Originally published on Wednesday, March 9, 2011, 10:45 pm in German at www.letztercountdown.org
I read every email that reaches me and comment on it because I want to do my part to find the remnant of the remnant. I received mail from Adventists who were new in the faith and were attracted almost magically to sites like those of the Moon Sabbath Keepers. I explained in detail that our seventh-day Sabbath really has nothing in common with the Lunar Sabbath propagated by those false teachers. It still depends on the creation week when God introduced the seven-day cycle, and this cycle has never been interrupted.
One of my readers thanked me for the clarification only to throw out the Orion message and the fourth angel's message, which are from God, with the dirty bath water of the Lunar Sabbath Keepers because some pastors and elders still do not know how to correctly interpret the statements of Ellen G. White in regard to time messages during the period of the fourth angel. With the arguments presented here, I finally convinced him on a biblical basis that the message of the fourth angel indeed comes from Orion proclaiming the time of Jesus' coming.
At the time of this writing I was actually working on finishing the Shadow Series, but I had a lot more to say to my opponents in regard to the accusation of “time setting”. Although my schedule was incredibly tight, I took time to offer here the explanations as to why there is still indeed a time message which bears the seal of God.
Ellen G. White said in Volume 1 of her Testimonies:
I saw that God tested His people upon time in 1844, but that no time which has since been set has borne the special marks of His hand. {1T 409.1}
This statement has always kept the possibility open that a time message could come again that “would bear the special marks of the hand of Jesus”. Those who don't understand why I believe that the message of God's voice from the Orion “bears the special marks of His hand” should carefully re-read slides 169-178 of the Orion presentation.
I'm trying to portray this subject as detailed as possible to remove any lingering doubts as to whether the time has come for us to have time prophecy again. I will establish this on a biblical foundation. I will show that this can be asserted in perfect harmony with the many statements of Ellen G. White against time setting and does not question either her or God's authority. However, as with any of my articles, I do not claim completeness. All that I give you can and should be understood and tested through private study. This is how we work in our small group and it is the only way that the Holy Spirit can teach you.
I have met many brethren who would send me their questions on a daily basis. They do not want to study for themselves, and even get offended or react grumpily when I just give a few tips for self-study without giving them everything already sliced and diced and served on a silver platter. No friends, you will never get to know your God that way! You must start to work on your own with the Holy Spirit. Maybe then some of you will realize that there is a real Person who wants to live in you, and not just a force. But that is another story and I have already answered hundreds of emails in that regard to the point that I have no desire to write about it. Suffice it to say that I believe what Ellen G. White said about the Holy Spirit, that He is the third Person of the Godhead. Each individual is tested by the Orion message and for each one of us God has clarifications of erroneous views, so that we—if we accept the correction—can be united in faith. Take the correction or leave it. I will have done my part.
Let's turn to the topic of time setting. Ellen G. White said so much about it, and it is usually interpreted to mean that there will “never again” be any time prophecy...and every day I get emails with the same statements from Ellen G. White, which I will elaborate on in the next article. This article forms the basis for understanding why time prophecy comes into effect again right now.
Everything that I will explain to you could be discovered by any avid Bible student as well. But I never receive anything like that from readers. As we all know, even Ellen G. White has to be tested on the basis of Scripture like any other prophet or messenger of God, and certainly that has been done sufficiently by our church. However, not everything she said is understood perfectly and put into its correct context. If we had reason to believe that Ellen G. White said something that does not harmonize with the Bible, we would raise a red alert and it would be necessary to tread on that area with all our caution. If Ellen G. White appeared at odds with the Bible, then it would be our sacred obligation to find the harmony in it.
You know that I consider Ellen G. White to be the messenger of God, and her testimonies to be God's word. In my life, I try to obey everything she tells us. Following her counsel, I moved to the countryside in Paraguay seven years ago. I not only accepted the health message for my family and myself, but also teach it to all our neighbors and in the schools of the surrounding villages. That is why I wrestled a long time with her time setting statements long before I received them from my opponents by the hundreds in e-mails in three different languages. I assure you I knew all those quotes already. I will present here the solution I discovered for the apparent contradictions in the statements of Ellen G. White and the Orion message. My original intention was to let the Orion message have its effect on you. I wanted you to go through the same questions I had, so you would be able to pray and ponder as I did and discover the truth for yourself.
I placed many hints for you in the PowerPoint study. I thought you would find them and draw the correct conclusions. But time and again I received mails of excited “third angel's message proclaimers” who vehemently fended off what I said with Ellen G. White quotations. But what was it actually, that they were trying to repress? They were offended by the power of the fourth angel, who was sent to help the third angel to finish the work! How sad that those brothers and sisters still do not understand what we are taught in Early Writings. Keep on distributing your pamphlets, books, radio and television programs (which is all fine and good), but how small is your faith when you believe that you'll never get real “power”! Go ahead and bring the light to the entire earth without any help from “above” like you have for the last 167 years, and deny the prophesied light of the fourth angel for the third and the last time! Some leaders of the General Conference even recognize that we cannot succeed without the help of God. But they go the wrong way too by refusing the God-given light.
This message even separated me from long-time friends who think that the message is not “appropriate” for their particular country, culture, or church members. Friendships ended in tears because they think themselves greater than God, who in His infinite wisdom determines the timing and maturity of the crop and shows us the message from His throne NOW in the last few minutes of mankind's history according to His Clock. He chose the time. Who are we to dare think that we know better, and would likely delay the message? It is the authority of the Father, the Supreme Judge of the universe, that we are about to receive! Meanwhile they are rejecting it because they do not consider it “suitable” for some of their deep sleeping brethren. They imagine that it would scare them away because the message is too strong for their weak minds, weakened by their own worldliness.
Were the people who denied the first angel's message, Miller's midnight cry, among the saints? What about those who left after the small disappointment of 1843 and did not accept the second time proclamation wave in 1844 under the second angel? And will we see any First-day Adventists in heaven, who didn't receive the Sabbath truth of the third angel and refused to proclaim it because they believed it would limit their influence to be separate from the majority by going against the universally reverenced Sunday? Are they saints, who think they should proclaim new light only half-heartedly and behind closed doors to only their hand-selected friends because they are worried about a mass of corrupt brethren?
For those who don't want to admit it...even Ellen G. White doubted the messages for a short time. This is what happened, and it was written for our admonition:
All these things weighed heavily upon my spirits, and in the confusion I was sometimes tempted to doubt my own experience. While at family prayers one morning, the power of God began to rest upon me, and the thought rushed into my mind that it was mesmerism, and I resisted it. Immediately I was struck dumb and for a few moments was lost to everything around me. I then saw my sin in doubting the power of God, and that for so doing I was struck dumb, and that my tongue would be loosed in less than twenty-four hours. A card was held up before me, on which were written in letters of gold the chapter and verse of fifty texts of Scripture. After I came out of vision, I beckoned for the slate, and wrote upon it that I was dumb, also what I had seen, and that I wished the large Bible. I took the Bible and readily turned to all the texts that I had seen upon the card. I was unable to speak all day. Early the next morning my soul was filled with joy, and my tongue was loosed to shout the high praises of God. After that I dared not doubt or for a moment resist the power of God, however others might think of me. {EW 22.2}
The first of the fifty Bible texts that Ellen G. White saw reads thus:
And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. (Luke 1:20)
Anyone who doubts and does not proclaim what God wants them to proclaim in His time, must fall silent. If he repents, he is silenced just for a short time; if he does not repent, he will cease for eternity.
The first three angels symbolize “movements” that materialized through great bursts of prophetic knowledge and Bible understanding. Each angel screened out those who did not want to accept the message, who considered it to be premature, inappropriate, or even incorrect. The fourth angel represents another such movement. We should learn from the past. Out of a community of more than 17 million, apostate Adventists which are to the core secular, disoriented, misinformed, and believe themselves rich, and in need of no fourth angel's message—will be filtered out leaving only a tiny group. Ellen G. White said even that the majority of the workers of the 11th hour will come from other churches in the time of the loud cry.
I knew from the beginning that the Orion message records not only our entire “sad” church history and calls us to repentance, but also contains a time message which according to Ellen G. White—at first glance—should not exist. Even worse, as we will find out in the last part of the Shadow Series, not just the year of Jesus' return is revealed but also the “very probable day”.
For many, it's not enough to study the striking difference in the two visions of Ellen G. White as explained in the first article of the Day and Hour series. They want more. I would like to satisfy this thirst for knowledge now, because like I said I had to reconcile Ellen G. White, the Bible, and the Orion study for myself. Strangely, there was no problem with the Bible, just with Ellen G. White.
There is something the great majority misses: Ellen G. White herself put many hints in her writings that from the fourth angel onward, there will again take place a time proclamation. But our church is in a deep sleep, as we all (should) know. Only intensive study will keep the reader from falling into or persisting in that same sleep. And only intensive study combined with a love of the truth would have allowed our BRI (Biblical Research Institute), who actually has that responsibility, to discover the things that I will now explain.
First, I would like to give you some Bible passages to ponder over. These appear to contradict some of Jesus’ other statements that say only God the Father will know the day and the hour. Remember Ellen G. White said that we have to study EVERYTHING like this so that it ultimately comes together in harmony...
The Bible actually teaches that we have to know the day and the hour:
Jesus says to John in his revelation:
And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. 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 3:1-3)
And the apostle Paul states something very similar in his letter to the Thessalonians:
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 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 Thessalonians 5:3-5)
Our scholars know these verses too, of course, but they interpret them as allegorical instead of prophetic. That's a big mistake because it makes them also miss the additional hints in the Bible that something special has to happen at a particular point in time...
Jan Paulsen, the former President of our church, spoke in Paraguay on June 29, 2008 in the sports stadium in front of an undisciplined, loud, and inattentive audience, which consisted of about 4,000 “Adventists”. I had the privilege of listening to the words of his very insightful sermon. In the background about 100 people, most of them under the age of 7 years, were subjected to a quick baptism so the leaders could report “success”. Only those who watched very closely noticed that the pastors did not even take baptismal votes.
But the sermon of Jan Paulsen was good. It was very good—but only for those who could read between the lines. I discussed it later with four pastors and eight elders and they didn't understand at all what Jan Paulsen had actually said and meant. He began his sermon saying that he is the first president of the Seventh-day Adventist global church to visit Paraguay—and also the last. Wow, wasn't that actually time setting? Was it? If, as some of our brothers and sisters on Facebook wrote to me, Jesus is not obligated to come in the next 100 years, then those opening words of Jan Paulsen could be interpreted as an insult to the Paraguayans, if you'll allow me this little joke. No, he really began to preach a “farewell sermon”, not in terms of his office ending soon, but clearly in view of the end of our Church as we know it. This tremendous sermon introduction was not even slightly noticed by the pastors and elders. They were too busy working...trying in vain, powerless, to silence the raucous and dissonantly applauding crowd of low-class “Adventists” during this Sunday(!) afternoon sermon.
Jan Paulsen preached about the last words of Jesus on earth and applied chapters 16 and 17 from the gospel of John. He said these would be the last words you would hear from him in Paraguay, and the last words are always the most important in human life and have a special weight for those to whom they are addressed. Of course, this is especially true if these were the last words of Jesus, the Son of God Himself to His disciples. We should remember these words carefully, ponder them, and study them in depth, to be warned of what to expect in the near future.
His sermon cleverly avoided Jesus' advance warnings of a terrible persecution (due to the presence of many children) and he asked the audience (if there were anyone listening) to seriously re-study these verses at home. But he was definitely sure that persecution would arise very soon. Please, do also read John chapter 16 carefully. Paulsen then put special emphasis on the following verse:
But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. (John 16:4)
The purpose of his sermon was to make it clear to the people that the General Conference as it exists today would soon no longer exist. That very soon the time would come when each group of faithful Adventists would be on their own. He pointed out that no group could stay faithful to God unless Jesus were in their midst, and that would only be possible when the Comforter would come and live in each and every one of us.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. (John 16:7)
But Jesus gave a certain condition for the Comforter to come in His prayer for the unity of his church in John 17, the longest prayer of the Bible. It was a clever sermon and by the end he had won some listeners. Unfortunately, they did not notice the beginning and therefore they did not understand that Jan Paulsen had said good-bye for himself and at the same time for the General Conference. Fortunately, I got to listen and understand the sermon in two languages, since it was simultaneously translated and I manage pretty well in English and Spanish.
In the end, he stressed again that these were the last words of Jesus to his disciples before his suffering. Then we sang a hymn and the “Adventists” were allowed to go home in order to fire up the barbecue grill. Thus, the sermon was about persecution and fellowship, the outpouring of the latter rain, and one of the conditions for this to happen: unity of the faithful... Of course, he related it to unity with the General Conference. Here in South America, he did not mention a word about “obedience” or “Ellen G. White”, otherwise a depressed silence would have ensued. But never mind that.
Today—a few years later—I noticed again that Jan Paulsen was very correct in stating that the last words of a person are especially significant. Even today I still know what he said. But the last words of Jesus, of course, have incredibly more weight. But what were the last words of Jesus? There are many studies about the last words of Jesus on the cross. Yes, those were His last words before death. But were those His last words to the disciples? No, Jesus rose again and spent another 40 days with the disciples. So, what were the real last words of Jesus that have such great importance?
Before His ascension, Jesus spoke His last words to His companions who would have to stay in a cruel world. His disciples symbolically represent all the faithful Christians of later generations, especially the last generation. And if you haven't already recognized it, these very last and most important words of Jesus are talking about our problem...they are the answer to the question of the disciples as to when He would come back to establish His kingdom. These verses have been read only superficially and have never been studied in depth, but in them we will find the solution to the problem of whether or not there will be another message that is about the “day and hour” after the third angel.
Let us now read those last words of Jesus to His disciples before His ascension into heaven:
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. (Acts 1:6-9)
Once again, our BRI failed to notice that Jesus, as in Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13, replies with a doubly-applicable answer to the question of the disciples about His second coming. Jesus never left out the real end of the world in His answers, but He linked it so cleverly with the events that directly affected the disciples that only the last generation of the remnant of the remnant would be able to discover the second application. Let's read what Ellen G. White said about the way Jesus responded to related questions:
The question of the disciples
Christ's words had been spoken in the hearing of a large number of people; but when He was alone, Peter, John, James, and Andrew came to Him as He sat upon the Mount of Olives. “Tell us,” they said, “when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus did not answer His disciples by taking up separately the destruction of Jerusalem and the great day of His coming. He mingled the description of these two events. Had He opened to His disciples future events as He beheld them, they would have been unable to endure the sight. In mercy to them He blended the description of the two great crises, leaving the disciples to study out the meaning for themselves. When He referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, His prophetic words reached beyond that event to the final conflagration in that day when the Lord shall rise out of His place to punish the world for their iniquity, when the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. This entire discourse was given, not for the disciples only, but for those who should live in the last scenes of this earth's history. {DA 628.1}
Yes, dear BRI, you could have recognized that Jesus' answer to the same question just before His ascension was given in a similar fashion to shortly before His crucifixion. The situation of the disciples had not changed. The destruction of Jerusalem was still in the future and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was also still 10 days ahead.
Our church has already recognized the truth in the aforementioned chapters of the Bible, but it still lacks it in relation to Acts chapter 1. It was the main theme of Jesus in Matthew 24 to typify the impending destruction of the earth by the early destruction of the Temple (A.D. 70), and His words are properly interpreted to apply to the impending siege against the church in the end times by the Sunday laws. However, it is overlooked that the very similar question of the disciples in Acts was also answered in the same twofold manner by Jesus.
However, the main topic here is the “Power of the Father” and the “Power of the Holy Spirit” and not just the signs that will precede the second coming. Now it is actually about explaining when the disciples would receive the knowledge about the day and hour of Jesus' return.
Jesus' words “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons” relate to the disciples who lived at that time, some 2000 years before the actual establishment of Christ's kingdom (His return). Just think about this! Ellen G. White always praised William Miller, even in the Great Controversy. The first Millerites and the second angel (Samuel Snow) had to answer to the same “no time-setting” arguments from their Christian brethren, just like the movement of the fourth angel today, which has to sound the real and correct midnight cry this time.
How did Ellen G. White explain this in the Great Controversy? How did the Millerites meet these attacks? You will see that it sounds quite a bit different than the many repetitions against time-setting of a few quotations of Ellen G. White that are mostly taken out of context:
The proclamation of a definite time for Christ's coming called forth great opposition from many of all classes, from the minister in the pulpit down to the most reckless, Heaven-daring sinner. The words of prophecy were fulfilled: “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” 2 Peter 3:3, 4. Many who professed to love the Saviour, declared that they had no opposition to the doctrine of the second advent; they merely objected to the definite time. But God's all-seeing eye read their hearts. They did not wish to hear of Christ's coming to judge the world in righteousness. They had been unfaithful servants, their works would not bear the inspection of the heart-searching God, and they feared to meet their Lord. Like the Jews at the time of Christ's first advent they were not prepared to welcome Jesus. They not only refused to listen to the plain arguments from the Bible, but ridiculed those who were looking for the Lord. Satan and his angels exulted, and flung the taunt in the face of Christ and holy angels that His professed people had so little love for Him that they did not desire His appearing.
“No man knoweth the day nor the hour” was the argument most often brought forward by rejecters of the advent faith. The scripture is: “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Matthew 24:36. A clear and harmonious explanation of this text was given by those who were looking for the Lord, and the wrong use made of it by their opponents was clearly shown. The words were spoken by Christ in that memorable conversation with His disciples upon Olivet after He had for the last time departed from the temple. The disciples had asked the question: “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus gave them signs, and said: “When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” Verses 3, 33. One saying of the Saviour must not be made to destroy another. Though no man knoweth the day nor the hour of His coming [we will see later, how this is to be understood], we are instructed and required to know when it is near. We are further taught that to disregard His warning, and refuse or neglect to know when His advent is near, will be as fatal for us as it was for those who lived in the days of Noah not to know when the flood was coming. {GC 370.1-2}
There is an interesting short study about that at Cyberspace Ministry. Long before the flood, the time of the disaster could have been known. As far back as 1,000 years earlier, God began to reveal in stages certain intervals and ultimately even the “day and hour”. The biblical principle that lies behind all time prophecies is called “God’s Process of Progressive Revelation”. I will briefly summarize it for you:
The name Methuselah means “The year he dies; it will be sent”. This was a rather vague time prophecy, because no one could know what God would send, and neither did the people know exactly how long Methuselah would live. But for nearly 10 centuries it was predicted that the life span of Methuselah was a measure of when the end would come. People lived over 900 years at that time, and Methuselah was the oldest man who ever lived. Once again, a sign that God always waits until the very last moment to send His judgments.
Studying Genesis 5:26,28; 6:6, we can calculate that this prophecy was fulfilled precisely.
And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. ... And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. ... And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (Genesis 6:3,7,13)
In this second stage, God revealed to Noah that He had decided to destroy men; He even told him that the countdown had begun. So Noah knew that he had only 120 years to build the ark, and thus he knew the year of the Flood; however, he still did not know the precise date. But that information would have been no use to him at that time.
120 years later, when the fateful event drew near, God gave Noah a third and final revelation. It was a very precise announcement:
And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. ... For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. (Genesis 7:1, 4)
Attention please! God could have simply commanded Noah to go into the ark without informing him of when the flood would begin. But God in His great mercy decided to give Noah this important information to make his waiting time less painful. He even revealed to him how long the flood would last: 40 days and nights.
Jesus gave us a hint that when He comes again it will be like in the days of Noah:
But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:37)
Let us compare the type of the destruction of the world given by the history of Noah with the Orion message and, in preview, the message of the third part of the Shadow Series:
We receive a “vague” prophecy from Daniel that gives a very long time range: And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. (Daniel 8:14)
Mankind was in the dark about two issues in this prophecy. When did these 2300 evenings and the mornings begin and what exactly was the nature of the event? Around 1820, William Miller found out when the 2300 days had begun and sounded the midnight cry with full power in 1841. But he was still in error regarding the event and thought it was already the second coming. Indeed, it was the beginning of the investigative judgment in the heavenly sanctuary as we would learn at the beginning of stage 2. The prophecy of the 2300 evenings and mornings is therefore comparable to the message in the name “Methuselah”.
2.The Great Disappointment occurred in 1844, but it was perfectly understood that the light of the first angel was not the true midnight cry for the coming of the bridegroom; but that the investigative judgment had begun in heaven. The duration of the investigative judgment was hidden in Daniel 12, as I explained in the PowerPoint presentation of the Orion message on slides 58 to 74. The judgment of the dead would take 168 years and the judgment of the living three and a half years. Both would overlap by half a year. We concluded that spring 2012 + 3½ years gives us autumn 2015 for the beginning of the year of plagues that leads to autumn 2016 for the second coming. As in stage 2 of the flood prophecies, we could have known the year even as early as 1844... [In the first edition of this article we did not have the exact calculation. It still had the “Millerite” error of one year, which was improved in January 2013. Not to confuse the reader, however, we have now entered the current data.]
But there is a very important difference between the proclamation of the 120 years of Noah and the proclamation of this period! Noah knew the time, but for us a prohibition was placed on time prophecy during the corresponding period, because it would not have been advantageous for us to know decades beforehand in which year Jesus would return. The oath of Jesus in Revelation 10 applies only to a particular time range within the total duration of the investigative judgment, because He raises only one hand. The oath applies to the duration of the judgment of the dead from autumn 1844 to autumn 2012. I will explain this particular teaching of Jesus in detail later on.
But it is important to understand that we could have known the year as early as 1844 (if Jesus had not kept his finger on it), but not the exact date. We also understood clearly what the next big event would be, namely the actual coming of Jesus. But it is vehemently denied that the real midnight cry, which was even predicted in the dream of William Miller himself, has to be completely fulfilled also! This leads us to Step 3 in the process of progressive revelation of God regarding time prophecy.
Our church missed the opportunity to go to heaven in 1890. The message of the fourth angel, whose light began to shine at the General Conference meeting of 1888, was rejected by the liberal Adventists who did not want to be obedient to God. Ellen G. White was very disappointed. She said that we would have to wander in the wilderness like the children of Israel for “40 years” to get a second chance (more on that below). This desert experience did not begin in 1888, as some Adventists had fairly well figured out, but actually 2 years later in 1890. A special event took place in 2010, exactly 120 (3 × 40!) years later, that is dismissed by many as time setting. A man discovered God's message in Orion and made it readable. 9 months later in September of the same year he deciphered the prophecies that are behind the Jewish feast days, which reveal the exact day of Jesus' second coming. (This knowledge [The Vessel of Time] is to be published in the third part of the Shadow Series.) [In the first edition of this article we did not have the exact day. It still contained the “Millerite” error of one year, which was improved in January 2013.]
Let us compare type and anti-type again. Noah entered the ark 7 days before the flood. He was told that he would have to wait 7 days until the torrential rain would begin to fall. In 2005, I discovered a study in the Bible which clearly indicated that something “big” would happen in 2012. This was exactly 7 years before that infamous year. I have been warning the Church now for 6 long years, but almost no one wants to hear the warnings. So it was also in Noah's day. Before he was shut inside the Ark by the hand of God, the animals came running pairwise which can only be attributed to divine influence. The people watched this scene, laughed at it, or perhaps even got a little worried. But no one asked Noah if he would let him come on board too. Almost all Adventists behave in the same way in the face of the great revelations that God gives them from His sanctuary in heaven.
The 7 years prior to 2012 are also characterized by three stages of time proclamation which harmonize again with the model of Noah...
In 2005, I received a study which I will publish in the course of the Shadows Series, that marks 2012 as a year of a “great event” just like the study of the oath in Daniel 12. But this study did not show the exact timing of the judgment of the dead and the living like Daniel 12. So as late as spring 2010, I was still undecided as to what the nature of the event in 2012 would be.
Like with the name “Methuselah”, it was not clear from this prophecy what the year of destruction would be (Second Coming) and it was not even possible to define what kind of event would take place in 2012.
It was not until spring 2010 that phase 2 of the progressive revelation of God began. God revealed His Clock in Orion and as the students of this Clock already know, the year of Jesus' return was shown there for the first time. Because I committed some errors in the interpretation of Orion, the year of Jesus' second coming was not fully revealed. I first believed that He would come in 2014, later I thought that 2014 would be just the beginning of the year of plagues. The year 2015 for the coming was named for the first time in the second version of the Orion study published in September 2010. [Yet in January 2013, the Lord revealed the real date of the coming in autumn 2016.] Like Miller, I was one year too early.
This is reflected in the 120 years of Noah, during which he and everyone who believed with him knew in which year the Flood would come.
In the autumn of 2010, I received new inspiration for another study apparently independent from Orion; a study of the Jewish feasts. This study, in a completely different manner from the Orion study, reveals exactly the same historical data of the Adventist Church with a few additional details. I did not recognize until recently that it is only logical for it to be that way. The Orion is a symbol of the heavenly sanctuary, while the feast days are an image of the earthly sanctuary. The sanctuary on earth is the shadow of the heavenly! I found the astronomical code in the festivals that reflects the entire history of the Adventist Church like in the Orion, but with more detail. One of those additional details is the exact date of Jesus' return in 2016. [In the first edition of this article we did not have the exact calculation. It still contained the “Millerite” error of one year, which was improved in January 2013. But to not confuse the reader, we entered now the current data.]
Therefore, we are already in Phase 3.3 of the final time proclamation. The seven days of Noah are matched in the seven years from 2005 to 2012 and in the detailed plan discovered in the astronomical code of the feast days beginning in September 2010. The first error in the Orion study was corrected through this code, and more surprisingly the study revealed the exact duration of the time of the plagues to the very day. This time period was encoded twice, once in the number of sacrifices during the feasts and once in the astronomical code of the feast days. Thus, even the 40 days of rain that were prophesied by God before the flood found their counterpart in the shadow study with the discovery of the duration of the time of the plagues. These are all the subject of the third part of the Shadows of the Future.
We interrupted our reading of the Great Controversy at the point where Ellen G. White said: “We are further taught that to disregard His warning, and refuse or neglect to know when His advent is near, will be as fatal for us as it was for those who lived in the days of Noah not to know when the flood was coming.”
Let's continue to read:
And the parable in the same chapter, contrasting the faithful and the unfaithful servant, and giving the doom of him who said in his heart, “My Lord delayeth His coming,” shows in what light Christ will regard and reward those whom He finds watching, and teaching His coming, and those denying it. “Watch therefore,” He says. “Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing.” Verses 42, 46. “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.
Paul speaks of a class to whom the Lord's appearing will come unawares. “The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, . . . and they shall not escape.” But he adds, to those who have given heed to the Saviour's warning: “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 Thessalonians 5:2-5.
Thus it was shown that Scripture gives no warrant for men to remain in ignorance concerning the nearness of Christ's coming. But those who desired only an excuse to reject the truth closed their ears to this explanation, and the words “No man knoweth the day nor the hour” continued to be echoed by the bold scoffer and even by the professed minister of Christ. As the people were roused, and began to inquire the way of salvation, religious teachers stepped in between them and the truth, seeking to quiet their fears by falsely interpreting the word of God. Unfaithful watchmen united in the work of the great deceiver, crying, Peace, peace, when God had not spoken peace. Like the Pharisees in Christ's day, many refused to enter the kingdom of heaven themselves, and those who were entering in they hindered. The blood of these souls will be required at their hand.
The most humble and devoted in the churches were usually the first to receive the message. Those who studied the Bible for themselves could not but see the unscriptural character of the popular views of prophecy; and wherever the people were not controlled by the influence of the clergy, wherever they would search the word of God for themselves, the advent doctrine needed only to be compared with the Scriptures to establish its divine authority.
Many were persecuted by their unbelieving brethren. In order to retain their position in the church, some consented to be silent in regard to their hope; but others felt that loyalty to God forbade them thus to hide the truths which He had committed to their trust. Not a few were cut off from the fellowship of the church for no other reason than expressing their belief in the coming of Christ. Very precious to those who bore this trial of their faith were the words of the prophet: “Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.” Isaiah 66:5. {GC 370.2–372.3}
Wolff was another pioneer of that time who was mentioned positively by Ellen G. White in the Great Controversy:
Wolff believed the coming of the Lord to be at hand, his interpretation of the prophetic periods placing the great consummation within a very few years of the time pointed out by Miller. To those who urged from the scripture, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man,” that men are to know nothing concerning the nearness of the advent, Wolff replied: “Did our Lord say that that day and hour should never be known? Did He not give us signs of the times, in order that we may know at least the approach of His coming, as one knows the approach of the summer by the fig tree putting forth its leaves? Matthew 24:32. Are we never to know that period, whilst He Himself exhorteth us not only to read Daniel the prophet, but to understand it? and in that very Daniel, where it is said that the words were shut up to the time of the end (which was the case in his time), and that 'many shall run to and fro' (a Hebrew expression for observing and thinking upon the time), 'and knowledge' (regarding that time) 'shall be increased.' Daniel 12:4. Besides this, our Lord does not intend to say by this, that the approach of the time shall not be known, but that the exact 'day and hour knoweth no man.' Enough, He does say, shall be known by the signs of the times, to induce us to prepare for His coming, as Noah prepared the ark.”--Wolff, Researches and Missionary Labors, pages 404, 405. {GC 359.2}
Those were Wolff's answers to the objection that no one could know the day and the hour. He referred more to the nearness of the time and did not give as clear of statements as William Miller with his “midnight cry”. Miller's statements correspond more to the view of Ellen G. White that we want to bring into harmony with the message that predicts not only the year, but also the very day of the second coming. First of all, Miller's “midnight cry” was a message which proclaimed the year of Jesus' return. This “midnight cry” also came in at least two phases. The message of the first angel (the Millerite movement) first preached the year 1843, without specifying a particular day. This corresponds to phase 2 of the Noah's type. Only when the second angel (Samuel Snow) joined the first angel (William Miller) was the date of the “alleged” Second Coming calculated by Samuel Snow (quite rightly) to be October 22, 1844. This corresponds to phase 3 of the type of Noah's day. However, neither were in fact the true midnight cry, because the groom was still 170 years further away. Therefore, at a special point in time a “second Miller” had to come who would preach the true midnight cry. This was dreamt by William Miller himself and even met the approbation of Ellen G. White. Miller's Dream was printed in chapter 22 of Early Writings.
Fine. Maybe so far one does not believe that the movement of the first and the second angel, “the combined midnight cry” will be repeated; but...it is foretold by none other than Ellen G. White, personally. First, please read about the relationship between Miller's message (the light of the first angel) and the second angel, so later you can better understand another statement of Ellen G. White about this:
Near the close of the second angel's message, I saw a great light from heaven shining upon the people of God. The rays of this light seemed bright as the sun. And I heard the voices of angels crying, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!”
This was the midnight cry, which was to give power to the second angel's message. Angels were sent from heaven to arouse the discouraged saints and prepare them for the great work before them. The most talented men were not the first to receive this message. Angels were sent to the humble, devoted ones, and constrained them to raise the cry, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!” Those entrusted with the cry made haste, and in the power of the Holy Spirit sounded the message, and aroused their discouraged brethren. This work did not stand in the wisdom and learning of men, but in the power of God, and His saints who heard the cry could not resist it. The most spiritual received this message first, and those who had formerly led in the work were the last to receive and help swell the cry, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!” {EW 238.1-2}
The movement of Samuel Snow (the second angel) already existed before Miller; the second angel came before the first. This movement denounced the sins of the apostate Protestant churches, which were on their way back to Rome. But the message was not heard because it had no urgency. The power that was given to this message by the midnight cry was the proclamation of a precise date for Jesus' Second Coming. The time was scarce, and this “aroused” the discouraged saints so that their message was heard again with power.
And now comes the most important statement of Ellen G. White, which is based on direct visions from God. In Early Writings in the chapter The Loud Cry you can read how the fourth angel will come:
Angels were sent to aid the mighty angel from heaven, and I heard voices which seemed to sound everywhere, “Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” This message seemed to be an addition to the third message, joining it as the midnight cry joined the second angel's message in 1844. The glory of God rested upon the patient, waiting saints, and they fearlessly gave the last solemn warning, proclaiming the fall of Babylon and calling upon God's people to come out of her that they might escape her fearful doom. {EW 277.2}
Just as the first angel (Miller with the midnight cry) joined the second angel and gave him power, the fourth angel will join the Third and give it power just like the midnight cry! The midnight cry was the shout “The Bridegroom cometh!” This includes “day and hour”; it is a time message! But the fourth angel also has a warning message that calls for repentance and conversion, as I have already shown in the studies and do not want to repeat here. And now, please note exactly what Ellen G. White saw in her vision that “rested upon the patient, waiting saints”: “The glory of God”...and what is the “glory of God” according to the Bible?
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. (Acts 7:55-56)
Stephen saw the same thing that we can see now, if we follow Jesus wherever He goes...
These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. ... (Revelation 14:4)
This verse begins the passage about the Three Angel's message and to date has only been partially understood. It talks about the 144,000 and that they follow Jesus, the Lamb, wherever He goes. Our pioneers correctly interpreted this as referring to when Jesus moved His service from the Holy Place into the Most Holy Place in 1844. Those who accepted that Jesus' ministry ended in the Holy Place and that He began the service of the heavenly judgment day as High Priest, symbolically followed Him into the Holiest.
The others stayed in the Holy Place. They never understood the prophecy of the 2300 evenings and mornings, nor the sanctuary doctrine, and had remained in darkness. And not only that! A strange evil spirit was breathed on them by Satan.
But that does not end this prophecy. Now, at the end of the investigative judgment of the dead, we get the refreshing from the latter rain to give the loud cry in the judgment of the living and again we are asked to “follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth”, because this prophecy is given in Revelation in connection with the 144,000 and not with the third angel! This time, we should lift up our heads to the firmament like Stephen and see the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God: His wounds in the Judgment Clock and His High Priestly Intercessory Service depicted in the most stunning constellation of the universe created by Him, just before the throne of God and the Home of the Holy City in the “open space” of the Great Orion Nebula.
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28)
We find this force or power (of the mighty angel) rushing to the aid of the third angel and “arousing” the sleeping virgins in Revelation 18 where the fourth angel is described:
And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power [G1849]; and the earth was lightened with his glory. (Revelation 18:1)
Now, I would like to ask you to download and install the e-Sword Bible with the Strong's dictionary from the Internet, so you can check me. (Just search for “e-sword Bible”.)
The word for “power” in the above verse is Greek and in the Strong's for the King James Version Bible it is listed as:
G1849
ἐξουσία
exousia
ex-oo-see'-ah
From G1832 (in the sense of ability); privilege, that is, (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence: - authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.
There are several similar meanings of the word, but we are about to compare this occurrence of the word with a different part of the Bible. In many versions of the Bible it is translated very well as “force, strength, power, or authority”. Now we are closing the loop that began in Acts. There, Jesus answered the disciples and talked about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit when He said:
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:7-8)
One can already see that the end of this verse is not entirely fulfilled, because the gospel has still not been preached to the uttermost part of the earth, otherwise the end would have come already...
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:14)
I suppose that it isn't necessary to explain that we as Adventists know that the Holy Spirit will be poured out once again even richer than in the days of the apostles at Pentecost. Pentecost was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the “early rain” and we have been waiting eagerly for the past 160 years for the “latter rain”, the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which will enable us to withstand the tests of the Sunday laws and to sound to the loud cry.
Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. (Joel 2:23-24)
The double application of Jesus' answer is now clearly visible:
It was not for the apostles to know the times or the seasons in their day. The Father had reserved this in His power (exousia), but first the former rain (Pentecost) should be given so the gospel could be proclaimed in Jerusalem and throughout Judea and Samaria, and finally the latter rain so this work could extend to the uttermost part of the earth.
Jesus says, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you”... We as Adventists understand that this power which we will get is symbolized by the fourth angel:
In Supplement to Early Writings, Ellen G. White writes with her own pen:
“The commencement of that time of trouble,” here mentioned does not refer to the time when the plagues shall begin to be poured out, but to a short period just before they are poured out, while Christ is in the sanctuary. At that time, while the work of salvation is closing, trouble will be coming on the earth, and the nations will be angry, yet held in check so as not to prevent the work of the third angel. At that time the “latter rain,” or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come, to give power to the loud voice of the third angel, and prepare the saints to stand in the period when the seven last plagues shall be poured out. {EW 85.3}
She even linked the power of the fourth angel with the latter rain. And now, let's see which Greek word for “power” was used in Acts 1:7...
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power [G1849].
And there it is again:
G1849
ἐξουσία
exousia
ex-oo-see'-ah
From G1832 (in the sense of ability); privilege, that is, (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence: - authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.
The fourth angel and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit come in the same power and authority (exousia), which was reserved ONLY for the Father . The Father Himself, who is the Judge in the heavenly court, has permitted the Holy Spirit to give us the hour of the end of the judgment and the coming of Jesus. It's not a human being who brings the message, but the Father Himself who revealed HIS CLOCK to us. The fourth angel, which is a movement of people who believe this present truth, received the authority (exousia) from the Father.
But how is that possible? Doesn't this contradict the oath of the angel (Jesus) in Revelation 10 “that there should be time no more”?
Please take a look at the following table that explains what the meanings of the oaths of Jesus are in Daniel 12 (see Orion presentation) and Revelation 10. It also explains what the relation is between the prophecy (Book of Daniel) and the revelation (Book of Revelation). While Jesus in Daniel 12 raises both hands and vows to the two men who represent the two parts of humanity in the judgment of the dead who accepted the New Covenant before or after A.D. 31, Jesus in Revelation 10 raises only one hand. In this case it is not only about the New Covenant, but about both parts of the investigative judgment: the judgment of the dead and the judgment of the living. Unfortunately, it has been completely overlooked that even a hand that was not lifted has meaning in prophecy, and that's why this scene was only interpreted half correctly:
Ellen G. White said that the books of Daniel and Revelation must be studied together. The Book of Daniel was the “prophecy” and the book of Revelation was “the revelation of the prophecy of Daniel.” We find the same scenes in both books. It is our job to find those parallel scenes and link them together. God tells us through Ellen G. White that He has added details in Revelation to the prophecies of Daniel which make it easier for us to decipher those prophecies. This is exactly the case in the scene where Jesus swears. In Daniel 12 we read:
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (Daniel 12:4)
What a pity that our leaders and the general conferences along with their scholars reject these studies and do not participate in the process of increased knowledge. But let's drop that subject.
Jesus does not swear to the group which represents the judgment of the living for 3½ years “that there should be time no more.” That means by implication, that the time proclamation is released again. It was paused because Jesus who knows the end from the beginning saw that the church would not be faithful, and would fail in some of their tests. He knew He would have to send His people into the wilderness for 120 years beyond 1890. And while wandering in the wilderness it would have been harmful and dangerous for the people to know that Jesus was still so far away. But now that the long journey of the Adventist Church in their wilderness wandering is over as of 2010, we are led to an oasis with the refreshing water of the Holy Spirit and time prophecy once again. And the fourth angel comes down from heaven with the cry, “The Bridegroom Cometh”, to help the third angel; giving the Advent message the power of the AUTHORITY (exousia) of the FATHER.
Finally, we fully understand the “small” difference in the two visions of Ellen G. White that mention the announcement of the “day and the hour”. We see that it is true that the time is announced at the outpouring of the latter rain also, and not just at the end of the time of the plagues when God delivers the eternal covenant and confirms our studies:
Soon we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus' coming. The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake. When God spoke the time, He poured upon us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God, as Moses' did when he came down from Mount Sinai. {EW 14.1}
To refute once and for all the attacks of my critics who say that it is the same exact moment in both visions when Ellen G. White saw the time of Jesus' coming proclaimed, and that it would only be at the end of the plagues, I will show you something else that very few Adventists have recognized so far. The stubborn deniers of all new light are still attacking me despite my detailed explanations in the article Is This Time Setting?, and their only argument is that in both scenes “the faces of the saints shone with the glory of God.” They say that the faces of the saints would only light up and shine once at the end of the time of the plagues through the glorification of the saints at Jesus' second coming. Because this statement occurs in both visions, they think that it is an irrefutable argument for their interpretation that the “day and hour” announced in both visions must be at the very same moment in time.
In the table below I put both statements side by side, which they claim would be irrefutable proof that it is the same moment in both visions:
| First Vision Dec. 1844 with “Day and Hour” | Second Vision with “Day and Hour” 1847 |
|---|---|
| Soon we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus' coming. The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake. When God spoke the time, He poured upon us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God, as Moses' did when he came down from Mount Sinai. {EW 14.1} | And as God spoke the day and the hour of Jesus' coming and delivered the everlasting covenant to His people, He spoke one sentence, and then paused, while the words were rolling through the earth. The Israel of God stood with their eyes fixed upward, listening to the words as they came from the mouth of Jehovah, and rolled through the earth like peals of loudest thunder. It was awfully solemn. And at the end of every sentence the saints shouted, “Glory! Alleluia!” Their countenances were lighted up with the glory of God; and they shone with the glory, as did the face of Moses when he came down from Sinai. {EW 34.1} |
| First Vision Dec. 1844 with “Day and Hour” |
|---|
| Soon we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus' coming. The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake. When God spoke the time, He poured upon us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God, as Moses' did when he came down from Mount Sinai. {EW 14.1} |
| Second Vision with “Day and Hour” 1847 |
| And as God spoke the day and the hour of Jesus' coming and delivered the everlasting covenant to His people, He spoke one sentence, and then paused, while the words were rolling through the earth. The Israel of God stood with their eyes fixed upward, listening to the words as they came from the mouth of Jehovah, and rolled through the earth like peals of loudest thunder. It was awfully solemn. And at the end of every sentence the saints shouted, “Glory! Alleluia!” Their countenances were lighted up with the glory of God; and they shone with the glory, as did the face of Moses when he came down from Sinai. {EW 34.1} |
Either they don't know the writings of Ellen G. White very well, or they don't want to tell you the truth. Ellen G. White wrote a wonderful article in Volume 1 of her Testimonies for the Church, which even bears the appropriate title “The Future”. It's about our future, brethren, and you will see that our faces indeed have to light up twice if we want to be among the 144,000:
The Future
At the transfiguration, Jesus was glorified by His Father. We hear Him say: “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.” Thus before His betrayal and crucifixion He was strengthened for His last dreadful sufferings. As the members of the body of Christ approach the period of their last conflict, “the time of Jacob's trouble,” they will grow up into Christ, and will partake largely of His spirit. As the third message swells to a loud cry, and as great power and glory attend the closing work, the faithful people of God will partake of that glory. {1T 353.3}
We already know which power (exousia) and which glory (the glory of the throne of God in Orion) is mentioned here. The message of the fourth angel “attends the closing work”, which means that probation is still not closed! And as I say many times, this message helps the unmotivated brethren... Ellen G. White goes on to explain the future:
It is the latter rain which revives and strengthens them to pass through the time of trouble. Their faces will shine with the glory of that light which attends the third angel. {1T 353.3}
There it is, the shining of the faces with the glory that “attends” the third angel. Please read that sentence several times until you are really sure you understand what Ellen G. Whites says. It is the light of the fourth angel's message that lights up the faces of the 144,000 specifically in the period of the latter rain, and not just in the time of the plagues. This is the sought-after inspired proof that the beginning of the Orion study was absolutely correct and that everything that was written in the article “Is this time setting” has been shown in its correct sequence. In order to reach the 100% mark, we should be able to find in the course of “our future” that our faces will light up once more. So, let's continue reading. Now we leave the little time of trouble and go directly to the great time of trouble:
I saw that God will in a wonderful manner preserve His people through the time of trouble. As Jesus poured out His soul in agony in the garden, they will earnestly cry and agonize day and night for deliverance. The decree will go forth that they must disregard the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and honor the first day, or lose their lives; but they will not yield, and trample under their feet the Sabbath of the Lord, and honor an institution of papacy. Satan's host and wicked men will surround them, and exult over them, because there will seem to be no way of escape for them. But in the midst of their revelry and triumph, there is heard peal upon peal of the loudest thunder. The heavens have gathered blackness, and are only illuminated by the blazing light and terrible glory from heaven, as God utters His voice from His holy habitation.
The foundations of the earth shake; buildings totter and fall with a terrible crash. The sea boils like a pot, and the whole earth is in terrible commotion. The captivity of the righteous is turned, and with sweet and solemn whisperings they say to one another: “We are delivered. It is the voice of God.” With solemn awe they listen to the words of the voice. The wicked hear, but understand not the words of the voice of God. They fear and tremble, while the saints rejoice. Satan and his angels, and wicked men, who had been exulting that the people of God were in their power, that they might destroy them from off the earth, witness the glory conferred upon those who have honored the holy law of God. They behold the faces of the righteous lighted up and reflecting the image of Jesus. Those who were so eager to destroy the saints cannot endure the glory resting upon the delivered ones, and they fall like dead men to the earth. Satan and evil angels flee from the presence of the saints glorified. Their power to annoy them is gone forever. {1T 353.4–354.1}
The 144,000 living saints already understand the voice of God from the time of the latter rain beginning in 2010. They are the ones whose faces light up with joy and hope after wandering 120 years in the wilderness because of the refreshing from the throne of God and the wonderful message coming from the most beautiful of all star constellations that only the Creator could create in such a way. These are the ones who will be sealed now to sound the loud cry, and at the end of the time of trouble their faces will light up a second time, reflecting the image of Jesus who was always their Advocate, Intercessor, and Savior, when He comes in all His glory and delivers the everlasting covenant to His people.
With this newly acquired biblical and prophetic knowledge, in the next article in this “Day and Hour” series we should examine the statements that Ellen G. White has written against time setting to harmonize them with everything we have studied thus far. I will categorize the anti-time-setting arguments of Ellen G. White and comment on them. Many of them have been quoted again and again rashly and without a deep understanding so that the light of the fourth angel is being obscured for most of the members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Their faces will remain pale and colorless when the day of God's wrath will come upon them like a thief.
