Revelation 10 Events to Take Place Just Before the Seventh Trumpet Sounds (Part 4)

Events to take place before Seventh Trumpets sound

Revelation 10

(Part 4)

The movement of The Millerite, The Seventh-Day Adventist
and The final movement (the 144,000)

Rev. 10:1-3, 8-10: Verse: 1 "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed
with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet
as pillars of fire:

Verse: 2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and
his left foot on the earth,

1

Verse: 3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth:…
Verse: 8 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.
Verse: 9 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.
Verse: 10 And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth
sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter."
(We have omitted Rev. 10:4, as it deals with the seven thunders, a subject about which John was
told not to write, and which remains unrevealed.)
This "mighty angel," he who "set his right foot upon the sea, and his left on the earth," and who
instructed John to eat the book, has been long understood to represent the message which was
proclaimed on both land and sea, world-wide, by William Miller and his associates,
beginning in 1831 A.D. (The Great Controversy, p. 331), and culminating in the disappointment
of 1844.
The Millerite Movement will now be shown here by Inspiration of God through the prophecy
of: Zechariah, Chapter One.
"I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees
that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white. Then said I,
O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what
these be. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they
whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel of
the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the
earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest." Zech. 1:8-11.

2

In the vision of Zechariah 1, we note that the "horses" "whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and
fro through the earth," have the gift of speech, for "they answered the angel of the Lord...and
said, We have looked to and fro through the earth." The obvious import of this symbolism is that
these "horses" can talk and that they are serving the Lord in going where He sends them. They
therefore can be symbolical only of the Lord's servants, the ministry that is "sent."

Inevitably, then, the symbolism depicts a Movement which goes forth with a message and
which, upon finishing its work of going "to and fro through the earth," returns.

Without clashing with logic, one cannot suppose that this symbolism is prophetically descriptive
of the gospel workers who are foreshadowed in Christ's prophecy that "this gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end
come." Matt. 24:14. For after the horses answered "We have walked to and fro through the
earth" -- meaning, "We have finished our work," -- the Lord commands them to "Cry yet;" that
is, proclaim again! And this command moreover, shows that the Lord was yet to bestow His
mercy upon His people, and yet to finish His work of salvation, for He says: "My cities...shall yet
be spread abroad; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem. " Zech.
1:17.

Necessarily, therefore, the "horses" here in view depict a Movement on foot, which is organized
to proclaim the gospel throughout the earth. The horses' answer, "We have walked to and fro
through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest," reveals that the
movement thought its work finished and probation closed. In other words, it thought that
salvation through the gospel had closed and that the preaching of it could no longer make the
earth produce converts. (The subject of the symbolism being the production of spiritual life, it
necessarily calls for the salvation of souls not for the production of vegetal or animal life.)
Whereas, in fact, the Lord commissioned them to "cry yet," showing them that they were
mistaken.

To determine whether this symbolical prophecy points to God's servants of the past, of the
present, or of the future, one must consult church history. Its pages record that the Millerite
Movement is the only one which has gone with a message to every Christian mission in the
world (The Great Controversy, p. 368), and thought, mistakenly, that in so doing, the last gospel
invitation had been sounded to every living creature under heaven, thereby signalizing the close
of human probation. On the contrary, the gospel invitation for this time, instead of then being
finished, had just begun, and instead of the Lord's coming then to earth, He went to His heavenly
temple!

The peculiar set of circumstances surrounding the Millerite Movement prior to 1844, certifies
that it is the one which is depicted in the symbolism of Zechariah 1. And it should be
remembered that the Lord did not on the one hand attach the warning, "Look out, for these
horses are false (mistaken) prophets," or on the other hand rebuke the horses or command them
to keep silence, but that instead He commanded them that they cry the more. And the angel of
the Lord, in confirmation, declares: "These are they whom the Lord hath sent."

3

Zech. 1:7, 8 -- "Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month
Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the Word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of
Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a
red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were
there red horses, speckled, and white."

For the interpretation of this symbolism we shall read the prophet's interrogation and the angel's
explanation of it in

Zech. 1:9-11 -- "Then said I, O my Lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said
unto me, I will shew thee what these be. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered
and said, These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. And they
answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to
and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest."

Since the horses are sent by the Lord to walk to and fro through the earth, and since they have
the ability to speak, all this very obviously reveals that the horses are symbolical of the Lord's
messengers, of those whom He sends to the nations.

The red, speckled, and white -- several species of horses, depict a group of servants of varied
races and nationalities. The horses, therefore, cannot be taken to symbolize either the Hebrew
servants of Zechariah's day, or those of Christ's day because the Lord's servants in those days
were all of one race -- Jews, not red, speckled, and white. Having fulfilled their mission, the
horses reported that they "have walked to and fro through the earth" and that in spite of it the
earth is sitting still and at rest -- doing nothing about it.

Since it is a known fact that in Zechariah's day the message bearers were all Jews (a people of
one race and one nation), the symbolism is positively applicable to a day in which God appoints
evangelists of various races and nationalities, whom He send to and fro through the earth -- to all
nations.

All these positive identifications clearly point out that the horses represent the First-day
Adventists who arose between the years 1833 and 1844 and who then fulfilled this symbolical
prophecy by proclaiming the second advent of Christ to every Christian mission, world over, but
having confused the cleansing of the sanctuary (Dan. 8:14) -- the purification of the church,
the work of the Judgment, harvest, by separating the wheat from the tares (Matt. 13:30), the
good fish from the bad (Matt. 13:47, 48), the wise virgins from the foolish (Matt. 25:1-12), the
sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32), the wedding garment dressed guests from those who had not
the garment (Matt. 22:2-13). This Judicial work commences first among the dead (book
work only, of course -- Dan. 7:10), then among the living (actual bodily separation -- cleansing -
- Ezek. 9).

As Daniel's prophecy of chapter eight, namely the 2300 days, pointed out that the Judgment
work was to commence in 1844 A.D. but as it was mistakenly understood that the world was to

4

come to an end instead, they were greatly disappointed when the set date came and nothing
happened. So it was that as the set date approached they returned from their mission fields with
full confidence that they had finished their mission, -- that they had "walked to and fro through
the earth" -- and that there was time no longer, that the world was then to end.

Concerning the scope of their work The Great Controversy, page 368, has this to say: "The
writings of Miller and his associates were carried to distant lands. Wherever missionaries had
penetrated in all the world, were sent the glad tidings of Christ's speedy return. Far and wide
spread the message of the everlasting gospel, 'Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of
His judgment is come.'"

Thus it was that the horses (messengers) thought their work was finished, but the angel who
really knew the facts, and saw God's people still in captivity, still away from their homeland,
while the heathen were at ease, pleaded for action:

The surpassing joy with which the all-engrossing thought that Christ was coming in the autumn
of 1844 A.D. possessed the believers then, was indeed as "sweet as honey" to them. But when
the longingly awaited hour came, and failed their joyous expectations, the sweet of hope turned
to the "bitter" of disappointment. It did so not only because they had still longer to remain on this
cursed and hapless earth, sin-convulsed and death-weary, instead of entering into a land where
there is "no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither...any more pain" (Rev. 21:4), but also
because they were mocked by the wicked multitude, who hated the idea that the world was then
coming to an end.

In this great joy of expectation and bitterness of disappointment was fulfilled the forecast: "it was
in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter." Rev. 10:10.

Chapter 10, verse 10, we see, has taken us back to the disappointment in 1844. Also we see that
verses 10 and 11 are sequential. Obviously, the latter must therefore carry us on to the next great
event which was to take place, and which was to bring light, hope, and courage to the then
disheartened church of God. Says John, concerning the angel's prediction of what was to follow:

Rev. 10:11. "And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations,
and tongues, and kings."

To correct their misunderstanding on Daniel 8:14 the prophetic Word of God declared: "Thou
must prophesy again;" that is, repeat the preaching of Christ's coming to earth. But as His people
were then greatly confused and unable to reconcile the Scriptures, God sent into their midst
one, Ellen G. Harmon, seventeen years of age, to be His mouthpiece unto them. She was
given a vision relative to the disappointment and the ingathering of the first fruits, the 144,000.
(See Early Writings, pp. 13-20.)

By that time it was understood that the statement, "the sanctuary shall be cleansed," did not
mean that Christ was to cleanse the earth in 1844, but rather that in fulfillment of Daniel 7:9, 10,

5

He was to cleanse the heavenly sanctuary. This is the very event which opened the seals and
sounded the trumpets, and which, as we have seen, John was told would be "here-after." (See
Revelation, chapters 4 and 5.) Possessed of this understanding, a small group of believers,
who later called themselves "Seventh-day Adventists," organized into a body, and
zealously moved on with the prospect in view of gathering in "the servants of our God" (the
144,000). This work appeared to them to be an overwhelmingly great task, and it met with
ridicule on every side.

When the long-sought number (144,000) of living church members was finally reached in the
year 1917, and the world had yet but barely been touched by the message, the leaders of the
denomination became confused, but only because they lost sight of the truth that there were bad
as well as good in the "net" (gospel church), as Christ had predicted:

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
which, when it was full [when the prospective number was made up], they drew to shore, and sat
down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away." Matt. 13:47, 48.

The result was that they began to doubt and to question and variously to explain away their
former position both as to the number to be gathered in, and the generation to witness the end,
until today the subject of the 144,000 has become to them one of the most confused and mooted
of Bible subjects.

But now by inspiration of God’s word it has been revealed that the 144,000 (who are to be
without guile in their mouth), the appointed number of first-fruit servants to be sealed in the
church, are to be separated from the unconsecrated. And the number to be sealed being much
smaller than the number of the membership, it sadly reminds us that therein are many "tares."

Inasmuch as the paramount purpose and hope of the S.D.A. denomination from its outset has
been to gather the 144,000, it should be more conversant with this subject than with any other,
"ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh" "a reason" of its "hope." 1 Pet. 3:15.
Sadly, though, it is not; instead, it is more ignorant of who and what are the 144,000 than it is
perhaps of any other known Bible truth. And what is still sadder, many of its teachers who are
refusing to accept this "most startling revelation" (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 445), are now
insisting that a knowledge of the subject is not essential to their soul's salvation. And thereby
they are saying that they are "rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing," thus
implying that God has put a non-essential subject in the Bible! Thus they are self-doomed to
remain wretched (unhappy), and miserable (troubled), and poor (in need of truth), and blind
(benighted), and naked (without the righteousness of Christ), and consequently to reject the
words: "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich;...and anoint
thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." Rev. 3:17, 18.

And sadder yet, even after our brethren are plainly shown that the 144,000 are only the
"firstfruits," and that the second are still to be gathered in, they refuse to be convinced,

6

obstinately following on in the fatal steps which from the very beginning have led into the ditch
every leadership at the revelation of a new message.

Failing, as a natural sequence, to grasp the fact that the "angel" said, "thou must prophesy again
before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings" (Rev. 10:11), but not before all, they
blindly insist that they are commissioned and ready to "prophesy" before all; that is, to finish the
work in all the world. And this, despite heir deplorable Laodicean condition!

The trumpet symbolism has now brought us up to the time of the ingathering of the
"firstfruits" (the 144,000). First fruits predicate second fruits, for it is necessarily true that
there can be no first where there is no second. Wherefore just as there is a prophetic commission
for the ingathering of the firstfruits from "many nations," so there must be one for the
ingathering of the second fruits from "all nations." There being, moreover, an important event
and a message at the commencement of the ingathering of the "first-fruits" from many
nations, since 1844, so must there be an important event and a message signalizing the
commencement of the ingathering of the second fruits, the great multitude, from all nations. This
logic leads us to Isaiah's prophecy:

"For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall
be many.... And I will send those that escape of them unto the nations,...that have not heard My
fame, neither have seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles." Isa.
66:16, 19.

The action in verse 20 shows that the slaying in verse 16 effects the separation of the first fruits
in the church. Indeed, were the church not the scene of the slaying, then those who escape from
it, God could not send to the nations (the Gentiles), for they themselves would be heathen instead
of Christians, and He would then be sending heathen unto heathen! And as the escaped are to go
to the Gentiles to proclaim His fame to them the slaughter evidently takes place before the close
of probation, and does not harm those who at that time know not His fame.

Verse 20 of Isaiah 66 also reveals that those who escape the slaying of the Lord will be sent, not
to "many" but to "all nations." And, too it reveals that instead of bringing 144,000 only the
escaped ones will bring "all" their "brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon
horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to My holy
mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel
into the house of the Lord." Isa. 66:20.

7