In the Shaking Who Leaves Whom According to
Type and Antitype
Isa
37:31 And the remnant that is escaped
of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit
upward:
Isa
37:32 For out of Jerusalem shall go
forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD
of hosts shall do this.
"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.
First, let us consider
the Biblical evidence for the shaking. That evidence is found in Matthew
13:47-50, as follows:
"Again, the kingdom
of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every
kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered
the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the
world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth." Matthew 13:47-50.
The Kingdom of Heaven
"net" is the Heavenly Jerusalem Zion, Firstborn, Firstfruits Church
of Hebrews 12:22, 23:
"But ye are come unto mount Sion [Zion], and unto the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of
angels, 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." Hebrews 12:22, 23.
This is the Zion church
of the faithful remnant made perfect, or the 144,000 firstfruits. This is the
Zion from which and by which sinners are shaken, and they never have to be
members of this church in order to shaken from this church. All men are finally
gathered into this net by hearing the Everlasting Gospel. They remain or are
discarded according to whether or not they accept the gospel. Just as the
gospel truth shook out the fallen churches of 1844, from this Zion, so the
gospel of the Third Angel and the Midnight Cry, will shake all tares from out
of this gospel heavenly Kingdom church net. Now the light should go on to
reveal a very different concept than has been held by traditional Adventism,
concerning the following E.G. White statement:
"The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not
fall. It remains, while sinners IN ZION [HEAVENLY ZION'S GOSPEL NET] will
be sifted out--the chaff separated from the precious wheat. 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 [SPIRITS OF MEN MADE PERFECT HEB. 12:23]. We must be divested of
our self-righteousness and arrayed in the righteousness of Christ.
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." E.G. White, Letter b - 55 - 1886, pp. 6, 7.
This statement describes
the church triumphant, the REMNANT, the 144,000, from which and by which the
sinners are shaken. It is not a contradiction to say that sinners are gathered
into this church triumphant, any more than it is for the Bible to say that all
of every kind are gathered into the heavenly kingdom net.
The tares are gathered into the midst of apostate Jerusalem, for burning and
melting, Ezekiel 22:17-31, while a remnant goeth forth OUT OF JERUSALEM, Isaiah
37:31, 32, just as in the first manifestation of Ezekiel 9.
The REMNANT that cause
the shaking is the Third Angel, or the 144,000. She is the firstfruits,
firstborn Zion of Hebrews 12:22, 23, and Rev. 14:1-4.
"I then saw the THIRD ANGEL. Said my accompanying angel,
'Fearful is his work. Awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select
the wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly
garner." E.G. White, Early Writings,
118.
"The angel represented in prophecy as delivering this
message, symbolizes a class of faithful men, who obedient to the promptings of
God's Spirit and the teachings of his word, proclaim this warning to the
inhabitants of earth. This message WAS NOT to be committed to the religious
leaders of the people." E.. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 199,
200.
"The third angel's message will not be comprehended, the
light which will lighten the earth with its glory will be called a false light,
by those who refuse to walk in its advancing glory." E.G. White, Review and Herald, 5-27-1890, p. 321.
This Third Angel is the
bride who awakens the ten virgins. She is the firstborn, or firstfruits, called
out directly by God. Then she and God awaken the ten-virgin guests, Christ's
Object Lessons, 405-406.
"Characteristics of
True Reformers.--Here [Isa. 8:11-14] are given the characteristics of those who
shall be reformers, who will bear the banner of the third angel's message,
these who avow themselves God's commandment-keeping people, and who honor God,
and are earnestly engaged, in the sight of all the universe, in building up the
old waste places. Who is it that calls them, The repairer of the breach, The
restorers of paths to dwell in? It is God. Their names are registered
[written--Heb. 12:22, 23] in heaven as reformers, restorers, as raising the
foundations of many generations." E. G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, Vol.
4, 1151.
This issue is most
critical when you consider that in the typical fulfillment of Ezekiel 9, which
was the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., false prophets were bribed by the
apostate Jewish "chosen" organization, to tell the people to remain
at the organized church. True prophets were telling the people when to flee
Jerusalem, and Jesus began "gathering out" those who would take the
gospel to the world, in 27 A.D. as one of the first works of His ministry, Desire of Ages, 232. This, of course, refers
to the "gathering out" of His disciples.
"Christ was a protestant...The Reformers date back to
Christ and the apostles. They came out and separated themselves from a
religion of forms and ceremonies. Luther and his followers did not invent
the reformed religion. They simply accepted it as presented by Christ and the
apostles." E.G. White, Review and
Herald, Vol. 2, 48, col. 2.
Because false prophets
were hired to tell the people to remain at the apostate church in the prefigure
type, so the same thing is occurring, and must occur, in the antitypical
literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9. We will prove shortly that Ellen White says
there will be another literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9.
"To establish their power more firmly, they [The Jewish
Leaders in context] bribed false prophets to proclaim, even while Roman
legions were besieging the temple, that the people were to wait for deliverance
from God. To the last, multitudes held fast to the belief that the Most
High would interpose for the defeat of their adversaries. But Israel had
spurned the divine protection, and now she had no defense. Unhappy Jerusalem!
rent by internal distensions, the blood of her children slain by one another's
hands crimsoning her streets, while alien armies beat down her fortifications
and slew her men of war!" E.G. White, The Great Controversy, 1911
edition, p. 29.
Meanwhile, true prophets
of God had warned the true people of God to flee Jerusalem. These people left
the precincts of Jerusalem in the autumn of A.D. 66. However, they left the
apostate Jewish church years earlier during the ministry of Jesus and the
disciples, to comprise all the Christian churches dotting the hills of Judea. SDA
Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 74-77, and Desire of Ages, 232.
Ellen White clearly
states in The Great Controversy, p. 25, 1911 edition, that the destruction of
Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was a PREFIGURE. Prefigure means TYPE, which demands a
similar ANTITYPICAL FULFILLMENT. Then she says that another LITERAL FULFILLMENT
of Ezekiel 9 will occur. So all we have to do is go back to the TYPE, THE
PREFIGURE and see what happened then, and any other interpretation would make Ellen
White a false prophet. Her statements on Ezekiel 9, accord with the following
scenario if all of the weight of evidence is considered and interpreted in such
a way that no points contradict:.
1.
Who left who in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70? The
good left the Bad. See The Great
Controversy, Chapter 1 and Ezekiel 22:17-31; Desire of Ages, p. 232, see the seven churches formed by the
disciples in Revelation chapters 2 and
3.
2.
Where were the tares gathered? Into the Midst of Jerusalem, the
apostate church, Ezekiel 22:17-31.
3.
Was there a primitive revival of the Jewish people? Yes! Where
did it take place? Within the apostate Jewish Church, or outside it? Obviously
outside it, Desire of Ages, 232. If the primitive revival had occurred inside
the Jewish church it would not have been destroyed. The primitive revival
occurred on the Day of Pentecost. Who did it involve? The disciples of Jesus
Christ, whom He had "gathered out" to give the gospel to the world.
Where did the primitive revival occur? In the upper room of some man's house
[probably Peter's father's house], where the disciples of Jesus Christ were
hiding from fear of the Jews. Did this "tarrying in Jerusalem,"
constitute tarrying at the apostate organization synagogue or Temple?
Absolutely not!
4.
Who was True Zion,, True Jerusalem, from whence and by whom the
sinners were shaken? Was it the apostate Jewish Organization, or was it from
the reformer church of Jesus and the disciples?
5.
Isaiah 37:31, 32 states exactly who left whom, and this is
exactly the way it is to be at this end-time, because Ezekiel 9 is literally
repeated.
6.
This E. G. White statement is as conclusive as anything could be
as to where the tares (dross) are gathered and burned: "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. Remember that in
the first literal fulfillment of Ezekiel
9, A. D. 70, the tares (dross) were burned in the midsts of the apostate
Jerusalem church (Temple). Ezekiel 22:17-31.
7.
Did the Jewish people leave the apostate Jewish church long
before persecution began? Yes, they began to leave when Jesus "gathered
out" those who would take the gospel to the world, Desire of Ages, 232, and even before this according to the
following statement by Ellen White:
"The recreant priests added
licentiousness to the dark catalogue of their crimes; yet they still polluted
by their presence the tabernacle of the Lord, and, laden with sin, dared to come
into the presence of a holy God. As the men of Israel witnessed the corrupt
course of the priests, they thought it safer for their families not to come up
to the appointed place of worship. Many went from Shiloh with their peace
disturbed, their indignation aroused, until they at last determined to offer
their sacrifices themselves, concluding that this would be fully as acceptable
to God, as to sanction in any manner the abominations practiced in the
Sanctuary" E.G. White, The Signs of
the Times, Vol. 1, p. 264, col. 3, December 1, 1881.
Any teaching that
contradicts this Ezekiel 9 PREFIGURE SCENARIO, is contradicting Ellen White and
SCRIPTURE, because Ezekiel 5:9 [cf. Matt. 24:21], proves that Ezekiel 9 is PRIMARILY
FULFILLED at the end-time when God does the worst thing He has ever done before
or will ever do again. The end-time interpretations of New Movement Adventism,
violate this PREFIGURE SCENARIO stated by Ellen White and backed by Scripture.
Let God answer this
question:
"And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather
you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with
a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the
wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as
I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I
plead with you, saith the Lord God. And I will cause you to pass under the rod,
and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: And I will purge out
from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will
bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall no enter
into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord." Ezekiel
20:34-39.
Will Adventists be hiding
from nominal Adventists, just like the disciples were hiding from fear of the
apostate Jews? Read and decide for yourselves:
"I saw the nominal church and nominal Adventists, like
Judas, would betray us to the Catholics to obtain their influence to come
against the truth. The saints then will be an obscure [hidden] people, little
known to the Catholics; but the churches and nominal Adventists who know of our
faith and customs (for they hate us on account of the Sabbath, for they could
not refute it) will betray the saints and report them to the Catholics as those
who disregard the institutions of the people; that is, that they keep the
Sabbath and disregard Sunday.
Then the Catholics bid the Protestants to go forward, and issue a decree that
all who will not observe the first day of the week, instead of the seventh day,
shall be slain. And the Catholics, whose numbers are large, will stand by the
Protestants. The Catholics will give their power to the image of the beast. And
the Protestants will work as their mother worked before them to destroy the
saints. But before their decree bring or bear fruit, the saints will be delivered
by the Voice of God. Then I saw that Jesus' work in the sanctuary will soon be
finished. And after His work there is finished, He will come to the door of the
first apartment, and confess the sins of Israel upon the head of the Scape
Goat. Then He will put on the garments of vengeance. Then the plagues will come
upon the wicked, and they do not come till Jesus puts on that garment, and
takes Hs place upon the great white cloud. Then while the plagues are falling,
the Scape Goat is being led away. He makes a mighty struggle to escape, but he
is held fast by the hand that leads him. If he should effect his escape, Israel
would lose their lives. I saw that it would take time to lead away the Scape
Goat into the land of forgetfulness after the sins were put on his head.
The great white cloud I saw was not the holy place, but entirely separate from
the holy and most holy place, entirely separate from the sanctuary.
Then the angel repeated these words, and said, 'This is the time spoken of in
Isaiah. He saw that there was not man, and wondered that there was no
intercessor. He had no mediator between God and man, and these plagues could be
withheld no longer, for Jesus had ceased to plead for Israel, and they were
covered with the covering of the Almighty God, and they could live in the sight
of a holy God, and those who were not covered, the plagues fell upon them, for
they had nothing to shelter or protect them from the wrath of God." E.G.
White, Dorchester, Maine, October 23, 1850, Spalding--Magan's
Unpublished Mss. Testimonies, pp.
1, 2.
You have been duly warned, P.S. See corroborating statements
below:
"Study the 9th chapter of Ezekiel. These words will be
literally fulfilled; yet the time is passing, and the people are asleep. They
refuse to humble their souls and to be converted. Not a great while longer will
the Lord bear with the people who have such great and important truths revealed
to them, but who refuse to bring these truths into their individual experience.
The time is short. God is calling; will YOU hear? Will YOU receive His message?
Will YOU be converted before it is too late? Soon, very soon, every case will
be decided for eternity. Letter 106, 1909, pp. 2, 3, 5, 7. (To "The
churches in Oakland and Berkeley, September 26, 1909.)" E. G. White
Manuscript Releases Volume One, p. 260.
"The prophecy which He uttered was twofold in its meaning;
while foreshadowing the destruction of Jerusalem, it prefigured also the
terrors of the last great day [beginning at His Sanctuary]." E.G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 25, 1911
edition.
"Here we see that
the church--the Lord's sanctuary--was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath
of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had
stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their
trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the
marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. Times have changed.
These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good,
neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment.
Thus 'Peace and safety" is the cry from men who will never again lift up
their voice like a trumpet to show God's people their transgressions and the
Certain E.G. White
statements seem to imply that the bad will be shaken from the corporate SDA
church, leaving the good intact within the corporate structure. One of those
statements is found in Testimonies,
Vol. 5, pp. 80-81. That statement, in context, refers to the shaking of the
good from all churches. How do we know that for sure? Because the statement is
flanked and bookended by statements that leave no other possible
interpretation. The first paragraph on page 81, says:
"There are precious
ones NOW HIDDEN who have not bowed the knee to Baal. They have
not had the light which has been shining in a concentrated blaze upon you
(SDA's in context). This statement is bookended by the last paragraph on
page 81, which says:
"When trees without
fruit are cut down as cumberers of the ground, when multitudes of false
brethren are distinguished from the true, then THE HIDDEN ONES (of
paragraph 1--"those who have not have the light which has been shining in
a concentrated blaze upon you..." (Non SDA's in context). This refers
to those in all organized churches from which the gold will be separated from
the dross and go forth out of Jerusalem, the apostate churches (including the
apostate SDA church which, according to Ellen White, will instruct its members
to keep Sunday sacred)."
Ellen White says that the
destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, was a prefigure (The Great Controversy, p.
25). In that PREFIGURE TYPE, the good left the bad, in Ezekiel 22:17-31, the
bad were gathered into the midst of Jerusalem, the apostate church, and burned
and melted. The same will happen in the antitypical fulfillment of Ezekiel 9.
Remember, the chapter which begins Testimonies,
Vol. 5, p. 211, begins on page 207, quoting Ezekiel 9.
"Study the 9th chapter of Ezekiel. These words will be
literally fulfilled; yet the time is passing, and the people are asleep. They
refuse to humble their souls and to be converted. Not a great while longer will
the Lord bear with the people who have such great and important truths revealed
to them, but who refuse to bring these truths into their individual experience.
The time is short. God is calling; will YOU hear? Will YOU receive His message?
Will YOU be converted before it is too late? Soon, very soon, every case will
be decided for eternity. Letter 106, 1909, pp. 2, 3, 5, 7. (To "The
churches in Oakland and Berkeley, September 26, 1909.)" E. G. White Manuscript Releases Volume One,
p. 260.
Ellen White clearly
states in The Great Controversy, p.
25, 1911, edition, that the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was a
PREFIGURE. Prefigure means TYPE, which demands a similar ANTITYPICAL
FULFILLMENT. Then she says that another LITERAL FULFILLMENT of Ezekiel 9 will
occur. So all we have to do is go back to the TYPE, THE PREFIGURE and see what
happened then, and any other interpretation makes Ellen White a false prophet:
1) Who left who then? The good left the Bad.
2) Where were the tares gathered? Into the Midst of Jerusalem, the apostate
church, Ezekiel 22:17-31.
3) Was there a primitive revival of the Jewish people? Yes! Where did it take
place? Within the apostate Jewish Church, or outside it? Obviously outside it,
Desire of Ages, 232, or it would not have been destroyed had the revival
occurred inside the Jewish church!
4) Who was True Zion, from whence the sinners were shaken? Was it the apostate
Jewish Organization, or was it from the reformer church of Jesus and the
disciples?
5) Did the Jewish people leave the apostate Jewish church long before
persecution began? Yes, they began to leave when Jesus "gathered out"
those who would take the gospel to the world. Desire of Ages, 232, and even
before this according to the following statement by Ellen White:
"The recreant priests added licentiousness to the dark
catalogue of their crimes; yet they still polluted by their presence the
tabernacle of the Lord, and, laden with sin, dared to come into the presence of
a holy God. As the men of Israel witnessed the corrupt course of the priests,
they thought it safer for their families not to come up to the appointed place
of worship. Many went from Shiloh with their peace disturbed, their indignation
aroused, until they at last determined to offer their sacrifices themselves,
concluding that this would be fully as acceptable to God, as to sanction in any
manner the abominations practiced in the Sanctuary." E.G. White, The Signs
of the Times, vol. 1, p. 264, col. 3, December 1, 1881.
Any teaching that
contradicts this Ezekiel 9 PREFIGURE SCENARIO, is contradicting Ellen White and
SCRIPTURE, because Ezekiel 5:9, proves that Ezekiel 9 is really PRIMARILY
FULFILLED at the end-time when God does the worst thing He has ever done or
will ever do again. The end-time interpretations of the current professing SDA
New Movement Church, violate this PREFIGURE SCENARIO stated by Ellen White and
backed by Scripture. Choose ye this day, between Scripture and Ellen White,
versus "dumb dog watchmen," who will NEVER AGAIN show the House of
Jacob their sins, Testimonies, vol.
5, 211, and Isaiah 56:10-12.
"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.
Ellen White is speaking
to SDA's and speaking of non-Adventists who have not bowed the knee to Baal,
and have not had the light which has shone upon SDA's in a concentrated blaze.
It is these who will be separated from the dross when the Sunday Law comes.
They leave the churches which they were members of to join a remnant of SDA's
who also leave the SDA apostate organization. This is supported by Scripture
(Ezekiel 22:17-31) and Ellen White, when she says that Ezekiel 9 will be
literally repeated and that the great slaughter of men, maidens and little
children will begin "...at His Sanctuary, which has had great light."
Testimonies, Vol. 5, 211. Why would
Ezekiel 9 begin at His Sanctuary, those who had great light, if the bad had
left, leaving the true and faithful?!
Everyone of Ellen White's
statements that "appear" to say that the bad are shaken out of the
church, refer directly, in context, and according to certain key, qualifying words,
to the SDA church triumphant, and not the SDA church militant which mistakenly
misapplies Ellen White's statements to itself. The church triumphant has always
co-existed with the church militant in order to come to its aid if it would
accept that aid:
"The members of the church triumphant--the church in
heaven--will be permitted to draw near to the members of the church militant,
to aid them in their necessity." E.G. White, The Southern Watchman, Sep. 8, 1903.
Obviously, in order for
members of the church triumphant to come to the aid of the church militant,
they must co-exist during the time that the church militant is in existence.
Adventism has misinterpreted this fact in saying that the church militant will
finally become the church triumphant in the time of trouble, when all the bad
will be shaken out of the church militant. This is simply not true, and is not
according to Scripture, and the typical fulfillment of Ezekiel 9, per Ezekiel
22:17-31, which states that the tares are shaken into the midst of the church,
"Jerusalem," for burning and melting.
The misinterpretation on the part of Adventists as to who leaves whom, is based
on their misunderstanding of Zion. Zion is defined scripturally as the heavenly
church of the firstborn, Hebrews 12:22, 23, or the church triumphant. It is
this church that appears as about to fall, but does not, during the time of
Jacob's trouble, when the earthly representatives of this church flee to the
desolate places. This is made abundantly clear in the following statements:
"The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not
fall. It remains, while sinners IN ZION will be sifted out--the chaff
separated from the precious wheat. 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. We must be
divested of our self-righteousness and arrayed in the righteousness of Christ.
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." E.G. White, Letter 5 - 55
- 1886, pp. 6, 7.
The key to properly
interpreting the above statement is the proper identification of Zion. What
church appears as about to fall, but does not? It is Zion, the church
triumphant! The chaff are separated from the precious wheat by the message of
Zion, the bride, the 144,000. Proof that the time-frame of "appearing as
about to fall," is during the time of trouble, and involves the church
triumphant is found in the following statements:
"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's night of anguish when he wrestled in prayer for deliverance from the
hand of Esau (Genesis 32:24-30), represents the experience of God's people IN
THE TIME OF TROUBLE....Jacob's company, unarmed and defenseless, seemed ABOUT
TO FALL HELPLESS VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE AND SLAUGHTER." E.G. White, The
Great Controversy, p. 616, 1911 edition.
In the above statement,
Ellen White makes it very plain which church appears as about to fall, and
when, by paralleling that church with Jacob's time of trouble. The only church
that goes through the great Time of Jacob's trouble, is the church triumphant,
the 144,000, who are translated without seeing death. Many faithful members who
leave all fallen church militants, including the professing SDA church
militant, to join Zion, the church triumphant, will be martyred, but saved..
However, Zion, the 144,000, will be translated without seeing death, after
going through the great time of Jacob's trouble, during which they prove their
fidelity to God at a time when Satan has perfected his arts to the greatest
state.
The following is a Bible
based scenario of Zion, the heavenly kingdom church, from which and by which
the tares, the "Bad," are shaken. Remember, the heavenly kingdom
church is Zion, Hebrews 12:22, 23, the church triumphant:
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was
cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they
drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the
bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth,
and sever the wicked from among the just." Matthew 13:45-49.
The angel that
"shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just," is the
Third Angel, according to Ellen White:
"Said the angel,
'The third angel is binding, or sealing, them in bundles for the HEAVENLY
GARNER.' This little company looked careworn, as if they had passed through
severe trials and conflicts [the time of Jacob's trouble]. And it appeared as
if the sun had just risen from behind a cloud and shone upon their
countenances, causing them to look triumphant, as if their victories were
nearly won." E.G. White, Early Writings, 88.
"I then saw the THIRD ANGEL. Said my accompanying angel,
'Fearful is his work. Awful s his mission. He is the angel that is to SELECT
THE WHEAT FROM THE TARES, AND SEAL, OR BIND, THE WHEAT FOR THE HEAVENLY
GARNER." Early Writings, 118.
Of course, faithful men
equal faithful men, equal the church triumphant, and not the church militant.
So it is clear that it is from a church of faithful men, symbolized the THIRD
ANGEL, that all the tares of the world and of the churches will be shaken. When
we say they are shaken from the church triumphant, that is not to say they have
to be members of the church triumphant in order to be shaken out of the
heavenly kingdom church of the church triumphant! For example, the churches of
1844, were shaken out of the heavenly kingdom by hearing the warning message,
and rejecting it. This is how the world and the fallen churches are shaken
out of the church triumphant without necessarily ever having been a member of
that church! Just as all the world is gathered into the heavenly kingdom
net of Matthew 13:45-59, and then the bad of the world are discarded from that
kingdom church, by that kingdom church or by the Third Angel, the earthly
representatives of that kingdom church, without necessarily ever having been a
member of the heavenly kingdom church!
"The angel represented in prophecy as delivering this
message, symbolizes a class of FAITHFUL MEN, who, obedient to the
promptings of God's Spirit and the teachings of His word, proclaim this warning
to the inhabitants of earth. This message WAS NOT to be committed to the
religious leaders of the people. They had failed to preserve their connection
with God, and had REFUSED THE LIGHT FROM HEAVEN." E.G. White, The 1884 Great Controversy, p. 199-200.
Major
Irrefutable Conclusion From God’s Word
Ellen White said that each of the ancient prophets wrote more
for us than the Jews. The reason for this is because we have their example that
we are supposed to learn from. In the PREFIGURE of the literal fulfillment of
Ezekiel 9, the true remnant left the apostate Jerusalem church. So it will be
in the next literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9, or other wise it would not be
literally fulfilled:
Isa
37:31 And the remnant that is escaped
of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit
upward:
Isa 37:32 For out
of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion:
the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
~rwb