Anchor School of Theology: Prophetic Principles

The Binding and Burning of Azazel

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Stephen Bohr

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Series Code: ASTPP

Program Code: ASTPP000024


00:15 Okay, let's continue our study of Revelation chapter 10.
00:20 Let's summarize once again the content of Revelation chapter 10
00:26 at the bottom of the page where it says,
00:29 "Origin, Identity, Mission, and Message of the Remnant."
00:35 I have page 11. Is that what you have?
00:37 Page 11?
00:39 Okay, here's the summary.
00:42 The mighty angel comes down from heaven to earth.
00:46 His physical characteristics are given.
00:49 He brings in his hand an open scroll.
00:53 He must have opened the scroll before he came down.
00:56 He places one foot on the sea and one foot on dry land.
01:01 He speaks with the roar of a lion.
01:04 And when he speaks, his roar echoes as seven thunders.
01:12 Then he swears an oath to the Creator stating that
01:15 time will be no longer.
01:17 He gives the book to John with instructions to eat it.
01:21 And John eats it.
01:23 Sweet in the mouth, bitter in the stomach.
01:26 Then John is told to prophesy again.
01:30 And after saying that he should prophesy again,
01:34 he is commanded to measure the temple.
01:37 And then the last point, even though it's earlier
01:41 in Revelation 10, the last point is the mystery of God
01:46 finished when the seventh angel is about to sound.
01:50 Chronologically, that comes after all of these other things.
01:53 That's why I put it last.
01:55 Who is the messenger?
01:58 This messenger is none other than Jesus Christ Himself.
02:02 So must this message be crucially important?
02:05 Absolutely.
02:06 Now let's talk about the identity of the book.
02:10 At the bottom of page 12, the identity of the book.
02:13 There is only one book in the Bible that was ever sealed
02:17 to be opened at the time of the end.
02:20 And that is the book that is referred to
02:24 in Daniel chapter 12 and verse 4.
02:26 So let's read that verse.
02:29 It says, "But you, Daniel, shut up the words,
02:32 and seal the book..."
02:35 So would people be able to understand what's in the book
02:38 until the time of the end?
02:40 No, but would it be understood at the time of the end?
02:43 Yes, because it's sealed until the time of the end.
02:48 And then it says that at the time of the end,
02:50 "many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."
02:55 And I added there in brackets, knowledge of what?
02:58 Knowledge of what is contained in the little book.
03:01 Now the question is, what is this little book?
03:05 We just studied about it in our last session.
03:07 What is this book?
03:10 The entire book of Daniel, right?
03:13 Okay, the portion of Daniel that has to do with the 2300 days.
03:19 Which chapters are those?
03:21 Daniel chapter 8 through 12.
03:22 They all have the same central theme.
03:25 Now, the tense of the verb in Revelation 10 verse 2
03:31 is important.
03:32 Literally, the Greek word that describes the opening
03:37 of the book is in a perfect tense.
03:41 And it should be translated, that he had in his hand
03:44 the book, the one having been opened.
03:48 Which clearly indicates that before it was opened,
03:51 it was what?
03:52 Closed.
03:53 So is this the same book that Daniel 12 verse 4 refers to?
03:57 No doubt whatsoever about it.
03:59 In other words, the book was closed and then it was opened
04:03 in heaven immediately before the angel came down
04:07 to the earth and swore the oath that time would be no longer.
04:13 Now the little book of Daniel 12 verse 4
04:17 was unsealed when the judgment hour message was proclaimed
04:21 between 1798 and 1844.
04:25 Daniel 8:14 provides the judgment chronology.
04:30 Do you understand what I mean by that?
04:32 It gives you the 2300 day prophecy.
04:34 So it tells you when the judgment is going to begin.
04:36 So Daniel 8:14 gives you the judgment chronology.
04:41 And Revelation 14:6-7 gives you the judgment hour message.
04:47 So Daniel 8 tells you when and Revelation 14 tells you what
04:53 the message will be, the judgment hour message.
04:57 Ellen White in, Manuscript Releases, volume 18 page 15,
05:00 had this to say.
05:02 "It was the Lion of the tribe of Judah who unsealed the book..."
05:06 So now we know it was Jesus who unsealed it, right?
05:09 "...and gave to John the revelation of what should be
05:12 in these last days.
05:15 Daniel stood in his lot to bear his testimony..."
05:18 That is, not in person, but through his writings.
05:22 "...which was sealed until the time of the end..."
05:25 Now notice, when is it unsealed?
05:28 Notice carefully.
05:29 "Daniel stood in his lot to bear his testimony,
05:32 which was sealed until the time of the end,
05:36 when the first angel's message should be
05:38 proclaimed to our world."
05:40 So when was the book unsealed?
05:43 When the first angel's message was proclaimed.
05:46 And what does the first angel say?
05:48 "The hour of His judgment has come."
05:51 Is that the same theme as, "the Sanctuary shall be cleansed?"
05:54 Absolutely.
05:55 Now, these matters are of infinite importance
05:58 in these last days.
06:00 But while many shall be purified and made white
06:03 and tried, the wicked shall do wickedly,
06:06 and none of the wicked shall understand.
06:09 The book of Daniel is unsealed in the revelation to John
06:13 and carries us forward to the last scenes
06:17 of this earth's history.
06:19 In another statement that we find in, Great Controversy,
06:22 page 356, Ellen White explains when this book was unsealed.
06:28 It was unsealed when the judgment hour
06:30 message was proclaimed.
06:32 The 2300 day prophecy was understood.
06:35 She says this, "The message of salvation has been preached
06:39 in all ages; but this message is a part of the gospel
06:44 which could be proclaimed only in the last days, for only then
06:49 would it be true that the hour of Judgment had come."
06:52 Could Martin Luther preach, "The hour of His judgment has come."
06:55 Why not?
06:57 Because the judgment didn't begin in Martin Luther's day.
07:00 "The prophecies present a succession of events
07:04 leading down to the opening of the Judgment.
07:07 This is especially true of the book of Daniel."
07:10 Remember Daniel 7?
07:11 Lion, bear, leopard, dragon, ten horns, little horn, judgment.
07:16 So she's saying here that, "The prophecies present
07:19 a succession of events," that's Daniel 7,
07:22 "leading down to the opening of the judgment."
07:25 Which is when the Ancient of Days sits,
07:27 and the Son of Man comes to where the Ancient of Days was.
07:31 Now she continues saying, "This is true especially
07:34 of the book of Daniel.
07:35 But that part of his prophecy which related
07:38 to the last days..."
07:40 So it's not all of Daniel.
07:43 "...Daniel was bidden to close up and seal
07:45 'to the time of the end.'
07:47 Not till we reach this time could a message concerning
07:51 the Judgment be proclaimed, based on the fulfillment
07:55 of these prophecies.
07:56 But at the time of the end, says the prophet,
07:58 'many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.'"
08:01 So what is the little book that was unsealed?
08:06 It was Daniel 8 through 12.
08:08 And what is the central theme of Daniel 8 through 12?
08:12 The judgment hour message.
08:16 The 2300 days.
08:19 And in this statement that I read before
08:21 when we dealt with the little sealed book of Daniel,
08:25 Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary,
08:26 volume 7 page 971, Ellen White says, "The unsealing
08:32 of the little book was the message in relation to time."
08:37 So what was the one thing that was not unsealed
08:41 until the time of the end?
08:43 The 2300 day prophecy.
08:46 That is the little book.
08:48 That's important.
08:50 Because that's the little book that John is told to eat.
08:54 It's not all of Daniel.
08:56 Daniel 1 through 7 would not have caused a disappointment.
09:00 What causes a disappointment is the 2300 day prophecy.
09:04 The time element.
09:07 Now, when was the book opened is a very important point.
09:12 It was opened for people to study and proclaim
09:15 toward the end of human history just before the seventh angel
09:19 blows his trumpet and the mystery of God is finished.
09:22 Did you catch that in the passage?
09:24 Just before the seventh angel blows his trumpet,
09:28 this angel opens the book and presents the message
09:33 from the book.
09:34 Now notice Ellen White corroborates this point
09:38 in a statement that is found in, Great Controversy, 356.
09:42 She says, "No such message..."
09:45 She's referring to Revelation 14:6-7
09:47 where it says, "The hour of His judgment has come."
09:49 "No such message has ever been given in past ages.
09:54 Paul, as we have seen, did not preach it;
09:59 he pointed his brethren into the then far-distant future
10:04 for the coming of the Lord.
10:07 The reformers did not proclaim it.
10:09 Martin Luther placed the Judgment about three hundred
10:13 years in the future from his day."
10:15 Now when was the little book opened then?
10:18 "But since 1798..."
10:23 When does the time of the end begin?
10:26 The book is to be sealed until the time of the end.
10:27 When is the time of the end? 1798.
10:31 So since 1798, the book of Daniel has been unsealed.
10:37 Did William Miller and the Millerites preach that
10:39 the judgment was upcoming?
10:41 They didn't understand what the prophecy meant,
10:44 but they were right about the chronology.
10:47 Did Joseph Wolff preach it? Yes.
10:50 How about Lacunza? He preached it.
10:53 There were many after 1798 that preached the judgment
10:56 hour message; that the judgment was about to arrive,
10:59 Jesus was soon to come.
11:01 And they studied the prophecy of the 2300 days
11:03 and they said, you know, that this prophecy
11:05 was going to be fulfilled in 1843.
11:07 And then they adjusted it to 1844.
11:11 So the little book, before Jesus descended with the book
11:15 and told John to eat it, the book was unsealed in heaven.
11:19 And the date of its unsealing was in 1798.
11:22 Is that point clear?
11:25 Now, this message was to be a global extension, right?
11:30 This global message is presented, now listen to this,
11:34 is presented symbolically at the beginning of the chapter.
11:39 What is the symbol that is used to indicate
11:41 that it's going to be universal?
11:43 The feet of the angel are placed on the sea and on the land.
11:48 Is that a symbolic portrayal of the message going
11:51 to the whole world?
11:53 Yes.
11:54 But at the end, it uses literal language and explains
11:59 what it means to have the foot on the sea and on the land.
12:03 John is told to prophecy to what again?
12:08 To people, nations, tongues, and kings.
12:13 So placing the foot on the sea and on the land
12:15 means a universal message.
12:17 And then this is explained when he's told to prophesy again.
12:22 This time there's not a foot on the sea and on the land.
12:24 This time it explains what that means.
12:27 People, nations, tongues, and kings.
12:31 Now notice what Ellen White had to say in volume 2 of,
12:34 Selected Messages, pages 107 and 108.
12:38 "The message of Revelation 14 proclaiming that the hour of
12:41 God's judgment is come is given in the time of the end;
12:45 and the angel of Revelation 10 is represented as having
12:49 one foot on the sea and one foot on the land,
12:52 showing that the message will be carried to distant lands,
12:57 the ocean will be crossed, and the islands of the sea
13:00 will hear the proclamation of the last message
13:03 of warning to our world."
13:05 In other words, the foot on the sea and on the land
13:08 refers to the global reach of this message.
13:13 It could also mean that the message is going to the
13:17 old world and to the new world.
13:20 Because in Revelation, there is a beast that rises from the sea.
13:24 That's Europe.
13:25 And there's another beast that rises from the earth.
13:28 That's the United States.
13:30 So in other words, the message is to go to the new world
13:32 and to the old world.
13:33 And interestingly enough, the act of planting the feet,
13:37 according to Deuteronomy 11:24, means that you're staking
13:41 that ground and you're saying, "This is mine."
13:44 You can read that text.
13:46 God says, "Wherever you plant your feet, that will be yours."
13:49 So Jesus is staking claim to the earth by the judgment
13:54 that He's going to perform.
13:56 So far so good?
13:58 Okay, now let's talk about the seven thunders.
14:02 You notice that when He comes down with the open book,
14:05 suddenly Jesus roars like a lion.
14:09 And when He roars, you hear seven thunders come out.
14:15 In other words, the echo of His voice is seven thunders.
14:19 Now what are these seven thunders?
14:22 Well, we need to go to John 12:28-29.
14:26 These were not just noise.
14:29 The thunders were not just thunders like, you know,
14:32 on a rainy day, you know, when you have a thunder storm.
14:35 The thunder doesn't have any rhyme or reason,
14:37 it's just noise.
14:38 But the seven thunders, when the lion rages and roars,
14:44 when Jesus roars like a lion, He actually speaks
14:47 an intelligible message.
14:50 And the echo is the thunders.
14:53 Now what are the seven thunders?
14:54 Well, we need to go back to John 12:28-29
14:58 where thunders are explained.
15:02 It says there, now Jesus is close to the point of His death,
15:06 and He actually speaks to His Father and He says,
15:10 "'Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?
15:14 "Father, save Me from this hour?"
15:16 But for this purpose I came to this hour.
15:20 Father, glorify Your name.'
15:22 Then a voice came from heaven, saying,
15:24 'I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.'"
15:29 Could the voice be understood?
15:32 Was the message understandable?
15:34 It most certainly was.
15:35 But now notice how the people reacted.
15:38 "Therefore the people who stood by and heard it
15:40 said that it had thundered.
15:45 Others said, 'An angel has spoken to Him.'"
15:49 So did the thunders have an intelligible message?
15:53 Were they spoken words? Yes.
15:55 There was something that Jesus spoke when He came down
15:58 with the open book.
16:00 And the thunders, the peals of thunder,
16:03 were the echo of the words that He spoke.
16:09 Now let's notice several important points.
16:11 John understood what the thunders uttered,
16:15 and was about to write...
16:16 Remember we read this?
16:19 ...but was forbidden by the angel to write
16:21 what the thunders uttered.
16:23 So did John understand that the thunders were intelligible?
16:26 Absolutely.
16:29 The little book was open, which means that its message
16:32 could be studied and understood, right?
16:34 On the other hand, what the thunders uttered could be
16:37 understood by John, but he was forbidden to write it out.
16:41 So you have the little book that's open,
16:42 it can be understood, but you have the thunders
16:46 that utter words and John is told,
16:48 "This is not to be understood right now."
16:51 The message uttered by the mighty angel was given to John,
16:55 and then the message was sealed.
16:59 The book was unsealed, but what the thunders uttered was sealed.
17:02 Are you with me?
17:05 The events that the thunders uttered, very important point,
17:10 must have transpired sometime between 1798 and 1844
17:16 because they occurred after the book was opened in 1798
17:21 and before the angel swore the oath in 1844.
17:27 Are you following my point?
17:29 Yeah, He opened the book in 1798.
17:32 He descends with the book in His hand.
17:35 Then He utters His voice and you have the seven thunders.
17:38 And that is before He says that time will be no longer.
17:41 And He says time will be no longer in 1844.
17:44 There would be no more prophetic dates after that.
17:47 We're going to study this a little bit further on later.
17:52 So this is happening somewhere between what?
17:55 Somewhere between 1798 and 1844.
18:01 Now according to Ellen White, the seven thunders
18:05 uttered a delineation of events that would transpire
18:08 between 1842 and 1844.
18:12 In other words, what the thunders uttered
18:14 were events that took place between 1842 and 1844.
18:17 Some people are making the thunders future.
18:21 They are Seventh-day Adventist futurists.
18:24 There is no necessity to make the thunders future.
18:29 The spirit of prophecy is clear about when
18:32 these thunders uttered.
18:33 It was between 1798 and 1844.
18:35 More specifically, between 1842 and 1844.
18:41 She seems to indicate that the thunders announced
18:44 that the Millerites would suffer a disappointment
18:47 when Jesus did not come as expected about the year 1843
18:51 and in the spring of 1844.
18:54 So basically, what the thunders uttered
18:56 was that there was going to be a disappointment.
19:02 Was it good for the people to know that?
19:05 Was it good for the Millerites to know that they were wrong
19:08 about the chronology?
19:10 No it wasn't.
19:11 It wasn't good for them to know that at that point
19:13 between 1842 and 1844.
19:17 Let's notice what Ellen White says about this,
19:19 why the thunders were sealed, what the voice said was sealed.
19:25 The Millerites did not need to know that
19:28 at that particular point.
19:30 And let's notice the reason why.
19:34 Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 7 page 971.
19:39 "The special light given to John which was expressed
19:41 in the seven thunders was a delineation of events
19:47 which would transpire under the first and second
19:50 angels' messages."
19:52 Do you know when the first and second angels'
19:55 messages were proclaimed?
19:56 1842 to 1844.
19:58 So did the thunders sound already?
20:01 Yes they did.
20:03 And now notice, "It was not best for the people
20:06 to know these things..."
20:09 John knew.
20:11 But John was told, "Seal it.
20:14 Don't explain it."
20:15 "It was not best for the people to know these things..."
20:19 For what reason?
20:21 "...for their faith must necessarily be tested."
20:28 Now there's another couple of statements,
20:29 really eye opening statements, by the spirit of prophecy.
20:33 One of them is in, Early Writings, 235-236.
20:36 You're aware that the Millerites set a couple of dates
20:39 before October 22, 1844.
20:42 First they thought He was going to come about the year 1843.
20:46 Then they said in the spring of 1844.
20:48 And then they realized in the summer of 1844
20:51 that Jesus did not come in the spring,
20:54 because the Day of Atonement was not in the spring.
20:56 It was in the fall.
20:58 That's called, the seventh month movement.
21:00 Samuel Snow preached at a camp meeting,
21:03 and he said, "Hey, you know, we were expecting Jesus
21:06 to fulfill the Day of Atonement in the spring.
21:08 But the Day of Atonement was not in the spring,
21:10 it was in the fall.
21:12 And so you have the midnight cry, the awakening,
21:15 in the summer of 1844.
21:19 Notice what Ellen White says about
21:21 these first disappointments.
21:23 Not the great one, but the first two.
21:26 "I saw the people of God joyful in expectation,
21:30 looking for their Lord.
21:33 But God designed to prove them.
21:35 His hand covered a mistake in the reckoning
21:38 of the prophetic periods."
21:44 Isn't that interesting?
21:49 And what was the mistake?
21:51 They said 1843 because they did not reckon the year zero.
21:58 You see, 1 BC jumps to 1 AD.
22:01 There's only one year between 1 BC and 1 AD,
22:04 but they counted 1 BC and 1 AD as two years.
22:08 That's why they came to 1843.
22:13 They should have counted it only as one.
22:15 Because from 1 BC to 1 AD, there's one year.
22:19 Now notice, she continues saying, "Those who were
22:24 looking for their Lord did not discover this mistake,
22:28 and the most learned men who opposed the time
22:30 also failed to see it.
22:32 God designed that His people should meet
22:34 with a disappointment.
22:37 The time passed, and those who had looked with
22:39 joyful expectation for their Saviour were sad and
22:42 disheartened, while those who had not loved the
22:45 appearing of Jesus, but embraced the message through fear,
22:48 were pleased that He did not come at the time of expectation.
22:52 Their profession had not affected the heart
22:55 and purified the life.
22:57 The passing of the time was well calculated
22:59 to reveal such hearts.
23:01 They were the first to turn and ridicule the sorrowful,
23:04 disappointed ones who really loved the appearing
23:07 of their Saviour.
23:08 I saw the wisdom of God in proving His people
23:10 and giving them a searching test to discover those who would
23:14 shrink and turn back in the hour of trial."
23:18 So basically, the seven thunders uttered that there would a
23:22 disappointment, they would miscalculate
23:23 the prophetic periods.
23:27 And God told John, "Don't explain it."
23:30 There's a second statement, Early Writings, 236.
23:34 She says, "Those faithful, disappointed ones,
23:37 who could not understand..."
23:40 Why could they not understand?
23:42 Because the thunders were what?
23:43 Sealed.
23:45 They could not understand.
23:47 "...why their Lord did not come, were not left in darkness.
23:50 Again they were led to their Bibles to search
23:52 the prophetic periods.
23:53 The hand of the Lord was removed from the figures,
23:57 and the mistake was explained.
23:59 They saw that the prophetic periods reached to 1844,
24:02 and that the same evidence which they had presented
24:05 to show that the prophetic periods closed in 1843,
24:08 proved that they would terminate in 1844."
24:14 Now some have misunderstood an Ellen White statement
24:17 where she appears to state that the thunders
24:19 will sound in the future.
24:21 She wrote this quotation in 1900.
24:24 So presumably, the thunders had not yet uttered their voice
24:28 at that time.
24:31 See, people are sometimes careless in the way that they
24:34 handle the writings of Ellen White.
24:37 They say she wrote in 1900 that the thunders are future.
24:40 So they could not have been fulfilled between 1842 and 1844.
24:45 But you have to look at this carefully.
24:47 Here's the quotation.
24:50 "After these seven thunders uttered these voices,
24:53 the injunction comes to John, as to Daniel,
24:57 in regard to the little book: 'Seal up those things
25:01 which the seven thunders uttered.'"
25:04 Now listen carefully.
25:06 "These relate to future events..."
25:13 Future events from whose time?
25:16 From the time of Daniel and John.
25:18 There's the key.
25:20 Not future from 1844.
25:23 And you're going to see that clearly.
25:25 "These relate to future events which will
25:28 be disclosed in their order.
25:30 Daniel shall stand in his lot at the end of the days.
25:33 John sees the little book unsealed."
25:35 So from whose perspective is this being seen?
25:38 From the perspective of John.
25:40 It says, "Then Daniel's prophecies have their
25:44 proper place in the first, second, and third angels'
25:47 messages to be given to the world.
25:49 The unsealing of the little book was the message
25:52 in relation to time."
25:55 Now the crucial question here is this,
25:57 where the seven thunders going to utter events
26:00 that were future from the time frame of Daniel and John
26:03 or from the time frame of Ellen White?
26:07 A careful reading of the quotation reveals
26:10 that the seven thunders are future from the time frame
26:13 of Daniel and John, not from the time frame of Ellen White.
26:17 The sentence before the quotation is the key.
26:23 Before the quotation that I just read from.
26:26 Ellen White says, "After these seven thunders
26:29 uttered their voices, the injunction comes to John,
26:34 as to Daniel, in regard to the little book:
26:38 'Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered.'"
26:42 So from which perspective are you to see the
26:44 seven thunders future?
26:46 From the time period of John and Daniel
26:49 or from 1900?
26:52 From John and Daniel.
26:53 The context of Ellen White's statement makes this
26:55 absolutely crystal clear.
26:57 Now let's talk about the oath.
27:00 So the angel utters his voice; seven thunders sound.
27:05 He's told, "Seal it.
27:07 It's not good for the people to understand this at this point."
27:09 So there was going to be a disappointment.
27:12 They were going to misunderstand some chronological details,
27:15 and they were going to be disappointed.
27:17 Why would God do that?
27:18 Because He wanted to sift those who truly loved the Lord
27:23 from those who did not love the Lord.
27:27 You say, "Why would He do something like that?"
27:29 Well let me ask you something.
27:31 Did Jesus choreograph the triumphal entry into Jerusalem?
27:37 Did He tell the disciples to go get a donkey?
27:40 Did He sit on it?
27:42 Did He allow the people to proclaim Him,
27:43 "Oh, Hosanna in the highest.
27:45 The king of the Jews."
27:48 Did Jesus know that they were severely wrong
27:51 in their understanding?
27:54 So why didn't He say something?
27:57 Because it was necessary to reveal who was who.
28:02 Are you with me?
28:04 When the crisis came, what happened?
28:07 There was a sifting.
28:09 And those who were faithful remained.
28:11 And the hypocrites were shaken out.
28:14 So if Jesus could do it at the triumphal entry,
28:18 why couldn't He do it here to show who was sincere
28:22 and who was not sincere in the Millerite movement.
28:25 Now let's talk about the oath.
28:26 Are we doing well so far?
28:28 Okay, the oath.
28:30 After the angel had descended with the open book, 1798,
28:35 and the thunders had uttered their voices, 1842 and 1843,
28:41 and actually up to the spring of 1844,
28:43 an announcement was made with an oath
28:46 that prophetic time would be no longer.
28:49 When was that oath made?
28:51 1844.
28:54 Why would the voice say that time will be no longer?
28:59 What time was that referring to, the oath,
29:02 time will be no longer?
29:04 Which prophetic time, specifically?
29:07 The 2300 days.
29:09 In other words, after Daniel 8:14 is fulfilled
29:14 in 1844, there will be no more prophecies
29:16 having to do with time.
29:18 And we have all kinds of Adventist futurists
29:23 who are re-applying the 1260, 1290, 1335.
29:27 Some of them are re-applying the 2300 days and they're saying
29:30 the 42 months are future.
29:32 It's amiss.
29:35 And what it does is it dilutes the true meaning
29:39 of Bible prophecy.
29:43 Now, after the angel descended then with the open book, 1798,
29:49 the thunders uttered their voices, 1842 to 1844,
29:54 at least the spring of 1844, an announcement was made
29:57 with an oath that prophetic time would be no longer.
29:59 That would be 1844.
30:02 It is obvious that the declaration,
30:05 "time will be no longer," cannot have been made
30:08 by the angel before the 42 months, 1260 days,
30:13 three and a half times, three and a half days,
30:15 and 2300 days were fulfilled.
30:18 Is that clear?
30:22 Ellen White explains in, Selected Messages,
30:25 volume 2 page 108, "This time, which the angel declares with
30:30 the solemn oath, is not the end of this world's history,
30:35 neither of probationary time, but of prophetic time,
30:40 which should precede the advent of our Lord.
30:43 That is, the people will not have another message
30:46 upon definite time."
30:49 Now what part of that don't you understand?
30:52 "After this period of time, reaching from 1842 to 1844,
30:57 there can be no definite tracing of the prophetic time.
31:00 The longest reckoning reaches to the autumn of 1844."
31:05 She also says in volume 2 of, Selected Messages, page 108,
31:12 "This message announces the end of the prophetic periods.
31:15 The disappointment of those who expected to see our Lord in 1844
31:19 was indeed bitter to those who had so ardently
31:22 looked for His appearing.
31:23 It was in the Lord's order that this disappointment
31:26 should come, and that hearts should be revealed."
31:30 Now how do we know, aside from what the
31:32 spirit of prophecy says...
31:33 Because she says that this is not the end of probationary time
31:37 and it is not the end of time in terms of the second coming.
31:41 How do we know from the Bible that this is talking about
31:43 a different kind of ending of time, that time will be
31:46 no longer, and it's not talking about chronological time?
31:51 Two things that we need to take into account.
31:53 Very important.
31:55 This announcement is made during the period
31:58 of the sixth trumpet.
32:00 And Jesus does not come to take over His kingdom
32:03 until the seventh trumpet.
32:06 So could, "time will be no longer,"
32:08 be the end of the world?
32:11 No, because the end of the world comes in the seventh trumpet.
32:15 But it's at the sixth trumpet that the angel says that
32:17 time will be no longer.
32:19 So it has to be a different kind of time than the end of time,
32:22 as we refer to it.
32:25 And even more importantly, after the announcement was made
32:28 that time will be no longer, John was instructed
32:31 to prophesy again.
32:33 How could he do this if the world had come to an end?
32:39 Is that clear?
32:41 How could he prophesy again if time had come to an end?
32:46 History.
32:47 It must mean that the time that would be no longer
32:51 has to be a different kind of time.
32:56 The translation in most versions, "there should
32:59 no longer be any delay," is incorrect.
33:04 In the book of Revelation, the word, "chronos," "time,"
33:09 is used three other times.
33:12 And in none of them can the word be translated
33:15 in such a way as, "delay."
33:19 The word, "time," appears in at least thirty places
33:22 in the New Testament, but not once is it translated, "delay,"
33:25 by modern versions except in this verse.
33:32 That's pretty telling, isn't it.
33:34 The New Testament has a way of expressing, "delay."
33:40 For example, in Matthew 24:48, the word, "chronizo," is used
33:45 of the unfaithful servant who says, "My master is delayed."
33:49 So if John had wanted to express delay, he had a
33:51 Greek word that he could have used to express delay.
33:56 It simply means, "time will be no longer."
33:59 It's not talking about the end of the world
34:01 or the end of probationary time.
34:02 It's talking about prophetic time.
34:05 No more time periods having to do with prophecy,
34:08 in other words.
34:10 Now Ellen White has consistently warned us not to set dates
34:16 and not to establish time.
34:21 Notice this statement on page 17 of your syllabus.
34:25 "Dear brethren, the Lord has shown me that the message
34:27 of the third angel must go and must be proclaimed to the
34:30 scattered children of the Lord,
34:32 and that it should not be hung on time;
34:35 for time never will be a test again.
34:38 I saw that some were getting a false excitement
34:40 arising from preaching time,
34:42 that the third angel's message was stronger than time can be.
34:46 I saw that this message can stand on its own foundation,
34:49 and that it needs not time to strengthen it,
34:53 and that it will go in mighty power, and do its work,
34:56 and will be cut short in righteousness."
34:59 That's in, Review and Herald, July 21, 1851.
35:03 In, Selected Messages, volume 2 page 84, she says,
35:05 "There will always be false and fanatical movements
35:08 made by persons in the church who claim to be led by God;
35:11 those who will run before they are sent,
35:14 and will give a day and date for the occurrence
35:16 of unfulfilled prophecy.
35:18 The enemy is pleased to have them do this,
35:20 for their successive failures and leading into false lines
35:24 cause confusion and unbelief."
35:28 Pretty clear, right?
35:33 Now both oaths...
35:35 There's one in Daniel 12:7 and Revelation 10 verse 6.
35:37 ...begin with an angel swearing in the name of the eternal God
35:41 who lives forever and ever, but Revelation adds
35:44 that God is the Creator of heaven and the
35:46 things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it,
35:49 and the sea and the things that are in it.
35:52 This description, listen carefully, this description
35:56 of the Creator clearly links the little book episode
36:00 of Revelation 10 with the first angel's message
36:04 where a call is made to worship Him who made heaven and earth,
36:07 the sea, and springs of waters.
36:11 So do you know where the message is to prophesy again?
36:15 It's the first angel's message.
36:19 Thus the prophesying again of verse 11 is directly linked
36:22 with the first angel's message.
36:24 God's end time remnant will make a direct appeal
36:28 for people to worship the Creator.
36:31 This appeal to the Creator in Revelation 10 verse 6 is a
36:34 clear allusion to the fourth commandment of God's law,
36:38 and ultimately to the institution of the Sabbath
36:41 at creation.
36:45 Now let's talk about the mystery of God.
36:48 Is the mystery of God going to be finished shortly before
36:50 the seventh trumpet blows?
36:52 Yes.
36:53 In the seventh trumpet, Jesus takes over the
36:55 kingdoms of the world.
36:57 You're aware of that.
36:58 That's when He empirically takes over the kingdoms of the world.
37:01 But shortly before the seventh trumpet blows,
37:04 when Jesus takes over the kingdom at His coming,
37:07 the mystery of God is finished.
37:10 Now what is the finishing of the mystery of God?
37:14 Well, let's go to the paragraph, the last paragraph on page 17.
37:20 What the text is saying is that the declaration
37:23 that time will be no longer is made during the period of
37:25 the sixth trumpet, but the mystery of God
37:28 will not be finished until the seventh trumpet
37:30 is about to begin to sound.
37:32 So is there a period of time between when time is no longer
37:36 and when the mystery of God is finished?
37:38 Absolutely.
37:40 This clearly shows that the end of prophetic time
37:43 comes during the sixth trumpet and before the seventh.
37:49 Now the question is, what is the mystery of God?
37:52 We're running short on time, so let me just synthesize
37:57 what the mystery is.
37:59 Do you know what the mystery is, the mystery of God?
38:02 It's the preaching of the gospel.
38:05 The gospel is the mystery hidden from ages past.
38:10 You can read it in Romans 16:25-27.
38:15 Ellen White adds her testimony in, Signs of the Times,
38:18 March 25, 1897, where she says that the incarnation
38:22 is a mystery.
38:24 The union of divinity with humanity is a mystery,
38:28 and it was hidden from eternal ages.
38:31 And then she says at the end of this quotation,
38:34 "And this wonderful mystery, the incarnation of Christ
38:36 and the atonement that He made, must be declared
38:39 to every son and daughter of Adam, whether Jew or Gentile."
38:44 So what is the mystery of God?
38:47 The proclamation of the gospel.
38:50 What is going to happen shortly before the
38:54 seventh trumpet sounds?
38:57 The mystery of God is going to be finished.
38:58 What does that mean?
39:00 The preaching of the gospel is going to come to an end.
39:04 Does probation close before the seventh trumpet?
39:09 Yes or no?
39:10 You caught the nuance. Yes it does.
39:15 Because it says, the mystery of God is finished
39:18 when the seventh trumpet is about to sound.
39:23 If the mystery of God is the preaching of the gospel,
39:26 that means that the preaching of the gospel
39:28 will be finished shortly before the seventh trumpet sounds
39:33 when Jesus comes to take over the kingdom.
39:36 Is that clear?
39:41 Now, Revelation 22:10-12 has the clear sequence.
39:48 Notice.
39:50 We have three points of time in these verses.
39:53 "And he said to me, 'Do not seal the words of the
39:55 prophecy of this book...'"
40:00 So if the book isn't sealed, can a message come from the book?
40:04 Can people understand the message?
40:06 Is probation still open?
40:08 Yes.
40:10 "He said to me, 'Do not seal the words of the
40:12 prophecy of this book,'" which is the preaching
40:14 from the little book, "for the time is at hand."
40:18 What time is at hand?
40:20 When probation will close and the mystery of God
40:22 will be finished.
40:24 And what will happen when that takes place?
40:26 "He who is unjust, let him be unjust still;
40:30 he who is filthy, let him be filthy still;
40:32 he who is righteous, let him be righteous still;
40:35 and he who is holy, let him be holy still."
40:38 And then after that declaration is made,
40:42 only then does Jesus say, "And behold, I am coming quickly,
40:46 and My reward is with Me, to give to every one
40:49 according to his work."
40:50 Do you see three points of time there?
40:52 A message is coming from the little book,
40:55 or from the book of Revelation.
40:56 The book is open.
40:57 People can be saved.
40:59 But the time is near when the declaration would be made
41:03 that he who is filthy will still be filthy,
41:06 and he that is holy will still be holy.
41:09 And then after that, Jesus comes to reward His servants;
41:12 which is the seventh trumpet.
41:14 He comes to take over His kingdom
41:16 and give the kingdom to His people.
41:20 Now do we have the same sequence in Daniel chapter 7?
41:24 Of course we do.
41:26 The Ancient of Days goes in heaven, He sits,
41:33 the judgment sits, the books are opened.
41:36 Jesus comes to the Father.
41:38 And what is Jesus given in heaven?
41:40 A kingdom.
41:42 And then it says the time came when He took over the kingdom.
41:47 And He gives the kingdom to His people.
41:50 So you have the three points of time
41:53 in Daniel chapter 7 as well.
41:55 Now, John is a representative person.
42:00 We're going to talk about the eating of the book now.
42:05 These words are from William Shea who was my teacher
42:08 at the seminary many years ago.
42:11 He wrote on Revelation 10.
42:12 And notice what he says.
42:14 "John lived at the beginning of the Christian era
42:18 when he received this vision.
42:21 But the prophetic scene itself looks down toward the
42:24 end of time long after John's death."
42:30 Do you understand that point?
42:33 Would John be alive during the period of the sixth trumpet
42:36 towards the end of human history?
42:38 No. And yet he's told to eat the book.
42:40 It's going to be sweet and then bitter.
42:43 "He should, therefore, be taken as a representative
42:47 of those who will bear the final message.
42:51 The party was acting out under those circumstances.
42:55 It would have been physically impossible for John to have
42:57 born this message to all the groups he was told to address.
43:03 We may look, therefore, for a group or movement
43:05 to fulfill this commission in the end time."
43:11 Is that clear?
43:13 John has to be a representative person.
43:17 Because this is happening during the period of the sixth trumpet
43:19 right before the seventh trumpet when the world ends.
43:23 So how could John, during the period of the sixth trumpet,
43:27 be eating the book if he died in the first century
43:31 or maybe early in the second century?
43:33 He couldn't.
43:35 So he has to be representative of the people of God.
43:41 Now let's notice the chiastic structure of Revelation 10:9-11.
43:45 You remember, I mentioned the order;
43:47 bitter, sweet, and then sweet and bitter?
43:49 Now you're going to see the reason why.
43:52 You see, A-B-C has it's equivalent in C-B-A.
43:57 This is the chiasm.
44:01 In the A line, the angel tells John to take the
44:04 scroll and eat it.
44:08 He's told, "It will be bitter in your stomach."
44:11 That's the B line.
44:13 And the C line says, "In your mouth, it will be..." What?
44:17 Sweet as honey.
44:20 Then you have the C line in reverse order,
44:23 "It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth."
44:27 B, "It was bitter in my stomach."
44:32 And then, "You must prophecy again."
44:35 So what does it mean, "to eat the scroll"?
44:39 It means, to prophesy again.
44:42 To assimilate it, and then prophesy.
44:45 Are you with me?
44:46 I'm going to prove it to you.
44:48 The chiastic structure is important
44:51 because it shows that John eating the scroll in verse 9A
44:55 is the same as uttering a prophesy from it in verse 11.
44:59 Thus when John ate the scroll, a message came out from it
45:03 the first time.
45:04 But it became necessary for the message to be preached again
45:07 from the same scroll.
45:09 It is very clear that the episode that deals with the
45:12 eating of the book precedes Revelation 10 verse 7 in time.
45:18 Correct?
45:20 Because 10 verse 7, the mystery of God is finished.
45:22 So the eating of the book has to have happened before that.
45:26 How do we know that this is the case?
45:28 The reason is obvious.
45:30 After John eats the little book, he is told to prophesy again
45:33 and to measure the temple.
45:34 If the mystery of God, which is the preaching of the gospel,
45:37 had already been finished and probation had closed,
45:40 what good would it do to prophesy again...
45:47 ...about the contents of the book
45:49 and to talk about the investigative judgment?
45:53 So verses 8 through 11 take us back to events that occurred
45:57 between verses 6 and 7.
45:59 Now sit down and examine this.
46:01 Look at the chart that I mentioned to you.
46:04 The chart.
46:07 Now let's talk about the bitter/sweet experience.
46:10 What is the little book again?
46:14 What does the little book contain?
46:17 It's the prophesy of the what?
46:19 Of the 2300 days.
46:21 When do the 2300 days end?
46:24 October 22, 1844.
46:25 What is the central theme?
46:27 The judgment.
46:30 The content of the little book causes
46:32 a bitter/sweet experience.
46:34 Sweet at first, but then bitter in the aftermath.
46:38 We have already identified the book as the portion of Daniel
46:41 that has to do with the 2300 days and the judgment.
46:45 This must mean that the message of the judgment
46:48 would be sweet at first, and then would become bitter.
46:52 Somehow, the message of the judgment in this little book
46:55 would be sweet, and then it would become what?
46:58 Bitter, because that's what the book contained.
47:01 That the eating of the scroll, this is important,
47:03 that the eating of the scroll means two things.
47:08 First of all, it refers to the assimilation of the message.
47:11 It means, to assimilate the message.
47:14 Secondly, it means to share it with God's people.
47:17 This is corroborated by the closest biblical parallel
47:21 in Ezekiel 3:1-4 where the prophet is told to eat
47:25 the scroll, and then he is ordered to go and share
47:28 the message with Israel.
47:30 Notice Ezekiel 3:1-4.
47:33 "Moreover He said to me, 'Son of man, eat what you find;
47:37 eat this scroll...'"
47:39 So that's assimilating the message, right?
47:41 Eat the scroll, eat the message.
47:43 And then it says, "...and go, speak to the house of Israel."
47:48 Does that fit the chiastic structure?
47:51 He told, "Eat the scroll."
47:53 And then He says, "You must prophesy again."
47:56 So eating the scroll means, eating the scroll
47:58 and sharing the message.
48:01 So it says, "Moreover He said to me, 'Son of man,
48:03 eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go and speak
48:06 to the house of Israel.'
48:07 So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll.
48:10 And He said to me, 'Son of man, feed your belly,
48:12 and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.'
48:15 So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness.
48:18 Then He said to me, 'Son of man, go to the house of Israel
48:21 and speak with My words to them.'"
48:26 Is that a helpful passage?
48:29 In Scripture, the words of God are described as being sweet.
48:34 We are told that the manna was sweet like honey.
48:36 And the manna represents the Word of God.
48:41 Now notice what Ellen White had to say
48:44 about the sweetness of the book.
48:47 She says, "The comprehension of the truth,
48:51 the glad reception of the message,
48:54 is represented in the eating of the little book.
48:57 The truth in regard to the time of the advent of our Lord
49:00 was a precious message to our souls."
49:05 But then it became bitter.
49:08 In closing, let me read you a few statements
49:10 from some of the pioneers.
49:13 Hiram Edson.
49:16 You know who Hiram Edson was?
49:18 He's the individual who had the insight that Jesus had moved
49:22 from the Holy to the Most Holy Place
49:25 the day after the disappointment.
49:27 He says, "We confidentially expected to see Jesus Christ
49:30 and all the holy angels with Him,
49:33 and that His voice would call up Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
49:36 and all the ancient worthies, and dear friends which had
49:40 been torn from us in death, and that our trials and
49:44 sufferings with our earthly pilgrimage would close
49:47 and we should be caught up to meet our coming Lord
49:50 to be forever with Him to inhabit bright golden mansions
49:53 in the golden home city prepared for the redeemed.
49:57 Our expectations were raised high.
50:00 And thus, we looked for our coming Lord until the clock
50:02 tolled twelve at midnight.
50:05 The day had then passed.
50:07 And our disappointment became a certainty.
50:10 Our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted.
50:13 And such a spirit of weeping came over us
50:16 as I never experienced before.
50:19 It seemed that the loss of all earthly friends
50:22 could have been no comparison.
50:25 We wept and wept till the day dawned."
50:27 The people loved the Lord, folks.
50:30 "I mused in my own heart saying, 'My advent experience has been
50:34 the richest and brightest of all my Christian experience.
50:37 If this had proved a failure, what was the rest of my
50:40 Christian experience worth?
50:43 Has the Bible proved a failure?
50:45 Is there no God?
50:46 No heaven? No golden home city?
50:48 No paradise?
50:50 Is all this but a cunningly devised fable?
50:53 Is there no reality to our fondest hope
50:56 and expectation of these things?'
50:58 And thus, we had something to grieve and weep over
51:02 if all our fond hopes were lost.
51:04 And as I said, we wept till the day dawned."
51:11 Can you sense the bitterness?
51:14 Washington Morse, another one of those who experienced
51:16 the disappointment.
51:18 This is in, The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald,
51:20 May 7, 1901.
51:23 He says, "The passing of the time was a
51:24 bitter disappointment."
51:26 Notice his terminology, "It was a bitter disappointment."
51:29 "True believers had given up all for Christ
51:33 and had shared His presence as never before.
51:36 The love of Jesus filled every soul.
51:38 And with inexpressible desire, they prayed, 'Come Lord Jesus,
51:42 and come quickly.'
51:43 But He did not come.
51:45 And now to turn again to the cares, perplexities, and dangers
51:49 of life in full view of jeering and reviling unbelievers
51:54 who scoffed as never before was a terrible trial
51:58 of faith and patience.
51:59 When Elder Himes visited Waterbury, Vermont
52:04 a short time after the passing of the time
52:07 and stated that the brethren should prepare for
52:09 another cold winter, my feelings were almost incontrollable.
52:14 I left the place of meeting and wept like a child."
52:20 Sweet in the mouth, bitter in the stomach.
52:24 William Miller said, "It passed.
52:27 And the next day it seemed as though all the demons
52:30 from the bottomless pit were let loose upon us.
52:35 The same ones, and many more, who were crying for mercy
52:39 two days before were now mixed with the rabble
52:45 in mocking, scoffing, and threatening
52:47 in a most blasphemous manner."
52:54 You remember the triumphal entry in the times of Christ?
52:58 You know, people say, "Adventists, their church
53:01 is based on a disappointment."
53:06 No problem for me.
53:09 Because the Bible predicted the disappointment.
53:12 Didn't the Bible predict the disappointment?
53:14 Of course it did.
53:16 We can look back and hind sight is 20/20.
53:21 We say, yeah we started with a disappointment.
53:24 Even though the Adventist church didn't exist at that time.
53:26 Yeah, our movement began with a disappointment.
53:29 But you know what?
53:30 So did the Christian church.
53:35 Had Jesus tried to tell the disciples that He was
53:37 going to Jerusalem, He was going to suffer,
53:39 and He was going to die, and He was going to resurrect
53:41 the third day?
53:43 Did He say that explicitly.
53:45 Unambiguously, Jesus said it.
53:49 At the triumphal entry, did Jesus allow them
53:51 to put Him on a donkey?
53:53 To parade Him through...
53:55 Kings sat on donkeys to be paraded through the city
53:59 and to be proclaimed king.
54:00 Oh wow.
54:02 Did Jesus know that they were going to be
54:04 severely disappointed, bitterly disappointed?
54:07 Yes. Did He know that they misunderstood
54:09 the event that was going to happen?
54:11 The timing was right.
54:13 Because Jesus was going to fulfill the Passover.
54:17 But the event was wrong.
54:20 Were they severely disappointed?
54:23 Absolutely. So what happened?
54:24 Afterwards they studied Scripture.
54:27 And they discovered the reason of the disappointment.
54:31 And as a result, they founded the Christian church.
54:36 So what's the difference between that and what happened in 1844?
54:42 They also were wrong about the event.
54:44 And they were right about the timing.
54:48 The idea of the coming of Jesus was also sweet.
54:52 Oh how they longed for the King to come
54:54 and sit on the throne in Jerusalem.
54:57 But they misunderstood prophecy.
55:00 Not the timing, but the event.
55:04 And as a result, when Jesus did not fulfill prophecy
55:06 the way they thought, they were bitterly disappointed.
55:11 But after the disappointment, the disciples gathered together
55:14 and studied the Bible.
55:16 Prophecies.
55:18 And they said, "Hey, we were wrong about the event.
55:23 Jesus was not going to sit on the throne of David.
55:26 He really, the cross was His spiritual throne.
55:31 We understand now," they said.
55:33 And so they founded the Christian church.
55:40 And then they went out and they prophesied again
55:44 with a new enlightenment.
55:46 So if you say that the Adventist church cannot be the
55:49 true church of God, the remnant of God,
55:51 because it started with a disappointment,
55:53 then you have to discard the whole Christian church.
55:57 Because the Christian church also started
55:59 with a disappointment.
56:00 In fact, do you know something?
56:01 Every time that Jesus begins a new work in the Sanctuary,
56:04 there's a disappointment.
56:10 You say, "Really?"
56:12 Yeah.
56:14 Were the disciples disappointed when Jesus went to heaven?
56:18 Yeah, they said, "Are you going to restore the
56:19 kingdom to Israel now?"
56:20 Jesus said, "Bye."
56:24 But then they studied prophesy and they understood.
56:29 Was there a disappointment of John the Baptist
56:32 and the message he presented concerning the Messiah?
56:35 Oh yeah, he thought that the Messiah was going to
56:37 sit on the throne in Jerusalem.
56:39 And he ended up in prison disappointed.
56:42 But then he started studying prophesy.
56:44 And the angels came and explained prophesy,
56:45 he said, "Now I understand."
56:48 Every time Jesus begins a new work in the Sanctuary,
56:50 there's a disappointment.
56:53 So don't allow people to intimidate you by saying,
56:56 "Oh you Adventists, you began with a disappointment."
56:58 Smile and say, "Yes we did.
57:02 But today we're not disappointed.
57:05 Because we have not believed cunningly devised fables."
57:09 And then explain to them these things that we've studied
57:12 from Daniel and from Revelation chapter 10.
57:16 And people will marvel at the divine origin of the
57:20 Seventh-day Adventist Church.
57:21 This is not any church.
57:23 This is a prophetic church.
57:26 This is a church that originated in prophesy
57:28 and its destiny is bathed in prophesy.
57:32 And the devil knows it.
57:33 And that's why he's distracted the church
57:35 to preach evangelical messages instead of preaching
57:39 the distinctive present truth message of the Adventist church.


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Revised 2015-07-27