The Great Conspiracy # 19

MODERN ISRAEL AT KADESH-BARNEA -- Ye shall know my breach of promise, the altering of my purpose. Num. 14:34b (margin) In his first letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul stated that the history of the wilderness experience of the children of Israel was written for the people of God as an example and warning against apostasy and rejecting the counsel of Jesus. In verses one through ten Paul reviewed how the children of Israel “murmured” against the Lord. “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition,” Paul wrote, “upon whom the ends of the world are come.” (I Corinthians 10:11). The Lesson At Kadesh-Barnea The Lord led the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness by the hand of Moses. The Lord led the Advent Christians of William Miller’s day out of Spiritual Babylon by the Spirit of Prophecy in the form of a seventeen year old girl, Ellen G. Harmon. The Scriptures and the Spirit of Prophecy make it clear that the wilderness experience of the children of Israel is a lesson for the Remnant Church in the last days. The children of Israel lingered in the wilderness far too long. The Seventh-day Adventist Church also lingered in the wilderness far too long. The children of Israel lingered in the wilderness because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:16-19; 4:1-11). The Seventh-day Adventists of the past century also lingered in this world because of Unbelief. “Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount,” the Lord said to Moses. “Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.” (Deuteronomy 1:6-8, emphasis supplied). “And when we departed from Horeb,” Moses wrote, “we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.” (Deuteronomy 1:19). I Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -398- After arriving at Kadesh-barnea the children of Israel decided to send twelve men (spies) to search out the land before they would make an attempt to enter. The names of the twelve men are listed in Numbers 13:4-15. The twelve returned and reported that, “We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.” (Numbers 13:27). However, they also observed that the land was filled with giants and the people were strong. “Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there,” the twelve reported. “The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.” (Numbers 13:28, 29). How did the children of Israel respond to this negative report? They murmured. (Numbers 14:2). That very night they made plans, not only that they would disobey the Lord and not go in and posses the land, but made plans to choose a new leader and return to Egypt. Today modern Israel has chosen “new” theology captains, and has returned to spiritual Babylon in the form of Ecumenical ties with the Roman Catholic Church and World Council of (Protestant) Churches. “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt,” the congregation cried, “or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Were it not better for us to return into Egypt?” (Numbers 14:1-3). Joshua and Caleb tried to calm the congregation and said, “The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 14:7; 13:30). Did the children of Israel respond to Joshua and Caleb? No. They were firm in their decision to return to Egypt. “Let us make a captain,” they cried, “and let us return into Egypt.” (Numbers 14:4, emphasis supplied). The Lord’s Response To Israel’s Failure To Enter Canaan “After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years,” the Lord said, “and ye shall know my breach of promise.” (Numbers 14:34, emphasis supplied). The King James marginal reading states, “and ye shall know the altering of my purpose.” The Revised Standard states, “Ye shall know my displeasure.” The New International Version states, “You will . . . know what it is like to have me against you.” God fulfilled His promise to His people. They went into the promised land, but God’s plan for His people was altered. Those who had come out of Egypt wandered forty years and perished in the wilderness. Only two who had come out of Egypt, Joshua and Caleb entered the promised land. Is there a lesson in that fact for us today? How many who came out of the great disappointment of 1844 were translated into the heavenly Canaan? God’s first plan was that Moses was to lead the children of Israel into the promised land at Kadesh-barnea. God’s plan was altered because the people “murmured” and refused to believe. In God’s altered plan Joshua led the people into the promised land forty years later – not at Kadesh-barnea but at Jericho! (Joshua 4:19). Is it possible that God has also altered His plan for His remnant people? Yes. Modern Israel, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, came to a modern-day Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -399- Kadesh-barnea at the 1888 General Conference session. Modern Israel also “murmured” against the “most precious message” that they should go in and possess the heavenly Canaan. But modern Israel also turned back. However, unlike ancient Israel, modern Israel has done worse. Modern Israel did not turn back toward Egypt – but all the way back toward Spiritual Babylon! “I saw that many who profess to believe the truth for these last days think it strange that the children of Israel murmured as they journeyed; that after the wonderful dealings of God with them, they should be so ungrateful as to forget what He had done for them,” Ellen White wrote. “Said the angel: ‘Ye have done worse than they.’” (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, page 129, emphasis supplied). Notice it was the angel that said, “Ye have done worse than they.” Again, the Scriptures state, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11). Proper Method To Study Past and Future Events Before we begin our study of “Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea” it will be necessary to review the proper method of study. Is there inspired instruction on how we should study the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy? “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line,” Isaiah replies, “here a little, and there a little.” (Isaiah 28:9, 10). The very same principle of “line upon line” is used to study the Testimonies. Did the Testimonies not come from the same source as Scripture? Was it not the same Holy Spirit who inspired the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, John the Revelator, and all of God’s prophets, who also inspired the writings of Ellen White? We must study the Spirit of Prophecy as we do the scripture, “Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little.” The Key To Understanding the Testimonies “The testimonies themselves will be the key that will explain the messages given,” Ellen White wrote, “as scripture is explained by scripture.” (Selected Messages, Bk. 1, page. 42, emphasis supplied). The Rich Man and Lazarus – An Illustration Of Line Upon Line A good Illustration of this method of study would be the story of “the rich man and Lazarus.” (Luke 16:20, 21). If we stand only on this parable as a basis for the Bible teaching on the state of man in death, we would be led into grave error. But when we compare all Scripture on the state of man in death, line upon line, precept upon precept, we are able to see clearly the truth. “For the living know that they shall die,” Solomon wrote, “but the dead know not any thing. . . .” (Ecclesiastes 9:5a, emphasis supplied) Two Important Concepts Two important principles must be understood when studying the Testimonies. (1) Nothing is cast aside, and (2), time and place must be considered. “Regarding the testimonies, nothing is ignored; nothing is cast aside; but time and place must be considered. . . ,” Ellen White instructed. “Every jot and tittle is essential and must appear at an opportune time.” (ibid., 1SM, p. 57, emphasis supplied). “Time and place should be considered backwards and forwards,” Elder William Grotheer said. “As you look back on the testimonies as to what has been said, you must take into consideration the time and Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -400- place in which its said. And testimonies that are prophetic you must look forward and be able to place them in the time and place of their setting.” (William H. Grotheer, Sermon, “The Altering Of the Divine Purpose,”Adventist Laymen’s Foundation, Ozone, Arkansas). The Persian Empire – An Illustration Of Time and Place In Prophecy A person living in the time of the Persian Empire, the second world empire, the time depicted by the prophet Daniel as the arms of silver on the image of Daniel 2, verse 39, and the bear with three ribs in its mouth, Daniel 7:5, would not understand the prophecy of Daniel 8. In this prophecy the Grecian Empire, depicted by the he-goat and the leopard beast, would follow the Persian Empire. Time and place would not be understood, because the time had not yet come to pass. “Thus we are told in the study of the Spirit of Prophecy that ‘time and place’ are vital, not only as you look into the past, as to when these things were said and the circumstances, but as you go into the future,” William Grotheer stated. “Those prophetic utterances must also come in time and place.” (ibid., William H. Grotheer, Sermon, “The Altering Of the Divine Purpose,” Adventist Laymen’s Foundation). God’s Original End-Time Plan For the Seventh-day Adventist Church 1844-1900 – Time Almost Ended It was God’s original plan that His remnant people would be ready for translation and that Jesus should return before the beginning of the 20th century. As far back as 1878 Ellen White began to state that Jesus was about to return – that the end of all things was at hand. These testimonies of the imminent return of Jesus continued throughout the 1880's. 1878 Statement That Time Was Very Short “In the late vision given me at Battle Creek during our general camp meeting, I was shown our danger, as a people, of becoming assimilated to the world rather than to the image of Christ,” Ellen White warned.. “We are now upon the very borders of the eternal world. . ..” (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4, page 306, emphasis supplied). 1881 Statements That Time Was Very Short “I would, at this time, sound the note of warning to those who shall assemble at our camp meeting,” Ellen White again warned. “The end of all things is at hand.” (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, page 16, emphasis supplied). “Brethren and sisters, I have been shown that we are standing upon the threshold of the eternal world,” Ellen White stated further in 1881. (ibid., 5T, p. 18, emphasis supplied). 1885 Statement That Time Was Very Short “We are standing, as it were, on the borders of the eternal world.” (ibid., 5T, p. 382, emphasis supplied). 1886 Statement That Time Was Very Short “We are standing upon the very verge of the eternal world. . ..” (ibid., 5T, p. 460, emphasis supplied). If you, dear reader, were a Seventh-day Adventist living during the 1880's when these testimonies came from the pen of inspiration you, no doubt, would believe that the return of Jesus was imminent and that the end of all things was at hand. No other conclusion could be derived from these statements. “From these series of testimonies given in the 1880's there is no other conclusion,” Elder Grotheer said. “Time after time Ellen White stated, ‘I’ve been shown . . . I’ve been shown . . . I’ve been shown. . . the Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -401- end of all things is at hand . . . we are standing upon the very borders . . . the threshold . . . the very verge of the eternal world.’” (ibid., William H. Grotheer, Sermon, “The Altering Of the Divine Purpose”). “Eternity stretches before us,”Ellen White wrote in 1886. “The curtain is about to be lifted.” (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, page 464, emphasis supplied). The third angel’s message has been going to all the world for over one hundred and eleven years since these “imminent return” testimonies were written. Why has there been a delay in the Lord’s coming? How do we explain these testimonies, prophecies that did not come to pass? Was Ellen White a false prophet? No, she was not a false prophet. We just do not understand the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy as we should. We simply do not understand that God alters His plans according to the response of His people to present truth! Misunderstanding the “How” Of God’s Purpose “Ye shall know the altering of my purpose,” the Lord said to Moses and the children of Israel. (Numbers 14:34, margin). How could pioneer Adventists, who had access to a living prophet, and we today who have access to her writings, misunderstand the end-time purpose of God? The answer is simple. Throughout history God’s people have always misunderstood the “how” prophecy would be fulfilled. (1) The Church at the time of Christ’s first advent looked for the Messiah to come as a King to free them from Roman domination. Were they wrong? Yes! Jesus came as a servant, not as a King, born in a barn, not to leaders of the Church, raised in Nazareth, an undesirable part of the country. “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked, and Philip replied, “Come and see.” (John 1:46). “And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth,” Matthew wrote, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’” (Matthew 2:23, emphasis supplied). Much was written in Scripture about “how” the Messiah would come, yet the Church leadership failed to understand. They wanted Jesus to be their earthly King, and so they looked for an earthly King. From their study of the prophecies the wise men and the shepherds knew “how” the Messiah would really come. The Church leadership did not. Even Satan and his demons knew that Jesus would come from Nazareth. When Jesus cast out the demon he said, “Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth . . . I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.” (Mark 1:24, emphasis supplied). (2) The apostle Paul warned that before Jesus returned the second time, Antichrist would appear within the Church. He would sit in the temple of God, “shewing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). Yet the coming of Antichrist is still looked for in the future by most Christians today! They were and still are, deceived by the “how” the prophecy would be fulfilled. (3) William Miller and the early Advent people believed the earth was the sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of the 2, 300 year prophecy of Daniel 8:14. To them this meant that Jesus would return on October 22, 1844. They were mistaken by “how” the prophecy would be fulfilled. After further study of Scripture they understood clearly that the earth was not the sanctuary to be cleansed, but that it was the heavenly sanctuary that was to be cleansed at the end of the 2,300 years. They were correct about the “time” – but they were mistaken about the “event!” Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -402- Is it possible that Adventists in the past have been mistaken by “how” prophecy would be fulfilled? Is it possible that we today may still be mistaken by our perception of “how” all things will end? Yes, it is possible. We must study the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy as never before, using the method of line upon line, precept upon precept, casting nothing aside, and taking time and place into consideration. Also in our study we should always remember “how the Lord has led us, and His teaching, in our past history.” (Life Sketches, page 196). The Sunday Law – A Sign To Leave the Large Cities? In God’s first plan a national Sunday Law “was” the sign that His people were to leave the large cities for smaller cities, preparing to leave the smaller ones for secluded places in the mountains. Is this sign of the times still wise counsel for today? It is no time now for God’s people to be fixing their affections or laying up their treasure in the world. The time is not far distant, when, like the early disciples, we shall be forced to seek a refuge in desolate and solitary places. As the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman armies was the signal for flight to the Judean Christians, so the assumption of power on the part of our nation in the decree enforcing the papal sabbath will be a warning to us. It will then be time to leave the large cities, preparatory to leaving the smaller ones for retired homes in secluded places among the mountains. ibid., Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, pages 464, 465. (emphasis supplied). In the book Maranatha, under the title, “The Sign To Leave Large Cities,” page 188, this statement is quoted. Again in the book Last Day Events, under the title, “The Signal for Flight From the Cities,” page 121, this statement is quoted. In the book Country Living, under the title, “Emergency Flight in Closing Conflict,” page 32, this statement is again quoted word for word. It is again quoted in the book Christian Service, page 161. What do these books listed have in common? They are all compilations! They were not written by Ellen White in context, but were compiled by the Ellen G. White Estate in modern times. But why would the leadership of the Church wish to hold on to the first counsel that the Sunday Law will be the sign or signal to leave the large cities? The answer is simple. The leadership of the Church is content to remain in the large cities of the world. The original statement on the Sunday Law as a sign to leave the large cities appeared first in Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, pages 464, 465. This testimony was written in 1886. We must take time and place into consideration and note later testimonies on this point. Why? Because God’s end-time plan is changed and later testimonies have revealed this change. Notice that in God’s first plan the Sunday Law was to be a sign for His people to “leave the large cities, preparatory to leaving the smaller ones for retired homes in secluded places among the mountains.” Shortly after the turn of the century God’s message was, “Do not wait for a national Sunday Law to be passed and enforced – get out of the cities now.” “The world over cities are becoming hotbeds of vice,” Ellen White warned in 1905. (Ministry of Healing, page 363). “Out of the cities, out of the cities, this is the message the Lord has been giving me.” (Life Sketches, page 409). Obviously God had altered His plan on the sign to leave the large cities. “Out of the cities now,” is the counsel. Notice that the testimony does not mention a Sunday Law as a sign to leave the large cities. Has the leadership of modern Israel complied with this counsel? No. More and more Seventh-day Adventist institutions are established, not only in large cities, but in the heart of America’s largest cities! Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -403- “God has sent warning after warning that our schools and publishing houses and sanitariums are to be established out of the city, in places where the youth may be taught most effectively what is truth,” Ellen White wrote. “Let no one attempt to use the Testimonies to vindicate the establishment of large business interests in the cities. Do not make of no effect the light that has been given upon this subject.” (The Publishing Ministry, page 185, emphasis supplied). 1888 - Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea “The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones,” Ellen White wrote. “This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. (Testimonies to Ministers, pages. 91, 92). (1) What was this most precious message? “It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ,” Ellen White stated, “which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God.” (2) Why did Seventh-day Adventists need this most precious message? “Many had lost sight of Jesus,” Ellen White replied. “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.” (ibid., TM, p. 92, emphasis supplied). (3) How had Seventh-day Adventists lost sight of Jesus? “Now, it has been Satan's determined purpose to eclipse the view of Jesus and lead men to look to man, and trust to man, and be educated to expect help from man,” Ellen White wrote. “For years the church has been looking to man and expecting much from man, but not looking to Jesus, in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. (4) How did God respond to the SDA Church looking to man? “Therefore [for this reason] God gave to His servants a testimony that presented the truth as it is in Jesus,” Ellen White declared, “which is the third angel's message, in clear, distinct lines.” (ibid., TM, p. 93, emphasis supplied). A Two-Fold Message The 1888 message was two fold. (1) The doctrinal message of righteousness by faith, which concerned the individual, and (2), the message of religious liberty, which concerned the Church. This second portion of the message was to lead Seventh-day Adventists to let Christ rule the Church rather than looking to the ecclesiastical authority of man to rule the Church. The message was not to look to human organization, but to “the truth as it is in Jesus.” E. J. Waggoner presented the “righteousness by faith” message to overcome sin and be ready for translation. A. T. Jones presented the message of “religious liberty,” not only in the world, but religious liberty in the Church, giving the individual the freedom to practice righteousness by faith. Waggoner’s 1888 message was published in 1890 in a book titled, “Christ and His Righteousness,” currently published by Pacific Press and is available at any Adventist Book Center. Jones’ 1888 message was published in 1889 in a book titled, Civil Government and Religion. The book was from a series of articles published in the American Sentinel, Atlanta, Georgia. The American Sentinel was the forerunner of Religious Liberty magazine. The book Civil Government and Religion can be purchased Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -404- from LMN Publishing International, Inc., HC04, Box 94C, St. Maries, Idaho, 83861: also, Leaves-Of- Autumn-Books, P. O. Box 440, Payson, Arizona, 85541. Issues Facing the Nation In 1888 On May 21, 1888, a bill, written by Senator Blair, was introduced in Congress titled, “The National Sunday Rest Bill of 1888.” This action took place just five months prior to the General Conference session of October, 1888. The bill stated in part, “A Bill to secure to the people the enjoyment of the first day of the week, commonly known as the Lord’s Day, as a day of rest and to promote its observance as a day of worship.” This bill stated further that, “Being enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled:- That no person, or corporation, or the agent service or employees of any person or corporation, shall perform, or authorize to be performed, a secular work, labor, or business, to the disturbance to others; works of necessity, mercy and humanity accepted; nor shall any person engage in any play, game, or amusement, or recreation, to the disturbance of others, on the first day of the week, commonly known as the Lord’s Day.” Ellen White had stated in 1885, “To secure popularity and patronage, legislators will yield to the demand for a Sunday law.” (ibid., 5T, p. 451, emphasis supplied). This prophecy came to pass just three years later on May 21, 1888 when the Sunday Law bill was introduced to Congress. This Sunday Law bill was introduced in the Congress of the United States over 109 years ago! What does this mean as to the signs of final events? What about the counsel that “the decree enforcing the papal sabbath will be a warning to us. It will then be time to leave the large cities, preparatory to leaving the smaller ones for retired homes in secluded places among the mountains.” (ibid., 5T, pp. 464, 465, emphasis supplied). A. T. Jones, then head of Religious Liberty for the General Conference, appeared before the Congressional Committee and defended the principles of separation of Church and State. The bill never passed. When Jones came to the General Conference session of 1888 he reported on these issues. After this experience, A. T. Jones wrote the book titled, Civil Government and Religion. (See above). In the Preface to this book, over the initials, A. T. J., February 13, 1889, it is stated, “This little work is the outgrowth of several lectures upon the relationship between religion and civil power, delivered in Minneapolis, Minnesota in October, 1888.” This little book, then, was the 1888 message given by A. T. Jones in regard to religious liberty. Again, this Sunday Law bill did not pass in 1888. The actual Sunday Law that did pass was a “rider” to an appropriations bill that proposed the Sunday closing of the Chicago Exposition of 1892. This Chicago World’s Fair was celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America in 1492. The “rider” to the appropriations bill stated in part, “Under the condition that the said Exposition shall not be open to the public on the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday.” This bill passed and was signed by President Harrison on August 5, 1892. Notice that the wording was changed. The wording in the first bill that did not pass was “the first day of the week, commonly called the Lord’s Day.” The bill that passed stated “commonly called Sunday.” Although this was not an oppressive one, the Sunday closing law was now on the record books. This Sunday closing law was signed August 5, 1892. Three months later, November 22, 1892, Ellen White wrote, “Let everyone who claims to believe that the Lord is soon coming search the Scriptures as never before.” (Review and Herald, November 22, 1892). 1888 – The Beginning Of the Latter Rain Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -405- “This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world,” Ellen White stated about the 1888 message. “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.” (ibid., TM, p. 92, emphasis supplied). “The time of test is just upon us,” Ellen White wrote in 1892, “for the loud cry of the third angel has already begun.” R&H, 11/22/92. Observe that in 1892 Ellen White stated that, “The time of test is just upon us,” and that the Loud Cry had begun with the 1888 message of righteousness by faith. Note carefully the complete testimony in context: Let every one who claims to believe that the Lord is soon coming, search the Scriptures as never before; for Satan is determined to try every device possible to keep souls in darkness, and blind the mind to the perils of the times in which we are living. Let every believer take up his Bible with earnest prayer, that he may be enlightened by the holy Spirit as to what is truth, that he may know more of God and of Jesus Christ whom he has sent. Search for the truth as for hidden treasures, and disappoint the enemy. The time of test is just upon us, for the loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth. For it is the work of every one to whom the message of warning has come, to lift up Jesus, to present him to the world as revealed in types, as shadowed in symbols, as manifested in the revelations of the prophets, as unveiled in the lessons given to his disciples and in the wonderful miracles wrought for the sons of men. Search the Scriptures; for they are they that testify of him. ibid., Ellen G. White, Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, November 22, 1892. (emphasis supplied). “The time of test is just upon us” was caused by the national Sunday Law passed in 1892. What other conclusion could there be? In 1892 the end of all things had come. The test of a Sunday Law was before them. The loud cry had begun. 1889-1905 – Sabbath/Sunday Statements By Roman Catholics “The message will be carried . . . not so much by argument” “The message will be carried, as was the midnight cry of 1844, not so much by argument as by the deep conviction of the Spirit of God,” Ellen White wrote. “The arguments have been presented.” (“The Loud Cry,” The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, page 430 (1888), emphasis supplied). This statement was in the old edition of The Great Controversy, first published in 1884. The arguments were presented at the very time, 1892, that Ellen White stated the loud cry had already begun. In 1888 the national Sunday Rest bill was introduced. In 1892, August 5, the first national Sunday closing law was enacted by Congress. Starting in 1889, and continuing until 1905, statements on the change of the Sabbath, from the seventh to the first day of the week, began to appear by Roman Catholic leaders. As you note the dates of the following Sunday statements penned by Roman Catholic leaders, keep in mind the statements by Ellen White that, ”The time of test is just upon us,” and also that, “the loud cry of the third angel has already begun.” We must also keep in mind that,.”The message will be carried . . . not so much by argument . . . ,” because, “The arguments have been presented.” 1889 – First Roman Catholic Statement “The Bible says:’Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,’” Father T. Enright wrote, “but the Catholic Church says: ‘No, keep the first day of the week,’ and all the world bows in obedience.” (T. Enright, of the Redemptorist Fathers, Industrial American, January 19, 1889, published in Harlan, Iowa, emphasis supplied). Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -406- Notice that this statement was made only four months after the General Conference of October, 1888. Ellen White stated that the message given at that time was the beginning of the loud cry. Keeping in mind the statement by T. Enright that, “all the world bows in obedience” to the Roman Catholic Church, note the following Scripture: “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.” John prophesied. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:3, 8, emphasis supplied). How much argument would you have to give on this point at the time the statement was made by T. Enright? None. The arguments had already been made. 1893 – Second Roman Catholic Statement “The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by the virtue of her divine mission,” James Cardinal Gibbons wrote, “changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.” (Pamphlet, The Christian Sabbath, Baltimore, Maryland; published by The Catholic Mirror, 1893, emphasis supplied). Another point to keep in mind was the unfavorable position held by the Roman Catholic Church among Protestants during the past century. Indeed, even the Seventh-day Adventist leadership, through their attorneys in a Supreme Court brief, stated, “that attitude on the [SDA] Church’s part was nothing more than a manifestation of widespread anti-popery among conservative Protestant denominations in the early part of this century and the latter part of the last.” (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission vs Pacific Press Publishing Association, Civ. No. 74-2025 CBR., Footnote #2,.page 41, emphasis supplied). Because of the anti-Catholic atmosphere during the 1880's and 1890's it would have been easy to present the truth of the seventh day Sabbath. 1893 – Baptist Statement In 1893, Dr. E. T. Hiscox, a Baptist clergyman and author of the Baptist Manual, in a paper read before a ministers meeting in Saratoga, New York, stated: Of course I quite well know that Sunday did come at a use in early Christian history as a religious day, as we learn from the Christian Fathers and other sources, but what a pity that it comes branded with the mark of Paganism, christened with the name of the sun god, then adopted and sanctioned by the Papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy of Protestantism and the Christian world. Dr. E. T. Hiscox, Paper, read before a ministers meeting in Saratoga, New York, 1893. Not one Seventh-day Adventist could have stated the change of the Sabbath more plainly than did the Baptist E. T. Hiscox. This statement has been a powerful tool used by Adventist evangelism over the years to prove the Protestant position on the change of the Sabbath. But when was the statement made? 1893, during the time of the beginning of the loud cry. 1894 – Third Roman Catholic Statement The Church took the Pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took the Roman Pantheon, temple of all the gods, and made it sacred to all the martyrs, and so it stands to this day. She took the Pagan Sunday and made it the Christian Sunday. The sun was the foremost god of heathendom, hence the Church in these countries would seem to have said, “Keep that old Pagan name, it shall remain consecrated, sanctified.” Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -407- And thus the Pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder [the white god of the Scandinavians], became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus. The Catholic World, March, 1894. 1895 – Fourth Roman Catholic Statement In 1895 J. F. Snyder wrote to Cardinal Gibbons, asking questions about the role of the Roman Catholic Church in the change of the Sabbath. A reply was sent through Cardinal Gibbons’ Chancellor. In his reply the Chancellor stated: Of course the Catholic Church claims the change was her act. It could not have been otherwise as none in those days would have dreamed of doing anything of matters spiritual and ecclesiastical without her. And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters. Letter, from the Chancellor of James Cardinal Gibbons to J. F. Snyder, Bloomington, Illinois, November 11, 1895. (emphasis supplied). Here is plainly stated the “mark of the beast.” The arguments on the change of the Sabbath were made and presented by other than Seventh-day Adventists during this time period. All that was needed for the people of God, under the power of the latter rain, was to present the message of righteousness by faith in a loud cry to the world. 1897 – Fifth Roman Catholic Statement In 1897 John Milner, a Roman Catholic Divine, wrote a letter to James Brown, a member of a Protestant Religious Society. After reviewing the history of the Sabbath from Creation to the life of Christ, Milner drew the following conclusion in his letter: “Yet with all this weight of Scripture authority for keeping the Sabbath or seventh day holy, Protestants, of all denominations, make this a profane day and transfer the obligation of it to the first day of the week, or the Sunday,” Milner concluded. “Now what authority have they for doing this? None at all, but the unwritten word or tradition of the Catholic Church.” (Letter #11, quoted in The End of Religious Controversy, New York, P. J. Kenedy, 1897, page 89, emphasis his). 1899-1905 – Three Continuous Offers Of $1, 000 (1) I hereby offer $1, 000 to anyone who can prove to me, from the Bible alone, that I am bound, under pain of grievous sin, to keep Sunday holy. T. Enright, CssR, Kansas City, MO., June 16, 1899. (2) I still offer $1, 000 to anyone who can prove to me, from the Bible alone, that I am bound, under pain of grievous sin, to keep Sunday holy. We keep Sunday in obedience to the law of the Catholic Church. The Church made this law long after the Bible was written; hence the law is not in the Bible. The Catholic church abolished not only the Sabbath, but all the other Jewish festivals T. Enright, Letter, dated at Detroit, MI, April 26, 1902. (3) I have offered and still offer $1, 000 to anyone who can prove to me, from the Bible alone, that I am bound, under pain of grievous sin, to keep Sunday holy. It was the Catholic Church which made the law obliging us to keep Sunday holy. The Church made this law long after the Bible was written; hence said law is not in the Bible. Christ our Lord empowered His church to make laws binding on conscious. T. Enright, Letter, dated at St. Louis, MO, June, 1905. These statements by Protestants and the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church were used by evangelists during the 1940's and 1950's, the heyday of Seventh-day Adventist evangelism. Again, these statements were made during the time period 1889 through 1905. This was not a mere coincidence. God was preparing the way for the finishing of the work. Had He not said through Ellen White, “we are standing Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -408- upon the threshold of the eternal world?” (5T, p. 18). God sent a special message to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Loud Cry had begun. The Sunday Law was in place. The arguments on Sabbath and Sunday had been presented. Everything was in place for the finishing of the work. The time was right – the hour had struck! What happened? We are still here at the turn of still another century? The Crisis Of 1901 and 1903 Within the SDA Church In the crisis of 1901 and 1903 the issue was organization, more specifically, the office of the President of the General Conference. In her opening address at the 1901 General Conference session, Ellen White called for a reorganization, based upon a different principle. A new constitution was adopted in 1901. (See, General Conference Bulletin, Vol. IV, First Quarter, April 22, 1901. Extra, No. 17, page 378). In this new constitution the office of the President of the General Conference was abolished and in its place a General Conference “chairman,” a new chairman to be elected each year, was established. In 1903 the 1901 Constitution was abolished and the principles of Romanism prior to the 1901 Constitution were reestablished. Arthur G. Daniells, the first chairman of the General Conference Committee elected in 1901 considered himself to be the President, rather than a mere “chairman.” At the 1903 General Conference session Daniells presented still another Constitution reinstating the office of President of the General Conference Although this 1903 subversive Constitution was opposed by a minority committee, the Constitution was passed and adapted. The Minority Committee Report was signed by three men, E. J. Waggoner, Dr. David Paulson, and Percy T. Magan. A. T. Jones was also on the Minority committee. “The motion for the Minority position was put, and was lost!.” (GCB, 1903, No.10, p. 147, emphasis supplied). Arthur G. Daniells retained the Presidency of the General Conference for over twenty years. Returning To the Track Of Romanism In his statement on the position of the minority committee, Percy T. Magan, noted pioneer Adventist educator, made the following observations: “The minority report expresses in a word the feelings which actuated the minority in making the report, because we believe that the constitution proposed by the majority of the committee appears to us to be so subversive of the principles of organization given to us at the General Conferences of 1897 and 1901,” Magan stated. “Those principles were given to us by the Spirit of God. In my judgment, and in the judgment of the minority of the committee, this constitution is absolutely subversive of those principles.” (ibid., GCB, 1903, No.10, p. 150, emphasis supplied). “The General Conference is itself becoming corrupted with wrong sentiments and principles,” Ellen White wrote in 1895. “They are following in the track of Romanism.” (Testimonies to Ministers, pages 359, 362, (1895), emphasis supplied). Objection To Reestablishing One Man At the Head Of the Work “Further,” Magan emphasized, “this whole house must recognize this, before we are through with this discussion, that the proposed new constitution, whatever improvements may be claimed for it, whatever advantages it may be stated that it contains, that, in principle, as far as the head of the work is concerned, it goes back precisely where we were before the reformatory steps of two years ago.” (ibid., GCB, 1903, No.10, p. 150, emphasis supplied). Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -409- 1903 – An Image Of the Papacy In the SDA Church Then in his statement on the position of the minority committee Percy T. Magan made the following startling observation: “The principles which are to be brought in through this proposed constitution, and in the way in which they are brought in,” Magan stated, “are the same principles, and introduced in precisely the same way, as they were hundreds of years ago when the Papacy was made.” (ibid., GCB, 1903, No.10, p. 150, emphasis supplied). One hundred and eight delegates were present. Eighty-five voted for the new subversive Constitution, “carrying the action by a majority of four.” (Arthur L. White, EGW, The Early Elmshaven Years, page 257). At the moment the delegates voted the subversive “new” Constitution, the corporate Seventh-day Adventist Church began to travel down the track toward Romanism. Within the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an image of the Papacy was voted in 1903! God’s Altered Plan 1901-1903 – Altered Testimonies About the Church and the End After the new subversive 1903 Constitution was voted, reverting the policies of the Church back “in the track of Romanism,” a key testimony came from the pen of inspiration just ten days later. In this testimony the Seventh-day Adventist Church was now to be judged in the balances of the heavenly sanctuary. “In the balances of the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist church is to be weighed,” Ellen White wrote. “She will be judged by the privileges and advantages that she has had.” (“Shall We Be Found Wanting,” April 21, 1903, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 8, page 247, emphasis supplied). If the Seventh-day Adventist Church is going through, why does she have to face a judgement? How and by what criteria will the Church be Judged? “If her spiritual experience does not correspond to the advantages that Christ, at infinite cost, has bestowed on her, if the blessings conferred have not qualified her to do the work entrusted to her,” Ellen White warned, “on her will be pronounced the sentence: ‘Found wanting.’ By the light bestowed, the opportunities given, will she be judged.” (ibid., 8T, p. 247, emphasis supplied). 1901 – Altered Testimony – “Many More Years” After the turn of the century key testimonies began to appear from the pen of inspiration. In 1901, rather than stating that we were at the very end of time, the pen of inspiration stated that, “We may have to remain here in this world . . . many more years.” Not only that, but “as did the children of Israel.” Ellen White even told us why we would have to remain many more years – “because of insubordination.” “We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years as did the children of Israel,” Ellen White wrote in 1901, “but for Christ’s sake, His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action.” (Letter to Percy T. Magan, December 7, 1901; Manuscript Release, no. 184, 1901). God has altered His end-time plan for the finishing of the work because the Church rejected the loud cry and the latter rain in the 1888 message, and because an image to the Papacy was established in the Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -410- Church at the turn of the century. In 1901, in a letter addressed to Percy T. Magan, Ellen White penned the following startling statement: White Estate Admits God’s Plan Has Been Altered “Obviously, she [Ellen White] believed that the end of the world was imminent,” the White Estate compilers noted. “But Christ’s return has been delayed. In 1901 Ellen White wrote, ‘We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years.’” (Compiler’s Note, Ellen G. White Estate, “Marriage,” Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce, page 13, emphasis supplied). Altered Testimonies On the Sunday Law As A Sign To Leave Large Cities Before the turn of the century the testimonies to leave the large cities was linked to a Sunday law. In 1902 Ellen White wrote, “On these cities God’s judgements will fall.” (Letter #58, 1902). In 1905 Ellen White wrote, “The world over cities are becoming hotbeds of vice.” (Ministry of Healing, page 363, 1905). In 1906 Ellen White pleaded, “Out of the cities, out of the cities, this is the message the Lord has been giving me.” (Life Sketches, page 409). Notice that she does not mention a Sunday Law. She gives other reasons for moving from the cities, but we are no longer to look for a Sunday Law as a sign to get out of the cities. In 1907 Ellen White warned, “Our cities are increasing in wickedness, and it is becoming more and more evident that those who remain in them unnecessarily, do so at the peril of their souls’ salvation.” (Manuscript #115, 1907). Again, nothing is said about the Sunday Law. “Get out! Get out, because of the wickedness,” is the counsel. Altered Testimonies On the Location Of God’s People Before the turn of the century, inspiration stated that the majority of God’s people were still in the Churches of Babylon, outside the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In God’s altered plan the majority of His people are in the remnant Church. “Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness, and alienation from God, that exist in the churches which constitute Babylon,” Ellen White wrote in 1888, “the great body of Christ’s true followers are still to be found in their communion.” (The Great Controversy, 1888 Edition, page 390, emphasis supplied). This statement was written in 1888. It is also in the 1911 edition of The Great Controversy, page 390. We can still read the statement today, but does it still apply today? God’s Altered Plan For the Closing Of the Work Because of the rejection of the loud cry and latter rain, God has altered His plan for the Church. Three weeks after Ellen White had written that the loud cry had already begun she was given a new testimony on the future of the Church and the message. After the truth has been proclaimed as a witness to all nations, every conceivable power of evil will be set in operation, and minds will be confused by many voices crying, “Lo, here is Christ, Lo, he is there. This is the truth, I have the message from God, he has sent me with great light.” Then there will be a removing of the landmarks, and an attempt to tear down the pillars of our faith. A more decided effort will be made to exalt the false Sabbath, and to cast contempt upon God himself by supplanting the day he has blessed and sanctified. This false Sabbath is to be enforced by an oppressive law. Satan and his angels are wide-awake, and intensely active, working with energy and perseverance through human instrumentalities to bring about his purpose of obliterating from the minds of men the Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -411- knowledge of God. But while Satan works with his lying wonders, the time will be fulfilled foretold in the Revelation, and the mighty angel that shall lighten the earth with his glory, will proclaim the fall of Babylon, and call upon God’s people to forsake her. Ellen G. White, Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, December 13, 1892. (emphasis supplied). “After the truth has been proclaimed as a witness to all nations.” If the truth has been proclaimed as a witness to all the nations, then will the greater part of God’s children still be out there in Babylon? No. Is there an altered end-time plan? Yes. In the loud cry of the 1890's, which was rejected, the greater part of God’s people were still out there in Babylon. Because of “insubordination”of His people God’s altered plan is that we are to remain here “many more years.” Now when the loud cry comes again, one hundred years later, the majority of God’s people are no longer out there in Babylon – there will not be a great influx of people into God’s remnant Church. The Time Of the Marvelous Working Of Satan In the hour in which we live – when many voices around us are crying, “Lo, here is Christ, Lo, he is there. This is the truth, I have the message from God, he has sent me with great light” – in this time in which we live “there will be a removing of the landmarks, and an attempt to tear down the pillars of our faith.” We have witnessed this in the past forty years. This prophecy has been, and is being, fulfilled to the very letter. During this end-time in which we live, “Satan and his angels are wide-awake, and intensely active, working with energy and perseverance through human instrumentalities to bring about his purpose of obliterating from the minds of men the knowledge of God.” What is God’s plan for His true people during this time of the marvelous working of Satan? When the Lord Cry Comes Again “But while Satan works with his lying wonders,” Ellen White replies, “the time will be fulfilled foretold in the Revelation, and the mighty angel that shall lighten the earth with his glory, will proclaim the fall of Babylon, and call upon God’s people to forsake her.” (ibid., R&H, 12/13/92, emphasis supplied). In this our day, the news media of the world will be filled with the evidence of “the marvelous working of Satan” and his “lying wonders.” But we are told that “while Satan works with his lying wonders,” the loud cry will commence in “the mighty angel that shall lighten the earth with his glory.” In the 1890's God’s first plan was to call the majority of His people out of the fallen churches of Babylon into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Now, one hundred years later, when the loud cry commences again, the message “will proclaim the fall of Babylon, and call upon God’s people to forsake her.” (ibid.). God will fulfill his covenant promise, but will it be fulfilled in the manner in which we first believed? “Ye shall know the altering of my purpose.” (Numbers 14:34). “Christians should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise,” Ellen White warned, and this preparation they should make by diligently studying the Word of God and striving to conform their lives to its precepts.” (Prophets and Kings, page 626, 1914). “Confusion fills the world, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings,” Ellen White warned. “The end is very near. We who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.” (The Watchman, “Even at the Door,” December 1, 1909). If we do not see the lessons written in the history of the children of Israel and the history of the Advent movement, we are going to make some terrible mistakes. Again, God will fulfill His covenant promise, but we will not be going in at Kadesh-barnea. We will be crossing the Jordan at Jericho. It will not be Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -412- Moses that will lead the remnant into the promised land, but Jehoshua who leads His church across Jordan. [Note:- In the Strong’s Greek dictionary commentary on Hebrews 4:8, #2424, the word “Jesus” is stated to be “Jehoshua, the name of our Lord.” Also the King James marginal reading for the word “Jesus” in Hebrews 4:8 is “Joshua.” The NIV and RSV translate the word “Jesus” in Hebrews 4:8 as “Joshua.” The name “Jesus” and “Joshua” are interchangeable.] The Question Of Removing the Old Landmarks and Pillars Was there an attempt to remove the landmarks and pillars of Adventism in 1888? No. But there was accusation that this was being done in the 1888 message. The Landmarks Defined -- In Minneapolis God gave precious gems of truth to His people in new settings. This light from heaven by some was rejected with all the stubbornness the Jews manifested in rejecting Christ, and there was much talk about standing by the old landmarks. But there was evidence they knew not what the old landmarks were. There was evidence and there was reasoning from the word that commended itself to the conscience; but the minds of men were fixed, sealed against the entrance of light, because they had decided it was a dangerous error removing the “old landmarks” when it was not moving a peg of the old landmarks, but they had perverted ideas of what constituted the old landmarks. (CWE, p. 30). Notice that in 1888 there was no attempt to remove the old landmarks or pillars of Adventism. There was evidence that some of the leaders did not know what the landmarks and pillars of Adventism were. The old landmarks and pillars were not being removed in 1888, but what was the real condition that existed in 1888. Those who resisted the Spirit of God at Minneapolis were waiting for a chance to travel over the same ground again, because their spirit was the same. Afterward, when they had evidence heaped upon evidence, some were convicted; but those who were not softened and subdued by the Holy Spirit's working, put their own interpretation upon every manifestation of the grace of God, and they have lost much. They declared in their heart and soul and words that this manifestation of the Holy Spirit was fanaticism and delusion. . .. But all the universe of heaven witnessed the disgraceful treatment of Jesus Christ, represented by the Holy Spirit. Had Christ been before them, they would have treated him in a manner similar to that in which the Jews treated Christ. Ellen G. White, Special Testimonies for Ministers and Workers, Series A, No. 6, page 19. (emphasis supplied). This was our experience in 1888. Notice that if Jesus had been before them at Minneapolis “they would have treated him in a manner similar to that in which the Jews treated Christ.” This was our Kadeshbarnea. After that experience Ellen White stated, “We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years as did the children of Israel. . . . .” (Letter to Percy T. Magan, December 7, 1901). What is “insubordination?” It is rebellion. You will not obey the commands, you will not harken to it. What did Israel do at Kadesh-barnea? They murmured, they rebelled, they refused to go into and possess the promised land. Ellen White concluded the statement by adding that, “for Christ’s sake, His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action.” The truth of this statement is in the fact that we are still here in the year of our Lord 1998. What did Israel do at Kadesh-barnea? They rebelled and had to stay forty long years in the wilderness. And when they went in, they did not go in at Kadesh-barnea, Moses did not take them in, Joshua took them in. They went in, but there was a change. The altering of the divine purpose. Removing the Landmarks Chapter 20 Modern Israel At Kadesh-Barnea -413- About the time in which we live Ellen White stated, “After the truth has been proclaimed as a witness to all nations . . . Then there will be a removing of the landmarks, and an attempt to tear down the pillars of our faith.” (ibid., R&H, 12/13/1892, emphasis supplied). Will this removing of the landmarks come from within or without? “We have far more to fear from within than from without,” Ellen White replies. “The hindrances to strength and success are far greater from the church itself than from the world.” (Selected Messages, Bk. 1, page 122, emphasis supplied). The end-time controversy will not be our relationship with the Church, but our relationship to Christ and His truth. If the landmarks and pillars of our faith have been removed, so that the pioneer Adventist truth cannot be recognized, is God going to bring millions of people out of the churches of Babylon into a corrupted Seventh-day Adventist Church? Is the loud cry going to be as we read the history of our people from 1888 to 1900? No. God has altered His end-time plan for modern Israel. Christ Would Have Come By 1901 “Had the purpose of God been carried out by His people in giving the [1888] message of mercy to the world,” Ellen White said in her talk at the 1901 General Conference, “Christ would have come to the earth, and the saints would ere this have received their welcome into the city of God.” (General Conference Bulletin, April 4, 1901; Repeated in Monthly Missionary Reading, April 9, 1908). And ye shall know the altering of my purpose”