicanism.
The leopard-like beast, therefore, having his horns crowned, definitely denotes that he comes into being after the career of the non-descript beast, after the fall of Pagan Rome, and during the time the kings receive their kingdoms, for crowned horns denote crowned kings.
Moreover, the leopard-like beast blasphemed God and His tabernacle forty-two months, which is exactly the same length of time in which the little horn power of the non-descript beast was to speak against the Most High and to wear out the saints. He was to do this for a time (one year), times (two years), and dividing of time (half year) equal to forty-two months (Dan. 7:25). Both the leopard-like and the non-descript beast in the second phase, were against God and His people for the same length of time — forty-two symbolical months.
Plainly, then, the leopard-like beast reigns contemporaneously with the second phase of the non-descript beast.
Still further, the leopard-like beast is a composite beast of all the beasts before it! His mouth of a lion, feet of a bear, body of a leopard, and ten horns are marks which identify him to be a descendant of the four ancient world empires — Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome. He is therefore the symbol of the world of today, the fifth symbolical beast.
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Now the fact that the wounded head of the leopard-like was to have his wound healed, and also the fact that the scarlet-colored beast of Revelation 17 is a beast that has the same characteristics as the leopard-like beast, having ten horns and seven heads but no wound on any of them, proves that the latter beast is symbolical of the time after the deadly wound is healed, of a seventh period of time for the two-horn beast comes before the scarlet-colored beast, and he is the one who makes an image of the beast before it.
We are now ready to see by means of this symbolical beast, the seventh, the kind of world we are entering into, — whether Democracy, Communism, Catholicism, or Protestantism, is next to rule. Light on the subject can be seen from the horns, and from the woman that rides, rules, the beast.
Let us first determine whom the woman represents. The first clue is in the widely known fact that Inspiration never symbolizes civil governments by a woman, but It does repeatedly symbolize a religious institution, a church, by a woman, one that brings converts to its creed. The beast, as do all other symbolical beasts, we have seen, represents the world, while the horns represent the rulers. The horns, ten in number are, moreover, significant of universality as are the ten toes on the great image of Daniel 2, and the ten virgins of Matthew 25. The heads, seven in number, also signify completeness, the whole.
Now the fact that the horns have no kingdom as yet, while the woman rides the beast, also the fact that the woman rides it, rules it, is
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evidence enough that the world is next to be ruled by an ecclesiastical body, not purely by Democracy or by Communism.
That the woman riding the beast symbolizes the world in this day and age is evident from the fact that the ten horns, the civil powers that be during the reign of Babylon, hate the woman, the Church. Communism being the only world-wide ruling power since the world began to hate religion, the Church, is itself solid proof that the ten horns are symbolical of Communism, and that the beast represents a period of time in which Communism is about to dominate the world’s seat of government. God is nevertheless to intercept by putting it in their hearts to “give their power and strength unto the beast,” “and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the word of God is fulfilled.”
Thus they receive power one symbolical hour with the beast, they themselves not having a kingdom of their own. And in the end of the “hour” they “make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” Rev. 17:16.
Since the woman is a “mother of harlots” (Rev. 17:5), it is obvious that other sects have sprung from her.
We have now seen that the world is next to be ruled not by Democracy, not by Communism, not by Protestantism, nor by Catholicism. It is to be ruled by a system of religion in which all her daughters participate — a church and state government, which is to be an image or likeness of the leopard-like beast before it received its deadly wound.
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Soon, Brother, Sister, we are to enter into this period of persecution, and how thankful we should be that there is no need to fear, no need to be taken off guard. For with the Light now shining on our pathway we should know what to expect and how to cope with the situation. Truly “unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness.” Ps. 112:4.
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The Lord Is Coming
The Lord is coming! seas, retire! Ye mountains, melt to liquid fire! Ye oceans, cease to ebb and flow! His stately steppings ye should know.
The Lord is coming! Who shall stand? Who shall be found at His right hand?– He with the righteous garment on Which Christ our glorious King hath won.
The Lord is coming! watch and pray! So shalt thou hasten that glad day; So shalt thou then escape the snare, And Christ’s eternal glory share.
With the Middle East war now going on, the Bible has much to say about these end-time events. However, the Lord had warned us that false prophets would appear in the last days.
“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”(Matt. 24:10-12)
We recently did a video report on this subject and would like to invite you to watch it.
As the church of today is conversant with past church history, but totally ignorant of the Divine prediction concerning herself, we, in an endeavor to enlighten her, shall set forth in this article the reason for her ignorance of the prophecies. But let us first refresh our minds by a brief review of the past before turning our attention to the future. In the following few paragraphs we shall see how completely the Lord has foretold to His church the course that she should, also the course that she would, follow, and the ultimate results in either case. Abraham, by the voice of prophecy, was informed that God had promised at some time to give him land the location of which was not then made known. Later he was told that he and his seed would sojourn in a strange land “four hundred and thirty years” before possessing the land of promise. When the fulness of this prophetic time came, even at the “self same day,” Israel was led out of the land of Egypt. But because of their repeated rebellions the Lord did not see fit immediately to take them into the promised land; therefore, He made known to them that they must remain in the wilderness another forty years. At the end of this prophetic period of time, the children of Israel, by as great a miracle as when they crossed the Red Sea, crossed the Jordan and went into the land promised to them.
Neither did the Lord leave them in darkness while they were in the promised land, but rather He sent to them prophet after prophet, (2 Chron. 36:15), warning them of the consequent results that would befall them because of their depraved spiritual condition, and telling them that by their attitude toward the prophets, and by their demeanor, they were making their final decision either for or against themselves.
As they failed to turn from their evil course, the voice of prophecy declared that they were to be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans and there to remain captive seventy years. At the close of that span of time, God, by the hand of Cyrus and Darius, the kings of Medo-Persia, again set His people free, and the kings commanded them to rebuild the temple and the holy city. (Ezra 1:1, 2). As the prophecies concerning the church were then fulfilled, God in His faithfulness, made known to His people that which was to take place within a period of “two thousand three hundred days” or years (Dan. 8:14), beginning at the time when the commandment was made to rebuild the city, and ending in 1844. Among the events that took place during that length of time were Christ’s first coming and His crucifixion. (Dan. 9:26.)
Thus, these prophetic periods of time, linked one to another, carried us through history from the time of Abraham to 1844. But as we have referred to but a few of the prophecies, we might mention that there are many other prophetic events interwoven in the foregoing periods of time, such as the twelve hundred and sixty year period of Daniel 7:25, and the prophecies concerning the First-day Advent movement prior to 1844, etc., all of which shows that there has occurred nothing in church history of which the voice of prophecy has failed to speak.
As the prophecies connected with the First-day Advent movement and the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, are of greater importance to us than are any of the ethers, we shall treat of them more fully. However, as we are writing directly to Seventh-day Adventists, to explain the Scriptures with which they are already familiar is needless; therefore, we shall only refer to them and draw the lesson that God would have His people to know now.
In the tenth chapter of Revelation we read: “And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.” (Rev. 10:10.) This scripture is rightly interpreted by the denomination to be a perfectly fitting symbolic prophecy of the indescribable happiness and the crushing disappointment of the First-day Advent movement which declared prior to 1844 the truth of the “2300” day prophecy, whose followers believed what they preached, sold everything of this world’s goods, and spent the proceeds for the preaching of the Gospel that others along with them might be ready for Christ’s coming in the year 1844.
Hence, the thought of taking a flight through the starry heavens and entering through the pearly gates into the eternal city of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, where there is no sorrow, nor pain, nor death, was as sweet a thought to them as is honey to the taste of the tongue. Therefore, to John, the incident was symbolically represented by eating the little book—the Word of God—and by being as sweet as honey at the first. But as the set date passed into eternity, and the Lord Whom they expected to come, did not appear, they, as John, felt their inexpressible joy turn into the gall of bitterness.
Furthermore, as the verse following the one which refers to the disappointment, says, “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (Rev. 10:11), it proves to be an accurate prophecy of the understanding and experience of the movement prior to 1844, for they thought that the Gospel work was then finished, and that probation had
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closed. Therefore, the angel declared: “Thou must prophesy again;” that is, you have made a mistake, and now you must repeat the preaching of your message. Thus, the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, composed largely of those who had been First-day Adventists, arose to fulfill the heavenly commission while some of the First-day Adventists have maintained their own organization to this day.
Now our attention is called to the most important question: Could it be possible that the Scriptures should contain such a complete prophecy of the church to 1844 and contain none at all for her since then? All must honestly agree that to leave the church out of prophecy at any time is illogical and also impossible, for God has never left His people in darkness, and He surely would not do so now at the most important time in the world’s history. Then why does the church of today know so much about the prophecies of the past and so little of the prophecies concerning her own destiny?
There are two great reasons for this mystery. The primal reason is given by the apostle Peter:
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19.)
This scripture declares that prophecy is the more sure word, and that it is as a light that shines in a dark place, and that when it is understood it makes the subject so plain that its clearness is compared by Inspiration, as a “day star” in our hearts. However, the verses following say:
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:20, 21); that is, had the Scriptures come by the will of man, then they could be interpreted by the will of man without the aid of the Spirit. But the fact that “holy men of God” received the Scriptures from the Spirit of God, and as it is impossible for man of himself to know the mind of the Holy Spirit, he cannot interpret the Scriptures without the Spirit’s aid—he must, therefore, be inspired as verily as the ones to whom the Scriptures were given at the first.
This is attested by the fact that today we have thousands of isms which are the result of thousands of interpretations of the Scriptures, which proves that men have independently of the Spirit interpreted the Scriptures, for the Spirit of Prophecy does not, and cannot, give to one person one interpretation of scripture, and give to another another interpretation of the same scripture. Moreover since it is true that the Laodicean church does not know the prophecies concerning herself, it bears evidence that the Spirit of Prophecy is no longer active in the midst of her.
The second reason for her ignorance of “the more sure word of prophecy,” is in that she esteems herself as being “rich, and increased with goods,” and to “have need of nothing,” whereas, the prophecies declare that she is “wretched, and miserableness, and poor, and blind, and naked:” and that she knows it not. (Rev. 3:17.) Hence, as the prophecies concerning her “wretched” spiritual condition, and the ultimate results (should she fail to acknowledge and repent of her spiritual poverty), are in direct opposition with her supposed spiritual prosperity, she only partially interprets or misinterprets, misapplies, or leaves them entirely alone.
In the following paragraph we will endeavor to prove that the church of today is repeating the mistakes which the church of the past committed. For an example, as the Pharisees of old rejected the Inspired interpretation of the Scriptures, and as they feared that the common people might see their mistakes, they killed the prophets to silence them. Consequently, they were left in spiritual darkness, and as they privately—without Inspiration—interpreted the Scriptures, they misunderstood and misapplied even the most simple portions of the Word of God, with the result that they crucified the very One for Whom they had expended millions of dollars in sacrifices, and served hundreds of years in ceremonial services.
“The little horn” of Daniel Seven is a well-defined prophecy of the Roman Hierarchy. This prophecy has been preached for many years, but the Romans have never accepted it although they have not been able to attach its fulfillment elsewhere, nor to remove the time of its application. Just as the prophecies which did not commend the deeds of the Jewish and of the Roman leaders were not understood by them, so the prophecies which point out the errors of the Protestant churches are likewise considered as great mysteries.
This lack of understanding is not because the prophecies are difficult to be understood, but because they reveal the facts which the churches are not only unwilling to admit, but also very zealous to cover up. Hence, the advocates of “the more sure word of prophecy” are met with opposition, hatred, and ridicule, while their adversaries declare that the prophecies are but sealed mysteries. Therefore, as a result, ignorance of the Scriptures prevails among the people everywhere.
Thus, while on the one hand the prophecies reveal the poverty, wretchedness, and miserableness of the church today, she on the other hand boasts of her supposed high attainments, and of being rich and increased with goods, and of having need of nothing. This prevailing condition makes
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impossible her interpreting correctly or accepting “the more sure word of prophecy.” Thus, she is repeating the mistakes of the Jews, the Romans, and the Protestants.
We shall now carefully compare the voice of prophecy with the voice of the church. According to the prophecies, the Seventh-day Adventist denomination was commissioned to “prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” (Rev. 10:11.) The word “many” is a limited word—it does not mean all. Thus, the prophecy in no uncertain terms declares that the Gospel commission to the S.D.A. church does not extend to all the nations, but only to “many,” showing that before the Gospel is proclaimed to all the nations, there must be another commission. This fact is attested also by the Spirit of Prophecy:
“God calls for a spiritual revival and a spiritual reformation. Unless this takes place, those who are lukewarm will continue to grow more abhorrent to the Lord, until He will refuse to acknowledge them as His children.
“A revival and a reformation must take place under the ministration of the Holy Spirit. Revival and reformation are two different things. Revival signifies a renewal of spiritual life, a quickening of the powers of mind and heart, a resurrection from spiritual death. Reformation signifies a reorganization, a change in ideas and theories, habits and practices. Reformation will not bring forth the good fruit of righteousness unless it is connected with the revival of the Spirit.”—“Christ Our Righteousness,” p. 154. (Italics ours.)
“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,’ she is to go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer.”—“Prophets and Kings,” p. 725.
While the voice of prophecy on the one hand declares that there is to be a “reorganization” and then a commission for the church to go to all the nations, the voice of the church, without having any more authority for what it says than do the Sunday observers for their belief that Sunday is the correct day to keep, cries aloud that the Seventh-day Adventist organization is “going through,” and the laity, as the laity of the nominal churches, do not ask for proof from “the more sure word of prophecy,” but rather, blindly exclaims “amen” to the voice of man against the voice of God! At the same time, to keep them in darkness, they are told not to listen to any other voice lest they be deceived!
We as the Seventh-day Adventist denomination were commissioned to go to “many” nations, and to gather the hundred and forty-four thousand, the first fruits, as is clearly shown in Revelation 11:1, 2: “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles.”
The words “measure” and “number” are synonymous, for measuring must be accompanied by numbering. Moreover, as those who worship therein are people, they must be measured by numbering. Hence, from 1844 to the time of this prophetic “reformation and organization,” is the measuring, or numbering time—the gathering of the 144,000, the first fruits, the twelve tribes, or those who worship inside the temple—whereas, “the porch that is without” is to be filled with the Gentiles—the second fruits, a great multitude which no man can number—who are to be gathered after the aforesaid reformation and reorganization is effected, just as it is stated in the Revelation. The revelator saw the 144,000 sealed and after that the great multitude. (Rev. 7:3 through 9.)
The Spirit of Prophecy declares that “only those who have withstood and overcome temptation in the strength of the Mighty One, will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming this message when it shall have swelled into the Loud Cry.” (R. & H., Nov. 19, 1908.) This excerpt bears plain evidence that we are not now in the time of the Loud Cry, neither have we ever been, for the Loud Cry is to be proclaimed only by those who have overcome temptation, whereas, the message has been, and is now proclaimed by both sanctified and unsanctified ministers. Therefore, if the message in the time of the Loud Cry is to be proclaimed only by those who have overcome temptation, there must necessarily be a reformation, and it shall sift out all the unsanctified ministers. (5T p. 80; G.C. 424, 5.)
The more sure word of prophecy through the “gospel prophet” throws great light on the subject. We read:
“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.” (Isa. 66:16, 19, 20.
The slaughter of the Lord here brought to view must take place in His church, for those
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who escape must be Christians, well acquainted with the Lord, otherwise they could not proclaim His fame and His glory. Moreover, as the Gentile nations will remain after the slaying takes place, and as they will be privileged to hear the Gospel, it proves that this slaughter of the Lord shall take place before the close of probation.
Still further, the Spirit of Prophecy writes that when the sealing of the 144,000 and the slaying of Ezekiel Nine is about to take place, the ministers will have betrayed their trust (5T 211), and as the message must be preached by a pure ministry, it again proves that this purification must take place just before the commencement of the Loud Cry, thus making possible the closing of the Gospel work by a reformed and reorganized movement, commissioned to go to all the nations rather than to “many.”
Although we have merely touched the prophecies concerning the church of today, we already see that they are just as thorough as the prophecies concerning the church of the past, and that the three angels’ messages will go through, but both, this system of organization and those who do not take heed now to overcome temptation, will perish in “the slain of the Lord.”
There are many who do not see the necessity of reorganizing, though they see the need of a reformation. For this reason we shall add a few words of explanation.
As there would have been no need of a reformation had the church remained true, there would have been no need of reorganization had the church organized right and stayed right. But as the spirit of the world conquered the church, so the spirit of the world conquered the organization, which is unmistakably evidenced by the fact that both the medical and the educational departments of the denomination are now governed by the standards of the world.
Therefore, rather than the church leading the world, the world is now leading the church; or, in other words, rather than the church being the head, as God designed, she has now become the tail; and instead of the world partaking of the spirit of the church, the church is partaking of the spirit of the world, thus cheating the world from receiving the heavenly light, and causing herself to go into darkness, dishonoring God and honoring mammon. Hence, the need of both reformation and reorganization, for how can God finish His work, bless His people, and save the world with a church organization that itself is seeking help from the world?
The Lord’s having seen the course the church would pursue, has, for her benefit, so shaped the prophecies in an endeavor to awaken the church and to save her people. Hence, let us take heed to the sure Word of prophecy as it says: “Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” (Heb. 4:7.) (SC, vol. 4, no. 10-12, p. 2-5)
Can you tell us the Hebrew New Year’s day, and the days of their sacred feasts, in terms of our Roman calendar?
Answer:
While leading the Hebrew host from bondage to freedom, the Lord was firmly establishing them in the truth of all things, including the truth of the day on which the year begins, of the day on which the month begins, and of the day on which the week begins. Obviously, the Hebrew religion had largely to do with the days of the week, of the month, and of the year.
The Hebrews were forever to keep holy, (1) not a seventh, but the seventh, day of each week, the Sabbath; (2) the days from the fifteenth to the twenty-first day of the first month, the Passover week; (3) the fiftieth day after the sheaf of the first fruits was offered, the Pentecost; (4) the tenth day of the seventh month, the Atonement; (5) the days from the fifteenth to the twenty-first day of the same month, the Feast of Tabernacles; and (6) the feasts of the new moons. Thus the All-knowing One, He who created the heavenly bodies and knows the very moment He set them in motion to govern the day, the month, and the year, decreed that the holy feasts
Answerer Book 3, page 9
be observed in the very month and on the very day on which they were first ordained.
And He appointed the “lights in the firmament… for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Gen. 1:14), by the movements of which He fixed each solar and each lunar date, so that it could never be lost sight of. Then to make doubly secure against such a loss. He “spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” Ex. 12:1, 2.
Thus we see that His great and never erring timepiece for earth, the earth’s own invariable movements, fix the day and the year; whereas the moon’s revolving round the earth makes the months.
But the Roman New Year, January 1, finds its establishment, not in the movements of the solar system, but in the notions of mythology. Consequently, as the date does not coincide with either the vernal or the autumnal equinox, or with either the summer or the winter solstice, then should earth’s inhabitants ever lose count of the day, and need to recover it, they would be helpless to do so.
To prevent His people from bringing upon themselves such a catastrophe, and to have them intelligent as to the time the year begins, the Lord gave to Moses the sacred yearly calendar, which cannot be lost or miscalculated
Answerer Book 3, page 10
so long as the earth remains. He told him that the day which preceded the exodus was the fourteenth day of the first month; and that forever thereafter, they were to commemorate the Passover on that very night each year, the night following the fourteenth day. Thus was the Lord re-stablishing the creation calendar, reaffirming that the year begins on the day of the vernal equinox, on which spring, the first season of the year, commences, and on which the sun and the moon were created (the fourth day from the beginning of creation)–the only point in time at which, in the very nature of things, the year could begin. And so it is that the Passover, the Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles (the three most important feasts in the year), besides other feasts, are controlled by the solar year and by the lunar month; the weekly Sabbath by the day on which creation began; and the year itself by the vernal equinox, the immovable sign-post.
Beginning its first month of the year with the first new moon, at, or after, the vernal equinox, March 20-21, it puts the fourteenth day, that on which the Passover lamb was to be slain, on April 3. Once for all, is seen the utter impossibility of the Roman month’s having the slightest thing to do with fixing the time of either the Passover or the sheaf offering, and thus not the slightest thing to do with reckoning the time of either the crucifixion or the resurrection of Christ.
Answerer Book 3, page 11
This is more graphically seen from the corre- spondence of the sacred events which came in the spring of the year A.D. 31, the year Christ was crucified, with the sacred events which came in the fall of the year A.D. 27, the year in which He was baptized, as viewed diagrammatically:
Answerer Book 3, page 12
This chart enables us to see that just as one solar season matches another (the vernal eguinox matches the autumnal equinox, and the summer solstice, the winter solstice), in like fashion the sacred feasts of one season match the sacred feasts of another season: the tenth day of the first month, the separation of the unblemished lamb from the flock (Ex. 12:3), corresponding to the tenth day of the seventh month, the work of Atonement, the separation of the righteous from the unrighteous, signifying in both events a day of judgment, a day of separating the holy from the unholy; the sixteenth of the first month, the day Christ was crucified, corresponding to the sixteenth of the seventh month, the day He was baptized, showing that His watery grave foreshadowed His grave in the tomb; the eighteenth day of the first month, the resurrection, corresponding to the eighteenth day of the seventh month, the first day of the wilderness temptation; His forty days of victorious ministry to His disciples, corresponding to His forty days of victorious conflict with Satan; and His disciples’ preaching the gospel after the Pentecost, corresponding to His preaching the gospel after the wilderness temptation.
To establish the date of His baptism as the sixteenth day of the seventh month, we need only to consider, aside from the coincidences the fact that the “more sure word of prophecy’ certifies that He was to
Answerer Book 3, page 13
preach three and a half years, and then be “cut off.” Dan. 9:26. And as He was crucified on the sixteenth of the first month, he must have been baptized for the ministry just three and a half years before, on the sixteenth day of the seventh month.” (3 Answerer Book, p. 9-14)
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF, MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS SABBATH, JANUARY 10, 1948 MT. CARMEL CHAPEL WACO, TEXAS
TEXT FOR PRAYER
Break Up The Fallow Ground
I shall read from page 56 of “Christ’s Object Lessons”:
“Throughout the parable of the sower, Christ represents the different results of the sowing as depending upon the soil. In every case the sower and the seed are the same. Thus He teaches that if the word of God fails of accomplishing its work in our hearts and lives, the reason is to be found in ourselves. But the result is not beyond our control. True, we can not change ourselves; but the power of choice is ours, and it rests with us to determine what we will become. The wayside, the stony-ground, the thorny-ground hearers need not remain such…. The soil once overgrown by thorns can be reclaimed only by diligent labor. So the evil tendencies of the natural hear can be overcome only by earnest effort in the name and strength of Jesus. The Lord bids us by His prophet, ‘Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.’ ‘Sow to yourselves in righteousness; reap in mercy.’ This work He desires to accomplish for us, and He asks us to cooperate with Him.”
We shall now kneel and pray that we may ever be awake to the Voice of the Spirit of God; to know that although we cannot change ourselves, yet the power of choice is ours; to ever remember that God has created us free moral agents, that we ourselves are responsible for our hardness of heart; to let Him break up our fallow ground so that we may sow to ourselves righteousness; to know that through prayer and study we can keep awake our desire for spiritual things.
Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 22, page 16
THE GREAT PARADOX OF THE AGES
Zech. 6:1-8 — “And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass. In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my Lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four Spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country. And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and He said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth. Then cried He upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the noth country have quieted My Spirit in the north country.”
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(Picture above)
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The paradox in this prophetic symbolism is with the fourth chariot, you see: It is hitched to two teams, the grisled and the bay, one team trying to take it in one direction (south), and the other in another direction (to and fro through the earth)! What is to become of the chariot, and which of the teams is likely to take it? That is the paradox, for they cannot both have it unless they walk together. As this is a paradoxical symbolism, it has been a mystery ever since the prophet wrote it, and as it is now disclosed for the first time, Inspiration obviously is forewarning someone of something very serious that is taking place at this particular time. What can it be?–
The prophet Zechariah was as anxious to know as we are, for he asked, “What are these, my Lord”? And to his question came the answer, “These are the four Spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of the whole earth.”
The angel’s answer is positive. The chariots, He declared, are the Spirits of the heavens, Who stand before the Lord, and Who are sent to go to and fro through the earth. Plainly, then, these four teams and chariots symbolize four messages (four Spirits) sent from God’s presence. And since all the messages from God are carried to and fro through the earth by the Ministry and the Church, the chariots and their teams, therefore, are seen to symbolize the church at work in four different periods.
The next question is, Where in the stream of time shall we look for this message-laden and trouble-burden church? in our time, in the past or what? The brass mountains give the clue, for the chariots came from between them. We should, therefore, first find out what the mountains symbolize, and
Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 22, page 19
where they stand in time. And as the chariots came from between the mountains, one standing to their left (in the future) and the other to their right (in the past), it is necessary to locate them first. The Biblical interpretation of a symbolical mountain is as follows: “Jerusalem shall be called a city of Truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.” Zech. 8:3. The mountains in Zechariah’s prophecy, therefore, as elsewhere in the Bible, are seen to symbolize two governments, churches, very similar in nature (both of brass) and at two different times (one to the chariot’s right and one to their left). Being of brass, a metal that has everlasting qualities, that does not deteriorate, shows that they represent something eternal. Moreover the mountains being of the same symbolical material as that which the feet of Christ (Rev. 1:15) were shown to be (brass), it locates the mountains in the Christian era.
The only such holy governments of God in the Christian era, one in the past and one in the future between which the path of the chariots lies, are the church of the Pentecost with the 120 Spirit-filled disciples, symbolized by the mountain to the chariots’ right, and the church at the second Pentecost (Joel 2:28, 29, yet future) with the 144,000 Spirit-filled disciples standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb (Rev. 14:1), symbolized by the mountain to the chariots’ left.
It is well understood that the church of today is made up of all kinds of materials, not of solid brass — not of true Christians only, but commingled with good and bad — wheat and tares. The truth is therefore obvious: There is to be another such sin-destroying and sinner-sifting Theocracy as the one in the day of Ananias and Sapphira who for sinning gave up the
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ghost as they fell at the apostle’s feet (Acts 5:1-11).
Plainly, the chariots symbolize the church militant at work between the two Pentecosts.
The fourth chariot being the last, it is to be found operating just before the second Pentecost.
Since the chariots are led by horses, the horses themselves must symbolize the chariot’s (church’s) leadership, and the passengers in the chariots must symbolize the laity.
The symbolism, though, is to disclose the paradoxical situation that exists with the fourth chariot, the last, and hence the Laodicean church with the Judgment message, as her name itself indicates.
The first chariot, you remember, is led by red horses; the second by black horses; the third by white; and the fourth by two kinds — grisled and bay horses. The color of each horse being a mark of species, it must be indicative of their natural and consequential circumstances. And as afore-noted, they are symbolical of the ministry in each segment of church history. The red evidently signifies martyrdom; the black signifies captivity; the white signifies freedom; grisled (an indefinite color, neither black nor white) symbolizes ministers that are neither true Christians nor true Gentiles — hypocrites. The bay, however, denote strength, as the marginal reference points out.
This symbolical prophecy is seen to corroborate history. It points out that the Christian Church at first suffered martyrdom, shown by the color, red. Then followed the Dark Ages of religion when the church
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was in captivity (black). Following these came the Protestant period, the period of religious freedom (white team). And at last comes the fourth chariot with its bay and grisled teams. The teams are seen to have a controversial struggle over the chariot. Grisled being an indefinite color — neither black nor white, denotes hypocrisy, the kind of which is heretofore unknown, whereas the color, bay, denotes spiritual strength (margin) the kind heretofore unknown.
Since the Church originated in Asia, Jerusalem in particular, the first chariot is seen to have remained there, for it went nowhere. The “north country,” geographically north of Palestine is where the other chariots went; that is, the countries which the Christian nations are now inhabiting. The fourth chariot, though, is supposed to go to and fro through the earth — to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people. But contrary to this, the grisled horses “go forth toward the south country” which, figuratively speaking, would be spiritual Egypt — worldliness.
God’s Spirit having been silenced in the north country, must denote that the messages of God in the north country were generally rejected, especially the one of the forth chariot, which caused the Spirit of Truth to turn away and to bring Truth no more through them — to be silent there — and that, therefore, there is not to be expected any Truth through them.
The double team of horses, and their two kinds of colors, pulling in two different directions are immediately seen to symbolize a double set of church leaders (the Seventh-day Adventist leaders and the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist leaders) unlike in character and aim. Symbolically speaking, the grisled horses, those that appeared first on the
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prophetic scene, are leading the chariot into Egypt — the worldliness from which they ought to come out rather than go back into. The bay horses, though, are endeavoring to pull away from it and go to and fro through the earth as commanded — to finish the gospel work in accordance with God’s plan. But this cannot take place so long as both teams are hitched to the chariot, for the chariot cannot possibly move in either direction while one team pulls in one direction and the other in another direction.
The immediate necessity, therefore, is to unhitch (discharge) the one, so that the other can be free to go to and fro through the earth as soon as they are told to “Go.” When this happens the paradox will be a paradox no longer.
What put two different kinds of leaders working at cross purposes? — I shall let the Spirit of Prophecy give the answer. Here follows the description of one set of church leaders:
“…Those who have rendered supreme homage to ‘science falsely so-called,’ will not be the leaders then. Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent, will not then stand at the head of rank and file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock…” — “Testimonies,” Vol. 5, pg. 80.
Obviously, these self-important leaders, who love to slumber in a lukewarm country, are represented by the grisled horses.
We shall now read of the leaders whom the bay
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horses depict, the ones that come on the scene last:
“…The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to view. There are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal. They have not had the light which has been shining in a concentrated blaze upon you. But, it may be under a rough and uninviting exterior the pure brightness of a genuine Christian character will be revealed. In the daytime we look toward heaven, but do not see the stars. They are there, fixed in the firmament, but the eye cannot distinguish them. In the night we behold their genuine lustre.” — “Testimonies,” Vol. 5, pp. 80-81.
This is exactly what is happening right now: Those who are rejecting the message that is announcing the Judgment for the Living; those who “did not keep pace with the light,” and are satisfied to stay in antitypical Egypt; the Seventh-day Adventists’ ministry are to be discharged (unhitched); and the “hidden” ones, those represented by the bay horses, the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists’ ministry, are coming to the front. They are now being “disclosed to view,” and are getting ready to take the chariot! Then as soon as they are told to “Go,” they will unhesitatingly and speedily move on “to and fro through the earth” with the message of the hour, the Judgment for the Living.
Now let the founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination concretely explain what and where the south country is:
“I am filled with sadness when I think of our condition as a people…. The church has turned back from following Christ her Leader, and is steadily
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retreating toward Egypt. Yet few are alarmed or astonished at their want of spiritual power. Doubt and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God, is leavening our churches everywhere. Satan would have it thus. Ministers who preach self instead of Christ would have it thus. The testimonies are unread and unappreciated. God has spoken to you. Light has been shining from his world and from the testimonies, and both have been slighted and disregarded. The result is apparent in the lack of purity and devotion and earnest faith among us.” — “Testimonies,” Vol. 5, pg. 217. (Underscored words ours.)
What will unhitch the grisled horses from the chariot? — Isaiah the prophet has the answer:
Isa. 66:16, 19, 20 — “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.”
Here is projected a slaughter, taking place among those who have been instructed to abstain from unclean meats, but among whom many are violating God’s command. The disobedient, those whose bellies are their gods, including those who sanctify
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and purify themselves, (the self-righteous) in the gardens behind one tree (behind their Truth-hating minister, Isa. 66:17, margin), are by the Lord Himself removed from among His Truth-seeking ones.
After the transgressors are thus removed, then those who are left, the “remnant,” the escaped ones, become the servants of God and are sent to all the nations, especially to those who have not as yet heard either of God’s fame or the good news of His Kingdom. These escaped ones are to bring to the house of the Lord all their brethren, all that will be converted to Christ — “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.” They shall stand “before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” Rev. 7:9.
Thus will the Gospel be finished by those who escape from the Lord’s slaying (Isa. 66:15,16) and God’s people be quickly gathered from the four corners of the earth, happily brought as an offering to the house of the Lord (Isa. 66:19, 20).
Now is everyone’s chance to decide to be either on the one side or on the other, either to reform and be led by the faithful bay horses, or to cling to the self-important grisled horses and stay by them in the south country, there to perish. Here is indeed a momentous decision to be made by every member of the Denomination. It calls for action that will decide the future destiny of the laity as well as of the ministry.
Now is your opportunity to act, and it is my wish and prayer that you, and every member of the Denomination,
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chooses to be on the side which this unveiled paradox of the ages plainly and definitely instructs you to be on. Do not let the grisled horses deceive you any longer. Meet their fair speeches with “Thus saith the Lord.” You take them to task on this strictly Biblical Truth.
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