When the announcement came that the world record for largest harp ensemble was about to be set on October 26, 2013, we immediately recognized its incredible significance. (If that date doesn’t ring a bell in your mind yet, you might want to review the closing sections of our article about The End of the SDA Church.) John the Revelator saw down the corridors of time to this very Sabbath, and said:
I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. (Revelation 14:2)
The Bible does not employ idle words, and it is not talking about a whimsical notion of winged cherubs on clouds plucking the strings of their harps in ceaseless boredom for the rest of eternity. The harp is a symbol for something, and to understand the symbol we need not look any farther than the Bible itself to interpret it. In the words of the psalmist, I say:
Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, both low and high, rich and poor alike: My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding. I will turn my ear to a proverb; I will expound my riddle on the harp. (Psalm 49:1-4)
So the harp is an instrument for solving riddles and expounding mysteries. The goal of this present article is to open your eyes both figuratively and literally to the geographical changes that will happen in relation to God’s church on the very date that the record-breaking harp ensemble will perform.
The Heavenly Pattern
We are talking about places in this article, so we need to establish some basic geographical terms. The Bible not only deals with earthly geography, but it deals with heavenly “geography” as well. Thus the term “east” has multiple meanings in Scripture, as we will see.
The children of Ishmael and Esau settled to the east of Israel (Genesis 25:6), and were thus referred to as the children of the east in the Bible. The three kings that visited Jesus with gifts were kings of the east, or Arab leaders, who were not so unfamiliar with the God of Israel and His promises. It makes sense why Ellen G. White said the following about the wise men:
The light of God is ever shining amid the darkness of heathenism. As these magi studied the starry heavens, and sought to fathom the mystery hidden in their bright paths, they beheld the glory of the Creator. Seeking clearer knowledge, they turned to the Hebrew Scriptures. In their own land were treasured prophetic writings that predicted the coming of a divine teacher. Balaam belonged to the magicians, though at one time a prophet of God; by the Holy Spirit he had foretold the prosperity of Israel and the appearing of the Messiah; and his prophecies had been handed down by tradition from century to century. But in the Old Testament the Saviour’s advent was more clearly revealed. The magi learned with joy that His coming was near, and that the whole world was to be filled with a knowledge of the glory of the Lord. {DA 59.3}
Ellen G. White gives a clear precedent here in relation to the coming of Jesus: there is a mystery to be discerned in the starry heavens. This applies to His second advent as well as His first.
The prophecy of Balaam which she refers to is as follows:
…There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel… (Numbers 24:17)
There is more to that prophecy than meets the eye, but let us lay the foundation first.
Not only were the wise men from the east, meaning the Arab regions east of Israel, but they also saw a star in the east, meaning in the eastern heavens.
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. (Matthew 2:2)
This is where we need to differentiate between terrestrial east and celestial east. At least a basic understanding of astronomy and astronomical terms will be helpful as we delve into this topic, but there is no need to worry if you do not understand everything, because Chart 2 brings it all together visually to illustrate the point.
We need to know where the wise men saw the star in order to understand how it fulfilled the prophecy. Because of the way the earth’s axis and orbit are tilted, the stars appear in different places at different hours of the day and in different seasons, respectively. This causes a little bit of difficulty when astronomers want to talk about the location of an object in the night sky. They would like to be able to find it again at any time or during any season, so they need to record where they saw it relative to the background of stars (the celestial sphere) instead of the north-south-east-west compass directions. Therefore, astronomers normally refer to an object’s location by its coordinates on the celestial sphere instead of its location in the sky.
How do you say where something is on the celestial sphere? First of all, there has to be a reference point. The reference point used by astronomers is the location of the sun at the time of the vernal (spring) equinox. It is called the vernal point. Ancient peoples commonly began their calendar year when the sun was at or near this point.
All celestial objects rise in the geographical east and set in the west, but we need to understand celestial east and west relative to the vernal point. The direction of east points to objects that rise after the vernal point, while the direction of west points to objects that rise before the vernal point.
Chart 1 – Star chart showing celestial direction vectors (east/west) relative to vernal point (center)
Notice that the directions of east and west in the stars appear backwards (east on the left, west on the right) because of the fact that we are looking “up” at the stars instead of “down” at the ground.
Using the standard coordinate system for astronomical objects as shown in Chart 1, an object’s declination is simply the number of degrees above the vernal point, and the right ascension is the number of degrees (or hours, minutes, and seconds of rotation) left of the vernal point. The grid in Chart 1 marks every hour of right ascension on the horizontal axis, and every 10 degrees of declination on the vertical axis. The zero-hour line (black) is analogous to the prime meridian that divides the eastern and western hemispheres of the earth.
To visualize which stars lie in the direction of celestial east, all we need to do is wrap the chart back into a sphere. For illustration purposes, Chart 2 shows only a small slice of the celestial sphere.
Chart 2 – Visualization of celestial direction vectors (range: ±10° declination)
It is easy to see that the constellation of Orion lies squarely in the direction of “east” on the celestial sphere. Another way to visualize this is to imagine yourself standing on the earth’s prime meridian at the moment when the vernal point is at its highest in the sky. As you stand facing eastward, you would be staring straight at Orion on the horizon. Note: If you do this near the day of the spring equinox (approximately March 20) then the sun will mark the vernal point, and it will be at is highest at 12:00 noon local time. To check this with your planetarium software, it might also be helpful to set your position to the equator so that the sun (and thus the vernal point) is directly overhead.
Compound the confusion of celestial east vs. terrestrial east with the ambiguity of the word heaven, which can refer either to the sky, the stars, or the place where Jesus lives, and the intended meaning can really get obscured. A person might wonder why God allows such ambiguity in His Word; some reasons might be to give the scripture flexibility of application and to give us an opportunity to dig for hidden treasure and understand its varying depths of meaning.
Now that we have that basic foundation, it is possible to better understand the verses in the Bible that refer to the direction of east in connection with the heavenly sanctuary, or simply said “celestial east.” Let’s take a quick look at some such verses as well as quotes from the Spirit of Prophecy and see if they don’t gain a whole new depth of meaning now that we know that Orion is in the east.
First of all, let’s take a closer look at the fulfillment of Balaam’s prophecy in the experience of the wise men. They saw the star in the east, which means that they saw it in the constellation of Orion. How did that fulfill the prophecy that a star would come out of Jacob? One casual note from Wikipedia clues us in on the link. In their article about the Jacob’s staff (a precursor to the sextant used to measure angles), they say the following:
The origin of the name of the instrument is not certain. Some refer to the Biblical patriarch Jacob,[1] specifically Gen 32:11.[1] It may also take its name after its resemblance to Orion, referred to by the name of Jacob on some medieval star charts.[2][3] Another possible source is the Pilgrim’s staff, the symbol of St James (Jacobus in Latin). The name cross staff simply comes from its cruciform shape.
Now it becomes immediately clear that the prophecy of Balaam was literally fulfilled: the star in the east did in fact come out of the constellation of “Jacob” or Orion. Thus just by studying these verses with a star chart contemporary with the writing, the Bible itself tells us that the direction of celestial east (where the star came from) is the direction of the Orion constellation. Otherwise, the star that the wise men saw would not have been the fulfillment of Balaam’s prophecy.
Ellen G. White affirms this solidarity between Orion and the east. She not only informs us that the New Jerusalem will come from the open space in Orion (the Orion Nebula), but she also describes Jesus as coming from the east, thus linking Orion to celestial east once again:
Soon our eyes were drawn to the east, for a small black cloud had appeared about half as large as a man’s hand, which we all knew was the sign of the Son of man. {2SG 32.1}
As we approach the real birthday of Jesus on October 27 again this year and our hearts draw nearer to our Savior through the experience of the wise men in following the star, and I am saddened to think that not many more people are truly looking for Him now compared to then.
Let’s examine another Bible verse that deal with heavenly east:
Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. (Ezekiel 43:1-2)
These verses pack a lot of information! Remember, the temple that Ezekiel saw was a pattern of the heavenly sanctuary as explained in the article Thou must prophesy again... Since the temple is a pattern of the heavenly sanctuary, it is fair for us to interpret the direction of east as a celestial direction. Ezekiel is taken to where he sees eastward, which represents our looking at Orion. As we study the Orion Message, behold, the “glory” of God comes from the east.
God’s glory is His character, as He revealed to Moses when he asked Him to show him His glory (Exodus 33:18 and following). As we study the Orion message, we see the character of God, His glory, revealed in His dealings with the Seventh-day Adventist Church at each specific point in time marked by the seven stars.
This passage definitely links the message from the east with two important things:
- The voice of God like many waters
- The lighting of the earth with His glory.
Before we explore those two topics, let’s be really certain that this is talking about the Orion message. Let’s read the next two verses of this passage:
And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. (Ezekiel 43:3-4)
Here the prophet reminds us of the vision recorded in Ezekiel 1 of the cherubim with four faces and wheels. To be sure that we are still on the same topic, he then ties everything together as the glory of God coming from the east. In other words, verses 1-4 form a unit. This indicates that the two pieces of important information noted above and the reference to the vision of Chapter 1 are all part of this introduction.
The vision of Ezekiel 1 is of course the basis for the Orion message, as detailed in the presentation. So we can be sure that this passage is indeed speaking of the Orion message, and that the Orion message is also the voice of God like many waters and the lighting of the earth with God’s glory.
The Angel with Great Power
Anyone familiar with Revelation 18:1 should instantly recognize the reference to lighting the earth with God’s glory. This is the fourth angel’s message, and it comes from the stars:
And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. (Revelation 18:1)
The verses that follow describe this world-wide message more clearly as decrying the fall of Babylon with all the false doctrines that it deceives the nations with. The false doctrines of Babylon, which are found in every organized church today, are clearly identified by the message that comes down from Orion. Continuing, we hear Jesus Himself directly addressing His people:
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. (Revelation 18:4-5)
Jesus speaks from heaven, from Orion. Of course Jesus has ever been calling His people out of the confusion of the various “Babylons” of history, but never has this verse spoken more pungently than it does today for at least a couple of reasons:
- Jesus states why He calls His people out. It is so they are free from sin, and so they do not receive the plagues. This describes the 144,000. This is key because it means that this prophecy can only be completely fulfilled in one specific generation of earth’s history: the last generation that lives during the time of the seven last plagues.
- Babylon is described here in a way that has never been completely fulfilled in the past. Her sins are described has having “reached unto heaven.” One example is Sodom and Gomorrah whose cry reached the Lord in heaven, and He destroyed it with fire and brimstone. In no more accurate way have the sins of Babylon reached unto heaven than as expressed in the Orion message.
The remainder of the chapter is a grave warning that Babylon will receive the plagues. Once again, this is speaking about the Orion message collectively, which gives a very real warning of the wrath of God expressed through the Betelgeuse hypernova explosion that will result in the plagues upon this very generation. God is no respecter of persons, and church affiliation will save no one.
I remind readers that on the one hand, only Jesus has the authority to say the things that are being said here. He is the one speaking, not me. Those who have taken upon themselves to decry the complete apostasy of the SDA organization without the authority of the voice from heaven, the Orion message, have been committing a grave mistake. On the other hand, no one—not even Ellen G. White—has the authority to stop the mouth of Jesus. She often spoke in the hope and confidence that her beloved church would welcome the Savior in her lifetime, but those hopes were dashed to pieces by the rebellion of Church leadership and she died without seeing them fulfilled. (And mind you that rebellion had a conservative face too.) Nevertheless, she also prophesied of this unfortunate eventuality:
The world must not be introduced into the church, and married to the church, forming a bond of unity [ecumenism]. Through this means the church will become indeed corrupt, and as stated in Revelation, ‘a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.’ {TM 265.1}
The world has indeed been married to the church, so you can infer the rest. Furthermore:
If the church of God becomes lukewarm it does not stand in favor with God any more than do the churches that are represented as having fallen and become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Those who have had opportunities to hear and receive the truth, and who have united with the Seventh-day Adventist church, calling themselves the commandment keeping people of God, and yet possess no more vitality and consecration to God than do the nominal churches, will receive of the plagues of God just as verily as the churches who oppose the law of God. {Letter 35, 1898}
Are you still proud to belong to Laodicea (the lukewarm church) like Walter Veith after reading that quote? I hope you are on your way to the church of Philadelphia instead! Laodicea and Philadelphia represent spiritual conditions; of course the true pillars of God's church remain more sure than ever, but the apostate organization will be spewed out. Notice the message Jesus sends to His own people:
Jesus sends His people a message of warning to prepare them for his coming. To the prophet John was made known the closing work in the great plan of man’s redemption. He beheld an angel flying ‘in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him for the hour of his Judgment is come and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters [Rev. 14:6, 7.].
The angel represented in prophecy as delivering this message, symbolizes [not the organizational leadership, but] a class of faithful men, who, obedient to the promptings of God’s Spirit and the teachings of his word, proclaim this warning to the inhabitants of earth. This message was not to be committed to the religious leaders of the people. They had failed to preserve their connection with God, and had refused the light from heaven therefore they were not of the number described by the apostle Paul: ‘But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day we are not of the night nor of darkness’ [1 Thess. 5:4, 5].
The watchmen upon the walls of Zion should be the first to catch the tidings of the Saviour’s advent, the first to lift their voices to proclaim him near, the first to warn the people to prepare for his coming. But they were at ease, dreaming of peace and safety, while the people were asleep in their sins. Jesus saw His church, like the barren fig-tree, covered with pretentious leaves, yet destitute of precious fruit. There was a boastful observance of the forms of religion, while the spirit of true humility, penitence and faith—which alone could render the service acceptable to God—was lacking. Instead of the graces of the Spirit, there were manifested pride, formalism, vainglory, selfishness, oppression. A backsliding church closed their eyes to the signs of the times. God did nor forsake them, or suffer his faithfulness to fail but they departed from him, and separated themselves from his love. As they refused to comply with the conditions, his promises were not fulfilled to them. {4SP 199.2–200.1}
Those who reject the Orion message, the light from heaven, are indeed not among those who know the day and hour. Being in the SDA Church or even being a leader in it does not change that fact.
Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. (Revelation 3:3)
As in Heaven, So on Earth
Remember, this is about geography. Are there known examples of geographical information given in prophecy? Adventists should be aware of at least two examples. The first example is the beast of Revelation 13:1.
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. (Revelation 13:1)
The geographical hint is in the word “sea,” which is a reference to a densely populated geographical region comprised of different multitudes and people groups with different languages, namely the continent of Europe, which is the more densely populated region of the Old World.
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:…And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. (Revelation 17:1,15)
The location detail doesn’t end there, however. We are also given other criteria for identifying the beast, and its specific seat within the continent, namely Rome, the city of seven hills:
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. (Revelation 17:9)
The second well-known example of prophetic geographical information is the beast of Revelation 13:11:
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. (Revelation 13:11)
Whereas the sea represented a densely populated area, the earth represents a sparsely populated area. It represents the New World—specifically the Americas—as of a couple of hundred years ago when the prophecy speaks of. But the verse gives more specifics: it had two horns like a lamb. Of all the countries that make up the Americas, we understand this to symbolize the United States of America with its fundamental principles of Protestantism and Republicanism. It is characterized as docile and benevolent (lamb-like) but latently speaking like a dragon.
Who Can Find the Virtuous Woman?
Since prophecy describes the geographical location of the first and second beasts, and the whore that controls them, doesn’t it stand to reason that it should also give the particulars of where God’s true church is headquartered? The first indication is the New World:
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (Revelation 12:6)
This prophecy points to a place sparsely populated where the persecuted people of God fled to during the 1260 years of oppression in Europe. They came to America in order to be free to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. The SDA Church rose up from these people, and despite growing into a world-wide church, it remained headquartered in the United States.
Now that the official SDA Church is at its end, it is logical to wonder if the Bible gives any additional information as to where the remnant of the remnant that escapes it will be established. Since that last remnant has the Orion message, we might do well to gather a clue from a verse in the Bible that mentions Orion:
Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. (Job 9:9)
This is a verse full of significance that is unfortunately shrouded. If you look up Pleiades in the Strong’s concordance, for example, you will find that “seven stars” is also an acceptable rendition. Orion not only has seven stars, but also a room or chamber, the “open space” that Ellen G. White speaks of: the Orion Nebula, which is situated below (or south) of the center belt. So you can see that this verse speaks more about Orion than it appears on the surface, but it isn’t the purpose of this article to explain that in detail.
Since the heavenly sanctuary of Orion has “chambers of the south” that have something to do with the coming of the Holy City, it stands to reason that God’s church on earth, the earthly reflection of the heavenly sanctuary, would also have “chambers of the south” that have something to do with the New Jerusalem. This is a geographical hint as to where on Earth the voice of God from Orion issues from: the South.
If the woman fled to the wilderness, or Americas, then the chambers of the south would logically be the countries of South America. That is where we should look to find the message that opens (looses) the mysteries of Orion.
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of [the seven stars], or loose the bands of Orion? (Job 38:31)
In the article The End of the SDA Church, we explain the symbolism of the woman standing on the moon, that it is a contrast to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar. It shows the church through time, its feet on the Judaic foundation, standing through the centuries of Christianity, crowned with the SDA Church, and sparkling with the stars of Orion. Each phase has its time and locale. The twelve stars, representing the faithful remnant of Adventism, are headquartered in South America.
Does the Bible tell us anything more specific? Where in South America should we look?
And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder… (Revelation 14:2)
The voice of God coming from Orion is likened unto “many waters” and “great thunder.” Putting those two descriptions together, we should be looking for “great thundering abundant water” or in other words, a mighty waterfall.
If you aren’t familiar with South American waterfalls, all you have to do is run a Google search and you will find many travel reviews that consistently list one particular waterfall as #1: Iguazu Falls. As we proceed, you will see just how precisely this fits the prophecy. Interestingly, a video of Iguazu Falls even has the caption “Mightier Than the Thunder of Many Waters!”
Wikipedia hits a few important points:
On November 11 of 2011, Iguazu Falls was announced as one of the seven winners of the New Seven Wonders of Nature by the New Seven Wonders of the World Foundation [world-renown].
Numerous islands along the 2.7-kilometre-long (1.7 mi) edge divide the falls into numerous separate waterfalls and cataracts, [many waters] varying between 60 to 82 meters (197 to 269 ft.) high. The number of these smaller waterfalls fluctuates from 150 to 300, depending on the water level.[3]
The name “Iguazu” comes from the Guarani or Tupi words “y” [ɨ], meaning “water”, and “ûasú” [waˈsu], meaning “big”.[2] [great waters, or many waters]
The junction of the water flows marks the border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.
This wonderful place is also considered a “biological hotspot” (a genetic bank). That status is significant considering that the “Gene” of Eternal Life accompanies the Orion message. This genetic reserve surrounding the thundering waterfall is symbolized by the seven thunders, which have only now been unsealed:
And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. (Revelation 10:4)
Friends, this goes deep—much deeper than I can present to you in this article.
We have narrowed our search down from the Americas (the wilderness) to South America (the chambers of the south) and to one of the countries surrounding Iguazu Falls. The problem is that it borders three countries—how can we be certain which one concerns the prophecy? We could dig a little into the history of the region and find that the falls originally belonged to Paraguay and were named by its indigenous Guarani (meaning “warrior”) people, but can we be certain?
We haven’t exhausted the text yet:
And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: (Revelation 14:2)
The Wikipedia entry for harp contains this succinct statement:
“The harp is Paraguay’s national instrument.”
There you have it: the Bible points directly to Paraguay as the country where the voice of God from heaven comes from, announcing the day and hour of Jesus’ coming. But it doesn’t end there.
As we saw in the story of the magi that brought gifts to Jesus at His first advent, the circumstances leading up to His second advent are analogous. In a similar way to how the magi studied the starry heavens and discovered the glory of God, we found God’s character revealed through the sun, moon, and stars. As the magi found the time of Christ’s first advent in their studies, we found the time of His second. There is a definite parallel between Jesus’ first and second coming.
To Ezekiel, the gospel of Jesus’ first coming was illustrated by waters issuing out of the temple. They grew to be ankle deep, knee deep, waist deep, and finally impassable. The voice like many waters is analogous to this. From the impassable thundering Iguazu waterfalls, we follow the Paraná River southwest to where the Paraguay River feeds into it. From there, we can only follow the Paraguay River one direction, and it takes us north right to the “Cordillera” (literally “Mountain”) district. One small tributary of the Paraguay River—whose name could be translated as Crystal Clear Creek—brings us to the ankle-deep waters that trickle across the very property where we live and work. The voice of God announcing the day and hour of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ comes to you just as the gospel of His first coming came in the vision of Ezekiel. Even the physical layout of our farm matches Ezekiel ’s description: the creek runs eastward on the south side of our east-facing church/temple.
Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. (Ezekiel 47:1)
Thus the Bible gives a precise geographical description of the origin of the voice of God on Earth.
God’s New Channels
The healing waters represent not only Jesus whose sacrifice redeemed us, but the Holy Spirit whose work sanctifies us. We are just a small handful of people spreading this divine message like a trickle of water, but as it flows out to you the waters increase and increase again as you in turn share it with others.
Under the showers of the latter rain…the Holy Spirit will speak through the living, human agent with convincing power. No one will then watch to see if the sentences are well rounded off, if the grammar is faultless. The living water will flow in God’s own channels.... I am sure that there is a heaven full of the richest, enduring treasures to be freely given to all who will appropriate them to themselves, and becoming enriched, thereby, will impart freely to others. I know this to be the truth. {YRP 324.4}
The voice of God like many waters is indeed a reference to the many people like you who will yet proclaim this “heaven full of the richest, enduring treasures” of a message.
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. (Revelation 19:6)
But, what about the General Conference?
The October 10, 2013 edition of the Adventist Review contained many articles about Righteousness by Faith and the 1888 General Conference, and topics such as Last Generation Theology. They put on an air of holiness, but if you actually read their articles, they undermine and deny all of the wonderful truths that are brought to light by our movement. All the while, they are experts at making themselves look good. To the likes of Ted Wilson and his crew, Jesus scathed:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. (Matthew 23:27-28)
Ellen G. White acknowledged the voice of the General Conference in session as the voice of God, insofar as the leaders were men of faith and prayer, and elevated principle, but when they were not she likened it to blasphemy (ChL 20). There was another time when she said that she “could no longer regard the voice of the General Conference…as the voice of God” (GW 490). These statements are highly significant in light of the announcement that I opened this article with. Three times the General Conference respected the ecumenical Creation Sabbath mandated by the papacy: 2009, 2010, and 2012. Three years the owner of the vineyard came to look for fruit (Luke 13:7). One more year was given, and here on October 26, 2013 the General Conference once again betrays the very Creator they purport to worship. Says the owner of the vineyard: “Cut it down!”
On that very day, as the harpists in Paraguay will break the world record in their secular event, you will know where the world-enlightening voice of God comes from—not the General Conference, but rather instead the chambers of the south, like the sound of thundering waters, and harpists expounding riddles.
Balaam’s Prophecy
There is yet one more parallel between Jesus’ first advent and His second advent that I wish to share with you. It is the prophecy of “Balaam” who was once a prophet of God but turned instead to filthy lucre. Even after his apostasy, however, God put in his mouth words of blessing for Israel.
The modern Balaam of today is a fallen prophet by the name of Ernie Knoll. Even though he has failed in his duty, God has seen fit to confirm our studies through the symbolism in his dreams. The voice of God is described in exactly seven of his dreams, which give added detail to the sound of many waters. He describes it as a thunderous waterfall, a mountain stream, and a small trickle all at the same time. You can see that this fits exactly with the three river segments: the Iguazu Falls on the Paraná, the Paraguay River that flows through the mountain district, and the small creek that crosses our farm.
In one of his dreams (The Senior Pastor) he even visits Iguazu Falls, describing it perfectly unbeknownst to himself.
Sadly, he has rejected the Orion message and turned his dreams against it, but the Lord has overridden him as he did with Balaam. I suppose he would be more enthralled with the completely ecumenical-friendly presentation of The Creation—The Earth is a Witness (also produced in 2010) which does not challenge his paradigm. This film, now being released world-wide, is certainly “tremendous” with its high-definition 6 × 12 meter panoramic views, but it is doctrinally empty. It falls tragically short of the 7 × 12 dimensions associated with God’s messages which are packed full of pure doctrine. We know all pure doctrine is centered on the cross of Jesus Christ, and it’s His body depicted in Orion and His blood exemplified in the Gene of Life.
The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. (Psalm 29:3-4)
There is one more reason why God chose the thundering Iguazu Falls to symbolize His voice. The grandeur of the canyon below the falls is a remarkable reflection of the grandeur of the Orion Nebula (which we can only vaguely discern from earth). Take the time to view documentaries of these marvels—if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million.
Ellen G. White names three ways that the voice of God speaks to us: through His Word, through providential workings, and through the “appeals of His Holy Spirit, making impressions upon the heart, which will be wrought out in the character” (YRP 102). In this article I have shown you in God’s word where His voice comes from—both in the heavens and on earth—and I have shown how the providential workings of secular events testify for us. One question remains: Is the Holy Spirit binding the “sweet influences” of Christ’s character to your heart?
Recommended videos: Iguazu Falls, The Orion Nebula
