The Spirit of Prophecy: Leading and Teaching

This series is called Habakkuk's Two Tables. So far, we have been taking certain truths from the 1843 and 1850 Charts, not to defend them biblically at this point, but to establish that Ellen White endorses these truths. Our contention is that if you reject these foundational truths, you are simultaneously rejecting the Spirit of Prophecy. We want to put that in the record first.

In our first presentation, we outlined the history of the Millerites, the waymarks from 1798 to 1844. In our last presentation, we looked more closely at the history from the tarrying time to the closing of the door on October 22, 1844, identifying that time as the Midnight Cry. The Midnight Cry entered history at the Exeter Camp Meeting, August 12–17, 1844, and continued until October 22, 1844. The tarrying time, which began in March 1844, is part of the Midnight Cry and the purging process that prepared a people to proclaim its message.

We hoped to establish this in your hearts and minds yesterday. All the illustrations in God's Word of tarrying times speak about the end of the world. Ellen White, commenting on 1 Corinthians 10:11, says, "Each of the ancient prophets spoke more for our day than the days in which they lived." 1 Corinthians 10:11 states, "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." The history of the Millerites is a history of what will take place at the end of the world. All these biblical histories of the tarrying time and what follows illustrate what would take place in the Millerite tarrying time and the Midnight Cry. We need to understand these things because history is to be repeated.

We have been dealing with the first issue on these Charts, though we haven't mentioned it much. The first doctrine we want to show that Ellen White clearly endorses is the 2520. The first two presentations were designed to lead us here. Tomorrow morning, we'll begin considering the Daily on this Chart.

Let's begin with Life Sketches, page 196: "We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history." The only thing a Christian has to fear for the future is falling off the path and being lost. The thing to be fearful about is not obtaining eternal life. Here, Sister White says we have nothing to fear for the future except for two things. This is a common passage in the Spirit of Prophecy in Adventism, but rarely do you hear anyone elaborate on what leading and what teachings she is referring to.

We will show that the leading she refers to is the history of the Midnight Cry. In the history of the Midnight Cry, Christ was leading in the tarrying time, the arrival and proclamation of the Midnight Cry, and the closing of the door on October 22, 1844. He designed that history to produce a people who could enter by faith into the Most Holy Place with Him. We should be fearful to forget that particular history, as well as His teachings.

We will show that there is a specific teaching that produced the Midnight Cry. That teaching was not the collapse of the Ottoman Empire on August 11, 1840, nor the state of the dead, which came in the history of the Second Angel's Message in the Millerite History. It was a specific teaching in the Millerite History that produced the Midnight Cry, where the Lord led, and we have nothing to fear for the future except that we forget His leading and His teaching.

We suggest that the symbol of both His leading and His teaching is the Midnight Cry. Let's read this passage from Ellen White's first vision again: "On this path the advent people were traveling to the city which was at the farther end of the path. They had a bright light set up behind them at the beginning of the path, which an angel told me was the midnight cry. This light shone all along the path, and gave light for their feet, so that they might not stumble. If they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the city, they were safe. But soon some grew weary, and said the city was a great way off, and they expected to have entered it before. Then Jesus would encourage them by raising His glorious right arm, and from His arm came a light which waved over the advent band, and they shouted 'Alleluia!' Others rashly denied the light behind them, and said that it was not God that had led them out so far."

They are denying the Midnight Cry, and in connection with the Midnight Cry, they are arguing that the Lord was not leading them in the Midnight Cry. They are denying the leading of God in the Midnight Cry. "The light behind them went out, leaving their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and lost sight of the mark and of Jesus, and fell off the path down into the dark and wicked world below."

We will look once more at the history of the Midnight Cry to put it in context before we deal with the 2520.

If many did this, that means there were some who were not. It doesn't say "they"; it says "many"—two classes here. "The Bible testimony in support of their position seemed clear and conclusive. Signs which could not be mistaken pointed to the coming of Christ as near. The special blessing of the Lord, both in the conversion of sinners and the revival of spiritual life among Christians, had testified that the message was of Heaven. And though the believers could not explain their disappointment, they felt assured that God had led them in their past experience.

In that paragraph, it says, "Interwoven with prophecies which they had regarded as applying to the time of the second advent . . . ." What prophecies did they believe applied to the Second Advent? The 2520, the 2300, and the 1335. They believed all three of these time prophecies ended in 1843, and that was the Second Advent.

As early as 1842, the direction given in this prophecy to "write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it," suggested to Charles Fitch the preparation of a prophetic chart to illustrate the visions of Daniel and the Revelation. The publication of this chart was regarded as a fulfillment of the command given by Habakkuk. No one, however, then noticed that an apparent delay in the accomplishment of the vision—a tarrying time—is presented in the same prophecy. After the disappointment, this scripture appeared very significant: 'The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. . . . The just shall live by his faith.'

It does not matter whether you do regular work or irregular work—terms Ellen White uses for conference work and self-supporting work, respectively. Whether you go to leading self-supporting ministries in Adventism or to the General Conference or the Biblical Research Institute, if you ask them about the 1843 Chart, they will say, "There are lots of mistakes on this Chart." They disagree with Ellen White, who says the Lord held His hand over "a mistake" in some of the figures on this Chart.

But they also place themselves in opposition to the Word of God. In Habakkuk, it says that this vision "shall . . . not lie." The vision the Pioneers were to put on the 1843 Chart, which they did, is a fulfillment of Habakkuk 2. This is the vision they were to place on this Chart, and Habakkuk 2 says this vision "shall . . . not lie." So, when you say this Chart is "full of mistakes," you are opposing both the Spirit of Prophecy and the Bible.

Notice that she is talking about two classes of worshippers. She says many, when this disappointment came, continued to study the prophecies, indicating there was a class that did not continue. We will get more light on the distinction of the two classes.

The fulfillment of Habakkuk 2:1–4 is this 1843 Chart and the 1850 Chart. Even in Habakkuk, verse 4 says that the just shall live by his faith and he whose heart is lifted up. It is describing two classes of worshippers. The history of the Midnight Cry produces two classes of worshippers, and those two classes are addressed in Habakkuk.

In the next paragraph, after referencing Habakkuk 2 and Ezekiel, she identifies one of the classes: "the waiting ones." Who are the waiting ones? They are those fulfilling Daniel 12, "Blessed is he who waiteth, and cometh to the 1335." This class is the waiting ones.

We had a sister call who had been working in one of the Eastern European countries for a few years. She was from there, moved to the United States, and when she understood this message, moved back. She has faced resistance, with her former church family reaching out to leadership in her country to "close the door on her." Recently, the Lord opened the door for her to share this message with groups.

She called early this morning, sharing that one obstacle was transportation. They needed a car to travel and teach this message, but lacked the funds. As soon as they reached this place, friends from the United States, convicted by the Lord, sent enough money to buy a car.

This is the type of experience that was happening for the disappointed ones. They were disappointed, but the Lord led them to the Scriptures to encourage them, saying, "This disappointment was at my direction. Just keep moving forward."

Notice how Sister White ties the parable of the Ten Virgins with Habakkuk 2, as both discuss a tarrying time and two classes of worshippers.

The coming of Christ, as announced by the first angel's message, was understood to be represented by the coming of the bridegroom. The widespread reformation under the proclamation of His soon coming corresponded to the going forth of the virgins. In this parable, as in Matthew 24, two classes are represented. All had taken their lamps, the Bible, and by its light had gone forth to meet the Bridegroom. But while the foolish took their lamps without oil, the wise took oil in their vessels. The wise had received the grace of God, the regenerating, enlightening power of the Holy Spirit, which made His word a lamp to their feet. They studied the Scriptures to learn the truth and earnestly sought purity of heart and life. These had a personal experience and faith in God and His word, which could not be overthrown by disappointment and delay. Others moved from impulse, depending on the faith of their brethren, satisfied with good emotions but lacking a thorough understanding of the truth or a genuine work of grace. They were not prepared for delay and disappointment. When trials came, their faith failed, and their lights burned dim.

When did the Bridegroom tarry? March 22, 1844. He tarries. What is going to happen now? These two classes are going to be manifested.

When we forget the Midnight Cry and fall off the path to the wicked world below, we show we do not understand the Gospel. The Everlasting Gospel is the work of Christ in producing two classes of worshippers, based on a testing prophetic message. From the tarrying time to the closing of the door, this is the climax of the Everlasting Gospel. Here, the Lord takes two classes in the tarrying time, seeking to lead them into the Judgment with Himself, and puts them through a testing process to prove whether they genuinely have oil or not. This is the climax of Christ's work of separating the gold from the dross, the wheat from the tares, the wise from the foolish.

When the disappointment came, two classes began to sleep differently; but even the wise virgins lost some of their zeal. The Lord was leading in this, so that when the Midnight Cry message came at the Exeter Camp Meeting, He would accomplish a work among them.

From Spirit of Prophecy, volume 4, page 228: Remember that this process—the Midnight Cry, from the Tarrying Time to the closing of the door—is the Lord testing His people. The Midnight Cry at the Exeter Camp Meeting, in its proclamation until October 22, 1844, is just one part of that history. It cannot be separated from the tarrying time, which prepares for the effect of the Midnight Cry among the two classes of worshippers. You must understand the Midnight Cry, because if you do not, you fall off the path.

The time of expectation passed, and Christ did not appear for the deliverance of His people. Those who had looked for their Saviour with sincere faith and love experienced a bitter disappointment. Yet the Lord had accomplished His purpose: He had tested the hearts of those who professed to be waiting for His appearing. Among them were many who had been motivated by fear rather than love for the truth. When the expected event failed to take place, these persons declared they were not disappointed; they had never believed that Christ would come. They were among the first to ridicule the sorrow of the true believers.

This was the Lord's purpose. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we forget how the Lord has led us in our past experience, and nothing to fear except we forget the Lord's teachings in our past experience. We are suggesting you cannot separate this leading from His teaching.

We fully believe that God, in His wisdom, designed that His people should meet with a disappointment, which was well calculated to reveal hearts and develop true characters—not only to reveal their hearts but to develop their characters, bringing it to a point where it would be demonstrated in the crisis that comes at the Midnight Cry. Those who embraced the first angel's message through fear of God's judgments, not because they loved the truth and desired an inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, now appeared in their true light. They were among the first to ridicule the disappointed ones who sincerely longed for and loved the appearing of Jesus. This most searching test of God revealed the true characters of those who would shirk responsibility and stigma by denying their faith in the hour of trial.

Those who had been disappointed were not left in darkness; for in searching the prophetic periods with earnest prayers, the error was discovered—the singular error—and the tracing of the prophetic pencil down through the tarrying time. In the joyful expectation of the coming of Christ, the apparent tarrying of the vision had not been taken into account, and was a sad and unlooked-for surprise. Yet this very trial was highly necessary to develop and strengthen the sincere believers in the truth. The tarrying time was highly necessary. It not only was going to demonstrate the two classes and begin to develop their characters that would be demonstrated in the history of the Midnight Cry to the closing of the door, but it was necessary to strengthen those who would come out on the right side of the issue. You cannot separate the tarrying time from the Midnight Cry or the closing of the door.

When you deny the Midnight Cry, you are denying that very history. The Midnight Cry is not just the message of Samuel Snow at the Exeter Camp Meeting; it is the experience of the tarrying time. This is where the Lord was leading. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we forget the Lord's leading in our past history—this history of the tarrying time and the Midnight Cry, where He brings to a climax the Everlasting Gospel in the Millerite History, producing two classes of worshippers.

If we had time, we could discuss the mystery of iniquity. The mystery of iniquity can have more than one correct definition, but here it refers to the work of Satan in mixing evil with good, truth with error, in the sacred histories where the Lord tests His people. In the sacred histories of Scripture where the Lord brings His people to a testing process, you will always see the mystery of iniquity—the activity of Satan in mixing truth with error. When people come to this testing point, the mystery of iniquity has clouded the issues.

When Noah's testing time came, the Bible tells us the seed of Satan had been mixed with the seed of God prior to that. This is what caused the mystery of iniquity to be fulfilled in the time of Noah, expressed in Genesis as the sons of God taking the daughters of men as wives—the mixing of the two seeds, the mystery of iniquity that precedes the test of Noah.

At the test of Moses and the Red Sea, Scripture describes how Israel, who would be tested at the Red Sea and at Sinai, had been corrupted by the teachings of Egypt after being there so long. That was the mystery of iniquity—being influenced by satanic teachings.

In the time of the Jews, it was Greek teachings that prepared the way for the Sanhedrin to reject their testing process.

In the Millerite history, the Millerites in the Protestant churches had just come out of 1260 years of Papal influence, which corrupted the pure seed with the impure seed, producing a mystery of iniquity that preceded the test of the Millerite History.

That is the mystery of iniquity that is always present.

If you study how the mystery of iniquity works, go to Patriarchs and Prophets, the first chapter. Sister White tells us how Satan accomplished the mystery of iniquity in Heaven. There was going to be a test in Heaven about which angels would stay and which would be removed, and Satan was accomplishing the mystery of iniquity right there in Heaven prior to that testing process.

Satan did this by insinuating doubt, placing his word above God's Word, and more importantly, by leading others to express his false teachings—a sinister activity. He would place doubt in your mind, and then you would go out and express that doubt to a group. If anyone complained about the doubt, they would complain about you, not about him.

Recently, a pastor in Spokane, Washington, commented on Early Writings, page 74, saying, "I went to the dictionary of Ellen White's day and age, the Webster's Dictionary, and figures does not mean anything to do with arithmetic." Most people who heard that would not check it out and would believe him. At minimum, that pastor was sowing doubt about what the figures represent in this passage; in reality, he was lying. Webster's 1828 Dictionary says: FIGURE, n. In arithmetic, a character denoting a number, as 2, 7, 9.

He was expressing doubt, doing the work represented as the mystery of iniquity. He was identifying for Adventists, if they are willing to see, that in this time in Earth's history, you must understand the truth for yourself and not listen to human beings; because, ". . . the mystery of iniquity doth already work: . . . ."

It is misdirection, and theologians often do it. If you want to understand what a word means in the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy, you do not look to the dictionaries first; you look to the prophet. For example, Daniel uses the Hebrew word rum in Daniel 8:11, translated as "taken away." People think it means "removed," but Daniel uses rum five other times, and it never means "take away"—it means "to lift up and exalt." So, to think rum in Daniel 8:11 means "take away" is to follow tradition, not how Daniel used the word.

Similarly, with Ellen White: If you want to claim that in Early Writings, 74, "figures" means art figures or graphics, you might say, "The dictionary in Ellen White's day does not say figures mean arithmetic," trusting that most people will not check. But if they did, they would find that figures do mean arithmetic.

But the first place you go is to Ellen White herself: What does she mean by figures? In Early Writings, page 74, she says, "His hand was over and hid a mistake in some of the figures," and on page 236 she says, "His hand covered a mistake in the reckoning of the prophetic periods." The prophetess identifies that her terminology, figures, represents the prophetic periods—the arithmetic, not the artwork.

So, what did the Lord hold His hand over? He held His hand over a mistake in the reckoning of the prophetic periods—the figures.

This is the punch line. Many are presenting the same message we are, and I support them. But when it comes to the 2520 and whether Ellen White believed it was a valid prophecy, this is the argument—this is the proof and where you should start. All other arguments are valid and true, but this is the starting point.

In Early Writings, page 74, where it says the Lord held His hand over a mistake in some of the figures, she defines what that means in the same book, on page 236: "I saw the people of God joyful in expectation, looking for their Lord. But God designed to prove them." She is talking about the Tarrying Time [March 22, 1844], the first disappointment.

She is not talking about the Disappointment on October 22, 1844, because they are going to be proved there too; but here she is talking about March 22, 1844, the tarrying time: "God designed to prove them." "His hand covered a mistake in the reckoning of the prophetic periods." How was He going to prove them by the tarrying time? By holding His hand over their understanding of the prophetic periods. You have nothing to fear for the future, except as we forget how the Lord has led us in the past, in the history of the Millerites and His teachings.

These prophetic periods are the teachings that produced the tarrying time. "His hand covered a mistake in the reckoning of the prophetic periods. Those who were looking for their Lord did not discover this mistake,"—singular mistake—"and the most learned men who opposed the time also failed to see it. God designed that His people should meet with a disappointment. The time passed, and those who had looked with joyful expectation for their Saviour were sad and disheartened, while those who had not loved the appearing of Jesus, but embraced the message through fear, were pleased that He did not come at the time of expectation. Their profession had not affected the heart and purified the life. The passing of the time was well calculated to reveal such hearts. They were the first to turn and ridicule the sorrowful, disappointed ones who really loved the appearing of their Saviour. I saw the wisdom of God in proving His people and giving them a searching test to discover those who would shrink and turn back in the hour of trial.

Jesus and all the heavenly host looked with sympathy and love upon those who had with sweet expectation longed to see Him whom their souls loved. Angels were hovering around them, to sustain them in the hour of their trial. Those who had neglected to receive the heavenly message were left in darkness, and God's anger was kindled against them, because they would not receive the light which He had sent them from heaven. Those faithful, disappointed ones, who could not understand why their Lord did not come, were not left in darkness. Again they were led to their Bibles to search the prophetic periods. The hand of the Lord was removed from the figures, and the mistake—singular—was explained.

Here she explains the mistake in the figures on the 1843 Chart, and she has already defined that the figures represent the prophetic periods. "They saw that the prophetic periods reached to 1844, and that the same evidence which they had presented to show that the prophetic periods closed in 1843, proved that they would terminate in 1844." End of discussion! Ellen White places her seal of approval on the 2520.

There are only three prophetic periods on the 1843 Chart that they understood ended in 1843: The 1335, the 2520, and the 2300. God held His hand over a mistake in some of the figures—the prophetic periods on this Chart—until His hand was removed. When He removed His hand, the faithful waiting ones were led to study the prophetic periods again and found that the same evidence that led them to present that the prophetic periods closed in 1843 was then recognized to prove that two ended in 1844.

The 1335 begins in AD508 and ends in 1843. The 2520 begins in 677BC and is impacted by the fullness of the year. The Pioneers thought it ended in 1843, but later understood that the same evidence that led them to predict 1843 proved that the 2520 prophecy ended in 1844. The 2300 prophecy begins in 457BC, and they had thought it ended in 1843, but after the disappointment, through their study of the prophetic periods, they realized it ended in 1844.

There are only three prophecies they predicted would end in 1843, and one of them does: the 1335. This prophecy is not the one the Lord held His hand over. It identifies the history of the Millerites from the Tarrying Time, through the Midnight Cry, up to October 22, 1844.

In yesterday's presentation, we ended with this quote from Ellen White: "Blessed are the eyes which saw the things that were seen in 1843 and 1844." This is "Blessed is he who comes to 1843." In the next paragraph, she says, "The message was given. And there should be no delay in repeating the message, for the signs of the times are fulfilling; the closing work must be done. A great work will be done in a short time. A message will soon be given by God's appointment that will swell into a loud cry. Then Daniel will stand in his lot, to give his testimony." Manuscript Releases, volume 21, 437.

Daniel standing in his lot is verse 13 of Daniel 12. "Blessed are the eyes which saw the things that were seen in 1843 and 1844" is verse 12. Ellen White is giving divine commentary on Daniel 12:12–13, saying that these verses are not about a time prophecy, but about an experience that includes 1843 and 1844, produced by a misunderstanding of 1843 that produces a tarrying time. When the tarrying time comes, "Blessed is he who waiteth." Though the vision tarry, wait for it. Blessed is the one who faithfully waits from the Tarrying Time until the door is closed. What the faithful one sees in 1843 and 1844 is a blessing that leads him into the Most Holy Place.

The 1335 prophecy ended in 1843, marking the arrival of the Midnight Cry. The 2520 and 2300 prophetic periods end in 1844. Ellen White says that the same evidence that led them to proclaim that the 2520, 2300, and 1335 ended in 1843 was then recognized to prove that they would terminate in 1844.

In this history, there are two classes of worshippers. The unfaithful class ridicules the waiting ones, but the waiting ones are led back to the prophetic periods and come to understand that the same evidence that led them to identify the conclusion of the 2520 and the 2300 in 1843 was to prove that they ended in 1844.

Even though the waiting ones recognized this, they were not as on fire for the Lord as before the first disappointment. They would be rekindled at the message of the Midnight Cry. The waiting ones had already understood 1844, the end of the prophecies, before the Midnight Cry.

The Midnight Cry message allowed the waiting ones to identify October 22, 1844. With that information, it was not just somewhere in 1844; it was on this very day, and that empowered the message.

Do you see the process? The teachings that produce this experience are three prophecies: the 1335, the 2300, and the 2520.

After realizing this, they began proclaiming, "Come out of Babylon." This is the Second Angel's Message.

Let us be clear: What ends at the tarrying time? The use of the 1843 Chart. They set this Chart aside because they now understood the Lord was coming in 1844, while the Chart said 1843. So, they set the Chart aside for the history of the Second Angel's Message.

What becomes their message in the history of the Second Angel? The last paragraph explains.

What prophetic periods? The 2520, the 2300, and the 1335. That is their message in this history. Now they are saying, "We get it! These prophecies extend to 1844." Their message in the history of the Midnight Cry is the 2520- and the 2300-year prophecies.

What happens when you present the 2520 in connection with the 2300 days? In the Millerite History, you get shut out of the churches, and there is an effort to silence that message.

Without going into a study on the 2520, what we are trying to show is that Ellen White places her seal of approval on the 2520. If you cannot see this, you need to pray that Jesus will remove the scales from your eyes. Ellen White said that the same evidence that led them to predict 1843 was then seen to prove that these prophetic periods ended in 1844. She always identifies the prophetic periods, or the figures, in the plural. There are only three prophetic periods on the 1843 Chart that ended in 1843.

The one that does end in 1843, the 1335, requires, for grammatical correctness, at least two prophetic periods for her to say "figures" and "prophetic periods." If there are three and you take away one, then the two she endorses are the 2520 and the 2300, regardless of what anyone else may say.

In this history, including the Adventists' Great Disappointment on October 22, 1844, the Lord was producing an experience where they were being shut out of the churches so they could stand not upon the influence of men but upon the Word of God. They needed that experience to have the faith to move into the Most Holy Place with Jesus Christ. He was perfecting them to bring to a conclusion the Everlasting Gospel.

Next, we have two Pioneers, James White and Uriah Smith. These are the primary men modern theologians reference to claim that James White rejected the 2520 in 1863 and Uriah Smith rejected it in his writings in the 1870s and 1880s.

We are going back to 1844 and shortly thereafter to see how James White and Uriah Smith describe this identical history that Ellen White has just described. She talks about the prophetic periods and the Lord removing His hand and seeing the mistake, and so do these two Pioneers.

Ellen White does not say "2520" or "seven times," but Uriah Smith and James White do. They make it clear that the prophetic periods recognized in this history were the 2520 and the 2300.

James White is dealing with a history where people are rejecting the Midnight Cry and falling off the path. He is responding to this and will discuss this history.

Now he tells us the prophetic periods they thought terminated in 1843.

The prophetic periods that "the hand of Providence kept his hand over the mistake," included the 2520.

Uriah Smith and James White both testify that the prophetic periods recognized to conclude in 1844 were the 2520 and the 2300 years, using the same expressions as Ellen White in Early Writings, page 236 and onward.

Gabriel gave him the commencement of the chain of truth and the method of proof-texting.

Ellen White says Gabriel gave William Miller the commencement to the chain of truth, and William Miller testifies that the three commencement points he was given are AD508, 677BC, and 457BC. He was given the commencement points of these prophecies that produced the history of the Midnight Cry by the Angel Gabriel.

If you reject these foundational truths, you are simultaneously rejecting the Spirit of Prophecy. Ellen White places her endorsement on the 2520. Reject the 2520, and you are throwing out both the baby and the bath water.

As we bring this to a conclusion, when Sister White says we have nothing to fear for the future except that we forget the Lord's leading, I am saying the Lord's leading she speaks of is the history from the Tarrying Time to the closed door—the history represented by the term, The Midnight Cry. We have nothing to fear for the future except that we forget how the Lord led us in the experience of the Midnight Cry, and also the teachings connected to this leading. The teachings that produced this experience are the three time prophecies, which commence with dates given to William Miller by the Angel Gabriel. We have nothing to fear for the future except we forget these teachings, including the 2520, that produced the experience of the Midnight Cry as the Lord led the Millerites through the climax of the Everlasting Gospel.

Those Adventists who receive the mark of the beast, standing under Satan's banner, first reject the Spirit of Prophecy.

There are two classes in this passage: those who follow on to know the Lord, continue to eat His flesh and drink His blood, and continue to study God's Word, and those who do not. The development of truth is not finished; they will have things to say about the Sanctuary service that have not been said yet. They will emphasize the change of dispensation in the time of Christ, prefiguring the change in the Millerite time, pointing forward to the dispensation when Christ changes from the Judgment of the Dead to the Judgment of the Living. They will have things to say about the Sanctuary and how the Lord marks His movements in these changes of dispensations by the outpouring of His Spirit.

A couple more quotes and we are almost done.

Those Seventh-day Adventists who reject the Midnight Cry fall off the path, rejecting the Lord's leadings and doctrinal teachings that produce the history of the Midnight Cry. That is what we have to fear—rejecting those teachings and not understanding that experience. In so doing, we are rejecting the Spirit of Prophecy.

Sister White places her seal of approval on the 2520. We will show how she places her seal of approval on other truths on the 1843 Chart.

At the end of the world, when this all comes to the climax of the Everlasting Gospel in our history, Adventism will be confronted with the three-step testing process that has been prefigured, as seen in the experience of William Miller.

William Miller made three mistakes: (1) He rejected the Midnight Cry and fell off the path to the wicked world below. (2) He trusted in human influence after that, Joshua Himes. (3) He rejected the Sabbath.

A question arose: "Did he reject the Sabbath or the Sanctuary?" The teaching that changed from the sanctuary on Earth to the Sanctuary in Heaven in that time period may not have been fully grasped by Miller. When Ellen White was led into the Most Holy Place, she saw the Ten Commandments in the ark of the covenant, and the Sabbath Commandment had a holy glow around it.

The thing Miller rejected was the Law of God—the Sabbath. So, Miller rejected the Midnight Cry, then leaned upon flesh, and then received the mark of the beast. That is repeated at the end of the world.

The first rejection at the end is the Midnight Cry, a repeat of the manifestation of the power of God. The second is leaning upon flesh. The third is the Sunday Law.

One thing is certain: those Seventh-day Adventists who take their stand under Satan's banner will first give up their confidence in the Spirit of Prophecy.

Adventism repeats the three-step testing process that William Miller failed. But angels are waiting to raise Miller up and take him home with his Savior. For Adventists who receive the mark of the beast, those are not the angels waiting for them.

Why do we need to remember the Midnight Cry? Because history is going to be repeated. In this history, the message that will cause the shaking is the 2520 and the 2300; it will drive people out of the churches over this.

But is this history, the Midnight Cry, actually going to be repeated or is it just some history? Notice this next quote:

This history of the Midnight Cry is repeated to the very letter.

Ellen White understood that the 2520 was a valid time prophecy and that it was used by the Lord to produce the tarrying time, the disappointment which created the experience that prepared men and women to move by faith into the Most Holy Place with Christ.

We have not tried to prove the 2520 from the Bible yet. In this study of Habakkuk's Two Tables, we first want to be clear that Ellen White endorses these doctrines that are being rejected by Adventism today; then we will move into the Biblical study.