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# The Book of Joel and The Laodicean Seventh-day Adventist Church - Number Thirty-Eight

Number Thirty-Eight

Author

Jeff Pippenger

Published

January 30, 2026

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Key Takeaways

- The dream’s pattern is crowd scatters → room empties → door opens → dirt-brush man enters → windows open → separation happens → larger casket filled (Miller’s “come and see” vs Christ’s “come and see”).
- John’s prophecy of Christ purging the floor is the same work as the dirt-brush man’s sweeping (Matthew 3:11–13).
- Three-test arc: foundation test (2024) → capstone/temple-finished test (opening windows; internal sealing) → final litmus judgment (Sunday law).
- The “foundation test” is to be over the identification of who “establishes the vision” (Daniel 11:14)—a separating issue like the Millerite controversy.
- Joy vs shame is used as the emotional signature of the two classes: joy = those with the true message (Joel’s new wine/oil); shame = those cut off and blown out by the wind.
- The “return” motif is central: God calls the messenger to return and separate precious from vile, becoming God’s mouth (Jeremiah 15:16–21).
- The “windows of heaven” moment is the capstone sign: blessing poured out when the offerings/tithes are brought into the storehouse (Malachi 3:10–12), paralleled with heaven opened and the bride made ready (Revelation 19:6–9).

The test of the Bread of Heaven was the omega test of discipleship in the days of Jesus, and it was also the omega in relation to the manna test that is represented in the alpha of ancient Israel’s covenant history. The beginning was manna; the end was the Bread of Heaven. The omega is always the largest, so the largest desertion of disciples’ marks Capernaum as the omega in the history of Christ and the test of discipleship.

> Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Matthew 16:24–28.

Capernaum is an omega test. The test at Capernaum is the test of oil in the parable of the ten virgins; that begins at the cry at midnight, and initiates a period that includes the foolish virgins recognizing they have no oil. They then begin to panic as they approach the closing door of the Sunday law, as represented in the crisis at Capernaum in John 6:66. Prophetically they are “ashamed.”

> Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again. Amos 8:11–14.

The omega test at Capernaum typifies the omega test that follows the foundational test of 2024. The omega test is where the bride is sealed in advance of the Sunday law. It is where the separation is forever finalized, for once she is pure, no more strangers (Gentiles) will walk through Jerusalem anymore forever.

> The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

> And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

> Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion. Joel 3:16–21.

Jerusalem is cleansed of sin in the final movements of the investigative judgment, which in Zechariah chapter three, is where the white linen Philadelphian garment is given to Joshua to replace the dirty Laodicean garment. “Then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her anymore,” for the wheat has been separated from the tares and gathered as a first fruit offering. This occurs in the omega test, and it occurs when the windows of heaven are opened, and Jesus cast the jewels into the casket and says to the world, “come and see.” “Come and see” the ensign of my kingdom, my bride, my offering of Levites as in days of old. “Come and see” my temple, my casket full of jewels—each prepared as part of the crown of the kingdom of glory.

The foundational alpha test of 2024, leads to the temple omega test. The omega test occurs when the windows of heaven are opened, which is when the bride makes herself ready. The foolish virgins and their false peace and safety latter rain message are blown out through the open windows by the wind, for the message of this history is the message of the east wind. The message is Isaiah’s rough wind that is stayed, in the day of the east wind; it is John’s four winds that are restrained during the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand.

> “Angels are holding the four winds, represented as an angry horse seeking to break loose and rush over the face of the whole earth, bearing destruction and death in its path.

> “Shall we sleep on the very verge of the eternal world? Shall we be dull and cold and dead? Oh, that we might have in our churches the Spirit and breath of God breathed into His people, that they might stand upon their feet and live.” Manuscript Releases, volume 20, 217.

Those who reject that message of the east wind of Islam, are blown out the window by the wind—the very symbol of their rebellion. The rubbish of error is forever attached to the foolish class who have no oil. Ephraim has again been joined to its idols. They rejected the increase of the knowledge of the sealing time, and its relation to Islam of the third woe. God will turn the glory of their counterfeit latter rain message into “shame.”

> My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

> As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings. For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord. Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.

> Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The Lord liveth. For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place.

> Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.

> Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye. The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. Hosea 4:6–19.

The rubbish that is removed is both the foolish virgins and their erroneous doctrines which they are joined to. We are what we eat, and they rejected the message of the east wind, chose instead the lie which brings strong delusion in its wake, and became joined to their counterfeit peace and safety latter rain message. Joel’s new wine, is cut off from their mouths, right where Jeremiah becomes God’s mouth.

> “In rejecting the truth, men reject its Author. In trampling upon the law of God, they deny the authority of the Law-giver. It is as easy to make an idol of false doctrines and theories as to fashion an idol of wood or stone. By misrepresenting the attributes of God, Satan leads men to conceive of Him in a false character. With many, a philosophical idol is enthroned in the place of Jehovah; while the living God, as He is revealed in His word, in Christ, and in the works of creation, is worshiped by but few. Thousands deify nature while they deny the God of nature. Though in a different form, idolatry exists in the Christian world today as verily as it existed among ancient Israel in the days of Elijah. The God of many professedly wise men, of philosophers, poets, politicians, journalists—the God of polished fashionable circles, of many colleges and universities, even of some theological institutions—is little better than Baal, the sun-god of Phoenicia.” The Great Controversy, 583.

At the separation of the genuine and false in Miller’s dream the wind carries the false virgins out, while the Lord seals His bride during the omega internal test of the open window.

> Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years. Malachi 3:1–4.

The sons of Levi are the sons of those Levites who were faithful at Aaron’s image of the beast test, and then again at Jeroboam’s image of the beast test. They are those who pass the image of the beast test, which is the test by which their eternal destiny is decided, and the test they must pass—before we are sealed.

> “The Lord has shown me clearly that the image of the beast will be formed before probation closes; for it is to be the great test for the people of God, by which their eternal destiny will be decided.

> “This is the test that the people of God must have before they are sealed. All who proved their loyalty to God by observing His law, and refusing to accept a spurious sabbath, will rank under the banner of the Lord God Jehovah, and will receive the seal of the living God. Those who yield the truth of heavenly origin and accept the Sunday sabbath, will receive the mark of the beast” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 7, 976.

The image of the beast test is the test before the mark of the beast test at the Sunday law, and it must be passed before the door closes.

It is the test that purifies the righteous and also separates the righteous from the unrighteous. It is the test where Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are found to be visually fairer and fatter than those who ate the Babylonian diet. One class had eaten the bread of Heaven and the other the bread of Babylon. It is the test of bread in the synagogue at Capernaum.

Externally the testing time that we are now in is the test of the image of the beast, the combination of church and state within the United States. The parallel internal testing time identifies a class of virgins who manifest the image of humanity and another class of virgins who manifest the image of Divinity combined with humanity. After Malachi identifies the purification and purging of the Levites, God proposes a test.

> And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.

> For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Malachi 3:5, 6.

The first test is to fear God, and the class that failed the testing of the Messenger of the Covenant are then addressed with five condemnations, one for each of the foolish virgins that align with being wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked; five prophetic attributes for five foolish virgins that summarized under the phrase “and fear not me.” These are those who failed the foundational first alpha test. They failed because they did not understand that God never changes. These are those who failed the foundational external alpha test of 2024.

> “There are lessons to be learned from the history of the past; and attention is called to these, that all may understand that God works on the same lines now that He ever has done. His hand is seen in His work and among the nations now, just the same as it has been ever since the gospel was first proclaimed to Adam in Eden.

> “There are periods which are turning points in the history of nations and of the church. In the providence of God, when these different crises arrive, the light for that time is given. If it is received, there is spiritual progress; if it is rejected, spiritual declension and shipwreck follow. The Lord in His word has opened up the aggressive work of the gospel as it has been carried on in the past, and will be in the future, even to the closing conflict, when Satanic agencies will make their last wonderful movement.” Bible Echo, August 26, 1895.

Laodiceans do not see that God’s dealing with men is ever the same. If the light, or the oil is received, there is a blessing, if not, there is a shipwreck.

> “In past ages the Lord God of heaven revealed his secrets to his prophets. The present and the future are equally clear to him. The voice of God echoes down the ages, telling man what is to take place. Kings and princes take their places at their appointed time. They think they are carrying out their own purposes, but in reality they are fulfilling the word that God has spoken.

> “Paul declares that the records of God’s dealings with mankind in the past ‘are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.’ Daniel’s history is given us for our admonition. ‘The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.’ Daniel’s God still lives and reigns. He has not closed heaven against his people. As in the Jewish age, so in this age, God reveals his secrets to his servants the prophets.

> “The apostle Peter says: ‘We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’

> “The unbelieving and godless do not discern the importance of the signs of the times, foretold in the prophetic word. In ignorance they may refuse to accept the inspired record. But when professed Christians speak sneeringly of the ways and means employed by the great I AM to make his purposes known, they show themselves to be ignorant both of the Scriptures and of the power of God. The Creator knows just what elements he has to deal with in human nature. He knows what means to employ to obtain the desired results.

> “Man’s word fails. He who makes the assertions of men his dependence, may well tremble; for he will someday be as a shipwrecked vessel. God’s word is infallible, and endures forever. Christ declares, ‘Verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.’ God’s word will endure throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity.” Youth Instructor, December 1, 1903.

God never changes and He works upon the same lines as He has always done.

> “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.

Malachi chapter three’s first four verses identify the messenger that prepares the way for the Messenger of the Covenant, and the purging and purification of the Levites. Then the Lord pronounces judgment upon Laodicea, identifying they fear not God, meaning they failed the foundational alpha test of the third angel. Their lack of fear represents a purposeful rejection of knowledge, and the context of the knowledge they refuse is the acceptance of the history of the messenger who prepares the way and the Divine messenger who follows. All the prophets identify the latter days, and there would be no reason to identify a counterfeit reformatory movement, if there was not a genuine.

> “But Satan was not idle. He now attempted what he has attempted in every other reformatory movement—to deceive and destroy the people by palming off upon them a counterfeit in place of the true work. As there were false Christ’s in the first century of the Christian church, so there arose false prophets in the sixteenth century.” The Great Controversy, 186.

The context of the first six verses of Malachi three is the purging and purification of the Levites of the reformatory movement of the one hundred and forty-four thousand. Future for America is either that very movement, or one of many counterfeits. Then Malachi states:

> Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:7.

The progressive rebellion over the four generations is the introduction and setting of the book of Joel, and Malachi here identifies the same progressive rebellion when he says, “even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away.” From 1863, the days of the fathers of the first generation of rebellion, they have increasingly went further and further away from God. The pronouncement against their continuous sin is tempered with the Laodicean call that in mournful tones promises that if they would but only return, God would return unto them.

> But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

> Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

> And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:5–12.

The alpha foundational external test of 2024 is followed by the capstone internal test of 2026. That capstone test occurs when the windows of heaven are opened, and three places where those open windows are identified in the context of the church triumphant are Malachi three, Miller’s dream and Revelation nineteen. Malachi is the alpha, Miller’s dream is the middle and Revelation is the omega. The test is illustrated by Christ, as the dirt brush man, casting the jewels into the casket. Those jewels are both truths perfectly arranged in their order, and the remnant. The storehouse is where the meat is gathered and distributed. As with the test of manna, the test of Capernaum and the Bread of Heaven—“meat” is the subject.

The “meat” is oil in the parable of the virgins, and it represents character, the Holy Spirit and the prophetic message that brings the Holy Spirit into the hearts and minds of those who develop the character of Christ. The “meat” is Joel’s “new wine” that is cut off from the drunkards of Ephraim. To pass the internal capstone temple test of the second angel you must have passed the external first alpha foundational test. If you haven’t accepted the foundation, you cannot be part of the temple which is raised upon the foundation, but if you are not of the number who passed that foundational test, you will build your spiritual counterfeit house upon sand. John calls that counterfeit spiritual house, “the synagogue of Satan” and Jeremiah, “the assembly of mockers.”

Bring ye all the tithes and offerings into the storehouse is the internal test where the seal is impressed. The dirt brush man cast the remnant people of God into the enlarged casket, and in so doing He was illustrating the work of bringing all the tithes into the storehouse. The Levites are the offering that is lifted up when He pours out a blessing from the windows of heaven. The dirt brush man’s jewels are His remnant people and in Isaiah chapter six those remnant people are identified as a tithe.

> Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. Isaiah 6:11–13.

The Lord identifies the question of “how long” on multiple witnesses as pointing to the Sunday law, and in verse three of Isaiah six the angels proclaim “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” Sister White connects this with the mighty angel of Revelation eighteen.

> “As they [the angels] see the future, when the whole earth shall be filled with His glory, the triumphant song of praise is echoed from one to another in melodious chant, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts.’ They are fully satisfied to glorify God; and in His presence, beneath His smile of approbation, they wish for nothing more. In bearing His image, in doing His service and worshiping Him, their highest ambition is fully reached.” Review and Herald, December 22, 1896.

Isaiah six identifies 9/11, when the earth was lightened with the glory of the first voice of Revelation eighteen’s two voices. When Isaiah asked “how long” the history of the chapter is identified as the period from 9/11 unto the Sunday law, where the second voice arrives. Isaiah informs us that at the Sunday law there will be a remnant—who are a tithe. The remnant has substance within them—oil in their vessels.

> But yet in it shall be a tenth [tithe], and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. Isaiah 6:13.

The “tenth” are those who have “returned” in answer to Malachi’s and also Jeremiah’s call to return. They are trees of humanity, combined with Divinity (the holy seed). They will be eaten, for they are not only the messengers, but they are the ensign of the Pentecostal wave loaves; they are the message which the Gentiles shall eat.

> Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. Jeremiah 15:19.

Jeremiah represents those who ate the message in the angel’s hand, which was the alpha and foundational test represented by August 11, 1840, 1888, and 9/11, for he says he found the words and did eat them.

> Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16.

Jeremiah is called by God’s name when he ate the little book in the angel’s hand, and that message produced joy and rejoicing, as opposed to shame. When God’s name is given to Jeremiah, he is representing the one hundred and forty-four thousand who are Philadelphians.

> Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. Revelation 3:12.

Jeremiah ate the message of 9/11 and suffered the disappointment of July 18, 2020.

> I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation. Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail? Jeremiah 15:17, 18.

Jeremiah’s “assembly of the mockers,” is Philadelphia and Smyrna’s “synagogue of Satan,” who say they are Jews, but they are not. Jeremiah did not rejoice for the message he had proclaimed was a false message, producing only shame, not joy. Jeremiah’s “perpetual wound that refused to be healed,” was the three and a half days that the assembly of mockers rejoiced while Jeremiah, Moses and Elijah were dead in the street that ran through the valley of dead dry bones. In the midst of that period of doubt and uncertainty, the Lord asked Jeremiah to return.

> Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible. Jeremiah 15:19–21.

If Jeremiah would return, God would make him an army, represented as a brazen wall that both the “wicked” and the “terrible” will fight against, but not prevail. This is the army of the white horses with horsemen arrayed in uniforms of white linen. That army, or brazen wall is raised up when Jeremiah returns; if and when, he separates the precious from the vile. In Ezekiel thirty-seven, the army that Sister White says is God’s remnant people stands up when they have returned. The remnant returns, then stands up a mighty army, when they separate the precious and the vile and they then become God’s mouth. They must rightly divide the word of truth, separating the chaff from the wheat for they are using the same rules adopted by their father, who was a miller who specialized in preparing the very best bread. If they separate the precious from the vile; the truth from the error, they will be God’s watchman when God separates the wicked and the wise.

Jeremiah answered the call to return in 2023, then in 2024 he was disappointed as a large group separated at the foundational test of Rome establishing the vision. Jeremiah rightly separated the precious from the vile, the truth from error, and carried on until the omega internal test at the opening of the windows of heaven. When the heavens are opened, the church triumphant has made herself ready. She passed the foundational external alpha test, then she passed the internal omega test of the windows of heaven. She either passes and becomes part of God’s army, or she is blown out of the windows by the wind. She is cast out into a large field, as was Shebna in Isaiah twenty-two or she is cast into the casket. She is either cast into the casket, or cast out of the temple as Nehemiah cast out Tobiah or Christ cast out the money changers. When the dirt brush man casts the jewels into the casket, the casket is either the Word of God in a new framework of truth or the casket is the temple of God, both of which are symbols of Christ, and Christ is not to be divided.

> Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? 1 Corinthians 1:13.

Christ is not separated from Paul. Divinity was not separated from the humanity of Paul. When Paul the human baptized in the name of Divinity their was no division, for the human messenger is combined with the Divine message. Paul was joined to Divinity as certainly as Ephraim was joined to its idols.

Those in Miller’s dream who are cast into the temple (casket), are the tithes of Malachi three who are to be brought into the storehouse, where the meat is stored and distributed. That storehouse is the temple of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, or as Peter stated, “a spiritual house, an holy priesthood.” The casket is the spiritual house and the jewels are the priesthood. For this reason Miller’s dream is recorded on page “81,” a symbol of the Divine High Priest combined with eighty human priests.

In Miller’s dream the dirt brush man illustrates bringing the jewels, (which are Isaiah’s tithes and Malachi’s offerings), when He casts the jewels into the temple, which is the storehouse, which is the casket. There are often two questions involved with the second angel, and the omega test is the second angel in relation to the alpha test and the third litmus test. The call is to return, and the return is demonstrated by bringing all the tithes and offerings into the storehouse, that there might be meat in His house. The two questions here are what is the “meat?” and what is the “storehouse?”

If the jewels are the messengers, or if the jewels are the message determines how those two questions are answered. If it is the messengers, then they are the tithe that make up the temple, that is always erected in the second step. If it is the message, it is the message of the Midnight Cry that is brought to perfection as the capstone of the temple, and of the empowerment of the second angel’s message.

> And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Matthew 19:5, 6.

We will continue this study in the next article.

> “I was pointed back to the proclamation of the first advent of Christ. John was sent in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way of Jesus. Those who rejected the testimony of John were not benefited by the teachings of Jesus. Their opposition to the message that foretold His coming placed them where they could not readily receive the strongest evidence that He was the Messiah. Satan led on those who rejected the message of John to go still farther, to reject and crucify Christ. In doing this they placed themselves where they could not receive the blessing on the day of Pentecost, which would have taught them the way into the heavenly sanctuary. The rendering of the veil of the temple showed that the Jewish sacrifices and ordinances would no longer be received. The great Sacrifice had been offered and had been accepted, and the Holy Spirit which descended on the day of Pentecost carried the minds of the disciples from the earthly sanctuary to the heavenly, where Jesus had entered by His own blood, to shed upon His disciples the benefits of His atonement. But the Jews were left in total darkness. They lost all the light which they might have had upon the plan of salvation, and still trusted in their useless sacrifices and offerings. The heavenly sanctuary had taken the place of the earthly, yet they had no knowledge of the change. Therefore they could not be benefited by the mediation of Christ in the holy place.

> “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.

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