Shall we pray? Heavenly Father, as we continue on in this study, we once again ask that you would bless us with your presence through your Holy Spirit, your angels, open our hearts and minds to hear your voice. Once again that you ask that you set aside the human thoughts, the human ideas, and let the information that's shared be truthful and honest, edifying in agreement with your revealed will. We ask that you would give us an alertness that is difficult in the afternoon sometimes, to wake us up, that we can take in all that you have for us, and we thank you for being with us throughout this day so far, in Jesus' name, amen. We have a book with us that, after Sabbath, we can talk about how you can avail yourself of the book if you want, but I want to talk about the book for a second. The most significant university for Islam is in Egypt. In the Islamic world, when there's a question on the Qur'an, no matter what Islamic country it is, including Saudi Arabia, they will send their questions to this university to get answers. And several years ago, one of the professors there, who is one of the world-renowned authorities on Islam, he converted to Christianity and barely made it out of Islam before they were trying to kill him, and he went to South Africa. And since that time, he's written some books, and we have one of those books. It's called Islam and Terrorism. And here recently, we were in France, and there was a brother that told me about this book, and I wrote it down, but I never thought much about it, and he went ahead and sent it to me. And so I got it in the mail here a month and a half ago, and I read it, and I immediately called the publishers, and we ordered a case of them, because I realized, in terms of what we deal with in Islam, and I know that we haven't said anything about Islam here so far, but this is a must-read. Years ago, I realized that in the Mormon religion, whosoever the head of the Mormon church is fulfilling the role of the prophet, and he can go back into the books of Mormon and change them, and that's okay from the Mormon perspective of inspiration. It doesn't fit with biblical perspective of information, but one of the things that this brother, he's not an Adventist Christian, but this man sets forth in this book, is that in Islam, they have an approach to inspiration that's different than we have, different than Mormons have, and until you realize this, you can be led to a false understanding of Islam. He points out that the way the Qur'an is governed, and they have a word for this, I forget the word right now, but in the Qur'an, they have a rule that it's not a problem for them if the Qur'an contradicts themselves, but the rule in the Qur'an is, the last statement on the subject is the one that is to be understood as correct. So the Qur'an, if you know the story, and I forget whether it was Mecca or Medina, but Muhammad lived in two cities in the time that he was ministering as a prophet. The first city he lived in, he was surrounded by a bunch of powerful warlords and he could not exercise his will freely, and then he moved to the second city, developed an army and became strong, and the first part of the Qur'an was written when he was in the first city in subjection to other powers, and the second part of the Qur'an was written once he was in power. And one of the rules that is laid out in the Qur'an is if you are a Muslim and you're living in a country where you have no power, that you're supposed to just be friendly and bide your time, and when you get opportunity at a certain point in time to take that country over and force it to convert to Islam, then you do so, but in the meantime, you just blend into the citizenship and don't make waves until you have the power and strength to exercise your will, and that's what Muhammad did. He was consistent with his teaching, he did it in the first city, but in the second city when he developed the army and he became strong, he had, that's where you find the passages in the Qur'an that says it is the responsibility of everyone in Islam to convert the world to Islam or die, and it's that part of the Qur'an that was written last, and the world in general is being led to believe that Islam is a religion of peace, and the way that they are led to believe that is they see these passages in the first part of the Qur'an that was written in the first city, and they don't understand that the rule in Islam is it's the last reference that is the rule of thumb, and when the last part of the Qur'an was written, it was written when Muhammad was in power. The reason that I say that is because we had a discussion during lunch, and it always comes up in Adventism today because Islam is a subject. The Protestant, it was the Millerites that identified Islam as a subject of Bible prophecy. The Protestant world has never done that. The Protestant world does not accept the foundations of Adventism, but in the foundations of Adventism you see right here that the Millerites identified the descendants of Ishmael as subjects of Bible prophecy, and they were correct. Sister White says both those charts have the endorsement of the Lord. She says the 1843 was directed by the hand of the Lord, and it should not be altered, and she says the 1850 chart, which still has the fifth and sixth trumpet, Islam, right here illustrated on it, she says God was in the publishment of this chart, and if this chart is good enough for one, it's good enough for all of us. That's her words, paraphrased, but that's what she says. We read it last night. But the Millerites, if you turn to Isaiah 44, verse 6, speaking of Christ being the first and the last, which is one of the characteristics of Christ, he illustrates the end of the thing from the beginning of the thing. He says in verse 6 of Isaiah 44, Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first and I am the last, and beside me there is no God. And who is I shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, let them show unto them. The point is this. When Jesus accomplishes his work of illustrating the end from the beginning, one of the things that he did is he appointed the ancient people. And the end of the world is illustrated in the book of Revelation. And there's only a handful of subjects in the book of Revelation. One of the subjects in the book of Revelation is spiritual Babylon. And spiritual Babylon has been illustrated by ancient Babylon. Christ appointed ancient Babylon, the ancient people, in order to illustrate modern Babylon. One of the subjects in Revelation is Egypt. Revelation 11 verse 8. And if you're going to understand Egypt at the end of the world, you have to understand ancient Egypt. Christ appointed the ancient people to illustrate the end of the world. Christ appointed ancient Israel to illustrate modern Israel. Christ appointed the descendants of Ishmael to illustrate the role of Islam in Bible prophecy at the end of the world. And the pioneers of Adventism identified Islam as a subject of prophecy. And Sister White endorses their understanding of Islam at least nine times, we read last night. She endorsed the messages that are on this chart. So what I'm saying is that to be consistent with the foundations of Adventism, we should bear in mind that we've been told that the seven thunders of Revelation 10 verse 4 represent not only the history of the Millerites, but the history at the end of the world when the 144,000 are raised up. That's the two histories that Sister White's pointing out. But the seven thunders were sealed up. And we read the quotes last night that what seals up prophecy is the reception of customs and traditions that have been handed down from generation to generation. And you can point to the truce on this chart, and you can show that in Adventism today, we have different understandings of these truce because they have been sealed up. So I wanted to say here at the outset, and then I'm going to set this aside till tomorrow. The Protestant understanding of Islam is that Islam is a tool of the Catholic Church, that there was a Catholic woman that married Muhammad in order to use Islam to take control of Jerusalem because the papacy wanted Jerusalem. I'm telling you here and now that that is a Protestant understanding that is widely, almost unanimously accepted in Adventism, but it is in direct disagreement with the pioneers of Adventism. That is not how they understood Islam. The pioneers will tell you that the trumpets of Revelation were the historical forces that brought down Rome. The first four trumpets of Revelation, chapter 8, brought down Western Rome by the year 427. During the fifth trumpet, at the conclusion of the fifth trumpet, Eastern Rome was brought down. Constantinople was conquered, 1453. And during the history of the sixth trumpet, Papal Rome received its deadly wound. When it comes to the trumpets, the pioneers, their starting point was that the trumpets represented the historical forces that bring down Rome. That's the pioneer understanding, and if you have a power that its purpose in prophecy is to bring down Rome, then the Protestant understanding is that this power is a tool of Rome, is in direct opposition to the foundational understandings of the pioneers. So I want to throw that out in the mix, because tomorrow we're going to deal with Islam and Bible prophecy, and I want to recommend that book to you, because any of you that think that 9-11 was just an occurrence, or misunderstanding the role of Islam in Bible prophecy, that was just the beginning of the third woe, the seventh trumpet, and Bible prophecy teaches that the third woe only escalates and brings about the environment that brings the Sunday law in the United States, and ultimately brings down modern Rome, and modern Rome is the beast, the dragon, and the false prophet. We'll look at that tomorrow. I hope that you can make it back tomorrow, but back to our study of the great reformatory movements that Sister White says will all parallel one another. What we're saying here is that all the reformatory movements are the same. The closer that you look at them, the more you realize that they're the same. They begin with the time of the end, which is the fulfillment of prophecy that sheds light upon the upcoming epoch of sacred history. After that, the Lord will formalize the message, and the message will become a test for that generation. With the Millerites, when the angel of Revelation 10 came down, it not only empowered the message by confirming the year-day principle, but this is where John 8, the little book, and the eating of the book by the prophets in the Bible is marking a testing message, and this is in agreement with Early Writings 259, where Sister White talks about a testing message during the Millerite time period. If you reject William Miller's message, you're not involved with the movement. When the churches close their doors on the Millerites, if you fail at that point, then you're not involved with the test of the midnight cry, and if you're not on the right side of the midnight cry, you don't move into the most holy place on October 22, 1844. Of course, Sister White compares that testing process also with a testing process in the time of Christ. We'll look at that in a moment. When you look at these waymarks, you find that one of the characteristics of the first waymark is some type of worldwide reference, and that the foundations of that time period are set up during this first time period. The reason that this is important is because the 144,000 are going to raise up the foundations of many generations, and we're going to look at several generations here this afternoon, and Lord willing, we're going to raise up those foundations for the purpose of understanding what the foundational message is in the history of the final reformatory movement of the 144,000. The foundations that we need to restore here at the end of the world is the recognition of what the foundations are and the place where they're to stand in this sacred history. When it comes to this second waymark, you will see the activities of the enemies of the message. In the time of the Millerites, it was that the organized churches closed their doors against the Millerites, and another characteristic of the message, the second waymark, is that you'll see a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. I'm going to read you some quotes on that in a moment. Another characteristic of the second waymark is that it's local. The second angel's message, and we'll read this as we proceed, was fulfilled in the USA, whereas the first angel's message was carried to every mission station in the world. One of the characteristics of the third waymark is that you'll see judgment illustrated. There's followed by a disappointment, and there's a work given to God's people, but then there's a backsliding from the work. The work is set aside for one reason or another. This reformatory movement takes place at the end of the 2300-day prophecy. We're looking at the reformatory movement that begins the 2300-day prophecy. We're saying that the prophecy that was fulfilled, that sheds light upon the upcoming history, was the 70 years of captivity in Babylon. Daniel himself is the one that represents those that are running to and fro in God's word and understanding that it's now time to go back and rebuild and restore Jerusalem in Daniel 9, verses 1 and 2. Cyrus is the historical figure that is identified as understanding that it's time to go back and rebuild Jerusalem. Note that Miller and Cyrus are not prophets. That's worth, as you compare these reformatory movements, you'll see many times the person that is used to formalize the message is a prophet, but it's not always the case. Cyrus wasn't even a Jew. When it came time to empower the work of Cyrus, Christ comes down. Michael comes down in Daniel 10. In the first decree, Cyrus identifies that his decree is for all the kingdoms of the earth. He says, I'm the king of all the kingdoms of the earth, thus marking the worldwide aspect. We read that it was during the history of the first decree that the foundations of the temple were laid, just as the foundations of the Millerite movement were laid by William Miller and are represented on that chart. We got to the point where we took note that there was a decree that stopped the work. That's the activities of the enemies, and that's associated with the second waymark. You will see the activities of the enemies of that time. The second decree has to do with strictly the nuts and bolts of rebuilding Jerusalem, and in that sense, it is local in relation to worldwide. The third decree, this is where we ended in our last presentation. The third decree in Ezra chapter 7, verses 25 and 26, I believe, identifies when national sovereignty was returned to the Jews, and they were given the ability to pass judgment even to death upon civil and religious offenders. So their national sovereignty is returned. This is the justification for starting the 2300 year prophecy at the third decree. They have become a nation once again, but it's in this sense that they have the ability to judge. So you see a judgment illustrated here at the third decree, just as judgments began at the third message. There are a couple of places where Sister White speaks about Ezra. Ezra is the historical figure that's associated with the third decree, and in Prophets and Kings, page 612, she says, Ezra had expected that a large number would return to Jerusalem under the third decree, but the number who responded were disappointingly small. Under the third decree, Ezra is disappointed. In Review and Herald, February 13, 1908, she says, the number who responded to the call to leave Babylon was disappointingly small. Ezra had expected that a large number would return. So there's a disappointment illustrated after the third waymark. There was a work that they were to do. What was that work? I didn't take time to point it out. Let me go back. The work that they were to do was to finish rebuilding the streets and the walls, even in troublous times, but in Prophets and Kings, page 618, it says, Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem was opportune. There was a great need of influence of his present. His coming brought courage and hope to the hearts of many who had long labored under difficulties. Since the return of the first company of exiles under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua over 70 years before much had been accomplished, the temple had been finished. What I want you to take note of is that the temple, the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy mark that the temple is finished before the third decree, the temple finished before the third decree. That may seem insignificant to most of us in here. How many can give a Bible study on the 2520 time prophecy? Raise your hands high. Don't be bashful. Look around. Look around and see how many hands are up. The 2520 was foundational to Adventism. It's a time prophecy identifying how long ancient Israel would be scattered because of their disobedience to the covenant, to the breaking of the law. It's set forth in Leviticus 26. It takes about five, six hours to cover the 2520 in detail. We're not going to cover the 2520 at all here, but I want to show you something if you would bear with me for a second. Are you all awake or is this difficult for you immediately after lunch when you're digesting food? I would like to go a little bit fast here, but I really want you to follow along so you can catch this logic because this is interesting. The 2520 time prophecy, Miller identifies the time prophecy against the southern kingdom, but Israel was two kingdoms. It was a northern and southern kingdom. He said that when Manasseh was carried into captivity in the year 677, that from that point on the southern kingdom was scattered for 2,520 years, which would conclude in 1843, but Miller was wrong about the year zero. If you factor in his mistake about the year zero, then really Miller's 2520 against the southern kingdom would conclude in 1844, all right? Amen? You follow that logic? So Miller here is identifying the 2520 that begins in 677 and ends in 1844 against the southern kingdom. In 1856, Hiram Edson wrote a series of articles called The Time of the Gentiles, and he said that Miller should have used the 2520 against the northern kingdom because the northern kingdom went into captivity first and he had other factors, but the northern kingdom was carried into captivity in the year 723, and if you go 2,520 years in the future, then that ends in 1798, all right? So what I want you to see here is that these two time prophecies are identifying when ancient Israel would be scattered, dispersed to the nations of the world, and there was a promise that at the end of this scattering time that the Lord would gather his people again unto himself, and in 1844, the Lord gathered modern Israel together at the conclusion of the scattering time. That's, if you read the chapter in early writings called The Gathering Time, you'll see that Sister White's talking about the scattering and the gathering, all right? So in terms of this study, and there's much to say about this, but we've got to keep this temple, but I want you to see that this is a bigger subject than we're setting forth right here at the beginning. If you turn to John chapter 2, all right, which is the first time that Christ cleansed the temple, and in verse 13, it talks, it introduces that Christ is cleansing the temple and he cleanses the temple down through verse 17, and when he cleansed the temple, in verse 18, it says, Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Now notice the subject here, Christ is cleansing the temple. The subject is the temple. Then when they asked for a sign, he says, Destroy this temple, and in three days I'll raise it up, but the Jews misunderstood him, right? They thought he was talking about the literal temple, and what did he say to them? What did the Jews say in verse 20? Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? It took forty-six years to raise up the literal temple, and from 1798 to 1844, you have forty-six years that the spiritual temple was raised up, and that's why it's important to mark in this reformatory movement that the temple is finished before the third decree, because the temple, the spiritual temple, was finished right here on October 22, 1844, when Christ came together with modern Israel as he moved into the most holy place, and there's much to say about that, but if you don't agree with the foundations of Adventism, then you're not going to follow on with the 2520, you're going to miss some of the interesting and important insights into these reformatory movements also, so enough said on that, I better get on track, or we won't get through with this. Anyway, the temple's finished before the first decree, the third decree. The work that they were given to do, and they were given work to do, was to finish the streets and the walls, and remember, in the book of Daniel, when it's talking about the streets and the walls being finished, what does it say about the conditions when the streets and the walls would be finished? Troublesome times. When it comes to Nehemiah's fourth decree, we'll read it in a minute, one of the characteristics of the fourth waymark is troublous times. The troublous times is a subject of prophecy. Nehemiah's fourth decree is paralleling the fourth angel's message of Revelation 18, and Bible prophecy says that the latter rain, the loud cry of the third angel, the fourth angel of Revelation 18, it takes place in troublous times, and as you follow that theme through prophecy, you realize that there is a specific nation that is identified as the power that brings the troublous times, and that nation is Islam, and we'll deal with that as we proceed. But here, in the story of Nehemiah, there was a work that they were to do to rebuild the streets and the walls. Did they do the work? They stopped doing the work. A, for apostasy, remember they went back and began building their own homes, and Prophets and Kings says it this way, page 669, solemnly and publicly, the people of Judah had pledged themselves to obey the law of God, but when the influence of Ezra and Nehemiah was for a time withdrawn, there were many who departed from the Lord. During his absence from Jerusalem, evils crept in, so there's a backslidden condition, and in Prophets and Kings 633, or in Nehemiah 2, verses 7 and 8, you'll see that Nehemiah secures a fourth decree, Nehemiah 2, verse 7 and 8, Sister White says it this way in Prophets and Kings 633, his request to the king had been so favorably received that Nehemiah was encouraged to ask for still further help, to give dignity and authority to his mission, as well as to provide protection on the journey, he asked for and secured a military escort. He obtained royal letters to the governors of the provinces beyond the Euphrates. In this history, there's three decrees followed by a fourth. In our history, the three angels' message came into history in the Millerite time period, we're now living in the time period of the fourth angel. If you did not notice, I did not identify a manifestation of the Holy Spirit in here, I don't know where it is in this history, but I don't have to, because when we bring line upon line together, when we see one of these characteristics that we're pointing to established two or three times in these different lines, then we can assume them on all of them, and this is standard understanding in Adventism when it comes to prophecy. Seventh-day Adventists understand that the kingdoms of Bible prophecy, as set forth in Daniel 2, begin with Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome. Daniel 7, the kingdoms of Bible prophecy are repeated, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, correct? Then when we get to Daniel 8, the kingdoms of Bible prophecy are once again illustrated, and where do they begin? They begin with the Medes and the Persians, but we know, because Babylon has already been identified as the first kingdom of Bible prophecy in Daniel 2 and 7, that it's already established, it doesn't have to be repeated again. So I did not show you a manifestation of the power of God here, the manifestation of the power of God in the Millerite time period was the midnight cry. Let's try to add another aspect, another line upon these lines, line upon line, here a little, there a little. This is the beginning of the 2300-day prophecy, this is the end of the 2300-day prophecy, and in the middle of the 2300-day prophecy, there is a reformatory movement, and that's the reformatory movement that took place in the time of Christ, and the prophecy that was fulfilled in the time of Christ that marks the time of the end is found in Isaiah 7, verse 14. Isaiah 7, verse 14. By the way, before we read verse 14, let's read verse 8, okay, I want to ask you a question. Isaiah 7, verse 8, for the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is resin, and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. You see a time prophecy there, a time prophecy of 65 years? How many are prepared to identify what that 65-year time prophecy represents? Raise your hands high. Okay, not too many hands on that. I want to tell you, we haven't got time to go at this, but this time prophecy of 65 years clearly, conclusively identifies the starting point for the 2,520-year time prophecy against the Northern Kingdom and the starting point for the 2,520 against the Southern Kingdom. This is part of the 2,520 prophecy, and the starting point for both of those time prophecies is identified here in verse 8. There is materials available that we can get to you where you can take a look at that, but in verse 14, it says, now let me back up to verse 10, all right, Isaiah is coming to King Ahaz, the king of Judah. If you read chapter 7 in its entirety, you'll find that the king of Judah, Ahaz, he's just been frightened because he heard that the Northern Kingdom had formed an alliance with Syria, and they were coming to attack the Southern Kingdom, and Isaiah was sent by the Lord to tell King Ahaz, don't worry, because within 65 years, the Northern Kingdom isn't going to exist. I'm going to protect you, so Isaiah comes to give the king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah some comfort, but then Isaiah turns to King Ahaz, and King Ahaz isn't necessarily a righteous figure here, and in verse 10, Isaiah is going to speak to this king after he's just promised him protection. He says, moreover, the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, ask the sign of the Lord thy God, ask it in the depth or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. Brothers and sisters, as I said last night, the study that we're doing today is trying to set forth the foundations of these reformatory movements, but after they're set forth, there are several studies that you lay on top of them. One of them is, and I'm just going to point at it for you, is that in each of these histories, there are signs given to God's people, and how you relate to the signs is life or death, and Ahaz here is a symbol of someone that has disdain for the sign of God. He's going to say, I won't ask the Lord for a sign, and notice what Isaiah says here in verse 13, after Ahaz says, I won't tempt the Lord, Isaiah says, and he said, hear ye now, O house of David, it is, is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary God also? Ahaz, when he was told by the Lord, pick a sign, he should have picked a sign, he says, ah, you know, I won't tempt the Lord, and Isaiah says, you know, you're weary in not only men, but you're weary in God. And in all of these histories, if you remember the Bible, when it talks about the reformatory time of Egypt, when Moses was used to bring God's people out of Egypt, that's called several times in the Bible, the signs and wonders that were done in Egypt, and how people related to those signs and wonders was life or death. And there were signs in the Millerite time period, the signs in the sun, moon, and stars, and how they related to them would have a bearing on their life. And we know there's signs for us. What's the classic sign that every Seventh-day Adventist knows? The Sunday Law is a sign that it's time to flee the largest cities, preparatory to leaving for the smaller cities, right? We know we have some signs, of course, that's misunderstood. That sign was fulfilled in 1888, we're a long past due on that sign, but there are signs in all of these histories that, in the history of Christ, destroyed this temple, and in three days I'll raise it up. So Isaiah is going to set forth the sign here in verse 14. He says, 14. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse evil and choose good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. The sign that introduces the history of Immanuel, the history when Christ would confirm the covenant for one week, is, 15. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a child. That was the prophecy that was fulfilled, and when that prophecy was fulfilled, the time of the end for that reformatory movement had arrived, and the fulfillment of that prophecy, the fact that a virgin had conceived and brought forth a son, shed light upon the upcoming epic of sacred history. Now I have kind of a rule of thumb, it's not hard and fast, but you're way beyond the rule. When I see three or four eyeballs closed, I have to say something to get the eyes open, but we're up around six or seven in here, times two, so you have to get focused here. We may say something that the Holy Spirit wants you to understand. So let's stand up for a second. Lift your arms up. Take a deep breath. Sientese, por favor. Please sit down. Okay. The time of the end, the prophecy that was fulfilled that introduced the reformatory history of Christ was the birth of Christ. What we should see then is students of prophecy running to and fro in God's Word, understanding the increase of knowledge. In the story of Christ, do we see any students of prophecy that are understanding what the birth of Christ means? The wise men from the east, the shepherds on the hill, Simeon and Anna in the temple. From this point on, there is an increase of knowledge about the upcoming epoch of sacred history and the upcoming period of history has to do with the Messiah, the anointed one, confirming the covenant with many for one week. As the increase of knowledge goes forward in history, the message is going to be formalized and the Lord uses a man to do that. This is easy now. Who's the man that the Lord uses to formalize the message? John the Baptist. Notice this is one of several places, early writings, page 229, speaking of William Miller. She says, he, William Miller, could see darkness and death everywhere. You'll notice, I hadn't pointed it out, in this time period is always identified a period of darkness. For the Millerites, we call this history here the Dark Ages. Here she's talking about the history of Miller being darkness, but she's going to make a comparison to the history of Christ. She says, he, William Miller, could see darkness, hypocrisy, and death everywhere. His spirit was stirred within him. God called him to leave his farm as he called Elijah to leave his oxen in the field of his labor to follow Elijah. With trembling, William Miller began to unfold the mysteries of the kingdom of God. With every effort, he gained strength. As John the Baptist heralded the first advent of Jesus and prepared the way for his coming, so William Miller. She's comparing William Miller with John the Baptist. He's identifying a time period of darkness in Fundamentals of Christian Education, page 238. It says, before the days of Christ, men ask in vain what is truth. Darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people. Because I had forgot to mention it, when the children of Israel were in captivity in Babylon, they were in darkness. So you'll see a darkness illustrated at the beginning of these reformatory movements. John the Baptist is the man that is raised up to formalize the message, paralleling Cyrus and William Miller. His message is going to go forward until it's empowered. Turn to Matthew 3, if you would, to point out another characteristic of the ministry of John the Baptist. Starting in verse 5, speaking of John the Baptist, it says, then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region round about the Jordan. In the geographical setting of this sacred history, all the region round about came out to hear John the Baptist's message. In that sense, it was worldwide. If we read on past verse 5, we will see the foundational message of that time period set forth. In verse 2, he says, repent, so we'll add that into the message. But in verse 6, it says, and were baptized of him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. The foundational message of this history was repentance, baptism, confession of sin. In verse 7, says that John saw some of the Pharisees and Sadducees that came to his baptism, and he said unto them, O generation of the vipers, we have warned you to flee from the wrath that comes. So John's message included a warning of a wrath to come. He's pointing out that there is judgment about to take place. And then in verse 8, it says, and therefore bring fruits, meat for repentance, and think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. So part of John the Baptist's message is identifying that the Lord is about to set aside ancient Israel and raise up the Christian church as his people. This is part of his message too. And now, verse 10, also the axe is laid under the root of the trees, therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. This is a warning message. It's a message of life or death. That's what Sister White said in early writings, page 259, she says, all those that would not receive the message of John the Baptist could not be benefited by the teachings of Jesus, and if you can't be benefited by the teachings of Jesus, you are lost. John the Baptist's message was a warning message. And then in verse 11, it says, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He's identifying the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, and what I'm reading this for is that it is in the work of John the Baptist that the foundational message of this history is set forth. It's not set forth here on the other way marks. It's set forth right here in the first way mark where all these other foundations are established. William Miller was used to establish the foundations of Adventism. What do we call the people that use this chart? Millerites. I hope we're not having an argument that it was William Miller that the Lord used to assemble these foundational truths, even though other people participated. He is the representative of that. John the Baptist set forth the foundational truths of this time, and in this way mark in the history of the decrees, the foundations are set forth in the first decree. John the Baptist's message was worldwide, and Great Controversy 611 says the Advent movement of 1840 to 1844 was a glorious manifestation of the power of God. The first angel's message was carried to every mission station in the world. One of the way marks of the first decree is worldwide, and of course we know that when these reformatory movements are repeated at the end in this same page of Great Controversy speaking about when the angel of Revelation 18 joins the third angel's message, she says the angel who unites in the proclamation of the third angel's message is to lighten the whole earth with his glory. So when this history is repeated and the angel of Revelation 18 comes down, lightens the whole earth with his glory, one of the characteristics of the first way mark in all these reformatory movements is worldwide. Decrees were laid, and when the message of John the Baptist was empowered, we should expect to see a divine symbol come down out of heaven that marks the empowerment, and the newsletter that we're referring you to, we have some passages from the Desire of Ages, I believe. They're in there, though, whether they're from the Desire of Ages or not, and it deals with the passage where the Pharisees come and try to tempt Jesus with some questions, and Jesus says, let me ask you a question. Was the baptism of John of man or of the Lord? And the Pharisees thought, and they said, well, if we said that it's the baptism of men, the people are going to turn on us because they think he was a prophet, but if we say that it was of God, then we're going to be endorsing Jesus because John baptized Jesus, so they refused to answer. What empowered John the Baptist's message, what put it beyond human argument, was the baptism of Jesus, and at the baptism of Jesus, the dove came down out of heaven and lighted upon Jesus. There was a divine symbol that came down and empowered the work and ministry of John the Baptist, and what we're saying here is that when the angel of Revelation 10 came down, in Revelation 10, verse 1 through 4, that we looked at last night, that not only was the Millerite message empowered because the yearday principle was confirmed, but in verses 8 and 9, John is told at that time to go take the little book that's in the angel's hand and eat it, and it'll be sweet in your mouth and bitter in your stomach, so John took the little book right here, and when a prophet eats the little book, it is marking when he begins to take a testing message to God's people. When the dove came down and empowered John the Baptist's message, immediately thereafter, what did Jesus do? He went in the wilderness for what? To be tested of the devil, marking the beginning of the testing time, and this testing time is also the testing time that is set forth in early writings, page 259. Every reformatory movement parallels all the other ones. The second waymark in this history, we should see the activities of the enemies of God's people, and it should be local, where all of Judea and the regions round about came out to hear John the Baptist. It was worldwide in the geographical setting of this time. The second waymark should be local, and the activities of the enemies during this time period is found in John 18, 14, where it says, Now Caiaphas was he which gave counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. It is here that the Sanhedrin chooses that Christ must die. You have the activities of the enemies in this waymark. One of the characteristics of the second waymark is the activities of the enemies, but another characteristic in the history of the second waymark is the manifestation of the power of God, a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the time of Christ would parallel the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the Millerite time period, and in the Spirit of Prophecy, volume 4, page 250, it says this about the midnight cry. The midnight cry was not carried so much by argument, though the scripture proof was clear and conclusive. There went with it an impelling power that moved the soul. There was no doubt, no questioning. Upon the occasion of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the people were assembled from all parts of the land to keep the feast, flocked to the Mount of Olives, and as they joined the throng that were escorting Jesus, they caught the inspiration of the hour and helped swell the shout, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Like manner did unbelievers who flocked to the Adventist meeting, some from curiosity, some merely to ridicule, feel the convincing power attending the message, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh. The manifestation of the power of God in the midnight cry was paralleled by the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. It's the history that Sister White points to, and it led to the cross, which is the third waymark where the world and Satan were judged. Judgment took place at the cross. And immediately after the cross, we have the disappointment of the disciples, which is what Sister White most often uses to illustrate the disappointment of October 22, 1844, is the disappointment of the disciples. Every reformatory movement is the same. The disciples were given a work to do. They were to carry the message of the cross to the world. Did they do the work? This is a hard one. This is a trick question in the sense that when you look at these prophetic lines, when you bring line upon line, one of the things that you have to remember is that this history of the Reformation of the Millerites, the third waymark takes place in 1844, and here we are 160-some years later for the fourth angel to come. But the fourth waymark in the history of Christ is Pentecost, and Pentecost comes 50 days after the cross, after Passover. So you're going to have to see the prophetic inferences in 50 days are going to be more subtle than they are in 100-and-some years, so you have to bear that in mind. So immediately after the cross, the disciples are given a work to do, carry the message of the cross to the world. Did they do it? No. They went fishing. They stopped doing the work, and we can read that to you. Jesus came to them and said, I called you to be fisher of man, not fishers of fish, and this took place before Pentecost, which is, of course, the fourth waymark, and Pentecost is the history that Sister White most often refers to to illustrate the latter reign, because this is the early reign of the Christian church, prefiguring the latter reign of the Christian church, and it's also paralleling the work of Nehemiah finishing the wall. What does Sister White tell us that the wall represents? Close. The law of God. She may say the Sabbath too, because those are pretty much interchangeable, but what I was looking for is the law of God. Nehemiah is finishing the streets and the walls, and one of the symbols of the wall is the law of God, and Pentecost is the feast that's commemorating when Moses received the law. So, I mean, the closer you look at these reform movements, the more airtight the waymarks were giving you become. Let me – everyone following the logic? You're seeing – it's pretty easy to see, right? How about the Spanish brethren, the Latin brethren? Entiendo? Okay. Let's do one in five minutes and 52 seconds. The Bible says that Moses said in the Bible that the Lord thy God would raise up a prophet like unto myself. That's Moses' words, and it's a prophecy saying the Lord is going to raise up Christ. And in the history of Moses, you have a reformatory movement. In Great Controversy 343, Sister White says all the reformatory movements parallel one another. So, although I don't have a proof text for this, and I don't need one, because upon the testimony of two or three things established, I know in the reformatory movement of Moses, there has to be a time of the end, but I don't necessarily know what it is. But based upon the fact that Moses here, the history of Moses, is a type of Christ, the time of the end and the time period of Christ was the birth of Christ. So, I'm suggesting that the time of the end in the story of Moses was the birth of Moses. There's a prophecy that should be fulfilled. There'd be an increase of knowledge, and you'll know that in the history of Moses, that from that point, Moses is taken into the courts of Pharaoh, and he's taught in the education of Egypt, but his mother is right there teaching him in the education of God. So, there is teaching, instruction, and increase of knowledge that's being illustrated. And by the time we get to the point where Moses is a man, the Jews know that he's the one that has been called to be the deliverer of Egypt. Remember the story? He knows. So, there's been an increase of knowledge on who and what Moses is. I'm suggesting that Moses is the one that formalizes the message, and because we're trying to get this in in just a short period of time, the message is formalized at the burning bush, where Moses is told the message is to go back and take my people out of Egypt. That is the message of this increase of knowledge during this time period. Do you see the parallels? So, before Moses comes back to Egypt, he's forgotten to do something. And what is it that he forgot to do? Circumcise his son. And when Sister White comments on that, she said, had Moses neglected that requirement, he would not have had the power, the spiritual power, to accomplish the work that he was going to do in Egypt. But in Exodus chapter 5, I believe, I'm not working by notes now, so, it is, I think, in verse, yeah, it's in chapter 5, and in verse, okay, verse 24, it says, And it came to pass, by the way, in the end, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. The Lord met him. The Lord came down and met Moses and empowered his message by insisting that he meet every requirement, including circumcision. And who was it that accomplished the circumcision? Was it Moses or was it Zipporah? Identifying that the woman in this relationship, the church, would need to participate. Verse 24 of Exodus chapter 5, 4. I was looking at chapter 4, saying 5. I thought you were saying verse 4. Okay, this is what happens when you race. So his message is empowered and sensed that every requirement is being met, but also by the action of Zipporah being the one that accomplishes the circumcision. The woman being a symbol of the church is saying that this is a testing process for the church, and circumcision is a type of baptism, brothers and sisters, they're interchangeable terms. Here, the empowerment of John the Baptist's message was at the baptism of Christ. The empowerment of Moses' message is at the circumcision. And Miller was a reformer, John the Baptist was a reformer, and Moses was a reformer. And what message of reform did Moses bring? Sabbath. They'd quit keeping the Sabbath. So he brings the message of Sabbath reform to the Jews. And what does this do? This enrages Pharaoh. And Pharaoh says, well, now you're going to gather your own straw and you're going to make more bricks. Shortly thereafter, you have the activities of the enemies of God's people. Shortly thereafter, you have the manifestation of the power of God as the plagues of Egypt are poured out. And the final plague, the third way, Mark, is where judgment is executed on the firstborn of Egypt. And immediately thereafter, you see the Jews, between Pharaoh's army and the Red Sea and Sister White commenting on that, says the Jews were disappointed, and she compares it to the disappointment of the Millerites in 1844. I have these quotes with me. The work that they were to do is to prepare themselves, sanctify themselves, because Moses was going to go up on the mountain and receive the law, but they stopped doing the work. They went into apostasy and they were dancing around the golden calf. But Moses did receive the law, which is commemorated by Pentecost. What I want you to see here in the last 10 seconds is that this history here of Moses, this reformatory movement, is the beginning of ancient Israel. This is where they were brought out of Egypt and became his people. And the history of Christ is where he divorced them. And therefore, the beginning of ancient Israel is identical to the end of ancient Israel. So for me to be telling you that the seven thunders is the truth, that the beginning of Adventism in the Millerite time period is identical to the end of Adventism in the time period of the 144,000, is in agreement with the testimony of ancient Israel. And ancient Israel is the strongest symbol of modern Israel in Bible prophecy. Shall we pray? Heavenly Father, we thank you for this light that you're bringing forth. We ask that you would help us to put it in the right context and forgive me if I'm moving too quickly over this material. Lord, we want to understand the times in which we live and we want to understand the work that you're doing for your people right now. We ask that you would give us this discernment. We want to make sure that if a testing process is going to be brought upon your people here at this time, that we understand what it is and that we end up on the right side of the test. And we ask that you make that happen for each of us. And we thank you for the easy times that we have to come together and study these things. We know that in the very near future, the easy times will be removed. Please continue to be with us throughout the rest of this Sabbath, in Jesus' name, amen.