by Jerry Huerta
copyright 2020
It repeatedly appears that one must look back to discern the
fulfillment of prophecy. This is upheld by a good number of expositors such as Sanford
Calvin Yoder, who wrote in his book on prophecy: “In the light of everything
that has happened to the interpreters, who so minutely interpret the predictive
elements of Scripture, the old adage of the fathers still stands—that
prophecies are best interpreted after they are fulfilled.”[1] What makes us
differ from E.B. Elliott or H. Grattan Guinness is our perspective, that is the
advancement of the historical phenomena that they were not privy to witness. In
other words, progressive revelation must be taken into account in evaluating
Elliott or Guinness today. One thing that is evident in light of the adage
Yoder expressed, their failure to comprehend a good deal of the connections in
Revelation and other scripture relegates much of their work to the fire of 1
Corinthians 3:13-15. Furthermore, it is hard to deny this fire is what is
depicted by the trumpets in Revelation.
Elliott’s failure to connect Revelation 15:1-2 with 11:14-18 resulted
in the untenable beliefs that all six vials of God’s wrath were poured out
during the time of the French Revolution.
The second woe is
past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded;
and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever
and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats,
fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord
God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to
thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy
wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they
should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the
prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and
shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. (Revelation 11:14-18)
And I saw another
sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last
plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea
of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the
beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name,
stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. (Revelation 15:1-2)
We are awaiting only the fulfillment of the pouring out of the seventh
vial in Elliott’s interpretation. Even so, Revelation 11:18 makes it plain that
the wrath of God is confined to the time of the seventh and last trumpet, “the
time of the dead, that they should be judged.” The vials containing the final
seven plagues are all poured out during the time when the dead in Christ are
raised, which obviously did not occur during the time of the French Revolution.
And since the elect of God is not appointed to wrath (John 3:36 Romans 5:9 1
Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9), there is every indication that the ascent of the two
witnesses, “up to heaven in a cloud,” in Revelation 11:12 is the same account
depicted in the subsequent verse 18 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. Furthermore,
it is these events that lead directly to the rise of the eighth head, “the beast
that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit” (verse 7). The Greek compels us to
equate or identify said beast with the beast in Revelation 17:8, the final
head, the restored papacy that makes war with Christ at his return. However,
the traditionalists overlook this identity in order to place the two witnesses
in our past. Nevertheless, any interpretation that dismisses this connection
must produce the historical correspondence concerning the “sealing” that
inhibits the locusts from hurting the men with “the seal of God in their
foreheads,” without a plethora of assumptions and ad hoc explanations. There is
no such explanation by traditionalists that do not have a plethora of
assumptions and ad hoc explanations. In recognition of this connection a
departure from the “day year” principle is warranted, which also reveals
Revelation 11 as an antitype of Yom Kippur, the cleansing of the sanctuary;
i.e., “measure the temple of God and the altar, and them that worship therein”
(verse 1). Nineteenth-century Historicist, author, and editor of Review and
Herald, Uriah Smith, revealed that prophetic time ends “in the days of the
voice of the seventh angel” (Revelation 10:7).
‘Time No Longer.’
What is the meaning of this most solemn declaration? It cannot mean that with
the message of this angel, time, as computed in this world, in comparison with
eternity, should end. The next verse speaks of the days of the voice of the
seventh angel, and Revelation 11:15–19 gives us some of the events to take
place under this trumpet in the present state. It cannot mean probationary
time, for that does not cease until Christ closes His work as priest, which is
not until after the seventh angel has begun to sound. (Revelation 11:15,
15:5–8.) It must therefore mean prophetic time, for there is no other to which
it can refer.[2]
All the events of chapter 11 are confined to the “days of the voice of
the seventh angel,” and as such, the 1260 day in 11:3 and five months in 9:5
cannot be determined by the “day year” principle.
Another major connection that is overlooked in traditional Historicism was
the prophetic as well as the historical nature of the seven churches and their
connections with the seven seals. From the perspective of the
nineteenth-century Elliott and Guinness could hardly see the remarkable
resemblance of our modern-day market-driven society and the illustrations of
the lukewarm condition of the first century church at Laodicea. Nevertheless, centuries
of developing the proper guidelines and the passage of time has led expositors
to discern the imagery of the churches in tracing the history of the church.
Each church has a pronounced theme, such as the ability to discern apostles in
the first church of Ephesus, which is certainly indicative of the early rise of
the church. The theme of the second church, Smyrna, is their persecution and martyrdom,
which soon followed up until the time of the emperor Constantine, the most
severe lasting during the reign of Diocletian. The theme of the following
church, Pergamos, is that they dwelt in the seat of Satan and how many were
seduced by this fraternization, this being acknowledged also by the
preponderance of even secular historians concerning the conversion of the Roman
empire to Christianity; the empire continued in many respects with pagan
idolatry. And the illustrations of Thyatira have led contemporary historicists,
such as Uriah Smith, to interpret Jezebel as the papacy.
That Woman Jezebel.—
As in the preceding church Antipas denoted, not an individual, but a class of
persons, so, doubtless, Jezebel is here to be understood in the same sense.
Watson's Bible Dictionary says, " The name of Jezebel is used proverbially.
Rev. 2:20." William Miller, Lectures, p. 142, speaks as follows:—
“Jezebel
is a figurative name, alluding to Ahab's wife, who slew the prophets of the
Lord, led her husband into idolatry, and fed the prophets of Baal at her own
table. A more striking figure could not have been -used to denote the papal
abominations. (See 1 Kings, chapters 18, 19, and 21). It is very evident from
history, as well as from this verse, that the church of Christ did suffer some
of the papal monks to preach and teach among them. (See the ‘History of the
Waldenses.’)”[3]
Uriah Smith wrote during the late part of the nineteenth-century and
early twentieth, and he and his contemporaries had already witnessed the close
of the era of Sardis and the ascent of the Laodicean era, as the phenomenon of
the Industrial Revolution, commanded by Protestantism, was well behind them.
Yet, they faltered in making the connections between the seven churches and
seven seals. To begin, the phenomenon of the seven church eras are interpreted
by a linear narration, but no such linear interpretation is held for the other
three septets, the seals, trumpets and vials. As stated above, Smith held the
prophetic interpretation of the seven churches, but breaks the linear narration
in chapter 4, maintaining that the throne scene returns to the first advent.
A new scene and a
new vision now open before us; and the expression “after this” does not denote
that what is recorded in chapter 4 and onward was to take place after the
fulfilment of everything recorded in the three preceding chapters, but only
that after he had seen and heard what is there recorded, he had the new view
which he now introduces.[4]
By the time of Smith, the progressive revelation had established the
prophetic and linear narration of the seven churches in historicism. However,
historicists still held to the incessant impeding of this linear narration with
the septets of the seals, trumpet, and vials or plagues. The expressions of
“after this” and John’s beckoning to show us “things which must be hereafter”
in Revelation 4:1 convey the continuation of linear narration and that the
phenomena that follow overlap the last era of the churches, and that any
departure is arbitrary. Even so, progressive revelation has led some
historicists to maintain the linear narration in Revelation 4-5. Historicists
Frank W. Hardy, Ph.D., creator of Historicism.org, and R. Dean Davis, Professor
of Religion at Atlantic Union College in South Lancaster, Massachusetts, have
reevaluated the traditional interpretation with the sound proposal that the
throne scene is the same one depicted in Daniel 7 and that it is concurrent
with the Laodicean church era.
The throne scene
takes place in the timeframe to which the seven letters have brought us, i.e.,
the timeframe of the letter to Laodicea, in and after 1844.[5]
In Rev 5 the
portrayal is that of a traditional divine council in session… an investigative-type
judgment…. Contrary to the views of most modern interpreters, there is evidence
for interpreting the seven-sealed scroll as the Lamb’s book of life. The evidence
includes: (1) the occurrences of the phrase (or equivalent) “Lamb’s book of
life” (13:8; 20:12), (2) the reaction of those who have a definite stake in the
contents of the scroll, (3) the corporate solidarity between the Lamb as
Redeemer and the righteous saints as the redeemed, and (4) the parallel passage
of Daniel 7, which describes the same corporate solidarity between the saints
of the Most High and one like a son of man who receives the saints of the Most
High as his covenant inheritance.[6]
Acknowledging the linear development between the throne scene in
Revelation 4-5 and the seven churches also concedes the connection with the
open door concerning the Philadelphian era of the church.
And to the angel of
the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that
is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth;
and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee
an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast
kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the
synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not,
but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and
to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience,
I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which
shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
(Revelation 3:7-10)
The key of David is a reference to Isaiah 22:22 by which additional
discovery can be garnered. Commentators convey the chapter in Isaiah pertains
to a typical example of impending judgment at the hands of an invading army and
the intervention of a Messiah type individual that determines who is fit or not
to enter the city, signified by the open and shut door. The connection between
the phenomena related as the open door in Revelation 3:7-10, the throne scene
and seven seals are overwhelming. The discrimination between them “which say
they are Jews, and are not” and the true Philadelphian is figurative and not by
blood, considering that the church was a Gentile congregation. The intent is a
parting of those who are indeed Christ’s from those who are not. And this
parting is accomplished by the trial that is about to come upon “them that
dwell upon the earth.” The trial is clearly conveyed by the seven seals,
insomuch as the saints depicted in the fifth seal petition for relief from this
trial at the hands of the four horsemen of the previous four seals. Considering
the impending judgments conveyed in the fifth and sixth seals, Historicist Jon
Paulien recognizes the significance of said framework as it pertains to the
judgment scene in Revelation 8:3–5 that introduces the sounding of the seven
trumpets, at the opening of the seventh seal,
The seven trumpets, like the churches and seals before them, are
preceded by a view of the heavenly sanctuary (8:2–6)...
Thus the prayers of the saints in Revelation 8:3–5 are probably cries for deliverance
from the oppression visited by their enemies as depicted in the seven seals...
Two basic ideas are portrayed in Revelation 8:3–5,
mediation and judgment...
This relationship is, perhaps, best understood
by examining the apparent connection between the fifth seal. In the fifth seal
(Rev 6:9–11) John sees martyred souls under “the” altar crying out “How long, O
Lord, the Holy and True One, do you not judge and avenge our blood upon those
who live on the earth...
The spiritual connection between the
trumpets and the fifth seal is made in Rev 8:3–5 where incense from the golden
altar is mingled with “the prayers of the saints (tôn katoikountôn epi tês
gês).”14 This scene symbolizes Christ’s intercession for His saints. He
responds to their prayers by casting His censer to the earth, with frightful
results.
This connection between the altar of
6:9–11 and that of 8:3–5 indicates that the seven trumpets are God’s response
to the prayers of the saints for vengeance on those who have persecuted and
martyred them. The martyrs were anxious for the judgment to begin but it was
delayed until all the seals had been opened.[7]
Paulien conveys the very judgment that is to “come upon all the world,
to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 3:10) when one accepts the
linear narration from Revelation 1 through 5 that Hardy and Davis concede. One
cannot put the trail that is about to come upon the whole earth behind the
throne scene in Revelation 4-5 if the scene overlaps the era of the final “church
of the Laodiceans,” especially when one accepts “that judgment must begin at
the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17).
What historicists has failed grasp is that judgment is a bipartite
process beginning with Rosh Hashanah. The traditional Jewish understanding of
Rosh Hashanah is that it is the Hidden Day, Yom Ha Kesh, (the only major
festival inaugurated on a new moon) which gives us tremendous support in that
it corresponds to Christ’s admonitions of how he will come secretly as a thief
(Matthew 24:42-43). This is the admonition given the era of Sardis. There is major
falling away of the church indicated by the fifth church, Sardis: “thou
hast a name that thou livest, and art dead” (Revelation 3:1). This judgment is
precedented in Amos: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will
not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for
silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes” (Amos 2:6). Sardis is acknowledged by
a major part of historicism as representing the Reformation, the Protestant
era, that became more and more political until the line of distinction between
the church and the world was obliterated.[8] Sardis represents the fourth
transgression of the seven churches, as Smyrna cannot be counted, and the
punishment is that Christ comes as a thief (Revelation 3:3), which is the “day
of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness” of Joel
2:2, heralded by a trumpet. Joel witnesses that God’s locust army has, “The
appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so
shall they run… They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the
wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows
like a thief” (Joel 2:4, 9). Yet, God provides those who “had not defiled their
garments” in Sardis an open door to repent through the church of Philadelphia:
“behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it’
(Revelation 3:8). This is the same door in Revelation 4:1. Nevertheless, worldliness
persisted with the church of the Laodiceans and the locusts/army fulfills the
antitypical judgment of Rosh Hashana because the Protestants “sold the the
righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes” (Amos 2:6). The
commerce of the Protestants is documented in my work found in my book.
Historicists will argue the phrase qō-ḏeš wə-niṣ-daq, in Daniel
8:14, gives no indication of Rosh Hashanah. The failure with such a
remonstrance is that the little horn in Daniel 8 is acknowledged as a bipartite
phenomenon: pagan and papal Rome. The autumnal festivals were clearly connected
in such a fashion. The process of cleansing the sanctuary was irrevocably
conjoined with the announcement that judgment had begun with the sounding of
the trumpet at the day of darkness, Yom Ha Kesh.
The significance of Yom Ha Kesh was revealed by the prophets such as
Joel, Amos and John in the Revelation. The day is revealed by the release of
God’s locust army, depicted as horsemen, and correspond to the locust army of
Joel 1-2 and Amos 7:1-3. The souls who petition for relief in the fifth seal,
correspond with those who petition between the porch and alter in Joel 2:15-17
and Amos’ petition in Amos 7:2. The relief is the turning back of the locusts
army into the sea, they are turned back to the wicked when his people are
sealed and the final trial by fire commences, depicted in Revelation 8-11, Joel
3, and Amos 7:4-8.
[1] Sanford Calvin Yoder, He Gave Some Prophets (Wipf & Stock Pub.,
October 1, 1998), 73.
[2] Uriah Smith, Daniel and Revelation, (Review and Herald
Publishing, 2009), 209.
[3] Ibid., 438.
[4] Ibid., 463.
[5] Frank W. Hardy, Ph.D., “Historicism and the Judgment A Study of
Revelation 4-5 and 19a,” Historicism.org, (August 8, 2006, Modified
April 15, 2010), 1. http://www.historicism.org/Documents/Lecture1Rev4-5.pdf
[6] R. Dean Davis, “The Heavenly Court Scene of Revelation 4-5”
(Andrews University Dissertations, Paper 31, 1986), 243-244.
https://
digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1030&context=dissertations
[7] Jon Paulien, “Interpreting the Seven Trumpets,” A Paper Prepared
for the Daniel and Revelation Committee of the General Conference of SDAs
(March 5-9, 1986), 6-7, 11-13. http://www.thebattleofarmageddon. com/7trumpets
pdf/Interpreting%20the%20Seven%20Trumpets2.pdf
[8] Smith, Daniel and Revelation, 442.
This post is a postscript to the book above, which is available here.
This post is a postscript to the book above, which is available here.
No comments:
Post a Comment