Rev 16:12. Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its waters was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.
Looking at the traditional Adventist interpretation of the drying up of the river Euphrates, the waters on which Babylon sits on and when it dries up, means the finances to the city of Babylon have dried up, hence there is no longer any support, and therefore Babylon collapses. The term Kings from the East is generally defined as Christ´s Second Coming.
Questions to the above interpretation:
Does the River Euphrates mean many waters on which Babylon sits on?
Does the drying up of the river Euphrates mean drying up of financial support?
What is the Biblical meaning of Kings from the East?
Does the River Euphrates mean many waters on which Babylon sits on?
The text used to support this view is taken from Rev. 17:15. The waters which you saw, were the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. This text is referring to Rev 17:1. Come I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.
What do many waters mean in the book of Revelation?
Rev 1:15. His voice as the sound of many waters. (Refers to the voice of Christ in heaven).
Rev 14:2. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. (Refers to the 144,000 voices in heaven singing a new song verse 3).
Rev 17:1. Come I will show the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.
Rev 17:15. The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. (These people are related to one voice of praise and worship to the fallen church worldwide, which is opposite to the voices of the 144,000 who keep the Ten Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ Rev 14:12).
Rev 19:6. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunder, saying, Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns.
Conclusion
Many waters are related to the voice of Christ up in heaven and the 144,000 up in heaven. Many waters are also related to the 144,000 singing a new song and the voice of the great multitude praising God in heaven. They also keep the Ten Commandments of God and the true faith of Jesus Christ. These commandments include the Sabbath day which is on a Saturday.
What do seas represent in the prophetical books of the Bible?
Isaiah 57:20. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
In the book of Daniel 7:2.3. Daniel saw in vision: the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.
The interpretation is in Dan 7:17. Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. These kings arose from the wicked nations of the earth like Europe, Asia Minor and the east.
As for rivers meaning seas and many waters is just speculation and therefore reading into the text what is not there.
Does the drying up of the river Euphrates mean the drying up of financial support? There is no Biblical text to support this view.
Analysis of the text Rev 16:12-16.
Rev 16:12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.
Where is the river Euphrates?
It was the border between Gods people the Israelites, and their enemies. The border lies on the river flowing from the north and east of Israel. The enemies of Israel, who lived on the other side of the border, where e.g. Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persian etc.
What does it mean when the river Euphrates dries up?
It means that when the water has disappeared there is no border between Israel and their enemies. Hence, their enemies have direct access to attacking Israel.
What did this event mean to the kings from the east?
I have read many different commentaries and different interpretations of this text. Most are speculative also from the Adventist traditional approach. The traditional approach states that the kings from the east refer to Christ at his Second Coming from the east. Matthew 24:27 “For as the lightening comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” But this interpretation gives a problem with the grammar. The word kings is written in the plural and not singular. That means there is more than one king. Some theologians have tried to get around the text by saying that the Second Coming involves Christ, the Father and the Holy Spirit making three kings. Even more, Christ is coming from the east and he will meet his people who are the priesthood of all believers and kings with him. Rev 5:10. Again, these interpretations do not agree with the context of the passage and the rest of the Bible.
Kings from the east is an indirect expression used in the Old Testament.
It was an expression used for the enemies of Israel who lived just over the river Jordan or on the other side of the river Euphrates who came from the east of Israel, e.g. the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Assyrian and Babylonians. When the river Euphrates and river Jordan dried up in parts, mainly in the summer, then the enemies of Israel marched over the river, which was now dry ground, and this made it easier for the enemy to attack the Israelites. The enemies were referred to as the Kings from the east (Joshua 11:2) kings of the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizites, Jebusites, Hivites
(Joshua 11:3). When all these kings had met together, they came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
Jos 11:4. So they went out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude. Jos 11:6. But the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. So it is God who does the fighting for his people in this text.
Jos 12:1. These are the kings of the land whom the children of Israel defeated, and whose land they possessed on the other side of the Jordan toward the rising of the sun (the east, “άνατολής anatolés” in the Greek), from the River Arnon to Mount Hermon, and all the eastern Jordan plain.
Joshua 12:2 One king was Sihon king of the Amorites.
Joshua 12:4 The other king was Og king of Bashan.
In addition, the east or rising of the sun refers to Northern Arabia, Syria, and Mesopotamia. This was the area where the Magi or Wise men came from, before visiting the child Jesus with their gifts in Bethlehem. Mat 2:1. Thus Haran was in the land of the people of the east Gen 29:1.4. The king of Moab later brought Balaam from Aram (that is Syria), out of the mountains of the east to curse the Israelites.
(Numbers 23:7. 22:5). Isaiah spoke of Cyrus, the Persian, as the righteous man from the east (Isa 41:2).
What does the text Rev 16:12-14 mean for us today?
It means there will come a time in the future when the border between believers in Christ and non-believers will be removed. The enemies of Christ thereafter will have access to destroying and exterminating all Christians who obey and teach the Ten Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Rev 12:17. When the border of security and protection is removed from Christians, then the wicked will go in for the attack and the last world war Armageddon will take place. This will happen just before the Second Coming of Christ literally from the heavens and every eye will see him. Rev 1:7.
What else happens at that time according to Rev 16:13?
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the dragon, out of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
OK! We are talking about Bible prophecy here in the text.
Who does the Dragon represent in Bible prophecy?
Rev 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Who does the beast represent in Bible prophecy?
Rev 13:1-10. Rev 17:1-8. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. Dan 7:7.8.19-25. Dan 8:9-12. Dan11:16-45.
The papacy and Roman Catholic Church system of worship.
Who does the false prophet represent in Bible prophecy?
Rev 19:20. Rev 13:11-13. First and foremost, the Protestant church in the USA, which have stopped protesting against the Roman Catholic Church; in addition, it refers to all the Protestant churches all over the world who have stopped protesting against the Roman Catholic Church since the days of Martin Luther.
The book Confrontation says, “Through two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome trampling on the rights of conscience[1].”
Rev 16:14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God almighty.
It is the spirits of demons who gather together and unite the Roman Catholic Church and Protestants throughout the whole world, through the means of spiritualism. Through two doctrines: the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness. Furthermore, these demons are working extra hard because they go out to all the kings of the earth who become the enemies of Gods people and attack them.
Notice “Kings” is in the plural just as kings from the East (rising of the sun) is in the plural in Rev 16:12. The kings of the earth and the kings from the East are the same kings. When the river Euphrates dries up; when the border of security and protection of Gods people on earth is removed by civil authorities; then the kings of the earth together with all the wicked go in for the attack against Gods people at the battle of Armageddon.
What does spiritualism mean for us today?
The Bible talks about spiritualism in some places. However, if the Bible teaches the dead cannot speak to us and we find one narrative where the dead speak, then we can be sure it is from Satan and not from God. For example, in 1 Sam 28:3-15. The story is about King Saul who has departed from the Lord and an evil spirit had overtaken him. King Saul was fighting the enemy the Philistines, and he needed counsel from the Lord, but the Lord would not speak to him. So he decided to seek the counsel of a medium who could speak to the dead, and the irony is, he himself had issued a law that mediums should not work in the land on the pain of death. Now he is visiting a medium.
To cut the story short, King Saul asks the medium to bring up the prophet Samuel from the dead. In 1 Samuel 28:3 it explicitly states that Samuel had died. Verse 3. Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritualists out of the land.
What does the Bible say about death?
Ecclesiastes 9:5.6.10. For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have perished; nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun. For there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
The story carries on with Saul visiting the medium and asking her to bring Samuel up from the dead. 1 Samuel 28:13.14. Saul asks her, What do you see?” She responds with, “I saw a spirit, ascending out of the earth. ”So he said to her, “What is his form?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle.” And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped; with his face to the ground and bowed down.
So who is the old man with a mantle? It is not Samuel because he is dead. The spirit is not from God because Exodus 22:18 it says, “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.” The spirit comes from Satan and his evil angels who are demons and enjoy acting the persons of the deceased so as to deceive people and destroy them as in the case of King Saul.
Why is it important to understand what spiritualism is?
Because the evil spirits main objective is to destroy mankind just like they destroyed King Saul, both spiritually and physically. Spiritualism is the main component at the last world war Armageddon, when they gather the whole of the world to war against Gods people who keep the Ten Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ.
Rev 16:13.14. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the dragon, out of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
The dragon represents Satan. The beast represents the papacy in the Roman Catholic Church system. The false prophet represents the Protestants in the USA who have stopped protesting against the papacy. Rev 19:20. Rev 13:11-13. They are the Protestant Christians who belong to the charismatic movement, who believe in signs and miracles more than they believe in the Bible. They are also the Protestants who gather in the mega and giga churches all over the USA.
Spiritualism has changed very much over the past 50 years. Before they were acquainted with talking to the dead at seances and communicating with them. They did not believe so much in the Bible and Jesus Christ. Now they accept everything. Spiritualism is incorporated into nearly every Protestant church in the world. How?
(Subject is spiritualism). While it formerly denounced Christ and the Bible, it now professes to accept both. But the Bible is interpreted in a manner that is pleasing to the unrenewed heart, while its solemn and vital truths are made of no effect. Love is dwelt upon as the chief attribute of God, but it is degraded to a weak sentimentalism, making little distinction between good and evil. God´s justice, His denunciations of sin, the requirements of His law, are all kept out of sight. The people are taught to regard the Decalogue as a dead letter.[2]
As spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the Church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power.[3]
It is true that spiritualism is now changing its form and, veiling some of its more objectionable features, is assuming a Christian guise.[4]
The divine precepts condemning sin and enforcing righteousness were set aside; truth was lightly regarded, and impurity was not only permitted but enjoined. Spiritualism declares that there is no death, no sin, no judgment, no retribution; that men are fallen demigods; that desire is the highest law; and that man is accountable only to himself.[5]
God´s justice, His denunciation of sin, the requirements of His holy law, are all kept out of sight. The people are taught to regard the Decalogue as a dead letter. Pleasing, bewitching fables captivate the senses and lead men to reject the Bible as the foundation of their faith. Christ is as verily denied as before; but Satan has so blinded the eyes of the people that the deception is not discerned.[6]
The wide diversity of belief in the Protestant Churches is regarded by many as decisive proof that no effort to secure a forced uniformity can ever be made. But there has been for years, in Churches of the Protestant faith, a strong and growing sentiment in favour of a union based upon common points of doctrine. To secure such a union, the discussion of subjects upon which all were not agreed-however important they might be from a Bible standpoint-must necessarily be waived.[7]
Through two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of tis threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience.[8]
Giga churches in the USA have about 10,000 to 30,000 people attending each week. They are a blend of believers and non-believers. One minister for one of these churches is Rick Warren who is the minister of Saddleback Church in Lake Forrest, California with 22,000 members.
Another giga church minister is Bill Hybels who presides over Willow Creek church in Chicago with 17,000 in attendance each week. I have visited this church on a Saturday night and before Hybels preached there was a professional electrical guitarist with drums etc., leading out in praising the Lord with songs.
The problem with these giga churches is that they have only a few doctrines, which one can say yes to, before one becomes a member. For example: They believe in the Bible, they believe in God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit. They believe in the church, death and communion, and nothing else. Just like the teachings of spiritualism believe in.
2 Tim 4:3.4. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
When a giga church minister preachers from the pulpit, he does not talk about sin, the judgment of God or anything that will offend his hearers who are sitting in the congregation. Therefore, he is very limited to what he can talk about from the Bible. This goes for many preachers in the Lutheran church and other churches if they want people to come and listen to them.
Those people who come to listen to Bill Hybels in Willow Creek have a problem. They do not understand what sin is. It was found out after a 6 month investigation, that 18% of Hybels members had stolen, 12.5% had committed fornication with another person, and 27% of the men had looked at pornographic pictures. What did Hybels say about these sins? Not very much. He said to the congregation that the Holy Spirit must teach us to do things differently next time.[9]
Vi must remember that these giga church preachers are good to entertain a congregation with stories and jokes which are not related to the Bible at all. Jokes and stories one can see on the television all the time. The audience also come to listen and sing with a professional pop group with electric guitars and drums.
This is spiritualism disguised in sheep clothing and it is taught in many church growth seminars in many churches also in my own Seventh-day Adventist Church.
A third of the Bible teaches about the judgment of God. A third of the Bible teaches about sin. Vi cannot throw away two thirds of the Bible away just to please the audience. But this is what many preachers do in the giga and Protestant churches all around the world do.
“As spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the Church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power.
The line of distinction professed Christians and the ungodly is now hardly distinguishable. Church members love what the world loves and are ready to join with them, and Satan determines to unite them in one body and thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of spiritualism. Papists, who boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true Church, will be readily deceived by this wonderworking power; and Protestants, having cast away the shield of truth, will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants, and the worldlings will alike accept the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium.”[10]
John Wimber is known for starting the “Vineyard Church,” which has spread all over the world. He began his first church in California, USA. Wimber centers his teachings in the church planting and church growth movement, which has also spread into many churches all over the world. What is church planting? It is when a group of Christians start up a new church group in a town or city.
John Wimber has taught at Fuller Theological Seminary in the USA. What are his Teachings? Church planting, evangelism, the gift of prophecy and healing. Some very well known people who have also taught church planting and church growth are Donald McGavaran and C. Peter Wagner and they have been employed at Fuller Seminary.
In 1983 Peter Wagner described the future of Pentecostal Christianity with three wave movements.[11]
- The first wave movement began in the 1900´s with the Pentecostal movement.
- The second wave was the charismatic movement in the 1950´s.
- The third wave movement began in the 1980´s with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit coming on many members from Protestant churches who had the gift of prophecy and healing.
This third wave movement is called the signs and wonders movement, which comes from the teachings of Vineyard. In this movement one does not believe in the Ten Commandments of God. They do not use many teachings from the Bible. They concentrate on healing, the gift of prophecy, signs and wonders. If one would like to give their lives to Christ they do not have to repent of their sins as it says in the Bible. It is a matter of feelings. One feels saved.
This third wave movement is like the teachings and beliefs of spiritualism. A few teachings from the Bible and lots of signs and wonders and miracles. There are many people who belong to this charismatic movement or spiritualism and they do not know it.
What does Christ say about these teachings of signs and wonders and the gift of prophecy?
Matt 7:22.23. Many will say to me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!”
In conclusion I would say that spiritualism has entered the Protestant Church worldwide, through the Charismatic movement, the church growth and church planting movement, and the mega and giga church movement. How? These movements and churches tailor make the church services to fit the desires of the audience attending. They call it seeker services, to attract the seeker.
To do this they eliminate three quarters of the teachings of the Bible: every teaching that may offend the seeker like sin and the judgment of God. Without the judgment of God and the teachings of sin, one cannot come to know the real gospel through Jesus Christ. One is saved in their sins and not from their sins. This is the main aim of spiritualism. To prevent people coming to a knowledge of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. To achieve this, a good portion of the Bible teachings are eliminated and substituted for entertainment, comedy and a good pop group with electric guitars and drums as a backup.
When the majority of Christians accept this form of Christianity, then it is true what Christ says when he returns to this earth in Luke 18:8. “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?”
Maybe this is the reason why the Church growth movement has not worked in the Adventist Church, because God has his hand over the Church to prevent it from being influenced by Spiritualism. Furthermore, God is still waiting for the Adventist Church to complete the work of evangelism outreach to the world, by all the members going from door to door just like Christ, commanded his disciples to do in the early stages of his ministry.
Should Gods people who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus be afraid of Armageddon?
What did God say to Joshua when the kings from the east, the enemies of Gods people were preparing for an attack on the Israelites?
Jos 11:4-6. So they went out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with many horses and chariots. When all these kings had met together, they came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
But the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. So it is God who does the fighting for his people in this text. It is God of the whole wide universe who wins the battle of Armageddon.
E.G. White quotations taken at random in relation to the war Armageddon and spiritualism
Why so many Ellen G. White quotations when this study should be exegesis from the Bible? Well there is not much written in the Bible about the seven last plagues. Ellen G. White is the only one who writes a considerable amount on the subject, and she must know what lies ahead in the future because she was a messenger of the Lord.
1. As the defenders of truth refuse to honor the Sunday-Sabbath, some of them will be thrust into prison, some exiled, and some will be treated as slaves[12].
2. As America, the land of religious liberty shall unite with the papacy in forcing the conscience and compelling men to honor the false Sabbath, the people of every country on the globe will be led to follow her example[13].
3. The plagues upon Egypt when God was about to deliver Israel were similar in character to those more terrible and extensive judgments which are to fall upon the world just before the deliverance of God´s people[14].
4. When Christ shall cease is work as mediator in man’s behalf, then this time of trouble will begin[15]. The time of trouble occurs before the Second Coming of Christ and referrers to the time of the seven plagues in Rev 16:
5. When he leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth. In that fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wicked is removed, and Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent – – – Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great final trouble[16].
6. Those who honor the law of God have been accused of bringing judgments upon the earth (e.g. seven plagues) and they will be regarded as the cause of the fearful convulsions of nature and strife and bloodshed among men that are filling the earth with woe. The power attending the last warning has enraged the wicked; their anger is kindled against all who have received the message, and Satan will excite to still greater intensity the spirit of hatred and persecution[17].
7. It will be urged that the few who stand in opposition to an institution of the Church and a law of the State ought not to be tolerated; that it is better for them to suffer than the whole nation to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness – – -. This argument will appear conclusive; a decree will finally be issued against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment and giving the people liberty after a certain time, to put them to death[18].
8. As the decree issued by the various rulers of Christendom against commandment keepers shall withdraw the protection of government and abandon them to those who desire their destruction, the people of God flee from the cities and villages and associate together in companies, dwelling in the most desolate and solitary places – – -. But many of all nations and of all classes, high and low, rich and poor, black and white, will be cast into the most unjust and cruel bondage. The beloved of God pass weary days, bound in chains, shut in by prison bars, sentenced to be slain, some apparently left to die of starvation in dark and loathsome dungeons[19].
9. The people of God will not be free from suffering; but while persecuted and distressed, while they endure privation and suffer for want of food they will not be left to perish – – -. While the wicked are dying from hunger and pestilence, angels will shield the righteous and supply their wants. To him that walketh righteously is the promise: “Bread shall be given him; has waters shall be sure.” Is 33:16[20].
10. 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 the institution of the 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[21].
11. When the protection of human laws shall be withdrawn from those who honor the law of God (the Ten Commandments), there will be, in different lands, a simultaneous movement for their destruction. As the time appointed in the decree draws near, the people will conspire to root out the hated sect. It will be determined to strike in one night a decisive blow, which shall utterly silence the voice of dissent[22].
12. As the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman armies was the signal for flight to the Judean Christians, so the assumption of power on the part of our nation (United States of America) in the decree enforcing the papal Sabbath (Sunday) will be a warning to us. It will then be time to leave the large cities – – –[23].
13. I saw the saints leaving the cities and villages, and associating together in companies, and living in the most solitary places[24].
14. Let the principle once be established in the United States that the Church may employ or control the power of the state; that religious observances may be enforced by secular laws, in short, that the authority of the church and state is to dominate the conscience, and the triumph of Rome in this country is assured[25].
15. The spirits of devils will go forth to the kings of the earth and to the whole world, to fasten them in deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan in his last struggle against the government of heaven[26].
16. When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result[27].
17. And under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience[28].
18. Human laws will be made so stringent that men and women will not dare to observe the seventh-day Sabbath. For fear of wanting food and clothing, they will join with the world in transgressing God´s law. The earth will be wholly under my (Satan´s) dominion[29].
19. With shouts of triumph, jeering and imprecation throngs of evil men are about to rush upon their prey, when, lo, a dense blackness, deeper that the darkness of the night, falls upon the earth[230].
20. As Satan influenced Esau to march against Jacob, so he will stir up the wicked to destroy God´s people in the time of trouble[31].
21. Next came the multitude of the angry wicked and next a mass of evil angels, hurrying on the wicked to slay the saints. But before they could approach God´s people, the wicked must first pass this company of mighty holy angels. This was impossible[32].
22. The world has rejected His (God´s) mercy, despised his love, and trampled upon his law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one. Satan will plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose. The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible than that which came upon Jerusalem of old[33].
23. The wicked will be distinguished by their efforts to tear down the Creator´s memorial and to exult the institution of Rome. In the issue of the conflict all Christendom will be divided into two great classes, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and those who worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark[34].
24. The Roman Church is far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation. She is employing every device to extend he influence and increase her power in preparation for a fierce and determined conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, and to undo all that Protestantism has done. Catholicism is gaining ground upon every side. See the increasing number of her churches and chapels in Protestant countries. Look at the popularity of her colleges and seminaries in America, so widely patronized by Protestants. Look at the growth of ritualism in England and the frequent defections to the ranks of the Catholics. These things should awaken the anxiety of all who prize the pure principles of the Gospel[35].
28. Papists, who boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true Church, will be readily deceived by this wonder-working power; and Protestants, having cast away the shield of truth, will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants, and the worldlings will alike accept the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium[36].
29. Through spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor of the race, healing the diseases of the people, and professing to present a new and more exalted system of religious faith; But at the same time he works as a destroyer[37].
30. The miracle-working power manifested through spiritualism will exert its influence against those who choose to obey God rather than men. Communications from the spirits will declare that God has sent them to the rejecters of Sunday of their error, affirming that the laws of the land should be obeyed as the law of God. They will lament the great wickedness in the world and second the testimony of the religious teachers that the degraded state of morals is caused by the desecration of Sunday. Great will be the indignation excited against all who refuse to accept their testimony[38].
31. As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The Church has long professed to look to the Savior’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in Revelation 1:13-15. The people prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts his hands and pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ blessed his disciples when he was upon the earth – – – he heals the diseases of the people, and then in his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his angels sent to them with light and truth. This is the strong almost overwhelming delusion[39].
When this false Christ comes, he will accept adoration and homage and people will prostrate themselves before him. This picture is like when a pope receives homage from his subjects on a large scale.
32. These plagues enraged the wicked against the righteous; they thought that we had brought the judgments of God upon them and that if they could rid the earth of us the plagues would then be stayed. A decree went fourth to slay the saints[40].
33. All unite in heaping their bitterest condemnation upon the ministers – – -. God´s Word is made of none effect by false shepherds . . . Their work will soon react upon themselves. Then will be witnessed the scenes described in Revelation 18 when the judgments of God shall fall upon mystical Babylon[41].
34. Many will be laid to sleep before the fiery ordeal of the time of trouble shall come upon the world[42].
35. The Lord has often instructed me that many little ones are to be laid away before the time of trouble[43].
[1] Ellen G. White, Confrontation, 588.
[2] White, Confrontation, 558.
[3] Ibid., 588.
[4] Ibid., 557.558.
[5] Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets (Mountainview, California: Pacific Press Pub., Assoc., 1958), 688.
[6] White, Confrontation, 558.
[7] Ibid., 444.
[8] Ibid., 588.
[9] G. A. Pritchard, Willow Creek Seeker Services (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book, 1996), 264.
[10] Ibid., 588.589.
[11] Matthias Deininger, Global Pentecostalism: An Inquiry into the Cultural Dimensions of Globalization (Hamburg: Anchor Academic Pub., 2014), 48.
[12] Ibid., 608.
[13] Ellen G. White, Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 6 (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Pub., 1948), 18.
[14] White, Confrontation, 627.628.
[15] Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Pub., 1958), 201.
[16] White, Confrontation, 614.
[17] Ibid., 614.615.
[18] Ibid., 615.616.
[19] Ibid., 626.
[20] Ibid., 629
[21] White, Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 1, 353.354.
[22] White, Confrontation, 635.
[23] White, Testimonies to the Church, 464.465.
[24] Ellen G. White, Early Writings, (Washington D.C.: Review & Herald, 1945), 282.
[25] White, Confrontation, 581.
[26] Ibid., 624.
[27] Ibid., 445.
[28] Ibid., 588.
[29] Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Pub., 1943), 184.
[30] White, Confrontation, 635.
[31] Ibid., 618.
[32] White, Early Writings, 283.284.
[33] White, Confrontation, 614.
[34] White, Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 9, 16.17.
[35] Ibid., 565. 566.
[36] Ibid., 588. 589.
[37] Ibid., 589.
[38] Ibid., 590. 591.
[39] Ibid., 634.
[40] Ellen G. White, Early Writings, (Washington D.C.: Review & Herald, 1945), 36.37.
[41] Ellen G. White, Manuscript 60, 1900.
[42] Ellen G. White, Counsels on Health (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Assoc., 1897),375.
[43] Ellen G. White, Selected Messages 2 (Washington D.C.: Review & Herald Pub. Assoc., 1958), 259.