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Question No. 26:

What does Revelation 12:13-17 mean?

Answer:

“And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12:13-17.

Nearly all Christians agree that the only tenable interpretation of the “woman” here mentioned, is that she symbolical the church. And the fact that she gave birth to the man child, Christ, shows that she is therefore symbolical of the church in at least the Christian dispensation.

While the dragon was persecuting her through the deceived Jewish priests who rejected Christ as the Messiah, “there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word.” Acts 8:1-4.

To her were therefore given the wings of a great eagle—her means of transport into the wilderness. And being the opposite of the vineyard (“the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant”—lsa. 5:7), the wilderness obviously denotes the Gentile nations. The apostles, therefore, in fulfillment of this prophecy were commanded, and given the wings, speedily to go preach to all nations.

“Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles, heard this, they were glad, and glorified the Word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the Word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.” Acts 13:46-49.

Seeing this, the serpent sought to destroy the woman’s usefulness among the Gentiles: he “cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.” Rev. 12:15.

Anyone can see that this “flood” can represent only the church’s suddenly becoming infiltrated with unconverted pagans who, as in Constantine’s time and for years thereafter, were even taken en masse and forced into baptism. In the parables of Christ this same “flood” is described, but under the different term, “tares.” And the evident fact that they are still very much in the church, forces the painful realization that the earth has not as yet swallowed up the flood.

“Flood” and “tares” are figurative equivalents. The swallowing of the flood, therefore is the same as the burning of the tares as comprehended in the parable of the harvest (Matt. 13:3).

Besides, the Revelator points out that not until after the flood is swallowed by the earth after the unconverted are “slain” and buried and the church thereby purified, will the dragon wage his fiercest warfare against the remnant of the woman’s seed. Hence, the harvest time in the church, the time the earth swallows the flood, is before the dragon wars against the remnant.

“Fruits” garnered are the result of a harvest. When the 144,000, the first fruits (Rev. 14:4), are garnered in, and the tares (flood) are destroyed (swallowed) from among them, the 144,000 are taken to Mt. Zion, where they then comprise the Mother church, the twelve-star-crowned woman, under the protection of the Lamb, the One with them. Thus protected, she is secure from the dragon’s then making war against her. So he wars only against her “remnant,” those yet to be garnered-the second fruits still scattered throughout the world, away from Mt. Zion. This climax of the ages was vividly foretold by both Isaiah and Micah:

“But in the last days,” declares Micah, “it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow into it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Mic. 4:1, 2. (See also Isaiah 2).

From these scriptures, it is plainly seen that Mt. Zion becomes the headquarters for the last gospel work on earth, after the time the 144,000 arrive there, and during the time the dragon wars against the remnant “for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem”-no longer from the General Conference, or from Mt. Carmel Center.

Then shall many nations say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.” Mic. 4:2. (Answerer, vol. 2, Question 26)

  “For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into His vineyard. And when He had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, He sent them into His vineyard.  And He went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said undo them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you.  And they went their way.  Again He went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour He went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto Him, Because no man hath hired us.  He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.” Matt. 20:1 -7.

   How can we know for a certainty in which hour we find ourselves, and if our own call to service has come?  We can know only by establishing the time in which the last parabolic hour expires.  And to do this we must first establish the time of the first call for servants, then in turn the time of each successive call, culminating with the last.  First, though, pursuant to this end, we must bring into focus the parable’s significant points:

   (1) The “Householder,” as every Bible student knows, is the Lord Himself.  (2) The Laborers are His servants.  (3) The penny is their reward.  (4) His vineyard is the place where they are to labor.  (5) The day is parabolical — representing a period of time which is illuminated by some great light.  (6) The period of labor is both preceded

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and succeeded by a night — else there could be no “early” and no “late” part of the day.  (7) The Householder hires laborers at five different times. (8) There are four three-hour periods.  (9) In each of the first three periods, only one group is hired.  (10) In the fourth and last period of three hours, two groups are hired.  (11) The agreement for a penny a day is made only with the first group.  (12) The other groups are to receive “whatsoever is right.”  (13) At the day’s end all are given the same pay — a penny, even through the last worked only an hour.  (14) The first were paid last; the last, first.

   Now to find out in which hour we are told, “Go ye also,” we must here at the outset of this go-to-work study, determine where in time the parable begins and where it ends.  To gain this vital knowledge is simply to reckon with the sequentially amplifying facts that the parabolical night which preceded the parabolical day must necessarily be the period before the spiritual “Light of the world,” the Bible, came up — before the light of the Scriptures, the written Word of God, began to shine forth into the hearts of men.  For back there, it must be remembered, the will of God was transmitted, not by the Bible, but orally from father to son, just as the light of the sun at night is transmitted to the earth by the moon, rather than directly by the sun itself.  For this reason it has come to be regarded as the time of oral tradition.

   But the day of labor obviously represents the period in which “the Light of the world,” the Bible Itself, lightens man’s path.  Thus it is that in His parable, the Master, the Lord of the vineyard, regards the Old and New Testament dispensations as the only day period of all probationary time, in which He goes to the market-place at

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five consecutive times to hire servants to work in His vineyard.

   Finally, the night following the day can only represent the period after the gospel work is finished, after probation for man’s salvation is closed. Then, as the “Light of the world” (the Word of God) sinks beyond the horizon of the day, darkness covers “the earth, and gross darkness the people.” Isa. 60:2.  It is the time which finds the destiny of every being forever fixed.  Then follows the Lord’s irrevocable finality:

   “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Rev. 22:1 1.

   It is the time when men “shall run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord, and shall not find It” (Amos 8:12); the time when the unmindful of the Master’s call, and the impenitent of sin realize and cry out in frenzied and agonized despair: “The harvest is past, and the summer is ended, and we are not saved”! Jer. 8:20.

   The truth is now become clear that the parable divides the time of salvation into two equal parts of twelve symbolical hours each — the period before the Bible (the night), and the period during the Bible (the day).  Lending additional force to the fact that the parable thus divides time, Jesus declares:

   “Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the Light of this world.” John 11:9.

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   Proceeding now, we come to another point of special significance: the first four groups were hired at consecutive intervals three parabolical hours apart; whereas the fifth, the last group, the one hired at the eleventh hour, came only two, instead of three, hours later than the fourth group, and thus only one parabolical hour before the day’s end — shortly before probation closes.

   This two-hour period, from the ninth hour to the eleventh hour, is a singularity which comes as a climactic exception to the master pattern of sequential and regular three-hour intervals between calls.  It obviously reveals that the last call comes unexpectedly and surprisingly within the period of the ninth-hour group.  Hence there are only two parabolical hours for the one group, and only one parabolical hour for the other group.

   To determine the identity of the laborers participating in each of the five different calls, we necessarily begin our quest with THE SERVANTS OF THE FIRST CALL:

   We have already seen that it is the Bible, the spiritual “Light of the world,” that makes the parabolical day.  We all know, moreover, that the Bible arrived with the Exodus movement also the since the arrival, the Lord never bargained, as it were with another people, and that they were the only ones to whom He ever committed the ceremonial covenants and all their rewards and promises.  Inescapably, therefore, the first group of the parable, those who went to labor “early in the morning,” at the rising of the spiritual light, the Bible, and with whom the bargain was made to receive a penny a day, were ancient Israel as they were going out of Egypt, the time of which

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was early in the parabolical day.  In concord the Spirit of Prophecy declares:

   “The Jews had been first called into the Lord’s vineyard….” -Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 400.

   At that early hour, as God began to indite the Scriptures (as the Light that lightens the hearts of men began to rise), “He…remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations.  Which covenant He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac, and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.” Ps. 105:8-10.

   Having thus by the first call for servants solidly established the time in which the parabolical go-to-work calls started, we are now to ascertain the call-time and work-period of THE SERVANTS OF THE SECOND CALL:

   The second group, those sent at the third parabolical hour, must necessarily be the ones who were called to the work next.  And they were, of course, the early Christians.  Significantly enough, too, the Lord was crucified at the third hour of the day (Mark 15:25), and likewise Pentecost came at the third hour of the day (Acts 2:15).

   Another point of significance of which we should take note is the fact that the messages borne by these first two groups, by ancient Israel and by the early Christians, were not of a reformatory nature; they were not old, forgotten truths in process of revival and restoration; rather each was a new revelation, “meat in due season” — present Truth especially adapted fully to meet the needs of the people in their respective times. The former group

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were inspired and commissioned to teach and practice the truths of salvation as embodied in the ceremonial system, the latter group were inspired and commissioned to teach and practice the same immutable truths in their advanced light-advanced from typical to antitypical representation, from the ministration in the earthly tabernacle to the ministration in the heavenly one; that is, from the sacrifice of a lamb of the flock to the sacrifice of Christ Himself, the Lamb of God.  Thus the latter group taught the old truths in a new and original light, in the light of the gospel — that Christ was crucified for the remission of sin, resurrected in triumph over sin and death, and ascended to make atonement and reconciliation for the penitent sinner, not in an earthly, but in an heavenly, tabernacle.

   Since the messages of the first two groups (the one carried by the Exodus Movement, and the other carried by the Christians) were each in their respective times fresh from glory, that fact logically establishes itself as Divine precedent and pattern for all the messages of the parable. Accordingly, each of the three remaining groups must likewise be entrusted with a message of new and distinctive revelation, of “meat in due season” — truth adapted especially and fully to meet the needs of God’s people at the time then present.  Therefore we need only to trace down through the annals of church history the unfolding of the scroll, till we come upon a newly and originally revealed and proclaimed truth subsequent to the message of the first advent of Christ It must point out THE SERVANTS OF THE THIRD CALL:

   The Protestant Reformation, being purely an endeavor to restore old, down-trodden truths, and not to reveal new, advanced ones, had no new message of its own – nothing

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that had not already been taught in times past.  It therefore follows that the third group and message must be sought during the years following the Reformation.

   The only revelation of new prophetic truth, subsequent to the Reformation, is the announcement of the year in which was to begin the work of cleansing the sanctuary, primarily in behalf of the dead (based on Daniel 8:14, but not then fully understood).  As its announcement was made by the First-day Adventists, it necessarily follows that they were the third group of servants with a new and distinctive message.  And as is well known, they started proclaiming it in the year 1833, announcing that the cleansing of the sanctuary was to commence in the year 1844.  Thus in 1833 the clock of parabolic time struck the hour of six.”

…to be continued

“The Great Controversy,” pp. 322, 323, teaches that “not until the personal advent of Christ can His people receive the kingdom….But when Jesus comes, He confers immortality upon His people; and then He calls them to inherit the kingdom of which they have hitherto been only heirs.” Will you please help harmonize the Bible and “The Shepherd’s Rod” with these and other passages in Sister White’s writings in regard to the setting up of the Kingdom?

Answer:

Although the doctrine of the Kingdom may not appear quite so complete under the lens of Sister White’s writings as under the lens of the Rod, one dare not thus superficially reject either, but must the more studiously compare both views of the doctrine under the super-lens of the Bible. He must keep in mind that we are not given license to harmonize the Bible with any other writings, but are charged to measure all others by It.

First of all, in order to do justice to the Scriptures, to Sister White’s writings, and to the Rod the position of each on the subject must be viewed in the light of the Scriptures, which incontrovertibly teach that the Promised Land will be reinhabited by the Lord’s own converted people. (See Isaiah 2; Micah 4; Ezekiel 36, 37; Jeremiah 31-33).

As to Sister White’s statement in The Great Controversy, she is there speaking of the Kingdom complete, after the dead are raised, at the time the saints receive it. This was the only phase of the subject-the consummate phase that Providence had made known when she wrote. Now as the scroll of prophetic Truth has unrolled further since her day, the Kingdom in reality is seen to have an intermediate, Davidian phase, as well as the final one heretofore known.

Besides the prophecies relating to the literal—the Davidian—Kingdom, the Bible contains many other prophetic subjects which the writings of Sister White do not even mention, let alone treat of. And if the Lord does not now reveal them to the church to meet her need today, she will not be prepared for their fulfillment, but will be left to perish in her undone Laodicean condition. These prophecies must therefore be revealed in order to strengthen the church in her final warfare. Otherwise, for what purpose were they written?

No prophet of God has ever forged a complete prophetic chain of events, with no links missing. It has taken many inspired writers to complete the long chain of prophecy. The mind, therefore, which takes the position that Sister White has done what no prophet in or out of the Bible has ever done, does so at the utter disregard of actual Biblical procedure and also of revealed Truth.

She herself says that “no man, however honored of Heaven, has ever attained to a full understanding of the great plan of redemption, or even to a perfect appreciation of the Divine purpose in the work for his own time. Men do not fully understand what God would accomplish by the work which He gives them to do; they do not comprehend, in all its bearings, the message which they utter in His name.”-The Great Controversy, p. 343.

Some persons, being of the parrot kind, utter parrot-like statements, never stopping to think what they say, and seemingly never caring whether their statements stand or fall. Such are they who say that no other event or events can come before, between, or after those set forth in Sister White’s writings.

Should one insist that the continuity of events recorded in Early Writings, pp. 15-17, must be taken as absolute, and that no other event or events can be sandwiched in, then he is getting himself into deep water, for the pages mentioned in no wise even intimate either the seven last plagues or the millennium!

Again: the Jews rejected the Lord because not all of what the prophets taught and wrote was found in the teachings of Moses. “We know,” they said, “that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence He is.” John 9:29.

As no prophet’s writings ever predicted the entire Truth needed by the church to carry her clear through to the Kingdom, and as other prophets followed, either enlarging upon or adding to the prophecies already recorded in the Scriptures, then for anyone to turn down the good tidings of the Kingdom on the grounds that this phase of the Kingdom is not found in Sister White’s writings, is for him to take the same inexcusable and fatal stand as did the Jews. It is to say, “I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” Rev. 3:17. It is this attitude that compels God to spue out of His mouth the lukewarm, satisfied Laodiceans.

The eleventh-hour message has been timed and designed to reveal the Davidian Kingdom rising a new before the appearing of Christ in the clouds. Having no direct light, however on this phase of the Kingdom, The Great Controversy could no more have expressed itself in the definite terms which the message today uses, than could William Miller have expressed himself on the subject of the cleansing of the sanctuary, in such terms as we read in The Great Controversy.

Of necessity, any statements relative to a subject which is still out of sight in the unfolding of the Scroll, are made only in incidental terms of truth as it is at the time seen or commonly understood. And if the common understanding of these incidental statements be wrong, the writer cannot be held responsible for that which he has borrowed from others or seen but very dimly and therefore expressed very indefinitely.

For example, in Christ’s day “the doctrine of a conscious state of existence between death and the resurrection was held by many of those who were listening to Christ’s words. The Saviour knew of their ideas, and He framed his parable so as to inculcate important truths through these preconceived opinions. He held up before His hearers a mirror wherein they might see themselves in their true relation to God. He used the prevailing opinion to convey the idea He wished to make prominent to all….”—Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 263.

This circumstance is natural and common to every writer treating of Present Truth, beginning with the Old Testament writers, and continuing ever since, and will thus be until every component part of the Truth is made known. This is borne out in the work of John the Baptist. He was to proclaim, not the setting up of the Kingdom, but the coming of the King. But in announcing the one, he incidentally had to answer questions concerning the other. When speaking of the coming King, he expressed himself in terms of revealed Truth. But when circumstantially alluding to the coming Kingdom, on which there was no special light in his day, he necessarily expressed himself in terms of the doctrines as then commonly understood.

Nevertheless, when the further unrolling of the scroll revealed that the Kingdom was not to be set up at that time, then the honest, truth-seeking ones did not accuse either John or Christ, but joyously watched the scroll unfold, and jubilantly marched on with the Truth. Not so, though, with the vast majority of the Jews. Their pride of opinion, forbidding them to forgo their errors and to embrace advancing Truth, led them deeper into error.

“Thus it was,” says the Spirit of Prophecy, “that the Jews did in the days of Christ, and we are waned not to do as they did, and be led to choose darkness rather than light, because there was in them an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.”-Testimonies on Sabbath-School Work, p. 66; Counsels on Sabbath School Work, p. 30.

So The Great Controversy and Early Writings make the subject of the Kingdom just as clear as the partial unrolling of the scroll permitted the writer to view it, in only one of its phases, at the time she wrote both books.

While The Great Controversy may omit showing that the establishment of the Kingdom and the inheriting of it are two different events, elsewhere the Spirit of Prophecy does do so: While the apostles, it says, “were not to behold the coming of the kingdom in their day, the fact that Jesus bade them pray for it, is evidence that in God’s own time it will surely come.

“The Kingdom of God’s grace is now being established, as day by day hearts that have been full of sin and rebellion yield to the sovereignty of His love. But the full establishment of the kingdom of His glory will not take place until the second coming of Christ to this world. ‘The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under he whole heaven,’ is to be given to ‘the people of he saints of the Most High.”’-Mount of Blessing, p. 159.

Every Christian should remember that as the Truth is ever-advancing It will not be found today where It was yesterday and that therefore Christ’s followers must advance with It. They will not follow the examples of the Jews and the Romans.

When Moses wrote the first part of the Bible, he was not given all the light which God intended to reveal to His people through the ages. With each approaching hour for the Truth to advance, came first one prophet, then another, in a long succession ending with John the Baptist. Then came Christ the apostles, the reformers, William Miller and Sister White, each one in turn teaching truths which could not be borne out entirely by the writings of any one predecessor. To find all the Truth thus progressively revealed, the writings of all must be collaborated.

For instance, in setting forth the law of the Passover, and in commanding its observance Moses wrote: “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats: and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.” Ex. 12:5, 6.

The reason which Moses assigns for the Passover observance is that it is to commemorate Israel’s going out of Egypt (Deut. 16:1-3). John the Baptist, however, imputes its significance to the coming of Christ, “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29), while the apostles assign it to His crucifixion: “For even Christ our passover,” says Paul, “is sacrificed for us.” 1 Cor. 5:7. And the significance of keeping the Passover, he then attaches to the ordinance of the Lord’s supper (1 Cor. 11:26).

Similarly, Moses did not explain that the Levitical priesthood in the earthly sanctuary (Ex. 40:15) was only a provisional and thus a temporary one, a figure of Christ’s priesthood in the heavenly sanctuary, as the apostles explained (Heb. 6:19, 20; 9:12, 26).

Failing to advance with the advancing Truth, each generation of Jews found fault with its respective prophets, culminating with the apostles and the very Son of God Himself. The Jews justified their criminal actions on the ground that the claims of their prophets, of Christ, and of the apostles, were not founded upon Moses’ writings. So while boasting of Moses’ writings, they denied and killed the prophets who came after him—a solemn warning to us, lest doing as they did, we meet their fate!

The main question therefore is not as to whether Sister White’s or Moses’ or this one’s or that one’s writings contain all the messages for this day, but rather simply as to whether they are found in, and supported by, the Bible.

The Rod consequently does not claim that its message is found in its entirety in the writings of any one particular prophet, but rather in the writings of all the prophets—“here a little, and there a little.” Isa. 28:13.

Let none, therefore, treacherously use Sister White’s writings, as the Jews used Moses’ writings, against the advance of Truth, and to their own eternal hurt. From every angle approached, the Bible clears the subject of the Kingdom, making impossible one’s erring if he follows precisely what the Word says concerning it.

The Rod does not teach either that Jerusalem is to be rebuilt, or that it is not to be rebuilt, as the capital city of the Kingdom, but only that the Kingdom in its beginning is to be set up in the Promised Land. And in confirmation of this truth, Ezekiel prophesies of

A New Division of The Land.

The prophet presents a division of the land entirely different from that in Joshua’s time (Josh. 17): it is to be in strips from the east to the west; Dan is to have the first portion in the north, and Gad, the last portion in the south between the borders of these two are to be the portions of the rest of the tribes; the city is to be in the midst of the land (Ezek. 48).

The fact that such a division of the Promised Land has never been made, shows that it is yet future. Also the fact that the sanctuary is to be there, whereas it is not to be in the earth made new (Rev. 21:22), again proves that this unique setup is pre-millennial.

In addition, the twofold fact that the name of the city is “The Lord is There,” and that its location, according to the division of the land, necessarily must in some respects be different from that of old Jerusalem, shows that Jerusalem of today, the city proper, may not at all be rebuilt as a capital city of the coming Kingdom. (See Tract No. 12 The World Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, 1941 Edition, pp. 52, 53).

If the Bible makes Itself clear on any subject It certainly does so on the subject of the Kingdom. And rightly so, for the Kingdom is the Christian’s crowning hope,

Satan’s Constant Target, the People’s Repeated Stumbling Block.

That the great controversy between Christ and Satan is over this crowning hope, the Kingdom, is seen from the Lord’s repeated instructions in the prophecies, in the types, and in the parables; from Satan’s constant effort to keep the human race out of it; and last, from human beings repeatedly being defeated in their warfare to become heirs of it.

Working determinedly from the beginning to plunge all humanity into hell, Satan conceived his major strategy of misleading them concerning the Kingdom. He succeeded with most of the Jews because they wanted the Kingdom set up before its appointed time or not at all. And he is succeeding with many of the Laodiceans today because now, when the time appointed actually has come, they want to have it later or not at all! What a paradox! What an irony! Indeed, as history repeats itself, so does folly!

The Bible says: “In the days of these kings [the kings that are symbolized by the ten toes of the great image] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed. …It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms.” Dan. 2:44.

Observe that “the stone” (the Kingdom) does not become a great mountain until after it smites the image, showing that the Kingdom begins in its infancy with only the first fruits, who soon stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb, and who later, after they have garnered in the second fruits of the living, smite the nations; finally there come from the grave the saved of all ages fully to make up the “great mountain”—the Kingdom complete!

In the face of these clear-cut and repeatedly chronicled prophecies, may no one be so foolish as to say, as did the Jews in response to Ezekiel’s prophecies, “The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off” (Ezek. 12:27), thereby bringing upon his head the same dreadful doom. (Answerer, vol. 2, Q-42)

 I have been asked to give a study on current events, on the Palestine situation, and on the separation caused by the slaughter that is forecast in Ezekiel’s vision.

   I wish that I could tell you all you want to know, but I cannot say how soon the separation, the purification of the church, (Testimonies, Vol. 5, pg. 80), will take place.  God alone knows the time.  All I know is that it cannot take place before we prepare the way, before our God-given work in connection with Ezekiel 9 is done. Then it will come to pass that the Lord will suddenly come to His temple (the church) and purify the sons of Levi, the ministry (Mal. 3:1-3).  But those who receive not the mark will fall under the slaughter weapons of the angels as did the unfaithful “first born” in the night of the Passover in the land of Egypt.

   I am, however, certain that God will not keep us ignorant of the things we ought to know.  If it becomes necessary for us to know ahead of time the day and hour of the purification of the church, the antitypical Passover, we will be told.  Yes, we shall know at least as much in advance as Moses knew about the Passover in his day.  He did not know months ahead the day and hour of the events that were then to take place, but he was instructed of his and of the people’s duties and of what to expect from day to day.  Neither did he know beforehand that they were to come up against the Red Sea, but as the cloud led them there, and as the Egyptians followed close behind, he was then told what to

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do.  Moreover, at the time they crossed the Sea he did not know that they were to spend forty years in the desert nor that the grown-ups among them were to perish while on their journey to the Promised Land.

   Thus must it be today, because “the secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Deut. 29:29.  God knows how to lead and how to save.  I cannot, therefore, give you light beyond what inspiration makes known.  I can only speak of the things that are revealed.

   The most exciting current event that we know of is the presidential election which stands only two days in the future.  As the nation sees it, this is now the biggest thing in the world, even though many will not get what they want, for each one of the different parties has named its own nominee on the presidential ballot, but only one president is to be elected.

   All seem to think that peace and prosperity depend upon the man they put in the White House.  Upon the authority of the Word, though, I stand to tell you that regardless who is put in office there will be no peace and desirable lasting prosperity, for God is left out of the plans which have been devised although He alone can give what we are after.  And now how may we know that God is not taken into partnership?  The clue that gives the answer is this:

   If the church members themselves leave God out of consideration and go to men for counsel instead of to God, then how can one expect the world to go to Him?  I have in my possession hundreds of letters from our own Denomination which prove this very thing!  They give me this information by saying:

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   “I never read your literature, and never will; our ministers have investigated your teachings and they have found them to be false.  We have all the Truth; we need nothing more.  Take my name off your mailing list.”

   Practically all of these brethren that are trapped by the Laodicean “having need of nothing” idea attempt to refute the message of present Truth by quoting from Sister White’s writings, in spite of the fact that their quotations are irrelevant to the subject and misconstrued in their own minds.  All quote passages which the leading brethren have cunningly passed on to them in their brochures against us, and all of them sing the same Laodicean song which the leading brethren have put into their mouths.

   These things again and again prove that instead of using their own God-given reason, the multitude are led by the minds of a few hostile brethren.  Passages, though, such as the ones I am about to read to you, are kept away from them.

   Let me now read these simple and to the point lines of inspired Writ which need no comments:

   “Introduce nothing that will cause dissension, without clear evidence that in it God is giving a special message for this time.

   “But beware of rejecting that which is truth.  The great danger with our people has been that of depending upon men, and making flesh their arm.  Those who have not been in the habit of searching the Bible for themselves, or weighing evidence, have confidence in the leading men, and accept the decisions they make; and thus many will reject the very messages God sends to His people, if these leading brethren do not accept them.

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   “No one should claim that he has all the light there is for God’s people.  The Lord will not tolerate this.” — Testimonies To Ministers, pp. 106, 107.

   “We must study the truth for ourselves.  No man should be relied upon to think for us.  No matter who he is, or in what position he may be placed, we are not to look upon any man as a criterion for us.  We are to counsel together, and to be subject one to another; but at the same time we are to exercise the ability God has given us, in order to learn what is truth.  Each one of us must look to God for divine enlightenment.  We must individually develop a character that will stand the test in the day of God.  We must not become set in our ideas, and think that no one should interfere with our opinions.” — Testimonies To Ministers, pp. 109, 110.

   “God wants us to depend upon Him, and not upon man.  He desires us to have a new heart; He would give us revealings of light from the throne of God.” — Testimonies To Ministers, pg. 111.

   “…Whatever may be his position of authority, no one has a right to shut away the light from the people.  When a message comes in the name of the Lord to His people, no one may excuse himself from an investigation of its claims.” — Counsels On Sabbath School Work, pg. 28.

   Does not the Denomination’s perverted trend in finding Heaven-revealed Truth prove to you that God is left out of consideration, that in His place are put those who are supposed to be His servants?  What else can it be if man is consulted when the Spirit of God should be?  Are we not told by the Scriptures that the Spirit Himself is to lead us individually into all Truth?  that we are not to make flesh our arm by having someone else decide for us what is Truth and what is error?  Are we not denying the  Spirit and our connection with Heaven when we take a substitute?  And still worse

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is it to go for advice to one who is already against that which you expect him to approve or disapprove.  If God can teach the cattle individually to seek water in the lower lands, not on the top of the mountains and hills, and to search for a place of warmth where the wind does not strike, then why can he not personally show us what is Truth and what is error?

   Were the founders of the church directed into Truth by the counsel of the priests and rabbis, or by the Spirit of God in their hearts?  Are we not individually told: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” 1 John 4:1, 2.”  Quench not the Spirit.  Despise not prophesyings.  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thess. 5:19-21.

   Moreover, Amos by the eye of Inspiration looked down through the centuries, deep into the Christian era, and declared:

Amos 1:2 — “The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.”

   This scripture, you see, reflects the tragedy which took place on the top of Carmel in the days of Elijah.  Here we are given the hint that there is to be another show-down between the prophet of God and the prophets of Baal.  The prophets of Baal in our day even boast that they are not inspired, that what they teach and preach is what they themselves discovered by deep study and research!  They even sneer at those who claim to be inspired of the Lord!  They seem to think that God has forsaken the earth; that He cares not to send His Spirit as in former time; that men are now so wise that what the Spirit can do for them, they themselves can do even

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better! The truth is, though, that if there ever was a need for inspired interpreters of the Scriptures, it is today while many winds of doctrines are blowing from all directions, bringing in confusion, dissension, and disaster everywhere.  No one sees eye to eye!

   Of this sad condition the Spirit of Prophecy warns:

   “Those who allow prejudice to bar the mind against the reception of truth can not receive the divine enlightenment.  Yet, when a view of Scripture is presented, many do not ask, Is it true, — in harmony with God’s word?  but, By whom is it advocated?  and unless it comes through the very channel that pleases them, they do not accept it.  So thoroughly satisfied are they with their own ideas, that they will not examine the Scripture evidence, with a desire to learn, but refuse to be interested, merely because of their prejudices.

   “The Lord often works where we least expect Him; He surprises us by revealing His power through instruments of His own choice, while He passes by the men to whom we have looked as those through whom light should come.  God desires us to receive the truth upon its own merits, — because it is truth.” — Testimonies To Ministers, pp. 105, 106.

   The world has never seen a more religious group, nor a more praying and pious people than were the priests, scribes, and Pharisees in Christ’s day.  Yet they were the very ones who protested against Christ’s teachings, who spread prejudice and confusion among the people and who kept them in darkness!  Yes, they deceived a whole nation.  Finally, if the Jewish Sanhedrin was not to be trusted at Christ’s first advent, then how do we know that the Christian’s Sanhedrin at Christ’s second advent is to be unquestionably correct?  It was the Sanhedrins of the middle ages and down to this day that have fought against any Divinely led

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Reformation.  And let me read to you of that which took place in the pioneering days of the Denomination:

   “But the churches generally did not accept the warning.  Their ministers, who as ‘watchmen unto the house of Israel,’ should have been the first to discern the tokens of Jesus’ coming, had failed to learn the truth, either from the testimony of the prophets or from the signs of the times.  As worldly hopes and ambitions filled the heart, love for God and faith in His word had grown cold; and when the advent doctrine was presented, it only aroused their prejudice and unbelief.  The fact that the message was, to a great extent, preached by laymen, was urged as an argument against it.  As of old, the plain testimony of God’s word was met with the inquiry, ‘Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed?’  And finding how difficult a task it was to refute the arguments drawn from the prophetic periods, many discouraged the study of the prophecies, teaching that the prophetic books were sealed, and were not to be understood.  Multitudes, trusting implicitly to their pastors refused to listen to the warning; an others, though convinced of the truth, dared not confess it, lest they should be ‘put out of the synagogue.’ The message which God had sent for the testing and purification of the church, revealed all too surely how great was the number who had set their affections on this world rather than upon Christ.  The ties which bound them to earth were stronger than the attractions heavenward.  They chose to listen to the voice of worldly wisdom, and turned away from the heart-searching message of truth.” — The Great Controversy, pg. 380.

   If such has been the experience of the past, and if we all had to make up our own minds for or against the Advent truth in opposition to the decisions of the priests and ministers in our former churches, and if this was the only method of finding Truth then, why should it not be so now?  Have we now become less capable than we

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were before becoming Adventists?  Are our prayers now failing to bring results?  Has the Spirit left us?  or have we turned away from Him?  There is but one honest answer that can be given:

   The church is drifting with the world and she, too, is expecting the world’s great men, not the Spirit of God, to tell her what is Truth and what is error, whom to put in office and whom not to.  “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.” Lam. 3:40.

   The idea that we, as Seventh-day Adventists, have all the Truth we need, that we are “rich and increased with goods,” in need of nothing more, is the idea with which the Sanhedrin in Christ’s day indoctrinated the minds of the people, and to this day the Jewish nation has not recovered from the effects.  Do not our Seventh-day Adventist brethren therefore stand in the same degenerating position of rejecting any light that God may send, if it does not agree with their ideas?  And even if Christ Himself should bring it down, and if it disagree with theirs, would they not like the Jews of old be dangerously tempted to crucify Him if they could?  O the great need for revival and reformation! And if such be the condition of the people in our own church, then what can be expected elsewhere?  Return unto Me, for why should you perish?  is Heaven’s cry.

   These are some of the current events which show that humanity is drifting farther and farther away from God and drawing closer and closer to individual self.  If we take God into partnership, we will have peace, security, and prosperity.  But as it is now, we as a nation and as a people are headed for trouble and uncertainly at home, and for war abroad, while the church sleeps on.

   Now as to what I think about the Palestine situation itself: I think the Jews need to have a place to go

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to, but I do not think God is leading them.  If God drove the Jews from His land because of their wickedness, because He no longer could tolerate them, then it is certain that He is not leading them back to it now while they are of the same mind and just as hostile against His only Son as they were two thousand years ago.  The Jews, therefore, are taking the land on their own responsibility, and when the “times” of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24) end, the new State of Israel, as they call themselves, will then vacate the land much faster than they can now take, it, unless they take God into the land with them.

   God is nevertheless to have a people there, but they will be the kind He tells of in the Scriptures, some of which I shall now read:

Jer. 30:18-22 — “Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.  And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.  Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.  And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto Me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto Me?  saith the Lord.  And ye shall be My people, and I will be your God.”

Jer. 31:6-10, 34 — “For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God.  For thus saith the Lord; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise

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ye, and say, O Lord, save Thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.  They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.  Hear the Word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock…. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Hos. 3:4, 5 — “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

   “Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.”

   God will have a people in the land all right, but they all shall know the Lord.  Those, therefore, who are now trying to establish themselves in Palestine are not that people.  To learn who the people are that will inherit the land, read Tract No. 8, Mount Zion At The Eleventh Hour.

   But, you say, is there no prophecy concerning what the Jews are doing today in Palestine?  Of course there must be a prophecy.  Let me read it to you:

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Zeph. 2:1-3 — “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.  Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought His judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.”

   These verses of Scripture, you note, are to meet fulfillment just before the “day pass as the chaff,” before the fierce anger of the Lord breaks upon the nation not desired.  And while this undesired nation is gathering together, then it is that all the meek of the earth, those who have borne the Lord’s message “before the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (the church), are counselled to still seek meekness.  There are, therefore, two peoples brought to view in these verses — the nation not desired and the meek of the earth.

   Now in view of the fact that there is but one such undesired nation, the Jewish, and none other, that is hated by all nations, this scripture cannot possibly apply to another people.  Also the fact that now while we are broadcasting the message of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, the day before the day of the Lord’s anger, the undesired Jews world over are gathering together in Palestine — I say in view of all these things now contemporaneously taking place, the truth of the Scriptures boldly stand out, showing that the anger of the Lord is to fall upon the Jews unless they reform, and not they, but “the meek of the earth” are to inherit the land.  And so according to Scripture, Jew and Arab alike are to go out of the Promised Land, and the meek of the earth to march into it.

   How are they to get there, and who is to open the way? — The answer to these questions we shall find in–

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Zech. 14:4, 5 — “And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.  And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.”

   The Lord Himself, you see, is to open the way for the returning of His people.

Isa. 11:11, 12, 16 — “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.  And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth…. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.”

Isa. 27:12, 13 — “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.”

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   The Lord opens the way, and the Lord gathers His people.

   Now about the war as it stands today.  Tract No. 14, War News Forecast, which came out several years ago, tells the truth concerning World War No. 2 and its outcome.  The Tract gets its light from Nahum’s prophecy.  The war there predicted, the prophet declares, is fought in the day of the automobile, in the day men “run to and fro,” while the “chariots…rage in the streets,…justle one against another in the broad ways…while [running] like the lightnings,” — in our time.  That war, the tract’s appendix — Time and Chance Solve Mysteries — proves, is World War No. 2.  The prophet saw one that dasheth in pieces (Hitler) daring his enemies to prepare against him.  Then the prophet saw the worthies of him who dasheth in pieces (Hitler’s worthies) stumble in their walk (fall by mistake in their march for victory).  And so it came to pass that after Hitler opened his guns against the nations around him, and started breaking everything to pieces, the allies went to prepare for war.

   Hitler caused his worthies to stumble by waging war against Russia while in war with Great Britain, and by going after Greece and Egypt rather than crossing the English channel when England, unknown to him, was almost to give up.  Thus his worthies stumbled and never rose again.  Finally, Hitler disappeared and hostilities ceased.  But according to Nahum’s prophecy, and also according to current events as broadcast by news reports everywhere, the war is still on; it has not actually ceased, but is only making a turn for the worse, yes, and it is only a matter of time before it will become even hotter than it was previous to Hitler’s disappearance.

   Moreover, there has been no official declaration as yet that the war is over.  No complete settlement with

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the powers which fought in the war has as yet been reached.  Anyone can see that the world is fast getting ready to resume the war with a mightier and final blow if possible.  Anyone can see, too, that the war was not won for the good of Great Britain, but for Russia, and that following the cessation of hostilities conditions have caused the world to consolidate into two great and hostile blocks, — the Western and the Eastern blocks, — not to mention the wars and rumors of wars all around us.  This happened because Great Britain allied with atheistic Russia, a government that is against God and His church.  Thus Great Britain put greater trust in God’s enemy than in God Himself, and that is why the war is yet to be fought.

   And now while the cold war between the east and west is on, the churches, too, by the Amsterdam confederacy, are enlarging the size of each block.  Both radio broadcasts and newspapers declare that all the churches except the Roman and the Russian orthodox churches did send representatives to the Amsterdam assembly.  The Russian orthodox church, you know, is the Greek orthodox church.  And why do you suppose the church that is in Greece joined the confederacy, but the church that is in Russia did not?  Only because of fearing the “block” they are in.  The churches, too, are taking sides with their respective block — Eastern or Western.  (What will the Roman church do?  She, too, will of necessity eventually join the Western block.)

   Does it not look to you as though the world is getting ready for a church and state government?  I have repeatedly pointed out that the world is unwittingly making a mighty effort to saddle the scarlet-colored beast of Revelation 17 and to mount there on BABYLON THE GREAT.  We are headed for the church and state government which BABYLON THE GREAT symbolizes while riding the scarlet-colored beast, and when the war gets “hot” again, Babylon may then replace the United

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Nations thereafter.  So it is seen that the world in its attempt to overcome the obstacles with which it is confronted, is as it were jumping out of the fire and falling into the frying pan, only because it is not taking God into partnership.

   The world sees communism as a hydra-headed monster behind a bush, and the nations are already, so to speak, smiting their knees one against the other while they look at it.  Their safety, however, does not depend on fear and armament, nor on the man we elect for president, but on God, on Him Who holds the earth in space, and Who still rules the affairs of mankind.  From the dawn of history till today the great nations that have fallen, fell when they were best armed and most independent of God.  This should be a great lesson to all, but who realizes it!

   God, therefore, for the sake of His own will puts in the hearts of the communists, or communist-like powers (the ten horns of the scarlet-colored beast who hate the woman, hate religion, as does communism) to “give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.” Rev. 17:17.

   Now, the statement to “give their kingdom” implies that they have a kingdom to give.  In verse 12, however, we are told that they “have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.” When both statements are put together then the statements say that communism could have a kingdom, could rule the world, but “God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.”  They, therefore, only receive power as kings one hour with the beast, after which they destroy the woman, the church and state system, and take the kingdom to themselves (Rev. 17:17).  (For a detailed exposition of the seventeenth chapter of Revelation, read Tract no. 12,

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Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, pp. 30-33).

   Just how this is to come about, I do not know; but I do know that the greatest of all wars is to be fought about the holy land; “Behold,” says the Lord, “the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.  For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.” Zechariah 14:1, 2.

   This prophetic statement, “God hath put in their hearts…to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast,” proves true what I tried to say awhile ago: That when any nation became great and on its own, without God, built a gigantic war machine for defense and aggression, then it was that that nation came to naught.  The tranquility and prosperity of any nation and people, therefore, depends on their stand with God, not on their military strength.

   Let me now remind you what Inspiration has to say of the association of nations and peoples according to current events.  For light on the subject we turn to the eighth chapter of Isaiah’s prophecy.  Time will not permit me to re-study with you the whole chapter, and I do not think it is necessary, for we studied it not long ago.  You remember that the chapter unveils a confederacy which ancient Israel, the ten-tribe kingdom (the church), made with ancient Syria, a sovereign power of the world, to war against Judah, a sister kingdom (church).  Inspiration makes a type of that church and state confederacy, and by it definitely points out the trend which the nominal churches and the sovereign powers of the world are to take now in the antitype.  It makes known, moreover, that they will not prosper in it.

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   I shall now read to you what God Himself thinks of it:

Isa. 8:8-10 — “And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.  Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.  Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.”

   According to St. Matthew, chapter 1, verse 23, the name Immanuel belongs to Christ, and by interpretation it means “God with us.”  Plainly, then, the exclamation “O Immanuel,” shows that Inspiration is speaking to Christ.  And since He could not be thus addressed before He was born of a woman and received the name Immanuel, it is obvious that this association of peoples is to be found in the Christian era, in the era in which Immanuel lives.

   Now the statement “Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us,” plainly says what I tried to tell you — that the nations, including the churches, have left Immanuel, “God with us,” out of their plans, that what they are trying to do they are doing on their own intiative and resources for the words “God is with us” coming from one who is not with the assemblies of the people, clearly implies that Immanuel is not with them, and that therefore their work shall come to naught.

   From these scriptures it is seen that the current events brought about by the two opposing blocks, the east and the west, are not going to work out according to human planning, that the plans made by the confederation

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of nations and people are to come to naught except they consult God and take Him into partnership.

   Let us now hear what the Lord would have us do, the stand He would have His people take:

Isa. 8:11, 12 — “For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.”

   The fear which the people fear is not to be our fear; neither are their plans to be our plans.  Our duty is to–

Isa. 8:13 — “Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.”

   To sanctify the Lord is to be all for Him, to have no one else in His stead, to put your entire trust in Him, not making flesh your arm, for He alone is able to see you through.  And though you should be the only one in all the world to take such a stand, He will not fail you.  If such be your case, you will then become Heaven’s greatest hero.

Isa. 8:14 — “And He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”

   This truth, you note, will now, just as has any Divinely-revealed truth at any time in the past, become a rock of offense and a snare to many — yes, as Christ Himself became such to the Jews — because rather than taking their stand firmly for Divine truth, they are becoming as hostile against it as were the Jews in Christ’s day.  Since the prophecy continues through the

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ninth chapter, we shall read–

Isa. 9:20, 21 — “And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah.  For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.”

   Such will be the results of rejecting God and His counsel.  All who take their stand with the multitude against God’s people will find themselves in the same predicament as the Midianites found themselves in Gideon’s time — as the light breaks out they will kill one another, but the faithful will be delivered.  This, however, is not all:

Isa. 8:15 — “And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.”

   According to this scripture many of them will find “the rapture” not to their liking and not according to their teaching of it.  The Lord’s command is:

Isa. 8:16 — “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples.”

   A “disciple” is one who follows Christ on and on in Divinely-revealed Truth which he accepts not because others do, or do not, but because the Father which is in Heaven has through His Spirit personally convinced him of it (Matt. 16:17) — because independent of what others do or say he is personally persuaded by the Spirit.  And the “testimony” is His living Word passed on by His chosen and Spirit-filled messengers — “the Spirit of Prophecy” at work (Rev. 19:10).  Hence to bind up the testimony among His disciples is to confirm “the Spirit of Prophecy” among them and them only.  And to seal the law

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among them is to have the law authorized and fortified by Truth, to have them see the necessity of keeping it, and to have them calmly say–

Isa. 8:17 — “And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him.”

Isa. 8:18 — “Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion.”

   Soon it will be seen that those who take a firm stand on the side of Truth will be for signs and wonders.

Isa. 8:19 — “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God?  for the living to the dead?”

   Here the world is shown to give greater attention to Spiritualism than to a “thus saith the Lord.”

Isa. 8:20 — “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.”

   God’s people will know that those who take a stand other than the one which Truth here sets forth, are so doing because the Spirit of Truth is not dwelling in their hearts.  And let us remember that to make flesh your arm, to consult man when God should be consulted, is every bit as bad as to consult the spirits of Darkness.

   “Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of

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great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil.” Joel 2:12, 13.

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Does not Laodicea in her lukewarmness present in a consummate way the dangerous condition which the apostle Paul warns against when he says: “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall”?

Answer:

Sacred history is repetitious with the tragic lesson that when a people go wrong, as did Israel in Elijah’s and again in Christ’s time, they are no longer sensible of their being wrong. Likewise repetitious is the even more tragic lesson that such a people have always misconstrued God’s efforts to bring them to a realization of their errors. So once they are led astray from the teachings of the prophets, and captivated by new and magnetic human leadership, their liberation and correction become almost impossible. (See Prophets and Kings, pp. 121-126.)

In varying ways, the fatal weakness which has characterized every Movement, from that of Israel to that of Laodicea, has been in “laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works.” Heb. 6 :1. And what is still more basic, and more urgently to the point, is that each Movement alike failed to progress from one message to the next, and to go on to reach its final goal of transcendental attainments in divine knowledge.

Instead, each fell from the heights of its own early rich experience, back down to spiritual poverty, because it failed to keep pace with the Truth. Each Divinely called Movement came to a standstill where it contentedly satisfied itself that it was yet in the sanctified steps to the Mount of Perfection, that it was “flourishing, and that peace and spiritual prosperity” were “in all [its] borders” (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217), when in reality, quite the opposite was the truth. So follows Laodicea, thinking she is all right when she is all wrong.

Never in the violent history of this sin-deluged world has so great a danger and so great a necessity confronted the church. In this all-enveloping peril, “what does God say in regard to His people ?–‘But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.’ (See also Isaiah 43.) These are prophecies that will be fulfilled.”—Testimonies to Ministers, p. 96.

“What greater deception can come upon human minds than a confidence that they are right, when they are all wrong !” – Testimonies, Vol. 3, pp. 252, 253.

Again, it is written in Proverbs 29 :18 (margin), “Where there is no vision, the people is made naked.”

Here in more extensive relief is the picture of a people who have indeed lost their “vision” (the supernatural guidance afforded by the living voice of the prophetic gift resident among them), but who realize it not. More amazing still, they have evidently introduced their own inventions (idols) as substitutes for the things of God. This they have done so gradually that they are quite as unaware of it as they are that many have not availed themselves of the volumes of the Spirit of Prophecy- their very “eyesight.”

And where others have had these volumes of vision lying all around them, they have let them go either unread or unheeded and therefore “unappreciated.”-Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217. Thus it is in this sense more than in any other that they have become blind-no longer even expecting any further revealed truth to give power and force to their message (Early Writings, p. 277). Yet they still flatter themselves that they are in the inner circle of God’s favor!

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

If the thinking processes of the Laodiceans were not in dire need of a complete Spiritual overhauling and re-orientation, they would not “think they are all right when they are all wrong,” think that they are “rich” when in reality they are desperately “poor”-destitute of truth and righteousness!

Accordingly, nothing but a message with “healing in its wings” will heal the Laodicean mind of its spiritual sickness. In this hour of the church’s crisis, “those who have been timid and self-distrustful, will declare themselves openly for Christ and his truth. The most weak and hesitating in the church, will be as David-willing to do and dare.”-Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 81. Why?- Because they have the promise that “there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.” Zech. 13:1, 2.

“For in that day every man shall cast away his idols…which your own hands have made unto you for a sin….Turn ye unto Him from Whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.” Isa. 31:7, 6.

“In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.” Zech. 12:8.

The Spirit’s Voice through Isaiah is now also crying aloud: “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean….How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” Isa. 52:1, 7.

The same Voice through Nahum also pleads: “Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.” Nah. 1:15.

But in all her history, the church as a whole has never accepted a message from heaven. The call therefore comes to each individual member. Each must decide for himself. No one should allow himself to be influenced by another. And “no one has a right to shut away the light from the people. When a message comes in the name of the Lord to His people, no one may excuse himself from an investigation of its claims….It was from pursuing this very course that the popular churches were left in partial darkness, and that is why the messages of heaven have not reached them.”—Testimonies on Sabbath-School Work, p. 65; Counsels on Sabbath-School Work, p. 28.

“But we see that the God of heaven sometimes commissions men to teach that which is regarded as contrary to the established doctrines. Because those who were once the depositories of truth became unfaithful to their sacred trust, the Lord chose others who would receive the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and would advocate truths that were not in accordance with the ideas of the religious leaders. And then these leaders in the blindness of their minds, give full sway to what is supposed to be righteous indignation against the ones who have set aside cherished fables.

They act like men who have lost their reason. They do not consider the possibility that they themselves have not rightly understood the Word. They will not open their eyes to discern the fact that they have misinterpreted and misapplied the Scriptures, and have built up false theories, calling them fundamental doctrines of the faith.”-Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 69, 70.

Since the Laodiceans are already in the greatest deception, then for any one of them to decline to investigate a claimant to truth for fear of being deceived in so doing, is to stultify reason. To investigate and to study is one’s only salvation—his only hope of getting out of his present “sad,” “terrible,” “fearful” deception (Testimonies, Vol. 3, pp. 253, 254, 260), and his only hope of protection in keeping him from plunging into the abyss. So he must study as never before!

And in so doing he will find that this is the beginning of the very message he must have in order to clear the scales from his eyes and break the invisible, but none-the-less real, shackles of inertia and self-exaltation in which the Enemy holds him bound.“ (Answerer, vol. 1, Question 5)

TEXT FOR PRAYER
God’s Merciful Plea

   I shall read from “The Mount of Blessing,” page 217, beginning with the first paragraph–

   “But to-day mercy pleads with the sinner.  ‘As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?’  The voice that speaks to the impenitent to-day is the voice of Him who in heart-anguish exclaimed as He beheld the city of His love: ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her!  How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her own brood under her wings, and ye would not! 

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate!’  In Jerusalem, Jesus beheld a symbol of the world that had rejected and despised His grace.  He was weeping, O stubborn heart, for you!  Even when Jesus’ tears were shed upon the mount, Jerusalem might yet have repented, and escaped her doom.  For a little space the Gift of heaven still waited her acceptance.  So, O heart, to you Christ is still speaking in accents of love:  ‘Behold I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.’  ‘Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.'”

   We should pray that we gladly respond to God’s merciful plea; that we realize that His aim is to save us from eternal ruin; that we should respond now in the day of salvation; that we know He is pleading for us today as He pled for Jerusalem at the time of His first advent; that the door of our hearts be never closed to Him.

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JACOB’S TIME OF TROUBLE;JUDAH AND ISRAEL GOING HOME

TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTSSABBATH, JUNE 28, 1947
MT. CARMEL CHAPELWACO, TEXAS

   We are now to continue the same subject which we have been studying from the book of Isaiah, but today we shall study it from the book of Jeremiah.

   To begin with, we shall notice that the first chapters of the book deal with ancient Judah and Israel, with their sins and stubbornness of heart, and with their resultant dispersion throughout the Gentile nations.  The thirtieth chapter, however, deals, not with the scattering of ancient Judah and Israel, but with the gathering of Judah and Israel in our day.

   We shall now begin our study with the first three verses–

Jer. 30:1-3 — “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.  For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.”

   Note that both Judah and Israel together have the promise of returning to their homeland.  As this has

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never yet been realized, the prophecy is yet to be fulfilled.

Jer. 30:4-6 — “And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.  For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.  Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child?  wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?”

   The cause of the fear here forecast is fundamentally needless and unnecessary, declares the Lord.

Jer. 30:7 — “Alas!  for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.”

   The people that have come to this antitypical time of trouble are returning to the homeland, are comforted.  Apparently it is bad enough to frighten all, but God’s encouraging counsel is, “Fear not.”

   Plainly, the burden of this chapter is concerning the antitypical returning to the homeland.  Though terrible the trouble may seem, yet the outcome of it is to be the same as in the type.  Right now we may not appreciate this study as we ought to, but the time is soon coming in which we will dig as fast and as hard for it as we would to get out from under an avalanche.  Those who have but little faith in the Word of God though, the study will not do them much good.  Now is the time to start cultivating the faith we need to have then.

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   Jacob, our type, well knew that God had directed his return from Padanaram to the homeland, yet he trembled when he heard that Esau, with four hundred men were on the way to meet him.  Besides, he was led to wrestle with the angel all night long.  He prevailed only because he would not let the Angel go until He blest him.  The final result was that on the morrow, Esau, rather than destroying the whole company, very kindly greeted Jacob with a kiss, and cordially invited him to return home!  So when it all worked itself out, Jacob plainly saw that there was no need at all to have ever feared. 

How encouraging that “all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Cor. 10:11.  That which happened to Jacob is sure to happen to us, and how comforting to know all this ahead of time.  Now, if never before we should see that where there is a type there is also an antitype, and that where there is no type, there is no Truth.

Jer. 30:8 — “For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him.”

   This verse plainly says that God is to free His people from the Gentile yoke, and that strangers [unconverted] shall no more trouble them.

Jer. 30:9 — “But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.”

   No longer shall the followers of Truth serve others, but they shall serve the Lord, and a king whom God Himself shall provide.

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Jer. 30:10 — “Therefore fear thou not, O My servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.”

   There is therefore no need of fear, but there is a need for faith in the promises of God.

Jer. 30:11 — “For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet  will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.”

   The punishment dealt to Israel is their being scattered among the Gentiles as amplified in the verses which follow.  The time of freedom has nevertheless come, and for this we should be glad and give God the glory.

Jer. 30:12-19 — “For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.  There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.  All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased. 

Why criest thou for thine affliction?  thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.  Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.  For I will restore

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health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.  Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.  And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.”

   After having gone through their captivity, the people shall fully realize God’s mercy and His wisdom to save them.  They shall be happy forevermore, for He will multiply them in the land of their fathers, and there He will make them great.

Jer. 30:20 — “Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before Me, and I will punish all that oppress them.”

   The Kingdom (the church purified and apart from the world) is to be as natural and as real as was the kingdom of ancient Israel, but there will be no sinners in It.

Jer. 30:21-23 — “And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto Me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto Me?  saith the Lord.  And ye shall be My people, and I will be your God.  Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.”

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   Their nobles shall be of themselves; that is, this Kingdom shall be self-governing under theocracy.  The word “behold” calls attention to something that can be seen and therefore implies that the Lord’s whirlwind is already doing its work.  No wonder, then, that we are now having disturbance of all kinds, and heavy loss of life and property throughout the earth.

Jer. 30:24 — “The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until He have done it, and until He have performed the intents of His heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.”

   The very fact that these truths are now revealed, and also the fact that the things foretold by the Scriptures are now taking place, plainly show that we are now living in the latter days, — the days in which we must consider the cause of the evils which envelop the whole world, and make our calling and election sure.

   How thankful we ought to be that the Lord is feeding us with “meat in due season”!  Though people kill one another by the millions in order to free themselves from the yoke of some other nation, Moses freed ancient Israel without a casualty.  We should now know that faith removes mountains, while doubt ruins nations.  We should no longer be fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have written (Lu. 24:25)  “Believe” was Jesus’ motto, and it should be ours, too.  No doubters will ever enter His Kingdom.

   These things are written “that ye might believe….” John 20:31.

   There is but one sensible conclusion that you can come to, and that is to whole-heartedly accept and to comply with all the prophets have written.  Let no one divert your attention from this Truth.

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What is the marriage spoken of in “Christ’s Object Lessons “ p. 307, and in “The Great Controversy,” pp. 416, 427? In one instance, it is said to be “the union of humanity with divinity”; in another, “the reception by Christ of His kingdom”; in still another it is said that the marriage “takes place in heaven, while [the saints] are upon the earth” waiting “for their Lord, when He will return from the wedding.” Will you please clear this complex subject for me?

Answer:

Let us remember that these figures of speech, along with many others, are only illustrations of truths, not the truths in themselves. For example, the setting up of the Kingdom is illustrated, in one instance, by the “harvest;” the subjects of the Kingdom, by the “wheat”; and the kingdom itself, by the “barn.” Matt. 13:30. In another instance, the setting up of the Kingdom and the separation of the sinners from among the saints, are illustrated by the angels drawing “the net” to shore, then sitting down, segregating the bad from the good fish, and putting the good into “vessels,” but casting out of it the bad (Matt. 13:48). In this instance, the subjects of the Kingdom are represented by the good fish; and the Kingdom itself, by the “vessels.”

So, while it is true that the marriage of Christ is a “union of humanity with divinity,” it is also true that the marriage is “the reception of His kingdom,” for humanity makes up the Kingdom. Therefore, the marriage is equivalent to the coronation- the Kingdom itself, to the city, or bride- and the guests, to the saints, or subjects of the Kingdom. From this we see that when Christ receives His Kingdom, He indeed will unite humanity with divinity.

The reception of His Kingdom takes place in heaven while the saints are still on earth, as Daniel was shown: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Dan. 7:13, 14.

Bringing into prophetic focus this same event, Jesus declared parabolically: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for Himself a kingdom, and to return.” Luke 19:12. Note that He receives the Kingdom (acquires ownership of it) while He is away, not when He returns. (See The Great Controversy, pp. 426, 427).

So, the marriage is the coronation of Christ, which takes place in the heavenly temple when all His subjects on earth are made ready, while the work is drawing to completion, and probation to a close. Obviously, then, the marriage takes place before He comes to “receive” the saints unto Himself (John 14:3), and before they meet Him “in the air.” 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. Afterwards is served the “supper.”

Consequently though the wedding takes place in heaven, the saints while on the earth are the prospective guests for the marriage supper. Then, after the marriage is solemnized in the Holy of Holies, Jesus descends from heaven and takes the guests unto Himself, so that where He is, they may be also (John 14:1-3). There they eat of the “marriage supper of the Lamb.”—The Great Controversy p. 427; Rev. 19:9. In this instance, while the saints are said to be the guests, the Holy City is said to be “the bride.” Rev. 21.9, 10.

Again: just before the marriage, when the saints are still on earth, their righteousness is said to be the bride’s (city’s) “fine linen.” Rev. 19:8.

The lessons that are taught by these and other illustrations become priceless jewels of truth to those who take heed to them. (Answerer, vol. 2, Question 44)