The prophet Micah raises a question about understanding of the judgment.
And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment? Micah 3:1.
The answer is that God’s people are to know judgment. They are to understand that there is a time when God would begin His judgment.
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. Revelation 14:7.
The subject of the judgment runs throughout God’s Word, but the details of judgment are largely misunderstood and disregarded, buried under “traditions and customs,” which is one of the main tools Satan employs to cover God’s truths.
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14:10–12.
There is a time pointed out as an “hour” when we all shall stand in judgment. The Laodicean Seventh-day Adventist church is well aware that the judgment commenced on October 22, 1844, when Christ finished His work in the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, but they have refused to see that the judgment represents a very detailed progression of judgment. They understand that when Christ moved into the Most Holy Place and began judgment in 1844, He began with those who had died in the faith of Christ. They understand that the process of judgment began with Adam and proceeded through the historical record of mankind progressively from Adam onward. They know there is a time when Christ ceases judging those who are dead, and that He then begins His work of judging those that are then living. Yet they have been blinded by “traditions and customs.”
“‘And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.’ What necessity is there for men and women who profess godliness to understand the Holy Scriptures. It is by this means that they are nurtured in sound doctrine, and become rooted and grounded in the truth, established in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. But the traditions and customs of men must not be mingled with the sacred truths of revelation. To those who were doing this Christ said, ‘Full well ye reject the commandments of God, that ye may keep your own traditions.’ And this is as true now as it was when Christ was on earth, and was rejected and crucified.
“‘Search the Scriptures.’ Study, pray, and believe. Take up the Bible without prejudice, and in a humble, teachable spirit, and, with the understanding open to the impressions of the Spirit of God, let its convincing power mould the life and conscience. Today the voice from Calvary is speaking in tones of mercy to every soul. May all see that their only hope is to hear, to receive, and to rejoice in the truth which is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe.” Bible Echo, September 2, 1895.
Laodicean Seventh-day Adventists see that there was a specific “hour” that arrived and marked the beginning of the judgment of the dead on October 22, 1844, yet they refuse to see there is a time when Christ began to judge the living. As with the beginning of the judgment of the dead, the judgment of the living is also pointed out in His prophetic word. Peter identifies that time, which he identifies as the “times of restitution of all things.”
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you. Acts 3:19, 20.
In the judgment sins are blotted out, but only if we have confessed and forsaken the transgressions we have committed. If we have not confessed and forsaken those sins, our names are blotted out. In the judgment there is a book containing the names of those who have professed faith in Christ, and another book where is recorded every sin we have committed. There is also a book of remembrance.
I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. Daniel 7:9, 10.
In the book of Revelation, the judgment of the lost takes place after Christ’s second coming, but the judgment of those who are saved precedes the second coming of Christ.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. Revelation 20:12.
In the judgment there are three books: the book of life, the book of sins and a book of remembrance.
Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Malachi 3:16–18.
The judgment divides the saved from the lost as determined by the three record books of heaven. The saved are defined by Malachi as those that “feared the Lord.” Peter identifies a time when men are alive, and can repent and be converted. To repent, a soul must be living. According to Peter, the hour of the judgment of the living is “the times of refreshing.” On September 11, 2001, the judgment process that had begun on October 22, 1844, ended, and He began His work of judging the living. A progressive process of judgment had begun in 1844: a process that began with the dead whose names were recorded in the book of life.
On 9/11, Christ stood up to begin the next phase of judgment. In the judgment of the living, He would also “plead” with the people. Christ does not plead with the dead, for the dead know not anything, for as Jesus identified in the history of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, death is sleep.
For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in any thing that is done under the sun. Ecclesiastes 9:4–6.
For Jesus to plead with mankind requires mankind to be alive.
These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. John 11:11–14.
Peter identifies the “times of refreshing” as the “hour” when the judgment of the living begins, and at that time Jesus is sent, and when He arrives He “stands” and “pleads.”
The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. Isaiah 3:13, 14.
Ellen White identifies when the Lord “arises,” or as Isaiah states, “the Lord standeth up” to “plead” and to “judge the people.”
“Now comes the word that I have declared that New York is to be swept away by a tidal wave? This I have never said. I have said, as I looked at the great buildings going up there, story after story, ‘What terrible scenes will take place when the Lord shall arise to shake terribly the earth! Then the words of Revelation 18:1–3 will be fulfilled.’ The whole of the eighteenth chapter of Revelation is a warning of what is coming on the earth. But I have no light in particular in regard to what is coming on New York, only that I know that one day the great buildings there will be thrown down by the turning and overturning of God’s power. From the light given me, I know that destruction is in the world. One word from the Lord, one touch of his mighty power, and these massive structures will fall. Scenes will take place the fearfulness of which we cannot imagine.” Review and Herald, July 5, 1906.
Sister White also identifies that the angel that descended in Revelation chapter ten with a little book open in His hand was no less a personage than Jesus Christ.
“The mighty angel who instructed John was no less a personage than Jesus Christ. Setting His right foot on the sea, and His left upon the dry land, shows the part which He is acting in the closing scenes of the great controversy with Satan. This position denotes His supreme power and authority over the whole earth.” The Seventh-day Adventists Bible Commentary, volume 7, 971.
The part which Jesus “is acting in the closing scenes” represents His work as the heavenly high priest.
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. Hebrews 3:1.
Sister White not only identifies the angel of Revelation ten as Christ, but she also identifies the three angels of Revelation fourteen as symbols of Christ, for she notes that the Protestants of Millerite history crucified the three messages as the Jews crucified Christ.
“Many look with horror at the course of the Jews in rejecting and crucifying Christ; and as they read the history of His shameful abuse, they think they love Him, and would not have denied Him as did Peter, or crucified Him as did the Jews. But God who reads the hearts of all, has brought to the test that love for Jesus which they professed to feel. All heaven watched with the deepest interest the reception of the first angel’s message. But many who professed to love Jesus, and who shed tears as they read the story of the cross, derided the good news of His coming. Instead of receiving the message with gladness, they declared it to be a delusion. They hated those who loved His appearing and shut them out of the churches. Those who rejected the first message could not be benefited by the second; neither were they benefited by the midnight cry, which was to prepare them to enter with Jesus by faith into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. And by rejecting the two former messages, they have so darkened their understanding that they can see no light in the third angel’s message, which shows the way into the most holy place. I saw that as the Jews crucified Jesus, so the nominal churches had crucified these messages, and therefore they have no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and they cannot be benefited by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare.” Early Writings, 259–261.
The angels of Revelation symbolize no less a personage than Jesus Christ, and the angel of Revelation eighteen who descended when the great buildings of New York were thrown down by a touch of God on September 11, 2001, was Christ. Peter identified that when the judgment of the living began, which he identified as the “times of refreshing,” God would send Jesus. Peter’s “refreshing” is the latter rain, which is identified as arriving when the angel of Revelation eighteen descends.
“The latter rain is to fall upon the people of God. A mighty angel is to come down from heaven, and the whole earth is to be lighted with his glory.” Review and Herald, April 21, 1891.
On 9/11, Jesus stood to shake terribly the earth, to begin the judgment of the living and “plead” with His people. He pleads through His prophetic Word. But even though the Laodicean Seventh-day Adventist church knows of the progressive nature of the judgment process, they know not that they began to be judged when the great buildings of New York City came down.
Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord. How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them? Jeremiah 8:7–9.
When Christ stood to plead at 9/11, He called His people to seek the “old paths” of Jeremiah.
“The enemy is seeking to divert the minds of our brethren and sisters from the work of preparing a people to stand in these last days. His sophistries are designed to lead minds away from the perils and duties of the hour. They estimate as of little value the light that Christ came from heaven to give to John for His people. They teach that the scenes just before us are not of sufficient importance to receive special attention. They make of no effect the truth of heavenly origin, and rob the people of God of their past experience, giving them instead a false science. ‘Thus saith the Lord: Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein.’ [Jeremiah 6:16.]
“Let none seek to tear away the foundations of our faith,—the foundations that were laid at the beginning of our work, by prayerful study of the Word and by revelation. Upon these foundations we have been building for more than fifty years. Men may suppose that they have found a new way, that they can lay a stronger foundation than that which has been laid; but this is a great deception. ‘Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid.’ [1 Corinthians 3:11.] In the past, many have undertaken to build a new faith, to establish new principles; but how long did their building stand? It soon fell; for it was not founded upon the Rock.” Testimonies, volume 8, 296, 297.
The refusal of the Laodicean Seventh-day Adventist church to return to the truths established in the Millerite history has taken them out of God’s “way,” and they selected a new way that is upheld by the empty promises of “traditions and customs.”
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it. And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely. O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God. I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. Jeremiah 5:1–5.
Seventh-day Adventists will be held accountable for refusing to see the judgment process as identified in God’s prophetic word. Ellen White clearly identifies that those who are sealed in Revelation chapter seven are the same as those sealed in chapter nine of Ezekiel.
“This sealing of the servants of God is the same that was shown to Ezekiel in vision.” Testimonies to Ministers, 445.
In Ezekiel nine, Jerusalem represents the Seventh-day Adventist church.
“Here we see that the church—the Lord’s sanctuary—was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God’s power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus ‘Peace and safety’ is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God’s people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together.” Testimonies, volume 5, 211.
On September 11, 2001, the judgment of the living commenced. It began with God’s professed people, and it progressed from leadership unto the laity. When the judgment of God’s church concludes, the judgment process proceeds to those outside of the professed people of God.
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17.
The “gospel” that is not obeyed is the “everlasting gospel” that is announced by the first angel of Revelation fourteen, who not only announces the “hour” of God’s judgment, but calls on men to “fear God.” It is those who fear God in Malachi that are written in the book of remembrance.
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. Revelation 14:7.
The judgment process begins with the covenant people of God, and in 1844 the Lord passed by the former covenant people and entered into covenant with the Millerite movement. The Protestants of that history were passed by as the Lord chose a new covenant people, as He had done with those who came out of Egypt through the Red Sea in the history of Moses, Joshua and Caleb. The same process was illustrated at the end of Israel when God divorced ancient Israel and entered into covenant with His new bride—the Christian church. That church went into the bondage of 1,260 years of papal darkness as typified by 430 years of darkness in Egypt for ancient Israel. When the Christian church emerged from the papal darkness in 1798, they were then Protestant Christians. They were thereafter tested and passed by in 1844, as were those who died in the wilderness in advance of entering the Promised Land, and also as the Jews who were divorced as Christ married His Christian bride. At 9/11, the testing process of Moses, Christ and 1844 was repeated.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8.
Ellen White also identifies this principle:
“The work of God in the earth presents, from age to age, a striking similarity in every great reformation or religious movement. The principles of God’s dealing with men are ever the same. The important movements of the present have their parallel in those of the past, and the experience of the church in former ages has lessons of great value for our own time.” The Great Controversy, 343.
The first time Christ entered into covenant with a chosen people was at the Red Sea deliverance. He did so in fulfillment of the prophecy of Abraham, which identified the bondage of God’s people in Egypt, which typifies the bondage of spiritual Israel during the Dark Ages of papal rule. The captivity in Egypt not only typified the captivity of the Dark Ages, but also the captivity of ancient Israel in Babylon.
“God’s church on earth was as verily in captivity during this long period of relentless persecution as were the children of Israel held captive in Babylon during the period of the exile.” Prophets and Kings, 714.
The captivity in Egypt in fulfillment of Abraham’s prophecy also identifies that the nation where God’s people dwelt during the period of bondage would also be judged.
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. Genesis 15:13, 14.
When the chosen people came out of Egypt, Egypt met its judgment in the waters of the Red Sea. After seventy years of captivity in Babylon, Babylon was overthrown by the Medo-Persian empire. When the Protestants of the Dark Ages emerged from the period of papal persecution, Napoleon's General Berthier took the pope captive, and the antichrist died in exile a year later.
It matters not what tradition or custom a person hides behind to disregard the message identifying the hour of God’s judgment; both church and state are subject to the judgment process. On September 11, 2001, the judgment of the living began and the Laodicean Seventh-day Adventist church began its judgment period, as Christ stood to shake terribly the earth and plead for His church to return to the old paths. That church is the former covenant people who are being passed by, and those who did choose to return to the old paths in response to Christ’s pleading were thereafter to be judged. The dividing line for the judgment of the former covenant people and the new covenant people was 2020. The nation where the former covenant people were initially established was also subject to the very same judgment process. That nation’s judgment began in 1861 with the Civil War.
On 9/11, the first of the two parts that make up the Republican horn of the earth beast of Revelation began its judgment alongside the Laodicean Seventh-day Adventist church. That portion of the Republican horn was the Democratic party, which also came to its end in 2020 with the stolen election of Joe Biden.
From 2020, the judgment of the living began upon the second part of the Republican horn, represented by the Republican party. It also began on those who had formerly been associated with the Laodicean Seventh-day Adventist church. The judgment that ended for the Democratic party in 2020 produced a multifold division within the Democratic party, which has only continued as the judgment process has continued. The Democratic party is now the party of red (communists) and green (Islamists). The end of the judgment process for the Republican party arrived on November 3, 2026, two hundred and fifty years after 1776. As with the Democratic party, the Republican party has now permanently divided and splintered, just as the Democratic party collapsed and splintered in 2020.
In 2020, the door closed on the first phase of both the Republican and Protestant horns of the earth beast of Revelation thirteen. On November 3, 2026, the door closed upon the second phase of the Republican horn, and the door is about to close upon the new covenant people, that is, the second phase of the Protestant horn of the earth beast. When that door closes, the door of probation thereafter closes on the beast that carries those two horns. The two closing doors that remain in the judgment of the living were typified by the first history of a chosen covenant people, who were subject to Abraham’s prophecy of a chosen people. Christ always illustrates the end with the beginning. When the Hebrews placed the blood on the doorposts on the first Passover, that door represented the next door in our history. When Pharaoh died in the waters of the Red Sea, the second door of that history typified the closed door upon the nation of the United States at the soon-coming Sunday law.
God’s people stand condemned by God’s Word for not understanding the judgment of God, and those outside of God’s church are under the same condemnation. God’s people will pass or fail the final test based upon their returning to the old paths represented within God’s prophetic Word. The Hebrews at the first Passover represent the second closed door for the earth beast’s Protestant horn, and Egypt ending in the Red Sea represents the earth beast of Revelation thirteen. The citizens of the United States are also under condemnation for rejecting their sacred old paths.
For the United States, the old paths that will condemn them in the judgment are the two sacred documents of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. At the soon-coming Sunday law, this nation will reject the principles represented in those two sacred documents, which align with the two sacred testimonies represented by the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy that will condemn the Protestant horn.
To be in a position where “traditions and customs” prevent a soul from understanding why and what the fireballs of Nashville represent not only closes the door for the Protestant horn of the United States, but it also marks the arrival of the period that leads to the judgment upon the United States, when, as Ellen White records, “national apostasy is followed by national ruin.”
We will continue these things in the next article.