THE BOOK OF REVELATION by A. Smith

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · March 18, 1880

FromThe Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 12

THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

By A. Smith

BY A. SMITH.

It is asserted by many who claim to be believers in the Bible, and among them are not a few who profess to expound that word, bearing the title of D. D., that the book of Revelation so abounds in figures of speech and prophetic data, that much of it, at least, cannot be understood. But we ask, Is not that book a part of the Holy Scriptures given by inspiration of God, and therefore “profitable” (2 Tim. 3:16); and does not the Bible declare that “the secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law”? Deut. 29:29.

Now there is not a book in the Holy Bible that is so directly the subject of Divine revelation as the one bearing this distinctive title. In the introductory sentence of the book it is declared to be “The Revelation of Jesus Christ;” and a blessing is pronounced upon those who read (or hear), and keep that which is written therein. See Rev. 1:1, 3; 22:6, 7. The rejection of any part of his inspired word cannot be pleasing to God; and the rejection of that portion upon which he has so expressly set his seal must be especially displeasing to him. All Christians are concerned in the events foreshadowed in the symbols represented in this book, and should be deeply interested in them, whether history has recorded their fulfillment in the past, or they point to incidents yet to transpire.

As in passing through a country distant objects before us appear dim in outline, though sufficiently distinct to assure us that we are pursuing the right way, and those we have passed are as indistinct, while every object immediately surrounding us is clearly discerned, so, traversing the highway of prophecy through the fields occupied by the subjects of the Revelation, those immediately at hand are impressed upon the mind with a distinctness that was not necessary when they were viewed as a whole from a prophetic standpoint in the past.

To be more definite, we will take, as an example, a subject that has been, and still is in process of fulfillment during the present generation. In Rev. 14, three messages are brought to view, the first of which announces the hour of God’s Judgment as come, the second declares the fall of Babylon, and the third threatens the wrath of God upon those who worship the beast and his image, or receive his mark. Since the days of the apostles, every reader of the Bible has known that such messages were at some time to be given to the world; but a knowledge of the exact form they would assume was reserved for the generation to which they were to be given. Dr. Clarke, one of the most learned of commentators, thus writes concerning the first angel’s message:—

“Whether this angel mean any more than a particular dispensation of providence and grace, by which the gospel shall be rapidly sent throughout the whole world; or whether it mean any especial messenger, order of preachers, people, or society of Christians, whose professed object it is to send the gospel of the kingdom throughout the earth, we know not.”—Comments on Rev. 14:6.

The same author represents Bishop Bale as considering the three angels to be three classes of preachers who should bear their testimony against the corruptions of the papal church. Expositors have generally understood these angels to symbolize three classes of teachers who should give these messages to the world. Some supposed the first message to symbolize that given by Martin Luther and his associates; and Dr. Clarke thought it very descriptive of the work accomplished by the British and Foreign Bible Society. Thus these symbols have served as waymarks to the kingdom of God, though the conjectures of these eminent men as to the detail of their accomplishment have been seen to be erroneous by those who have reached, in point of time, the fulfillment of the emblems.

That these messages belong to the present generation is proved from the following considerations:—

1. The prophecy concerning the Judgment, upon which the first message was based, was sealed up, indicating that it would not be understood, until the time of the end. See Dan. 7:9, 10; 12:9.

2. The second coming of Christ was not taught by the apostles as an event to transpire in their day, but as following the rise and reign of the “man of sin.” See 2 Thess. 2:1–5.

3. Martin Luther and his contemporaries did not give the message, but, on the contrary, he taught that the Judgment would transpire about three hundred years after his time.

4. The message, when due, must be world-wide in its extent, being given to every people, nation, and tongue. Such a message was given in 1843–4. Had it been given prior to that date, there would certainly have been some historical record of so public a transaction; but no such record can be found.

5. The proclamation of the second angel’s message immediately followed that of the first, in 1844, and then the third message, which has been preached to the world for more than thirty-five years; the three messages thus being given in the required numerical order, at the right time in regard to prophetic data, and with an emphasis that compels the attention of the whole world, and of which the records of the historian reveal no precedent. Surely this is the work of God.

The distinctive feature of the third message is that it warns mankind against worshiping the beast and his image, and against receiving his mark; and the leading characteristic of those who receive this message, is that they keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

Now, it must be a conceded fact that when this message is given to the world, it will be able to properly define the points at issue, not only as to the general warning it proclaims, but, also, as to the regulation of the customs and conduct of its believers, and the manner and extent of prosecuting its work. If it were not so, it would not be worthy of its divine Author.

Seventh-day Adventists indorse the first two messages, and claim to have been giving the third message, as their specific work, for many years. They define the beast to be a symbol of the papacy, whose image is yet to be formed in this country by a union of church and state; the seal of God, to be the Sabbath of the fourth commandment so observed as to meet the mind of the great Author of the moral law; the mark of the beast, to be the pagan—papal Sabbath, the first day of the week, knowingly observed as such in preference to the Bible Sabbath; and the wine of the wrath of God, to consist of the seven last plagues, to be poured out upon the defenseless heads of the wicked of this generation.

Reader, do these facts appeal to your judgment and to your heart? Can you be unmoved while this message is being sounded at your very door, or is being discussed at your fireside? “To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Can those who respond to the message, lightly esteem its restrictions upon themselves, or its demands upon their time and means, and meet the mind of its Author? Reason answers, No! From the standpoint of the “third angel’s message,” we look along the prophetic highway, and note the many points of interest that rise to view in the past and the future, such as those symbolized by the “seven trumpets” and “seven seals,” which point to events the most of which history has recorded as transactions of the past, thereby assuring us of the fulfillment of those yet to come.

There is one object of interest upon which, above all others, contemplation lingers, as does the natural vision upon a sunset scene,

“When day with farewell beam delays Among the golden clouds of even, And we can almost think we gaze Through opening vistas into Heaven.”

That scene of interest is the descent of the city of God, in its matchless beauty, as the metropolis of the new earth, with the river and the tree of life; and a view of its inhabitants, from whose eyes tears have ceased to flow, and from whose hearts every heavy burden has been lifted forever. “And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away. * And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever and ever.”

The fulfillment of the crowning event in the mighty drama,—the appearance of the Son of God in the clouds of heaven, to open the scene of the immortal state in all its magnificent reality, is, according to the evidence of the book of Revelation, of Daniel, and of Christ himself when upon earth, as corroborated by events in the natural, political, and religious world, to transpire in the present generation. Who will be ready to respond to the assurance of Christ, “Behold, I come quickly,” in the words of John, “Even so come, Lord Jesus”?

By neglecting or despising, as unworthy of our careful study and the conformity of our lives thereto, a book revealing events so intimately connected with the cherished hope of God’s people for six thousand years, do we not incur the loss of our part “out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book”?

With the following forcible language from the book of Revelation, we submit the subject to the prayerful consideration of the reader:—

THE AUTHORITY.

“I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.” Rev. 22:16.

THE BLESSING.

“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand.” Rev. 1:3.