The Book of Daniel – Number Eighty Seven

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Unveiling the Parable of the Ten Virgins: A Profound Journey through Adventist History

 

Key Takeaways

The article discusses how the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 relates to the experience of the Adventist people. It emphasizes the importance of possessing the “oil,” which symbolizes character and the righteousness of Christ. The article traces the historical movements of the Millerite Adventists and the modern-day Adventist movement, drawing parallels between their respective developments and key prophetic waymarks. It highlights the significance of the “time of the end,” the empowerment of the message through the descent of angels, and the role of the “seven times” in connecting these two movements. Overall, the article explores the theological and prophetic connections between these events in the context of Adventist beliefs.

• The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 is seen as illustrating the experience of the Adventist people.
• Millerite Adventists fulfilled this parable to the letter, believing it had special application to their time.
• The “oil” in the parable represents “character” and the “righteousness of Christ,” which can only be obtained by those who study God’s word.
• The “oil” is also associated with the messages of God’s Spirit, emphasizing the importance of receiving divine communication.
• The parable of the ten virgins is linked to the message of Christ’s righteousness, as presented by Jones and Waggoner in the rebellion of 1888.
• The latter rain is a significant theme, representing the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon His people.
• The descent of a mighty angel is mentioned, signifying the empowerment of the message and the beginning of the latter rain.
• The parallel between the Millerite movement and the one hundred and forty-four thousand sealing is explored.
• Both movements are connected by the concept of the “seven times” and the Wonderful Numberer.
• Specific historical publications, such as the King James Bible, Miller’s message, the Declaration of Independence, and The Time of the End magazine, are highlighted as key milestones.
• The parallel histories of the first and third angel’s movements are marked by the empowerment of the message through the descent of angels.
• The message of the Midnight Cry and its connection to the tarrying time and second disappointment are mentioned.
• The “seven times” is identified as a unifying thread in both histories, tying them together and representing the message of the latter rain.
• The rejection of Christ by the Jews and the consequences of rejecting God’s grace are discussed as lessons for all who refuse to accept Him as their Redeemer.

 

The parable of the ten virgins illustrates the experience of the Adventist people.

“The parable of the ten virgins of Matthew 25 also illustrates the experience of the Adventist people.” The Great Controversy, 393.

 

Millerite Adventists fulfilled the parable to the very letter.

“I am often referred to the parable of the ten virgins, five of whom were wise, and five foolish. This parable has been and will be fulfilled to the very letter, for it has a special application to this time, and, like the third angel’s message, has been fulfilled and will continue to be present truth till the close of time.” Review and Herald, August 19, 1890.

 

The history of the movement of the first angel represents the movement of the third angel, and the ultimate focus of the parable is whether the virgins possess the oil, which is the message of the latter rain.

“There is a world lying in wickedness, in deception, and delusion, in the very shadow of death,—asleep, asleep. Who are feeling travail of soul to awaken them? What voice can reach them? My mind is carried to the future when the signal will be given, ‘Behold the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him.’ But some will have delayed to obtain the oil for replenishing their lamps, and too late they will find that character, which is represented by the oil, is not transferable. That oil is the righteousness of Christ. It represents character, and character is not transferable. No man can secure it for another. Each must obtain for himself a character purified from every stain of sin.” Bible Echo, May 4, 1896.

 

The “oil” in the parable represents “character,” and also the “righteousness of Christ.” A sanctified character is only produced by those who eat God’s word.

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:17.

 

The “oil” is also the messages of God’s Spirit.

“God is dishonored when we do not receive the communications which he sends us. Thus we refuse the golden oil which he would pour into our souls to be communicated to those in darkness.” Review and Herald, July 20, 1897.

 

The “oil” is the messages of God’s word that conveys the sanctifying presence of Christ’s righteousness. In the parable of the ten virgins, which is also the prophecy of Habakkuk chapter two, the message of the Midnight Cry, which is the message of Christ’s righteousness, as represented by the message of Jones and Waggoner in the rebellion of 1888.

“The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to His divine person, His merits, and His changeless love for the human family. All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent. This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel’s message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure.” Testimonies to Minsters, 91.

 

The message is the message of the latter rain.

“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.

 

When the mighty angel descended on September 11, 2001, the latter rain began to sprinkle and the history of the Millerites as represented in the parable of the ten virgins and Habakkuk chapter two began to repeat. It was then that God’s last day people ate the book that was in the angel’s hand, and in so doing were led back to Jeremiah’s old paths, and thus became the watchmen that were to sound the warning trumpet. The trumpet warning was the Laodicean message represented by Isaiah as a loud cry.

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Isaiah 58:1.

 

The reform movement of the first and the third angels begin at a “time of the end.” At that point there is an “increase of knowledge” which will test the generation then living, but only after the knowledge is published as a formalized message. Thereafter the formalized message is “empowered”, and the empowerment is marked by the descent of an angel. The descent of the angel identifies Habakkuk’s debate and two classes begin to identify a message that is either the true or the counterfeit message of the latter rain. The faithful then become God’s watchmen who begin to blow a warning trumpet message.

The true trumpet message is based upon the light represented upon Habakkuk’s two tables. It is the warning to Laodicea, and the warning that identifies the sins of God’s people. The debate escalates until the first disappointment, when the one class becomes the “assembly of mockers,” and the true watchmen are called to return to the zeal for the message they formerly manifested before the disappointment. As the watchmen returned, they recognized that they were in the “tarrying time”, and that the message that had failed, was actually going to be fulfilled, but in God’s order. That message was developed over a brief period of time (but a period of time nonetheless), and when the message arrives it is represented as the message of “the Midnight Cry”, which is simply an increase of the message that began to be empowered when the angel descended.

At the arrival of the message, a separation between those who had accepted the position of watchmen at the descent of the angel, and those who refused was fully accomplished. That separation identifies the point where the seal is impressed upon the one hundred and forty-four thousand, in advance of the outpouring of the latter rain without the “measuring” that was placed upon the latter rain that began when the angel descended.

The history of the Millerites is an illustration of the latter rain during the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand. In that history the debate of Habakkuk was based upon a true and a false latter rain message. Paul identifies one class as those that have a love of the truth, and the other class as those who receive strong delusion for they do not have a love of the truth, and because they have believed a “lie.”

The Millerite movement represents a development of truth that increases in knowledge and power from the “time of the end,” all the way through until the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the Midnight Cry. The Millerite movement identified certain specific waymarks that are paralleled, such as a “time of the end,” a “formalizing” of the message represented by the “increase of knowledge”, an “empowerment” of the message that is marked by an angel descending, a “first disappointment” that introduces the parable of the ten virgins, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit represented as “the Midnight Cry”, and then a final “second disappointment”, where a dispensational door is “closed” and another dispensational door is “opened”.

“God has given the messages of Revelation 14 their place in the line of prophecy, and their work is not to cease till the close of this earth’s history. The first and second angel’s messages are still truth for this time, and are to run parallel with this which follows. The third angel proclaims his warning with a loud voice. ‘After these things,’ said John, ‘I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory.’ In this illumination, the light of all the three messages is combined.” The 1888 Materials, 804.

 

The Millerite movement, which typifies the movements of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, was bound up in the prophecies of the twenty-three hundred years and the twenty-five hundred and twenty years of Daniel chapter eight, verses thirteen and fourteen. The “time of the end,” arrived at the conclusion of “seven times” of God’s indignation against the northern kingdom of Israel. The formalization of Miller’s message in 1831, arrived two hundred and twenty years after the production of the King James Bible.

“Mr. Miller, like those moved out by this message in other countries, first thought to fulfil his commission by writing and publishing in the public journals and in pamphlets. He first published his views in the Vermont Telegraph, a Baptist paper, printed in Brandon, Vt. This was in the year 1831.” John Loughborough, The Great Second Advent Movement, 120.

 

The movement of the third angel’s “time of the end,” arrived in 1989, at the conclusion of one hundred and twenty-six years from the rebellion of 1863. “One hundred and twenty-six” is a symbol of the “seven times.” Both movements began with a fulfillment of the “seven times.”

The message of the movement of the third angel was formalized in 1996, with the production of a series of articles titled, “The Time of the End”, that had been published in a magazine called, “Our Firm Foundation”. Those articles were published two hundred and twenty years after the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The message of both movements was formalized two hundred and twenty years after a history that was directly linked to the message that arrived at the end of the two hundred and twenty years.

The number “two hundred and twenty” represents the connection (a link) between the “seven times,” of God’s indignation against the southern kingdom of Judah that began in 677 BC, and the beginning of the twenty-three hundred years of Daniel chapter eight, verse fourteen, in 457 BC. The number two hundred and twenty links the two prophecies together, and the two prophecies were presented together in the foundational verses of Adventism, which is Daniel chapter eight, verses thirteen and fourteen. In those verses Christ introduced himself prophetically as “that certain saint,” which is the translation from the Hebrew word “Palmoni,” which means the “Wonderful Numberer”.

The Wonderful Numberer introduces the two visions that represent the two lines of prophecy, in the very two verses, that Sister White identifies as the central pillar of Adventism. The starting point is joined by the symbolic link of two hundred and twenty years to when they are fulfilled in 1844.  Habakkuk chapter two concludes with verse twenty, thus marking the number “two hundred and twenty” with a different expression by the Wonderful Numberer, for the verse identifies a primary characteristic of the antitypical Day of Atonement that began at that date.

But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. Habakkuk 2:20.

 

The two prophetic periods that represent the central pillar of Adventism, which were introduced directly by the Wonderful Numberer are linked together by two hundred and twenty years, and Jesus (the Wonderful Numberer), who always identifies the end of a thing with the beginning of a thing, marked their ending in October 22, 1844, with the number two hundred and twenty.

The movement of the first angel, as with the movement of the third angel, began at a “time of the end” (1798 and 1989 respectively), where the “seven times,” of Leviticus twenty-six is identified. The next waymark in both histories is marked with a conclusion of two hundred and twenty years, also a prophetic characteristic of the “seven times,” for the starting points of the two visions (chazon and mareh), represent a period of two hundred and twenty years that links them together.

The production of the King James Bible in 1611, the formalization of Miller’s message as published in the Vermont Telegraph newspaper, the production of the Declaration of Independence, and the publishing of “The Time of the End” in the “Our Firm Foundation” magazine, were all publications. The beginning and ending of both two hundred and twenty-year periods represent a publication as the historical waymark. The number “two hundred and twenty” is a symbol of a prophetic link, and all four publications are linked by being publications, and also by the message represented as the “increase of knowledge” in their respective histories.

The Bible in 1611, represents the communication of the gospel from the heavenly courts to mankind. Miller’s message was set within the context of time prophecies, and the two sacred charts of Habakkuk make it easily recognized that Miller’s message was illustrated graphically by lines of history. “Vermont” means “a green mountain”, and according to inspiration “green” is a symbol of faith.

“This dream gave me hope. The green cord represented faith to my mind, and the beauty and simplicity of trusting in God began to dawn upon my soul.” Christian Experience and Teachings, 28.

 

Miller’s message was formalized and delivered from the faithful church, for a “mountain” in the last days is a “church”.

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:2, 3.

 

The formalized testing message of Miller came from the faithful church, and the publication called “The Telegraph”, represents a message from heaven as did the King James Bible, for the word “telegraph”, which is created from two Greek words, is a message from far off. The first word (tele) means “distant or far off,” and the second word (grapho), “to write or record.” Together they mean “to write or transmit at a distance.” In 1611, God, through the production of the King James Bible transmitted His message from heaven, and at the end of two hundred and twenty years, Miller’s message, as first formalized in 1831 in the Vermont Telegraph, also transmitted God’s message from heaven. That message was the “increase of knowledge” that was opened at the “time of the end” in 1798, which then produced a three-step testing process for that generation. That history typified the history of Future for America.

The Declaration of Independence in 1776, represents the beginning of the earth beast of Revelation thirteen. It represents the beginning of the United States, and in so doing identifies the restriction of independence at the end of the United States. The message of Future for America (as the name suggests), identifies the ending that is typified in the beginning with the publication of the Declaration of Independence. Two hundred and twenty years later in 1996, the ministry that had produced “The Time of the End” magazine, received the legal entity that had previously been named, Future for America. That year “The Time of the End” magazine, that was made up of articles that had been run in the publication called “Our Firm Foundation”, was published.

The name of the ministry Future for America, addresses the history of the Declaration of Independence, for that publication marked the beginning of the United States, and Jesus always illustrates the end with the beginning. The title of the publication being “The Time of the End”, addresses both the “time of the end” in 1989, but also the end of probationary time when Michael stands up. The formalized message in the publication (Daniel eleven, verse forty through forty-five), was unsealed with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 (the time of the end), and the verses that were unsealed present a sequence of history that moves forward from 1989 until verse one of chapter twelve, identifies Michael standing up, and human probation closing.

From the publication of Declaration of Independence, in 1776, unto the publication of “The Time of the End” magazine, equates to two hundred and twenty years, and the beginning and ending are addressing the same prophetic subjects. The publication of “The Time of the End”, was complied with the chapters which had first being published as articles in the publication “Our Firm Foundation”, and represents the prophetic truth that without holding to the foundational truths of the Millerite movement (which is “our firm foundation”), it is impossible to understand the “increase of knowledge” at the “time of the end” in 1989.

The waymark represented as the “time of the end,” and the waymark representing the “formalizing” of the message in the parallel histories of the first and third angel’s movements both contain the prophetic elements of the “seven times” of Leviticus twenty-six. The next waymark in the parallel histories is the empowerment of the message as marked by the descent of either the angel of Revelation ten, on August 11, 1840, or the angel of Revelation eighteen, on September 11, 2001. The fulfillment of the second Woe of Revelation chapter nine, brought the angel of Revelation ten down, and the fulfillment of the third Woe of Revelation chapter ten, brought the angel of Revelation chapter eighteen down.

In the parallel histories the latter rain begins to “sprinkle” at the point when the angel descends. At that point the message is “empowered” by the confirmation of the predicted event. For the Millerites it was the cessation of the Ottoman supremacy in fulfillment of the time prophecy of Islam of the second Woe in Revelation chapter nine, verse fifteen.  For the movement of the one hundred and forty-four thousand it was the “angering of the nations,” a prophecy of Islam of the third Woe which is in the time of the Seventh Trumpet in Revelation ten, verse seven, that was fulfilled when the great buildings of New York city were brought down.

Each of the major waymarks of the parallel histories have direct links to the work of the Wonderful Numberer, who places His signature on the relationship of the two visions that represent twenty-three hundred years and twenty-five hundred and twenty years. The prophetic watchmen who are raised up at the descent of the angel blow a warning trumpet that includes the message to Laodicea, that in 1856, was directly linked to the unsealing of the greater light of the “seven times.” The waymark of Habakkuk’s two tables, represented by the 1843 and the 1850 pioneer charts, which both graphically represent the “seven times,” arrived between the descent of the angel and the “first disappointment” in each parallel history.

The waymark of the “tarrying time” is directly linked to the failed prediction of 1843, which was a prediction of the fulfillment of both the twenty-three hundred years, and also the twenty-five hundred and twenty years. The message of the Midnight Cry was the identification of the soon-coming fulfillment of those two periods of prophetic time. The closed dispensation “door” at the last waymark identifies the fulfillment of those two prophetic periods, and marks where seventh or Jubilee Trumpet begins to sound. Every waymark in each history is directly linked to the “seven times,” and the “seven times” represents the thread that ties both histories together, and both histories represent the message of the latter rain.

We will continue this study in the next article.

“‘To them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,’ Christ is a rock of offense. But ‘the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner.’ Like the rejected stone, Christ in His earthly mission had borne neglect and abuse. He was ‘despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: . . . He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.’ Isaiah 53:3. But the time was near when He would be glorified. By the resurrection from the dead He would be declared ‘the Son of God with power.’ Romans 1:4. At His second coming He would be revealed as Lord of heaven and earth. Those who were now about to crucify Him would recognize His greatness. Before the universe the rejected stone would become the head of the corner.

“And on ‘whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.’ The people who rejected Christ were soon to see their city and their nation destroyed. Their glory would be broken, and scattered as the dust before the wind. And what was it that destroyed the Jews? It was the rock which, had they built upon it, would have been their security. It was the goodness of God despised, the righteousness spurned, the mercy slighted. Men set themselves in opposition to God, and all that would have been their salvation was turned to their destruction. All that God ordained unto life they found to be unto death. In the Jews’ crucifixion of Christ was involved the destruction of Jerusalem. The blood shed upon Calvary was the weight that sank them to ruin for this world and for the world to come. So it will be in the great final day, when judgment shall fall upon the rejecters of God’s grace. Christ, their rock of offense, will then appear to them as an avenging mountain. The glory of His countenance, which to the righteous is life, will be to the wicked a consuming fire. Because of love rejected, grace despised, the sinner will be destroyed.

“By many illustrations and repeated warnings, Jesus showed what would be the result to the Jews of rejecting the Son of God. In these words He was addressing all in every age who refuse to receive Him as their Redeemer. Every warning is for them. The desecrated temple, the disobedient son, the false husbandmen, the contemptuous builders, have their counterpart in the experience of every sinner. Unless he repent, the doom which they foreshadowed will be his.” The Desire of Ages, 599, 600.