Sabbath, January 27, 2007

“FEAR GOD AND GIVE HIM THE GLORY”

1. What event indicates the beginning of the first angel’s message?
Revelation 14:6, 7 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

“Historically, the preaching of William Miller and his associates in the period from 1831 to 1844, concerning the close of the 2300 days in 1844, may be regarded as marking the beginning of the message of the first angel.” –S.D.A. Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 828.

2. What was God’s purpose in sending this message?
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

“To prepare a people to stand in the day of God, a great work of reform was to be accomplished. God saw that many of His professed people were not building for eternity, and in His mercy he was about to send a message of warning to arouse them from their stupor and lead them to make ready for the coming of their Lord.

“This warning is brought to view in Revelation 14.… The first of these warnings announces the approaching judgment.” –The Great Controversy, p. 311.

THE HOUR OF HIS JUDGMENT IS COME

3. How did the Millerites interpret the prophecies of Daniel 8:14 and Revelation 14:7?
Daniel 8:14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
Revelation 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

“They understood that the cleansing of the sanctuary was the purification of the earth by the fires of the last great day, and that this would take place at the second advent. Hence the conclusion that Christ would return to the earth in 1844.” –The Great Controversy, p. 409.

“Those who proclaimed this warning gave the right message at the right time. But as the early disciples declared, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand,’ based on the prophecy of Daniel 9, while they failed to perceive that the death of the Messiah was foretold in the same scripture, so Miller and his associates preached the message based on Daniel 8:14 and Revelation 14:7, and failed to see that there were still other messages brought to view in Revelation 14, which were also to be given before the advent of the Lord. As the disciples were mistaken in regard to the kingdom to be set up at the end of the seventy weeks, so Adventists were mistaken in regard to the event to take place at the expiration of the 2300 days.” –The Great Controversy, pp. 352, 353.

4. What was the right interpretation of these two great prophecies by the early Seventh-day Adventists?
Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.

“In the typical system, which was a shadow of the sacrifice and priesthood of Christ, the cleansing of the sanctuary was the last service performed by the high priest in the yearly round of ministration. It was the closing work of the atonement–a removal or putting away of sin from Israel. It prefigured the closing work in the ministration of our High Priest in Heaven, in the removal or blotting out of the sins of His people, which are registered in the heavenly records. This service involves a work of investigation, a work of judgment; and it immediately precedes the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; for when He comes, every case has been decided. Says Jesus, ‘My reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.’ Revelation 22:12. It is this work of judgment, immediately preceding the second advent, that is announced in the first angel’s message of Revelation 14:7: ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His Judgment is come.’” –The Great Controversy, p. 352.

TO ALL THAT DWELL ON THE EARTH

5. How far would the first angel’s message reach?
Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.

6. How far was it proclaimed?
Acts 1:8 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.

“To William Miller and his colaborers it was given to preach the warning in America. This country became the center of the great advent movement. It was here that the prophecy of the first angel’s message had its most direct fulfillment. 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.’” –The Great Controversy, p. 368.

7. Who was the most prominent “missionary to the world” of that time?
Act 18:24 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.

“Dr. Wolff traveled in the most barbarous countries without the protection of any European authority, enduring many hardships and surrounded with countless perils….

“Thus he persevered in his labors until the message of the judgment had been carried to a large part of the habitable globe.” –The Great Controversy, p. 361.