Up to the passing of the time in April, 1844, such gatherings as modern church festivals, which have since, in some instances, been carried to such extremes, were unknown. When the circumstances of their origin are given, the accuracy of the fulfilment of the prediction concerning them will be understood. The first of such entertainments known to the writer was in the city of Rochester, N. Y., in May, 1844. While Brother Miller was meeting with hundreds of the Advent believers in a large hall in the city, encouraging them to hold fast,—although there was a “tarrying” in the fulfilment of their hopes, the Lord would give the light to His people in due time,—a different scene, new to the people of that place, was being enacted in another part of the city. The following quoted paragraph is Brother Miller’s own description of it:—
“One of the D. D.’s in Rochester, Mr. ——, of the M—— Church, wrote a pamphlet against Millerism, called his lords and ladies into the house of the Lord, made a great feast of oysters and other ‘picnics,’ Belshazzar-like, drank their coffee and tea, ate their costly delicacies, and sold their ice-cream and sweetmeats, and his pamphlets against the second advent of the dear Saviour. The night before I left, another of the reverend gentlemen had a picnic feast at a public house, or hall, and sold, as above, his tickets, ice-cream, and sweetmeats. I was happy to hear that some of the churches of the different sects160did not approve of such Babylonian feasts; and I do hope, in my soul, that not all of these sectarian churches will be found ‘eating and drinking with the drunken’ when Christ comes. I am astonished that these reverend gentlemen do not see themselves in the glass of God’s Word; and I would recommend them to read Luke 14:12-14; Matt. 24:48-51; Luke 13:25-28; 2 Peter 2:13; Jude 10:21. These are the last times, surely.”
SMITING FELLOW SERVANTS.
The prophecy fulfilled concerning those who had been fellow servants was not confined to their “eating and drinking” merely, but extended to and included the smiting of their fellow servants. This smiting is not to be understood as literal smiting with the fist, but as expressed by the prophet Jeremiah, when those who were rejecting his counsel said, “Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
As to how this was done, the following quotation from Brother Himes’ writings of Aug. 29, 1844, will show: “Most of the ministers and churches that opened their doors to us and our brethren who were proclaiming the Advent doctrine, co-operated with us until the last year. The ministry and membership who availed themselves of our labors, but had not sincerely embraced the doctrine, saw that they must either go with the doctrine, and preach and maintain it, or, in the crisis that was right upon them, they would have difficulty with the decided and determined161believers. They, therefore, decided against the doctrine, and determined, some by one policy and some by another, to suppress the subject. This placed our brethren and sisters among them in a most trying position. Most of them loved their churches, and could not think of leaving. But when they were ridiculed, oppressed, and in various ways cut off from their former privileges and enjoyments, and when the ‘meat in due season’ was withheld from them, and the siren song of ‘peace and safety’ was sounded in their ears from Sabbath [Sunday] to Sabbath, they were soon weaned from their party predilections, and arose in the majesty of their strength, shook off the yoke, and raised the cry, ‘Come out of her, My people.’”
“It was not until ‘divers were hardened’ and ‘spake evil of that way [the Lord’s coming] before the multitude,’ that our brethren were moved to come out and separate from the churches. They could not endure this ‘evil speaking’ of the ‘evil servants.’ And the churches that could pursue the course of oppression and ‘evil speaking’ toward those who were looking for the ‘blessed hope,’ were to them none other than the daughters of mystic Babylon. They so proclaimed them, and came into the liberty of the gospel. . . . It is death to remain connected with those bodies that speak lightly of or oppose the coming of the Lord. It is life to come out from all human tradition, and stand upon the Word of God, and look daily for the appearing of the Lord.”
SECOND ANGEL’S MESSAGE.
The Adventists who were thus treated, as above described, quoted to their oppressors the words addressed to the Sardis church: “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.”
The believers said to their persecutors: “In thus rejecting and opposing the doctrine of Christ’s soon appearance, you will meet with a moral fall, and become the fallen Babylon of the Revelation, of which it is finally said, they are ‘a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.’” Thus it is seen how the people who were the first to hear the second call to the supper, as mentioned in Luke 14, became “maimed,” “halt,” and “blind.”
Of the situation at that time, George Storrs, one of the leading Advent ministers of those times, thus spoke: “Which of them [the churches] will suffer a soul to remain among them in peace that openly and fearlessly avows his faith in the advent at the door? Are not the terms of remaining among them undisturbed, that you ‘wholly refrain’ from a public expression of faith in the coming of the Lord this year, whatever your convictions may be on the subject, and however important you may feel it to be to cry, ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come’?”
It was this condition of things, as above described,163that brought about the proclamation of the second angel’s message,—“Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” The wine of Babylon, as explained by the Adventists, was the doctrines by which the church was blinding the eyes of the people as to the great truths connected with the judgment-hour message.
SEPARATION ADVISED.
The course pursued by the Adventists at that time was in accordance with the decision of a conference of believers, held in Boston, Mass., May 31, 1845, which was as follows:—
“We should, however, be decided in doing our duty, in testifying for the truth on all proper and suitable occasions, and if, by taking this course, we give offense to the churches, and they threaten us with expulsion unless we remain silent (though if we see fit to dissolve our relation to the church amicably, it may be the better way), let us do our duty, and when we are expelled, be patient in suffering the wrong, and be willing with our Master to ‘Go forth without the gate, bearing His reproach.’”
STORRS’ SIX SERMONS. NATURE OF MAN.
About this time George Storrs published his six sermons on the “Nature of Man, and Final Punishment of the Wicked,” showing from the Scriptures that there is no immortality out of Christ, and that future eternal life is the reward promised alone to the righteous. With this view he claimed that future164punishment of the wicked could not be eternal conscious misery, but must be destruction, as the Bible plainly says.
While this doctrine was largely accepted by the Advent believers, and to them gave greater force to the event of Christ’s second coming than they had before seen,—all future life of His people depending on His coming again to raise them from the dead and give them their final reward,—it, on the other hand, increased the opposition of the churches, so that, as previously quoted from Brother Himes, the Adventists “arose in the majesty of their strength, shook off the yoke, and raised the cry, ‘Come out of her, My people.’”
As the result of the second angel’s message thus proclaimed in America, over fifty thousand, in the northern portion of the United States, separated themselves from the different churches and came out an independent people, who, untrammeled by church creeds, could now carefully and prayerfully search the Word of God for truth and duty. The cry of separation spread to foreign countries, and thousands were separated from the “established” church.
While the Adventists were thus oppressed and excluded from the churches, they consoled themselves by often quoting the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at His word; 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.”
CHAPTER VIII.
PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS.
TRACING still further the prophecies concerning the Advent Movement, the parable of the ten virgins of Matthew 25 will next be considered. The previous chapter closed with the record of the smiting of fellow servants and the beginning of church feasting and amusements. The twenty-fifth chapter, which is but a continuation of the same discourse, says: “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.”
The question arises, When is this comparison to be made? The text says, “Then,” and this is when the “smiting” of fellow servants and the “eating” begin. What is said of these virgins?—“Five of them were wise, and five foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them; but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.”
After the close of the Jewish natural year 1843 (April, 1844), Adventists compared their situation with that described in the above texts. The prophecy said then the situation would be thus likened, and166thus it was, as may be seen by their writings of that date.
TARRYING TIME.
In confirmation of the above statement, please read the following quotation from the Midnight Cry of May 9, 1844: “We believe that we are occupying that period spoken of by the Saviour, when the bridegroom tarries (Matt. 25: 5), to which the kingdom of heaven should be likened, when ‘that evil servant [there having been an apparent failure in the time] shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken,’ and the lord should come in a day they look not for him.
“We shall continue, God willing, to proclaim, ‘Behold, the Bridegroom cometh! go ye out to meet Him;’ and, ‘The hour of His judgment is come!’ and we trust we shall not fail to continue to cry aloud to the world and church to arouse themselves from their songs of ‘peace,’ and to listen to God’s overtures of mercy. We intend to continue waiting and watching for the coming of the Lord, believing that it is just upon us.”
In the Advent Herald, of Boston, Mass., we have the following quotation in an article called “Vindication,” by Brethren Himes, Bliss, and Hale. In speaking of the passing of the time in April, 1844, they say: “But the time—the year 1843, the Jewish year—passed, and we were disappointed in not beholding the King in His beauty, and all who opposed us, honestly supposed that every distinctive characteristic167of our belief had been demonstrated to be false, and that we should, as honest men, abandon our whole position. And therefore it was with surprise that they saw us still clinging to our hope, and still expecting our King. We, however, in our disappointment, saw no reason for discouragement. We saw that the Scriptures indicated that there must be a tarrying time, and that while the vision tarried, we must wait for it. . . . We frankly and freely admitted to the world that we were mistaken in the definite point to which we had looked with so much confidence; but while we were thus mistaken, we can see the hand of the Lord in that matter. We can see that He has made use of that proclamation as an alarm to the world, and a test to the church. It placed His people in an attitude of expectation. It called out those who were willing to suffer for His name’s sake. It demonstrated to whom the cry of the Lord’s coming was tidings of great joy, and to whom it was an unwelcome sound in their ears. It was shown to the universe who would welcome the Lord’s return, and who would reject Him at His second coming, as the Jews did at His first advent; and we regard it as a step in the accomplishment of God’s purpose, in this ‘day of His preparation,’ that He might lead forth a people who should only seek the will of the Lord, that they might be prepared for His coming.”
SLUMBERING OF THE VIRGINS.
In this parable of the virgins, we read further: “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered168and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.”
Not only is a tarrying time represented in the comparison, but another event is introduced,—a midnight cry. This, like the other features of prophecy, had just as accurate a fulfilment in the Advent message of 1844. A day, in prophecy, as a symbol of a year, is now so well understood that further discussion is unnecessary. That point, therefore, being established, a night would surely be half a year; midnight, half a night, or three months. Now, it is an undisputed fact that just three months from the passing of the time in April, 1844, the Adventists did give such a message as here indicated, and called direct attention to the above scripture as setting forth the fact that such a MIDNIGHT CRY would be given. In confirmation of this, a few extracts from the writings of Adventists of that time are given. The first are words of George Storrs:—
MIDNIGHT CRY
“‘Behold, the Bridegroom cometh’ this year; ‘go ye out to meet Him.’ We have done with the nominal churches and the world, except so far as this cry may affect them. Our work is now to wake up the ‘virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom.’ Where are we now? ‘If the vision169tarry, wait for it.’ Is not that our answer since last March or April?—Yes. What happened while the bridegroom tarried?—The virgins all slumbered and slept, did they not? Christ’s words have not failed; and ‘the Scriptures can not be broken,’ and it is of no use for us to pretend that we have been awake; we have been slumbering, not on the fact of Christ’s coming, but on the time. We came into the tarrying time; we did not know ‘how long’ it would tarry, and on that point we have slumbered. Some of us have said in our sleep, ‘Don’t fix another time;’ so we slept. Now the trouble is to wake us up. Lord, help, for vain is the help of man. Speak Thyself, Lord. O that the ‘Father’ may now ‘make known’ the time!
“How long is the tarrying time?—Half a year. How do you know?—Because our Lord says, “At midnight,” while the bridegroom tarried. The vision was for ‘twenty-three hundred evening-mornings,’ or days. An ‘evening,’ or night, is half of one of those prophetic days, and is therefore six months. That is the whole length of the tarrying time. The present strong cry of time commenced about the middle of July, and has spread with great rapidity and power.”
THE TARRYING NIGHT.
In the same article in the Midnight Cry, we read: “But how came we into this tarrying night?—Because we commenced the vision [vision of the 2,300 days] in the spring, instead of the fall, 457 B. C., we fell short of reaching the destined port six months170and a few days over. It threw us into the tarrying night six months.”
Another writer, in the Midnight Cry of Aug. 22, 1844, said of the twenty-three hundred days: “They began at the going forth of the decree to restore and build Jerusalem. The decree was made at the first by Cyrus, renewed by Darius, and completed by Artaxerxes Longimanus in the seventh year of his reign. It was fully promulgated, and went into effect in the autumn of the year B. C. 457, when Ezra, having arrived at Jerusalem by the good hand of the Lord, restored the Jewish commonwealth, appointed magistrates and judges, and commenced the building of the wall.”
TERMINATION OF THE TWENTY-THREE HUNDRED DAYS.
Again, in the Midnight Cry of Oct. 31, 1844, about ten days after the close of the twenty-three hundred days, we read: “In view of all the circumstances attending this movement, the blessed effects it has produced on the minds of God’s children, and the hatred and malice His enemies have displayed, we must regard it as the true ‘midnight cry.’ And if we have a few days in which to try our faith, it is still in accordance with the parable of the ten virgins; for when they had all arisen and trimmed their lamps, there was still to be a time when the lamps of the foolish virgins would be going out. This could not be till after the passing of the tenth day [the close of the 2,300 days]; for till that time their lamps171would burn. There must, therefore, be a passing by of that day, for the foolish to give up their faith, as there must have been of 1843, for the tarrying time.”
In the Advent Herald of Nov. 13, 1844, we read still further: “It has tested the hearts of all who heard it, and awakened a love for the Lord’s appearing; or it has called forth a hatred, more or less perceivable, but known to God, of His coming. It has drawn a line, and awakened sensibilities, so that those who will examine their own hearts may know on which side of it they would have been found had the Lord then come—whether they would have exclaimed, ‘Lo, this is our God, we have waited for Him, and He will save us,’ or whether they would have called for rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.”
GO YE OUT TO MEET HIM.
In the Voice of Truth, published in Rochester, N. Y., in the issue of Nov. 7, 1844, the following words are found: “We think the parable of the ten virgins tells us where we are. The proclamation of the tenth day of the seventh month we believe was the ‘midnight cry,’ when all, not a part, of the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. This work continued until the tenth day passed. Since then, the lamps of the foolish have been ‘going out,’—their faith is dying; the wise have no oil to spare.”
To show the effect of the “tenth-day” proclamation upon the people, we quote from George Storrs’172letter in the Midnight Cry of Oct. 3, 1844, nineteen days before the close of the period. He says: “It is attended with a demonstration of the Spirit, such as I never witnessed when the cry was ‘1843.’ It is now literally, ‘Go ye out to meet Him.’ There is a leaving of all that I never dreamed could be seen. When this cry gets hold of the heart, farmers leave their farms, with their crops. There is a strong crying with tears, and a consecration of all to God, such as I never witnessed. There is a confidence in this truth, such as was never felt in the previous cry, in the same degree, and a weeping or melting glory in it that passeth all understanding, except to those who have felt it.”
In the same paper, in the issue of Oct. 31, 1844, is further testimony respecting the movement: “It seemed to us to have been so independent of human agency, that we could not but regard it as a fulfilment of the ‘midnight cry,’ after the tarrying of the bridegroom, and the slumbering and sleeping of the virgins, when they were all to arise and trim their lamps. And this last work seems to have been done; for there has never been a time before when the respective Advent bands were in so good a state of preparation for the Lord’s coming.”
POWER OF THE MIDNIGHT CRY.
In the article from which the above extract is made, is the following description of the power which accompanied this “midnight cry:” “There seemed to be an irresistible power attending the proclamation,173which prostrated all before it. It swept over the land with the velocity of a tornado, and it reached hearts in different and distant places almost simultaneously, and in a manner which can be accounted for only on the supposition that God was in it. It produced everywhere the most deep searching of heart and humiliation of soul before high Heaven. It caused a weaning of affections from the things of this world, a healing of controversies and animosities, a confessing of wrongs, a breaking down before God, and penitent, broken-hearted supplications to Him for pardon and acceptance. It caused self-abasement and prostration of soul, such as we never before witnessed.”
BUY FOR YOURSELVES.
In the Midnight Cry for Oct. 10, 1844, we learn how the “virgins” were admonished to “buy” for themselves—to gain an individual experience that would prepare them to meet the Lord: “It requires,” says the writer, “the same faith that led Abraham to offer up Isaac, or Noah to build the ark, or Lot to leave Sodom, or the children of Israel to stand all night waiting for their departure out of Egypt, or for Daniel to go into the lions’ den, or the three Hebrews into the fiery furnace. We have fancied that we were going into the kingdom without such a test of faith, but I am satisfied we are not. This last truth brings such a test, and none will venture upon it but such as dare to be accounted fools, madmen, or anything else that antediluvians, Sodomites, a lukewarm church, or sleeping virgins are disposed to heap upon them.174Once more would I cry, ‘Escape for thy life;’ ‘look not behind you;’ ‘remember Lot’s wife.’
“How shall we be ready for that day?—Believe God’s truth, and venture out upon it, by strong faith that gives glory to God. We must have the same state of mind that we would have if we knew we were to die upon that day, the same entire consecration to God and deadness to the world.”
COMING OF THE BRIDEGROOM.
In examining more closely the parable of the ten virgins we notice that “while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage; and the door was shut.” While this work of arousing and exhorting all to be ready was in progress, the twenty-three hundred days ended. Those who were fully consecrated to God very soon received light as to the nature of the event that was to take place at the close of this period. Said they, “Christ has gone in to the marriage.” By faith they “went in with Him.” That is, their faith followed Him in the work upon which He had now entered. In confirmation of this, we find in the Voice of Truth of Nov. 7, 1844, this statement: “We cheerfully admit that we have been mistaken in the nature of the event we expected would occur on the tenth day of the seventh month; but we can not yet admit that our great High Priest did not do, on that very day, all that the type would justify us in expecting. We now believe He did.”
HIGH PRIEST IN THE SANCTUARY.
In the Advent Herald of Nov. 13, 1844, we read the following: “On that day the high priest, under the Jewish economy, made an atonement in the holy of holies for the sins of all Israel. As the law was a ‘shadow of good things to come;’ as the crucifixion of Christ, the Paschal Lamb, ‘our Passover,’ was on that day, though not the hour, as some have believed, of the Jewish Passover; as He rose the first-fruits of those that slept, on the day the priest waved before the Lord the first-fruits of the earth for a wave-offering; and as the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost,—the feast of weeks; so we believe that our great High Priest, having entered into the holy of holies and sprinkled it with His blood, might come out of the same to bless His people on the day that this great antitype was shadowed forth by the observance of this Jewish law.”
In the above extracts, we see how the Lord was leading the minds of His people to the subject of a sanctuary in heaven, and to the nature of the work there being entered upon by Christ, our High Priest. In the type, the work of entering and coming out of the most holy place was accomplished in one literal day. In the antitype it was to cover years. As announced by the time message of Revelation 10, it is “in the days [years] of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets.” He declared to Daniel that176at the end of the twenty-three hundred days, “then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
By referring again to the time proclamation in Revelation 10, we see that when the message is given, the people engaged in it will suppose their work for the world is then done. But they are told: “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”
MEASURE THE TEMPLE.
In the first verse of the eleventh chapter of Revelation we learn something of the nature of the work in which the Lord’s people are to engage after the close of the twenty-three hundred days: “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod; and the angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.” The measurement of those who worship in the temple is not a literal measurement of stature, for “God is no respecter of persons.” While men look on the outward appearance, “the Lord looketh on the heart.” The measurement of the worshipers in the temple must be for the purpose of discovering to them their true standing before the Lord,—a discovering to them their defects in character, that they may be put away,—cancelled by the blood of Christ our Saviour. This “rod” by which the people of God are measured must be none other than the moral law of God, for, as stated by the apostle Paul, “by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Again, “I had not known177sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”
This people came to the time of the sounding of the seventh trumpet, when “the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament.” The ark in the typical sanctuary was called the ark of the testament, because it contained the ten commandments, the testimony which the Lord spake with a “loud voice,” on Mt. Sinai, in the audience of all Israel. “And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mt. Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” “And He [the Lord] wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me.”
This sanctuary, with its furniture, is said by the apostle Paul to be a “pattern,” “shadow,” and “figure” of the sanctuary in heaven, where Christ, our High Priest, “ministers for us.” So when the twenty-three hundred days ended, and the seventh trumpet began to sound, the time had come for the opening of that apartment of the heavenly sanctuary which contained the ark, as the time had arrived for the cleansing of the sanctuary. The believers then began to see, by faith, the ark of the testament.178They saw in that ark the original of the law, of which only a duplicate was placed in the ark constructed by Moses. Here, then, they obtained the “reed like unto a rod”—the rule of life by which men’s hearts or motives were to be measured. Here, also, they began to receive the light on the third angel’s message, which says, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
The measurement of the temple is not a literal measurement in cubits, as before stated, for there is no report made of the dimensions. It is unlike the measurement of the New Jerusalem, mentioned in Revelation 21, for in that measurement there is a definite report of the size of the city in furlongs, and the height of the wall in cubits. This, then, is a literal measurement of a literal city. But the measurement of the worshipers of Revelation 11 is figurative, meaning character; so also is the measurement of the temple (sanctuary), and the cleansing to be made at the end of the twenty-three hundred days. Just this light made the past all plain, and demonstrated to the Advent believers the accuracy of the proclamation, “The hour of God’s judgment is come,” and, “Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Christ had entered upon the work of cleansing the sanctuary, and the judgment of the righteous dead had begun.
CHAPTER IX.
THE “LITTLE BOOK” AND THE TALENTS.
Previous to the close of the prophetic periods in 1844, the believers in the second advent labored under the erroneous supposition that the earth was the sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of the twenty-three hundred days. The glorious truth on the subject of the sanctuary, as now understood, was not recognized until after the expiration of the great prophetic period. Then came the Lord’s time for the revealing of that marvelous light.
A devoted brother, of Port Byron, N. Y. (Hiram Edson), who had earnestly labored in the first and second messages, began to receive light on the sanctuary question the day after the close of the prophetic time. While praying, it came to him as distinctly as though spoken with an audible voice, “The sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of the twenty-three hundred days is in heaven.” He at once began the investigation of the subject by searching his Bible, opening at Hebrews and reading chapters eight and nine. Although he had often read these scriptures before, he was now greatly astonished at discovering how clearly they proved a sanctuary in heaven, of which the earthly tabernacle is a “figure,” a “shadow,” a “pattern,”180and its service an example of Christ’s mediatorial work in the heavens.
As this disappointed people were again to take up the work of teaching “peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings,” it was of the highest importance that the subject of the true sanctuary, and the nature of its cleansing, be understood. The sanctuary question connects the time message of 1844 with the third angel’s message of Revelation 14. The burden of that message is “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” which is really the third call to the supper of Luke 14. This call goes “into the highways and hedges,” compelling the people, not by physical force, but by the clearness of truth and the power of the Holy Spirit, “to come in.”
THE SWEET AND BITTER BOOK.
Another feature of the time proclamation of Revelation 10 should not be passed unnoticed. As John sees the angel standing upon the sea, and upon the earth, saying that time shall be no longer, he says:— “And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea, and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my181mouth sweet as honey; and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.”
As the angel here proclaiming the time, represents those who go forth to give the time message, so John, receiving and eating the book, represents those receiving the message. The message contained in the book is time. When the time therefrom proclaimed expired, the book was fully eaten. While eating, it was “sweet as honey” to the eater, but as soon as eaten it became “bitter.” The contrast here presented clearly sets forth a scene of bitter disappointment. The very thing that had heretofore been such sweet spiritual food, now, as soon as consumed, becomes, O! so “bitter.”
Let us consider for a few moments the situation of that people who, with joyous hearts and rejoicing lips, came up to the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month—Oct. 22, 1844. Thousands met in various places of worship, expecting ere the setting of that day’s sun to be in immortal glory. The day passed, and October 23 found them, O! so sad. The cup of sweetness in anticipated immortal joys is dashed to their feet.
The following quotations are from those who were participants in the scene, and give expression to their hearts while longing and praying for light concerning the
BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT.
“The disappointment at the passing of the time was a bitter one. True believers had given up all182for Christ, and had shared His presence as never before. They had, as they supposed, given their last warning to the world, and had separated themselves, more or less, from the unbelieving, scoffing multitude. And, with the divine blessing upon them, they felt more like associating with their soon-expected Master and holy angels than with those from whom they had separated themselves. The love of Jesus filled every soul and beamed from every face, and with inexpressible desires they prayed, ‘Come, Lord Jesus, and come quickly.’ But He did not come. And now, to turn again to the cares, perplexities, and dangers of life, in full view of the jeers and revilings of unbelievers, who now scoffed as never before, was a terrible trial of faith and patience. When Elder Himes visited Portland, Me., a few days after the passing of the time, and stated that the brethren should prepare for another cold winter, my feelings were almost uncontrollable. I left the place of meeting and wept like a child.”
Again, from the same book, we give the words of another:—
“The weak and the wicked united in declaring that there could be no more fears or expectations now. The time had passed, the Lord had not come, and the world would remain the same for thousands of years. This second great test revealed a mass of worthless drift that had been drawn into the strong current of the Advent faith, and been borne along for a time with the true believers.
“We were disappointed, but not disheartened. We183resolved to submit patiently to the process of purifying that God deemed needful for us; to refrain from murmuring at the trying ordeal by which the Lord was purging us from the dross and refining us like gold in the furnace. We resolved to wait with patient hope for the Saviour to redeem His tried and faithful ones.
“We found everywhere the scoffers which Peter says shall come in the last days, walking after their own lust, 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.’ But those who had looked for the coming of the Lord were not without comfort; they had obtained valuable knowledge in the searching of the Word. The plan of salvation was plain to their understanding. Every day they discovered new beauties in its sacred pages, and a wonderful harmony running through all,—one scripture explaining another, and no word used in vain.
LIKE THE DISAPPOINTED DISCIPLES.
“Our disappointment was not so great as that of the disciples. When the Son of man rode triumphantly into Jerusalem, they expected Him to be crowned King. The people flocked from all the region about, and cried, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ And Jesus, when the priests and elders besought Him to still the multitude, declared that if they should hold their peace, even the stones would cry out, for prophecy must be fulfilled. Yet in a few days these very184disciples saw their beloved Master, who, they believed, would reign on David’s throne, stretched upon the cruel cross above the mocking, taunting Pharisees. Their high hopes were drowned in bitter disappointment, and the darkness of death closed about them.”
Thus it was seen how the book that was so sweet to the taste of those who were hearing the time proclamation, became bitter, and also how accurately another prophetic symbol of the Advent Movement was fulfilled.
THE PHILADELPHIA CHURCH.
In the third chapter of Revelation is found this testimony to the Philadelphia church: “Behold, I come quickly.” It will be remembered that the Philadelphia church followed the Sardis church, which, as we have already seen, had heard the doctrine of the Lord’s coming, and was admonished to hold fast what they had “heard” and “received;” otherwise His coming would overtake them “as a thief.” The Philadelphia church was composed of those who came out under the second angel’s message as a distinct Adventist body, waiting and watching for the coming of the Master.
The first angel’s message, as first proclaimed, went to the churches; and the leaders in the movement, down to April, 1844, had no thought of forming a new organization, supposing the churches would continue to co-operate with them in heralding the near advent of Christ. In this, however, they were disappointed; but it was in the order of the Lord, for185the “gospel of the kingdom” should first go to the churches. It was also His purpose to have a people separated from the churches, that they might have liberty to search for further light and truth, and so the second angel’s message and the midnight cry developed a company who searched out and presented to the world the great themes of man’s nature, future rewards and punishments, the Sabbath, and other important truths comprehended in the third angel’s message. The Lord’s purpose was to have a people free to search for, accept, and obey the developing truths of His Word, untrammeled by man-made creeds.