Who is the Zion From Which Sinners
Are Shaken?
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Dear Reader, This is the
first in a study of cherished errors held by the SDA church for decades. In
this series, every word ANYONE can find on any of the given issues will be
weighed and interpreted so that NOTHING contradicts, for then, and THEN ONLY,
can we KNOW that we are not in error. The following formula will be followed
scrupulously, and we will then see who is twisting the Word and Ellen White
to serve their own cause. So any statement from Scripture and Ellen White
that you think supports your cause, submit it to this close study of the Word
and the Spirit of Prophecy. It might be well for all to save all of these
studies, so that we don't have to rehash all these issues over and over
again, preventing the study of additional important issues. There can be no
contestation of the fact that reasoning and interpretation must be employed
in fulfilling the following weight of evidence formula. But if every WORD is
brought to the fore and interpreted so that absolutely nothing in the total
picture contradicts, then, and ONLY THEN, can one know that he/she is not in
error. 1. Weight of Evidence
Formula: "1. Every word must have its proper bearing on the subject
presented in the Bible 2. All Scripture is necessary, and may be understood
by diligent application and study 3. Nothing revealed in Scripture can or
will be hid from those who ask in faith, not wavering 4. To understand
doctrine, bring all the scriptures together on the subject you wish to know,
then let every word have its proper influence and if you can form your theory
without a contradiction, you cannot be in error 5. Scripture must be its own
expositor, [interpreter] since it is a rule of itself. If I depend on a
teacher to expound to me, and he should guess at its meaning, or desire to
have it so on account of his sectarian creed, or to be thought wise, then his
guessing, desire, creed, or wisdom is my rule, and not the Bible." E.G.
White, Second Advent Review and Herald, 11-25-34, pr. 24. Cherished
Errors of Adventism--Issue 1: Who is Shaken From Whom--Zion Versus
Laodicea--Sinners Shaken out of Zion "The church may
appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners
IN ZION will be sifted out--the chaff separated from the precious wheat [AFTER THE CLOSE OF PROBATIONARY
TIME--CHRIST'S OBJECT LESSONS 72]. This is a terrible ordeal, but
nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming by
the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the
loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their
mouths... The REMNANT that purify
their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process,
exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy. All these,
He says, 'I have graven . . . upon the palms of my hands' (Isa. 49:16)... That which God required
of Adam before his fall was perfect obedience to His law. God requires now
what He required of Adam, perfect obedience, righteousness without a flaw,
without shortcoming in His sight....We cannot do this without that faith that
brings Christ's righteousness into daily practice." E.G. White, Selected Messages, Bk. 2,
380. Major errors have accrued because professing
Seventh-day Adventists have failed to comprehend the meaning of Ellen White’s
statement that sinners are sifted out of Zion, which means that the chaff is
separated from the precious wheat. Here are some of the problems to the
popular interpretation of that statement: ·
The wheat is not
separated from the chaff until the close of probationary time. That occurs at
the commencement of the first plague according to Ellen White. ·
The statement that
the church appears as about to fall, but does not, is errantly used to teach
it is the visible, organized church that appears as about to fall, but that
it doesn’t and that church is purged and purified by all the sinners being
shaken out of it and it then becomes the SDA church triumphant. ·
It is taught that
at the Sunday Law the wheat will be separated from the chaff. But that is not
the close of probationary time, and Ellen White says that the wheat is not
separated from the chaff until the end of probationary time, which occurs at
the commencement of the first plague. Testimonies,
Vol. 5, p. 81, is used to teach that the gold (wheat) will be separated from
the dross (tares) “in this time.” ·
Testimonies,
Vol. 5, p. 81, says “IN THIS TIME the gold will be separated from the
dross in the church.” ·
Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 72, makes it
plain that the separation does not occur until THE END OF PROBATIONARY TIME.[1] Some light’s should be
beginning to turn on at this point. ·
The notion is
taught that at the Sunday Law, the bad will leave the church and this is what
causes it to appear that the church is about to fall. But, if the wheat are
not separated from the tares until the close of probation, that becomes a
problem for those who believe the time the church appears about to fall is at
the inception of the Sunday Law. ·
The visible church
should not continue beyond the enforcement
of the Sunday Law. If the visible church closed its doors at the enforcement of the Sunday Law, and/or
many left the church to join Babylon’s ranks at that time, it would indeed
appear that the church was about to fall, but that is not what Ellen White
says will happen. She says that the church will keep going and instruct its
members to keep Sunday.[2] ·
Many may mutiny
from the visible and/or the invisible SDA church at the enforcement of the
Sunday Law, but that is not when the wheat are shaken from the tares, because
that is not the close of probation. ·
So we come to the
inevitable, forced interpretation that Ellen White’s statement that sinners
are shaken out of Zion, must of necessity refer to the SDA church triumphant,
because there is no separation of the wheat from the tares (sinners) until
the end of probationary time, and the visible SDA church should not continue
after the Sunday Law is enforced, and if it did (and it will), it would not
be the SDA church militant being purged of the bad to become the SDA church
triumphant. The church triumphant will not occur until the very end according
to Ellen White’s statements as we have discussed them so far. So it seems.
But things are not always as they seem,
are they? Another View of Who is Shaken From and by Whom Now we are going to move in an entirely
different direction, all the while adding evidence from the Bible and the
Spirit of Prophecy to the weight of evidence discussed thus far. This
additional evidence will add some most intriguing and interesting factors to
the final conclusion we will be forced to if we
interpret all the facts so that none contradict. We will study the identity
of Zion, because that is from, and by whom the tares and rebels are shaken
from the Kingdom of God. Let’s take a closer look at the statement under
study: "The church may
appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners
IN ZION will be sifted out--the chaff separated from the precious wheat [AFTER THE CLOSE OF PROBATIONARY
TIME--CHRIST'S OBJECT LESSONS 72]. This is a terrible ordeal, but
nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming by
the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the
loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their
mouths... The REMNANT that purify
their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process,
exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy. All these,
He says, 'I have graven . . . upon the palms of my hands' (Isa. 49:16)... That which God required
of Adam before his fall was perfect obedience to His law. God requires now
what He required of Adam, perfect obedience, righteousness without a flaw,
without shortcoming in His sight....We cannot do this without that faith that
brings Christ's righteousness into daily practice." E.G. White, Selected Messages, Vol. 2,
380. ·
Taken in essence of meaning, the statement says that the church
triumphant appears as about to fall but it does not fall. Obviously, the
church that does not fall is the church triumphant. ·
Those whom the bible mentions as being without guile, without spot,
and without fault, is the bride, the 144,000, who are translated without
seeing death. If the 144,000 included all from the SDA church who are saved,
and all who are saved from any who come out of all other fallen churches at
the end-time, then all would be translated without seeing death—and that it
not the way it is if you believe Ellen White’s statements that only the
144,000 are translated without seeing death and only they go into the Temple
on Mt. Sion. ·
In studying out the identity of Zion, we will see that Zion is the
church triumphant that is married. ·
Sinners are shaken out of the church triumphant, by that church, not
out of the apostate church militant that militates for one thing
primarily—error—apostasy. ·
The bride of Christ, the church triumphant, will be ready just prior
to the Sunday Law in order to receive the Holy Spirit to give the Loud Cry,
just as the disciples were ready to receive the Holy Spirit for the same type
of mission at the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The disciples
were called the bride of Christ by Ellen White, Desire of Ages, 179.
The bride was ready prior to any calls made by her in the prefigure type of A.D. 27-70. And she will be
ready for the same antitypical outpouring of the Holy Spirit for the same
purpose. ·
Sinners are shaken out of the church triumphant of Ezekiel 20:34-38
and Hebrews 12:22, 23. They are one and the same church. ·
It is never proper to refer to any church militant as Zion, because
Zion is where God dwells, and He dwells in and with His faithful,
commandment-keeping, non-apostate people. ·
In the prefigure of A.D. 27-70, a bride was ready in the form of the
disciples before the final call was made first to the Jews and then the
world. ·
In Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 405-6, Ellen White says that the
voice of God AND THE VOICE OF THE BRIDE, awaken the 10 virgins. Matthew 25:5,
says all those virgins slumbered and slept. ·
If the voice of the bride gives the Midnight Cry to the ten virgins—wise and foolish,
then the bride will be ready just before the Loud Cry in order to give it to the ten
virgins. · In Isaiah 62:11, the bride is instructed to say something to her daughter[3] (the ten-virgins), and what she is told to say is a paraphrase of the Midnight Cry of Matthew 25:6.[4] Who is Shaken From Whom--Zion Versus
Laodicea--Sinners Shaken out of Zion? The important
answer to that question should be very apparent by now. But we will bulwark
our study with additional evidence because we are to consider all of it if we
are to arrive at a correct conclusion. To recoup: Ellen White
says that Zion appears as about to fall but it does not. Obviously, the
church that does not fall is Zion. She says that sinners are shaken out
of Zion. So Zion is the church that appears as about to fall and is the
church from and by which sinners are shaken. She is the church that
gives the Loud Cry to all fallen churches and all ten virgins, COL, 405-6.
She is the bride of Christ, Isaiah 62:1 and Hebrews 12:22, 23. So we know
straight away that the bad are not shaken out of the church militant, because
they are shaken out of Zion, the church triumphant. The definition of the
Bible player--Zion is crucial to our arrival at pure truth on this all
important issue. For the following Bible definition of Zion, we go to Hebrews
12:22, 23. We are going strictly by the Bible definition. We find that Zion
is to be the dwelling place of God. He dwells in His bride and not temples
made with hands. Act 7:48 Howbeit the
most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the
prophet, Act 17:24 God that made
the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth,
dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Hbr
12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion [Variation of Zion], and unto the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels, Hbr
12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written
in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect… Hbr
12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood
of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of] Abel. The
following definition of Zion applies as it is used in Hebrews 12:22: Number 4622
Transliteration: Sion {see-own'} Word Origin: of Hebrew origin 6726 TDNT: 7:292,1028 Part of Speech: proper name location Usage in the KJV: Sion 7 Definition: Sion or Zion = "a parched place" 1.
the hill on which
the higher and more ancient part of Jerusalem was built A.
the southwestern
most and highest of the hills on which the city was built 2.
often used of the
entire city of Jerusalem 3.
since Jerusalem
because the temple stood there, was called the dwelling place of God 4.
TDNT - Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament Isaiah 62 1For Zion's
sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,
until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the
salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. 2And
the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou
shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. 3Thou
shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in
the hand of thy God. 4Thou
shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed
Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the
LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. 5For as
a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom
rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. 6 I have set
watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night:
ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, Note: Zion, the
bride of Christ, is the true watchmen on the walls of Zion. 7And
give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in
the earth. 8The
LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I
will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the
stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured: 9But
they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that
have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. 10 Go
through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up,
cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the
people. [It is Zion
that prepares the way of the people; she gathers out the stones and lifts up
the standard--the law, the character of Christ. It is she who keeps the
law. The apostate church that masquerades as Zion, is indicted as breaking
God's statues (laws) more than any other nation, See Ezekiel Chapter 5, and
that is one of the reasons she is slaughtered in a literal fulfillment of
Ezekiel 9]. 11Behold,
the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter
of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and
his work before him. Note: The
daughter of Zion is the 10 virgins. They all slumbered and slept. Matthew
25:5. It is the voice of the bride who awakens all the ten virgins. They are
all part of the Laodicean church--the foolish virgin state of the church says
Ellen White. End note. 12And
they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou
shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken. The true and actual context for the
following statement is when the SDA church triumphant is surrounded by the
Babylonian destroyers in the great time of Jacob’s trouble. The Great
Controversy, p. 616 gives this true
context: THE CHURCH THAT APPEARS AS ABOUT TO FALL
PARALLED WITH JACOB AND HIS ARMY GOING TO MEET ESAU: "The
people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and
distress described by the prophet as the time of Jacob's trouble.... "...Jacob
had fled for his life, alarmed by his brother's deadly threats....Jacob's
company, unarmed and defenseless, SEEMED ABOUT TO FALL helpless victims of
violence and slaughter." The Great Controversy, 616, 1911
Edition. The
faithful will be surrounded in the solitary retreats to which they have fled.
There will appear to be no way of escape. This is when the church triumphant
"appears" as about to fall, just as Jacob appeared to be about to
fall before his enemies. Compare Great Controversy, 626, and 635. The
church militant has misapplied this "appearing as about to fall"
statement, as applied to itself. Clearly, that is a lie, as Ezekiel 22:28,
says they would divine lies. "The church may
appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners
IN ZION will be sifted out--the chaff separated from the precious wheat
[AFTER THE CLOSE OF PROBATIONARY TIME--CHRIST'S OBJECT LESSONS 72]. This is a
terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have
been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will
be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile
in their mouths... The REMNANT that purify
their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process,
exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy. All these,
He says, 'I have graven . . . upon the palms of my hands' (Isa. 49:16)... That which God required
of Adam before his fall was perfect obedience to His law. God requires now
what He required of Adam, perfect obedience, righteousness without a flaw, without
shortcoming in His sight....We cannot do this without that faith that brings
Christ's righteousness into daily practice." E.G. White, Selected Messages, Vol. 2,
380. "The 'field,' Christ
said, 'is the world.' But we must understand this as signifying the church of
Christ in the world. The parable is a description of that which pertains to
the kingdom of God, His work of salvation of men and this work is
accomplished through the church. True, the Holy Spirit has gone out into all
the world everywhere it is moving upon the hearts of men but it is in the
church that we are to grow and ripen for the garner of God." Christ's Object
Lessons, p. 70. The field is
the world and the various church militants. Ironically, to some, the tares
are gathered into the midst’s of the field, the world and the churches who
have become so much like the world that it is impossible to distinguish
between the two, Early Writings, p.
273. That is why there is a coming out of a remnant from all fallen churches at
the end, including the apostate SDA church. A Look at
the Various Church Militants of the World at the End-time Ellen White said that all
churches including those of Babylon, are Laodicean. Isaiah 4:1-4 says the
same thing. They are found doing their own thing at the end-time. All Bible
Commentarians are agreed on the fact that Isaiah, Chapters 1-4, are end-time
in context. Here is Ellen White's statement that all churches are Laodicean: "The
warning for the last church [Laodicea] also must be proclaimed to all who
claim to be Christians. The Laodicean message, like a sharp, two--edged
sword, must go to ALL THE CHURCHES:...It is our work to proclaim this
message. Are we putting forth every effort that the churches may be
warned?" Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 77. "The state of the
Church represented by the foolish virgins, is also spoken of as the Laodicean
state." E.G. White, Review and Herald, 8/19/1890. "The church is in
the Laodicean state. The presence
of God is not in her midst." E.G. White, Notebook Leaflets, p. 99, 1898. "To the end of time,
the presence of the Spirit is to
abide with the true
church." E.G. White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 55. "If the church of God becomes
LUKEWARM [LAODICEAN] it does not stand in favor with God any more than do the
churches that are represented as having fallen and become the habitation of
devils and the hold of every foul spirit and the cage of every unclean and
hateful bird. Those who have had opportunities to hear and receive the truth,
and who have united with the Seventh-day Adventist church, calling themselves
the commandment keeping people of God, and yet possess no more vitality and
consecration to God than do the nominal churches, will receive of the plagues
of God just as verily as the churches who oppose the law of God." E.G.
White, Letter 35, 1898. Another Coming Out and the “Eight
Church” Factor A very
foolish virgin concept is that if there was to be a faithful remnant, it must
be the Laodicean church because that is the seventh and last church mentioned
in Revelation 2 and 3. This is preposterous when you factor the following
considerations as part of the weight of evidence: ·
Ellen
White said that the Laodicean state of the church is the foolish virgin
state. If the Laodicean state of the church—the foolish virgins— is the final
church, then that would mean that foolish virgins are saved! ·
Ellen
White clearly said that the presence of the Lord is not in the midst’s of the
Laodicean state of the church. How could Laodicea be the final church without
having the presence of God in her midst’s and being the foolish virgin state
of the church? ·
To
the end of time the presence of God was to be in a true church—that means at
any given time a true church has existed. ·
When
an individual heeds all of the messages to the seven churches, he/she then
becomes a member of true Jerusalem, and the bride becomes New Jerusalem
rather than the names used to describe the seven churches. This is proven by
the fact that the disciples of Christ were called the bride, Desire of
Ages, 179, and the gathered out church of Christ and His disciples had
headquarters in Jerusalem. For the new nomenclature of those who truly follow
Christ and are thus true Christians, see Isaiah 4:1-4, where they are
referred to as Jerusalem and Zion, and this means true Jerusalem and Zion,
not imposter apostate churches masquerading as Jerusalem and Zion. These
verses in Isaiah should be compared with Isaiah 37:31, 32. If done so that
nothing contradicts, my interpretation of 4:1-4, is correct. · Ellen White said that all seven
messages to the church will apply to the end of time.[5] Conclusion In every case
wherein Ellen White speaks of some who are shaken out from us, or going out
from us, she must be interpreted to mean those who are shaken out from and by
the SDA church triumphant, for we have abundantly proven in this document
that this is the case if there is to be no contradiction. If she meant that
the bad will be shaken out of the SDA church militant (wheat and tare co-ed
church), then she would have contradicted all the important evidence we have
included in this document, and she explicitly said to interpret so all
evidence so that nothing contradicts. For decades,
professing Seventh-day Adventists have not correctly understood the Bible
players such as Zion and New Jerusalem and what is meant my those terms as
regards true Seventh-day Adventism. As in Christ’s day, there was true
Jerusalem, True Zion, (Not the same); false Jerusalem and false Zion. There
is no greater deception than for one to believe he/she is part of true
Jerusalem and true Zion when he/she is not; when one not only does not
understand the true definition of those entities, but is far from their
borders. Many are
going to look down and see black on judgment day instead of a while robe. And
it will not be because they did not have a fair opportunity to know truth. It
will be because they valued other quests as more important than selling all,
buying the field of great price and digging as for hidden treasure.
Everything that one substitutes for that true quest of quests, is an idol. To
some it is education. To some it is the love of money (mammon). To some it is
houses and lands. To some it is merchandise of one sort or another. But
whatever is held dearer than the search for pure and deep truth is an idol,
and constitutes of building one’s empire here, only to lose out on eternal
life. May God bless
your efforts to dig for pure gold—gold tried in the fire—faith that works by
the self-sacrificing love of Christ indwelling the soul, is my prayer for
anyone who reads these words. rb
|
[1] “The
tares and the wheat are to grow together until the harvest; and the harvest is
THE END of probationary time.” Christ’s
Object Lessons, p. 72.
[2] "The Lord has a controversy with
his professed people in these last days. In this controversy men in responsible
positions will take a course directly opposite to that pursued by Nehemiah.
They will not only ignore and despise the Sabbath themselves, but they will try
to keep it from others by burying it beneath the rubbish of custom and
tradition. In churches and in large gatherings in the open air, ministers, will
urge upon the people the necessity of keeping the first day of the week."
E.G. White, Review and Herald,
Vol. 1, p. 405, col. 3.
[3] Isa 62:11
Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to
the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward [is]
with him, and his work before him.
[4] Matt.25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made,
Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.