My Vision on Ezekiel 9—The Living Truth That Ezekiel 9 was Fulfilled Historically in the Destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70, and not During the Three Captivities Under Nebuchadnezzar

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Dear Reader,

The Lord gave me a most precious vision on the truth of Ezekiel 9, this early morning of March 30, 2008. I was shown the verity of every fact of history which I will depict in this document for His people. The very first burden I was given by the Lord for my people involved Ezekiel chapters 2, 3 and 9 and chapter 1 of The Great Controversy. My heart bled to consider that if such a calamity fell upon God’s first chosen people, it could be visited upon His second chosen people. I was shown a panoramic vision of what will befall the professing SDA church at the end-time, and I determined make any sacrifice necessary to warn my people. Indeed, I devoted the remainder of my lifetime on this earth to warning God’s people that they might avoid what will be the worst judgment that has ever come upon the earth.

When I was shown what Ezekiel saw, I was wont to risk anything to warn my fellow Seventh-day Adventists, because of the vision I was given of the slaughter of God’s professed people. My very life has been threatened on a number of occasions because what I do touches big business. In Africa, two persons have been martyred for the truth I teach, and a PhD. Professor has been disfranchised if his position as an SDA Seminary Professor, and robbed of nearly everything he owned because he dared to question SDA leadership apostasy. I was shown that this was tantamount to the stoning of Stephen and that general probation has closed for the SDA organization, but not for individuals therein who have no knowledge of the apostasy. Naively, at first, I thought God’s people would appreciate the warning. That was the most naive notion of my life. At the time, I was not aware of this statement by the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church:

“The messengers sent by God to deliver His warnings are hated by those whom they warn. The people charge upon them the calamities which are the result of their own departure from righteousness. Those who thus place themselves in Satan's power do not see things as God sees them. They are blinded by Satan. When God's mirror is held up before them, instead of repenting and turning from sin, they become indignant to think that they should be reproved. They think that an uncalled-for attack is being made upon them, and that the messengers of God are their enemies.” {RH, October 22, 1901 par. 10}’ E.G. White, Review and Herald, Vol. 4, 345.

God has shown me that as there were true prophets who warned apostate Israel of the impending doom of Ezekiel 9, so He has appointed like agents to warn His erring church today of the final outcome they are moving toward like so many oblivious lemmings marching into the sea, but the fate of His people will not be as easy as the lemmings,[i] but the result will be the same—death, eternal death.

I have received nothing but calumny and absolute hatred from the great majority of those I have warned. But my heart is warmed and kept alive and burning with zeal because of the few who have appreciated my warning message. I have wept on my knees in literal closet prayer for my people, that God will send His Holy Spirit to awaken a goodly representative of them. But I know from the history of Israel that only a small remnant will hearken to warning and be reconciled to the ways of God.

A small (few in number) remnant is alluded to in Ezekiel 5:3. They are to be bound in “thy skirts.” This is marriage terminology. Ezekiel 16:8 further elaborates on the meaning of skirts:

“Spread my skirt. Signifying the intent to confer upon the maiden the honor of marriage (see on Deut. 22:30; Ruth 3:9). The obvious reference is to the solemn transaction at Sinai, when Jehovah entered into covenant with the Hebrews, who pledged themselves to love, worship, and obey Him to the exclusion of every rival god (Ex. 29:1-9; 24:1-8).

There are insidious individuals at work amongst professing SDA church leaders and members who are trying to say that Ezekiel 9 and Ezekiel 22:17-31 did not meet a fulfillment in A.D. 70. Why are they saying that? Here are the reasons:

· Ellen White said that the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a prefigure symbolizing the destruction of the world at the end time, which would begin at the House of God, modern-day “spiritual Jerusalem,” Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 211. She begins the chapter on p. 207, quoting the first verses of Ezekiel 9.

· If what took place in Jerusalem, circa A.D. 27-70, is equated with Ezekiel 9, then that would be a prefigure (type) for what will befall the professing SDA church at the end-time. This is precisely the clear intent of Ellen White in The Seal of God chapter of Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 207-216, as well as the following chapter entitled An Appeal.

· In that prefigure type of A.D. 27-70, the true remnant left the apostate Jewish church, formed home churches all over Judea, and set up its own headquarters in Jerusalem. Jesus and His disciples had their headquarters in Jerusalem as well, so when the disciples were instructed to “tarry in Jerusalem,” Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high, that did not mean to tarry at the apostate church, for just before they were endued with power from on high on the Day of Pentecost, they were hiding from the Jews in the upper room. This is why Isaiah 4:1-4 and Isaiah 37:31, 32 are not contradictory, because to remain in Jerusalem, 4:1-4 means true Jerusalem, true Zion, and a remnant going out of Jerusalem in 37:31, 32, refers to true Jerusalem leaving apostate Jerusalem. See Desire of Ages, 232.

· If SDA leaders can confuse their members and make it appear that Ezekiel 9 refers to the three (previous to Ezekiel 9) destructions and captivities of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, which were not a prefigure of the destruction of the world at the end-time, then there would be no type for us to follow, for in Ezekiel 9, God gave us a perfect, solid type to follow at the end-time. Everything God expects of us can be related to that type of the response Jesus and His disciples made to the apostate of Israel, Jerusalem.

· Thus, SDA leaders and laity alike are trying to skew the evidence and make it appear that there is no type and antitype related to Ezekiel’s visions. But the fact remains that Ellen White said that Ezekiel 9 would be literally fulfilled again. For that reason, we must look for its fulfillment in Scripture.

Finding Ezekiel 9 in Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy

At this point it is apropos that we review the entire chapter of Ezekiel 9 in order to find its place in the four historic destructions of Jerusalem. But first, I am going to further acquaint you with the first three destructions of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar. Here is a record of the dates of those destructions.

The Four Destructions of Jerusalem

In the following description of the first three sieges against Jerusalem which were by Nebuchadnezzar, I want you to not whether the people were killed or taken captive. This is crucial in discerning which siege upon Jerusalem Ezekiel 9 refers to.

“The fact that Ezekiel was included among ‘all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour’ (2 Kings 24:4) who were taken away in Jehoiachin’s captivity (597 B.C.; see on Eze. 1:2), indicates that he was probably a member of Jerusalem’s aristocracy.” SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, p. 569.

“Historical Setting. Ezekiel began his prophecy in the 5^th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity (ch. 1:2), 593/592 B.C. (SEE Vol. III. Pp. 92-94). The northern kingdom of Israel had ceased to exist more than 100 years before, and the overthrow of Judah was rapidly approaching. The Babylonian servitude had already begun when, in the 3d year of Jehoiakim (605 B.C.), Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came against Jerusalem (Dan. 1:1). It is not known how many captives were taken at this time. Among them were some “of the king’s seed, and of the princes’ (Dan. 1:3; cf. 2 Kings 24:1).

After 11 years of reign Jehoiakim came to an inglorious end and was succeeded by his son, Johoiachin (597 B.C.; see on 2 Kings 24:1). After a reign of only three months he was carried as a captive, along with 10,000 of his chief people, including Ezekiel, to Babylon (2 Kings 24:12-16; Eze. 1:1, 2; 33:21).

Jehoiachin’s successor, Zedekiah, was no better than his predecessors. In his 11the year (586 B.C. came the final overthrow of Judah (2 Kings 25:1-11). The remnant of the people were taken [captive], the Temple burned, and Jerusalem destroyed. Only a few of the ‘poor of the land’ were left to be vinedressers and husbandmen (2 Kings 25:12).

Such were the turbulent times in which Ezekiel, while yet a young man, was called to the prophetic office. The prospects were far from bright. The stroke of judgment that had already fallen on Jerusalem, instead of sobering the inhabitants of Judah, seemed only to plunge them deeper into apostasy and vice. Nor were the exiles on the river Chebar disposed to be “exercised” by the “chastening” (Heb. 12:11). They too continued rebellious and idolatrous (Eze. 2:3; 20:39), and showed little disposition toward thorough reform....

Strange to say, it was the leaders of Israel who, by precept and example, led the nation into apostasy (see Isa. 3:12; 9:16; Eze. 34:2-19). At first, apparently, God purposed that only the leaders should be carried into CAPTIVITY (see Dan. 1:3, 4). The vast majority of the people were to remain in Judea, awaiting there the return of a chastened group of leaders to guide them in the way of God’s choosing. Had the Jews been willing to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, as God intended (see Jer. 27:1-22), the city of Jerusalem and its magnificent Temple would have remained intact (see Jer. 27:25, 27; 38:17), and the century of delay, difficulty, and discouragement that confronted the EXILES upon their return from Babylon would have been avoided. But Israel’s stubborn resistance (see Jer. 28:1-14) made their cup of suffering progressively more bitter and brought on a second and then a third DEPORTATION (597 B.C.) respectively.

But even in CAPTIVITY divine justice was seasoned with mercy. God came to His people as a teacher, to impress upon them the follow of disobedience and the desirability of cooperating with Him, rather than as a stern judge to punish them. The bitter experience of CAPTIVITY were not so much retributive in nature as they were remedial. The prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel were commissioned to reveal Heaven’s purpose to men and to elicit cooperation with it. Jeremiah was sent to the Jew who remained in Judea, while Ezekiel carried out a similar mission for those who had already gone into CAPTIVITY. Daniel was Heaven’s ambassador to the court of Nebuchadnezzar, to make known to him the divine will and to secure his cooperation. The fires of suffering were to burn no hotter than necessary to remove the dross. For a detailed consideration of the role of Daniel in relation to the CAPTIVITY, see introduction to Daniel. For a consideration of the over-all divine purpose for Israel during the CAPTIVITY see pp. 29-32; cf. On Dan. 4:17.” SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, pp. 568, 569.

I have emboldened the words exile(s), captive, captivity deportation for emphasis, but the word captivity in the source is spelled with a capitol C—Captivity whenever the word “the” precedes the word captivity, thusly: “the Captivity.”

It should be starkly obvious to the most average student that in the first three sieges against Jerusalem, the people were taken captive. They DID NOT experience the slaughter depicted in Ezekiel 9, as BEGINNING AT HIS SANCTUARY IN JERUSALEM. The slaughter of Ezekiel 9 occurred in the fourth destruction of Jerusalem under the Roman General Titus, in A.D. 70. This fact cannot be controverted. Yet the SDA Bible Commentary on Ezekiel 9:4 says:

“The vision had primary reference to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. It will have another fulfillment during the closing scenes of this world’s history. It parallels closely the visions of Rev. 7:15, 16. The distinguishing mark in Revelation is “the seal of God” and, like the mark in Ezekiel [9], is based on character qualifications. God places His mark of approval upon all who, through the power of the Holy Spirit, reflect the image of Jesus (see COL 67). SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, p. 606.

Where, pray tell, do we find any mark by the man in Linen going on in the first three destructions of Jerusalem?! Where do we find men, maidens and little children slaughtered without mercy? The purpose of the Captivity was remedial; to reform Israel from its apostasy. How would you reform a people who were killed in the Captivity?! It is a preposterous lie by SDA compilers of the SDA Bible Commentary, that Ezekiel, chapter 9 has anything to do with the sieges by Nebuchadnezzar which all involved the apostate Jews being taken CAPTIVE, not killed in Jerusalem Temple and city proper as is the case in Ezekiel 9. God said through Ezekiel that the leaders of His people would divine lies:

“O Israel, thy prophets (leaders) are like the foxes in the deserts.” Eze. 13:4.

“They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made other to hope that they would confirm the word.” Eze. 13:6.

“And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that DIVINE LIES: they shall not be in the assembly of MY PEOPLE, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God. Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter.” Eze. 13:9, 10.

“To wit, the prophets (leaders) of Israel which prophecy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord God.” Eze. 13:16.

SDA leaders have taught the abominable peace and safety lie that Ezekiel 9 refers to the captivities of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, thus avoiding the prefigure type that Ezekiel 9 provides in the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome in A.D. 70, at which time the wholesale slaughter of men, maidens and little children did occur rather than being taken captive to Babylon!

Another Abominable Lie by Peace and Safety SDA Leaders

My Instructor showed me the following horrendous lies regarding Ezekiel 9 in the SDA Bible Commentary, which are full of guile and contradiction to historical fact. This passage is commenting on Ezekiel 9:6, 7, 8.

“6. Begin at my sanctuary. In its primary application this decree marks the close of Jerusalem’s probation. God had exhausted His resources in appealing to rebellious Israel. His restraining power would be removed from the invading Chaldeans. Mercilessly their armies would execute the sentence to “slay utterly old and young.” They would begin at the sanctuary, where the gross sins of the people had been concentrated.

These scenes will re re-enacted in the last days. Judgment, then, too, begins at the ‘house of God.’ (1 Peter 4:17), with those to whom God has given great light and who have stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, but who have betrayed their trust (see 5T 211). These unfaithful shepherds receive first the abuse that will be heaped upon them by those who have been deceived by their guile (EW 282). Later, they perish in the general destruction that precedes and accompanies the second coming of Christ (see Rev. 15-19).

“7. Defile the house. The Jews expected that God would spare His house from defilement. In this they were disappointed. In part the defilement was effected by the bleeding corpses of the idolatrous worshippers.”

“8. I was left. In vision Ezekiel saw Jerusalem reduced to a city of the dead. It seemed to him that he was standing alone in the midst of the slain. No notice is here made of any who, because of the protecting mark, were saved. Evidently they constituted a small minority.” SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, p. 607.

What God Showed Me About the Above Commentary

I’m beginning with the SDA Bible Commentary on verse 6 and one:

1. The close of Israel’s probation DID NOT occur at any one of the three sieges by Nebuchadnezzar. The close of Israel’s probation occurred at the stoning of Stephen in A.D. 34.

2. God did not exhaust His resources in appealing to rebellious Israel until after the three sieges by Nebuchadnezzar and the stoning of Stephen. The calls of Matthew 22:1-7, were still being made to individual Jews even after the stoning of Stephen.

3. God’s restraining power would NOT be removed from the invading Chaldeans in any fulfillment of Ezekiel 9, because it was not the Chaldeans who perpetrated Ezekiel 9. The Babylonian’s (Chaldeans) NEVER did make a wholesale slaughter of the Jews BEGINNING AT HIS SANCTUARY, and killing old and young, men, maidens and little children without mercy! That NEVER HAPPENED! This is a horrid lie by SDA leaders that may be confirmed as a lie by history and the Bible. The Jews of the Captivity were taken captive to Babylon and were not killed. Some died a natural death in Babylon, but they were not slaughtered as Ezekiel 9 depicts.

4. The scenes by the Chaldean Captivity WILL NOT be re-enacted. The scenes of the A.D. 70 destruction by the Romans WILL BE re-enacted. They way SDA leaders explain Ezekiel 9:6, folk would be carried captive to Babylon instead of being slain as Ezekiel 9 depicts, because that is all the Chaldean captors did.

5. Ezekiel 9 begins with those who have been given great light. In the prefigure, that was the Jews. In the antitypical fulfillment of that type, those who have been given great light are SDA’s. They are the counterpart to the Jews, and not the other fallen churches. Those fallen churches will be next in line for Ezekiel 9 judgment after Ezekiel 9 judgement begins at the House of God, apostate, professing Seventh-day Adventism.

6. The SDA commentators on Ezekiel 9, mention Early Writings 282, which refers to Babylonian ministers circa 1844. This takes the heat off the SDA leaders, but they will be first to feel God’s wrath because of their betrayal of sacred trust, 5T 211. Ezekiel 9 begins with Jerusalem, not Babylon.

7. Like the apostate Jews, SDA’s feel that God will not defile their house, their church. They say that not does not see their evil and that Ezekiel 9 will apply only to the other fallen churches.

8. Ezekiel 9 involves a sealing. There was no sealing involved in the Chaldean captivities.

A Tacit Admission by SDA Writer’s of the Commentaries in Ezekiel Chapter 8

Ezekiel 8 is the reasons for any fulfillment of Ezekiel 9? Let's take a close look at Ezekiel 8 and answer some questions:

Ezekiel 8

1And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.

2Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.

3And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.

Commentary: The SDA Bible Commentary has this to say about the door of the inner gate: "The door of the inner gate. This is one of the gateways that led from the court of the people to the court of the priests. The account of the building of Solomon's Temple does not mention gateways leading from one of these courts to the other, but there is evidence of such in the later Temple of Herod. It was probably one of the most conspicuous portions of the Temple, where the people gathered in large numbers." SDA Bible Commentary, Ezekiel 8, p. 602.

It was the temple Solomon built that existed in Jerusalem during Nebuchadnezzar’s sieges on Jerusalem. If SDA leaders realized that the imagery of Ezekiel did not apply to Solomon’s Temple, why did they misapply the imagery of Ezekiel 9:6 as being perpetrated by Chaldeans instead of the Romans?! It was the Temple of Herod that was destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Romans. So once again, the leaders chose to ignore this fact and interpreted Ezekiel 9 in a manner that totally discounts their comment on Ezekiel 9:6, that it was the Chaldeans who were the perpetrators of Ezekiel 9.

Herod's_Temple

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Model of Herod's Temple - currently in the Israel Museum

View from east to west of the model of Herod's Temple

Herod's Temple in Jerusalem was a massive expansion of the Temple Mount and construction of a completely new and much larger Jewish Temple by King Herod the Great around 19 BCE. Although the Second Temple was completely removed and a New "Third" Temple built to replace it, Herod's Temple is not commonly taught to be the Third Temple, as the Sacrifices never ceased throughout the construction process.

The Temple was destroyed by Roman troops under Titus during the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. (The most complete ancient account of this event is The Jewish War by Flavius Josephus.) The Roman and Byzantine governors built palaces out of the rubble, as well as a Temple of Jupiter and a Church, but it was not until the Dome of the Rock was built between 687 and 691 that the last remnants of the Temple were taken down.

The Temple itself was probably located on the site of what today is the Dome of the Rock. The gates let out close to Al-Aqsa.

Ezekiel chap. 8 (cont)

4And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

5Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

6He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.

Commentary: Daniel's vision was in 592/591 B.C. says the same page in SDA Bible Commentary. He was in captivity in Babylon. There was no Sanctuary or Temple of the Jews in Babylon. So Daniel was seeing a future event involving the Temple in Jerusalem, Herod's Temple.

7And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.

8Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.

9And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.

10So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.

11And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

12Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, the LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.

13He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

14Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

15Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.

16And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

17Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.

18Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

I was shown that Ezekiel 9 was indeed fulfilled in A.D. 70, and was a PREFIGURE (TYPE) for another end-time literal fulfillment, so that we may learn from and follow something as solid and absolute as that prefigure type and know exactly what course to follow now at the end of time.

God gave us the entire record of Israel’s apostasy as an object lesson, that we might avoid the same pitfalls. God calls that record an ensample, or an example for us to learn from:

"The Bible for Our Time.--Never are we absent from the mind of God. God is our joy and our salvation. Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours, so that their prophesying is in force for us. '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 Cor. 10:11). 'Not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven which things the angels desire to look into' (1 Peter 1:12).'" E.G. White, Selected Messages, Bk. 3, p. 338.

Prophets Wrote for Their Own and Our Day.—“The last books of the Old Testament show us workers taken from the laborers in the field. Others were men of high ability and extensive learning, but the Lord gave them visions and messages. These men of the Old Testament spoke of things transpiring in their day, and Daniel, Isaiah, and Ezekiel not only spoke of things that concerned them as present truth, but their sights reached down to the future, and to what should occur in these last days.”--Letter 132, 1898. {3SM 419.5, 420}

"The Bible for Our Time.--Never are we absent from the mind of God. God is our joy and our salvation. Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours, so that their prophesying is in force for us. '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 Cor. 10:11). 'Not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven which things the angels desire to look into' (1 Peter 1:12).'" E.G. White, Selected Messages, Bk. 3, p. 338.

If we are to learn what we should about the object lesson of Israel’s apostasy, it is imperative to learn when and under what circumstances certain important prophesies were fulfilled and under what conditions they were fulfilled. Ezekiel 9, which involves the very judgment of God and the sealing of His people, is certainly one of the most important prophesies of Scripture and Ellen White says that it will be literally fulfilled again at the end-time.

Today we have professing Seventh-day Adventists who are doing the same work of preterist Jesuits in saying that Ezekiel 9 had its only and/or most important fulfillment anciently under the invasions of Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar and/or that Ezekiel 9 applies only to the destruction of the world at the end time. Both these erroneous positions are disproven by the fact that Ellen White called the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, a prefigure and said that it was a prefigure symbolizing the destruction of the world, p. 25 The Great Controversy. God says that Ezekiel 9 begins at His Sanctuary, Jerusalem, those who were priviledged with great light. Ellen White agrees in many similar statements.

One of the most diabolical insinuations by some professing Seventh-day Adventists, is that anyone who teaches a literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9, is in the same category with the Davidians. This is Satanic, and would put Ellen White in the same class because she clearly taught and end-time literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9. Here are her words to the SDA churches of Oakland and Berkeley in 1909:

"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.

Begin at My Sanctuary -- "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 house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together." E. G. White, Testimonies, Vol. 5, 211.

Ezekiel chapters 9 and 22:17-31 were surely fulfilled in A.D. 70, and Ellen White said there would be a COUNTERPART to apostate Israel at the end-time. The COUNTERPART statements are in parallel to her calling the destruction of Jerusalem a PREFIGURE (TYPE) because as in type, so in antitype and only SDA’s could parallel, counterpart and antitype the Jews for both made the claim of being the chosen people of God; the remnant, and the commandment-keeping people.

COUNTERPART: "The Lord commanded one of his ancient servants, 'Pray not thou for this people [Jer. 7:16 and 11:14], neither lift up cry nor prayer for them neither make intercession to me for I will not hear thee.' The prophet thus describes the sins which had called forth this fearful denunciation: 'The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means and my people love to have it so and what will ye do in the end thereof?' 'From the least of them even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness and from the prophet even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.' The apostles declare that this state of things will find its COUNTERPART in the last days. Many have a form of godliness, but in their daily life deny the power thereof. They have ceased to be convicted of their sins or alarmed at their state. They say in their hearts, 'The church is flourishing. Peace and spiritual prosperity are within her borders.' The words of the prophet may well apply to these self-deceivers, 'They have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them." E. G. White, Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 11-07-82.

"Shall the Lord be compelled to say, `Pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to Me: for I will not hear thee' [Jeremiah 7:16]? `Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain....Wilt thou not from this time cry unto Me, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth' [Jeremiah 3:3-4]?...

We are to be judged by the light that has been given us, (159) and we can find no excuse by which to extenuate our course." Review and Herald, Vol. 3, p 69-70 (August 1, 1893). (Brackets by Ellen White)

COUNTERPART: "In the time of the Saviour, the Jews had so covered over the precious jewels of truth with the rubbish of tradition and fable, that it was impossible to distinguish the true from the false. The Saviour came to clear away the rubbish of superstition and long-cherished errors, and to set the jewels of God's word in the framework of truth. What would the Saviour do if he should come to us now as he did to the Jews? He would have to do a similar work in clearing away the rubbish of tradition and ceremony. The Jews were greatly disturbed when he did this work [As are SDAs today!]. They had lost sight of the original truth of God, but Christ brought it again to view. It is our work to free the precious truths of God from superstition and error." E.G. White, Review and Herald, Vol. 2, 308.

The Lord commanded one of his ancient servants, "Pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear thee." The prophet thus describes the sins which had called forth this fearful denunciation: "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so; and what will ye do in the end thereof?" "From the least of them even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace." {RH, November 7, 1882 par. 8}

The apostles declare that this state of things will find its counterpart in the last days. Many have a form of godliness, but in their daily life deny the power thereof. They have ceased to be convicted of their sins or alarmed at their state. They say in their hearts, "The church is flourishing. Peace and spiritual prosperity are within her borders." The words of the prophet may well apply to these self-deceivers, "They have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them." {RH, November 7, 1882 par. 9}

I know of SDA ministers and their wives who deny that Ezekiel 9 was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. These same ministers and their spouse’s are forever citing Ellen White statements about unity and pressing together, in complete disregard for Mrs. White’s statements as to WHEN NOT to unify with those who are in gross error. One would think that if these leaders of the flock were truly interested in unity at any cost—no matter what the church is doing, they would be in unity with what the thirty-five (35) writers of the SDA Bible Commentary has to say about Ezekiel 9. The set of Commentaries was written before the omega of apostasy in 1957, involving the Evangelical Conferences with Babylon. There were some stalwart good men left in the church at that time, and M. L. Andreasen, who protested what he called the omega of apostasy of 1957 and on, was one of the contributors to the SDA Bible Commentary, and he was considered the denominations foremost theologian at the time.

“The words of the prophet Ezekiel are applicable to the people who profess the truth at this time: "Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face; should I be inquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him that cometh, according to the multitude of his idols." {RH, August 15, 1882 par. 5}

The year 1882 is the first time of four different occasions when Ellen White called the church a harlot. This gives pause to the serious thought that if Ellen White thought the church was a harlot in 1882, what in the name of all that is Holy would she say about the church today? Would the words of the prophet Ezekiel be applicable to the people who profess the truth at this time?!

The SDA Bible Commentary on Ezekiel 9

All of the destructions of Jerusalem that Ezekiel was shown, the three by Babylon and the Chaldeans, and the final one in A.D. 70, by the Romans, were related to all of Ezekiel’s prophesies concerning the destruction(s) of Jerusalem. For example, the reasons for God permitting the destruction were the same. However, there are distinct differences in the case of the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. That judgment was not for the purpose of reforming the Jews as the sieges by Nebuchadnezzer had been. The judgment in Ezekiel 9 was final. Probation had closed for Jerusalem 36 years prior at the stoning of Stephen. It is this close of probation that finds a parallel in the end-time fulfillment of Ezekiel 9, for it will then be the close of probation for the entire world. But just as Israel’s probation as a denomiNATION closed 36 years before its destruction, so probation for God’s enlightened SDA’s will close before the general close of probation for the world.

“While Jeremiah continued to bear his testimony in the land of Judah, the prophet Ezekiel was raised up from among the captives in Babylon, to warn and to comfort the exiles, and also to confirm the word of the Lord that was being spoken through Jeremiah. During the years that remained of Zedekiah's reign, Ezekiel made very plain the folly of trusting to the false predictions of those who were causing the captives to hope for an early return to Jerusalem. He was also instructed to foretell, by means of a variety of symbols and solemn messages, the siege and utter destruction of Jerusalem.” {PK 448.1}

Now I’m going to repeat a statement I quoted a few paragraphs above, and for purposes of reinforcement and summarization, I will ask you some questions concerning it:

"6. Begin at my sanctuary. In its primary application this decree marks the close of Jerusalem's probation. God had exhausted His resources in appealing to rebellious Israel. His restraining power would be removed from the invading Chaldeans. Mercilessly their armies would execute the sentence to 'slay utterly old and young.' They would begin at the sanctuary, where the gross sins of the people had been concentrated.

These scenes will be re-enacted in the last days. Judgment, then, too, begins at the "house of God (1 Peter 4:17), with those whom God has given great light and who have stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, but how have betrayed their trust (see 5T 211)." SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, p. 607.

Simple questions:

When did Jerusalem's probation close? Was it at the stoning of Stephen in A.D. 34?
Was there a generational close of probation for Israel at each of the four destructions of Jerusalem—three by Nebuchadnezzar and one by Titus, the Roman General. Jeremiah 11:9-15, answers this question in the affirmative, because God told Jeremiah not to pray for the Jews of that generation who committed those specific apostasies.
Is the SDA Bible Commentary saying that the Ezekiel 9 slaughter was to occur after or before A.D. 34?
In 5T 211, who is represented as "...those to whom God has given great light?"
Who is represented as "the house of Jacob."
Who is Ellen White addressing the entire chapter to, which begins quoting Ezekiel 9? Is it to Adventists?
Who did Ellen White address the following statements to?
Is "the church" that has been given great light Babylon or modern day Jerusalem?
In the historical fulfillment of Ezekiel 9, was Babylon the object of destruction, or was it Jerusalem, God's chosen people?
Was the House of Jacob Babylon or Jerusalem?
Did Babylon betray a sacred trust or did Jerusalem, God's chosen people?
Was Babylon the spiritual guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, or were the leaders of Jerusalem?
Was Babylon responsible for showing Jerusalem its sins or was it the other way around?
Was Babylon commissioned to give the gospel to the world or was Jerusalem?

"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.

Begin at My Sanctuary -- "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 house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together." E. G. White, Testimonies, Vol. 5, 211.

The keynote of his teaching was struck in the words that he spoke to the woman at Samaria, when he said: "The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." Christ declared to his disciples, in the company of the scribes and Pharisees, the manner of standard they must reach in order to be acceptable worshipers. He said, "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." The words of the prophet Ezekiel applied to the religious teachers of that day: "Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things; they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy; yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully." {SSW, December 1, 1894 par. 3}

Jesus spoke as one having knowledge and authority. The denunciation he uttered against the Jews condemned their formalism and hypocrisy. His scathing rebukes and denunciation of formalism have the same force today as they had in the days of the scribes and Pharisees, and apply to those who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. The God of infinite holiness cannot accept external service as spiritual worship. Those who worship God must worship him in spirit and truth, or their service is vain. There must be reality in the religious ceremonies, or they are simply pretensions, hollow abominations. But though Jesus rebuked the priests and religious teachers for their formalism and hypocrisy, yet how forbearing and tender were his lessons to the poor, the oppressed, the afflicted, and discouraged. The priests and rulers, the scribes and Pharisees, destroyed the living pastures, and defiled the well-springs of the water of life. By their false precepts they confused the understanding, and clouded that which was clear. They misrepresented God by their hardness of heart, by their impurity, pride, and selfishness. They made God altogether such a one as themselves. Their imagination was darkened and polluted by their wicked works. Because of their religious degeneracy they could discern nothing that pertained to the spiritual kingdom of Christ. Through rejecting the messages of mercy brought to them by the Lord of light and glory, they became, in their stubborn resistance, past feeling. They had evidence in abundance of the divine character and mission of Christ, and increased evidence would only have increased their guilt. Thinking themselves to be wise, they became fools. As men do today, so they did then, and used the very intellect that God had given them to brand with falsehood his eternal truth. SSW, December 1, 1894 par. 4}

The Lord reads the heart as an open book. The men who are not connected with God have done many things after the imagination of their own evil hearts. The Lord declares concerning them, "They have turned unto Me their back, and not the face, though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them; yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction." We are amid the perils of the last days, the time will soon come when the prophecy of Ezekiel 9 will be fulfilled; that prophecy should be carefully studied, for it will be fulfilled to the very letter. Study also the tenth chapter which represents the hand of God as at work to bring perfect method and harmonious working into all the operations of his prepared instrumentalities. The eleventh and twelfth chapters also should receive critical, thoughtful attention. Let these prophecies be studied on your knees before God; unless you take up the stumbling-blocks which by your own perverse spirit you have laid in the way of many who have been connected with you, God will turn His face utterly from you and your associates. {1888 1303.1}

Ellen White Comments on Ezekiel 9

2-4 (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). A Mark Which Angels Read.--[Eph. 1:13 quoted.] What is the seal of the living God, which is placed in the foreheads of His people? It is a mark which angels, but not human eyes, can read; for the destroying angel must see this mark of redemption (Letter 126, 1898). {4BC 1161.4}

The angel with the writer's ink horn is to place a mark upon the foreheads of all who are separated from sin and sinners, and the destroying angel follows this angel (Letter 12, 1886). {4BC 1161.5}

Question: How or when were the Jews separated from sin and sinners in the Babylonian Captivities? That never took place during any one of them. However, how did a separation from sin and sinners take place from A.D. 27—70, just before the Ezekiel 9 destruction of Jerusalem—the one by the Roman General Titus? Jesus and His disciples separated the true from the false in the apostate Jewish church in Jerusalem. Every true Christian fled and escaped the Ezekiel 9 slaughter which began at the Temple and progressed to destroy the entire city says Josephus, an eye witness Jewish historian.

We are to separate from personal sin as well as separating from sinners and a church that sins corporately by violating God’s commands. If this were not true, we might have remained in the other fallen churches.

(Rev. 7:2.) Seal Is a Settling Into Truth.--Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads--it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved--just as soon as God's people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already; the judgments of God are now upon the land, to give us warning, that we may know what is coming (MS 173, 1902). {4BC 1161.6}

Those who have been members of the same family are separated. A mark is placed upon the righteous. "They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him" [Mal. 3:17]. Those who have been obedient to God's commandments will unite with the company of the saints in light. They shall enter in through the gates into the city, and have right to the tree of life. {LDE 216.1}

“The Lord reads the heart as an open book. The men who are not connected with God have done many things after the imagination of their own evil hearts. The Lord declares concerning them, "They have turned unto Me their back, and not the face, though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them; yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction." We are amid the perils of the last days, the time will soon come when the prophecy of Ezekiel 9 will be fulfilled; that prophecy should be carefully studied, for it will be fulfilled to the very letter. Study also the tenth chapter which represents the hand of God as at work to bring perfect method and harmonious working into all the operations of his prepared instrumentalities. The eleventh and twelfth chapters also should receive critical, thoughtful attention. Let these prophecies be studied on your knees before God; unless you take up the stumbling-blocks which by your own perverse spirit you have laid in the way of many who have been connected with you, God will turn His face utterly from you and your associates.”{1888 1303.1}

He who presides over His church and the destinies of nations is carrying forward the last work to be accomplished for this world. To His angels He gives the commission to execute His judgments. Let the ministers awake, let them take in the situation. The work of judgment begins at the sanctuary. "And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar." Read Ezekiel 9:2-7. The command is, "Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house." Saith God. "I will recompense their way upon their head." {TM 431.3}

The people of God are sighing and crying for the abominations done in the land. With tears they warn the wicked of their danger in trampling upon the divine law, and with unutterable sorrow they humble themselves before the Lord on account of their own transgressions. The wicked mock their sorrow, ridicule their solemn appeals, and sneer at what they term their weakness. But the anguish and humiliation of God's people is unmistakable evidence that they are regaining the strength and nobility of character lost in consequence of sin. It is because they are drawing nearer to Christ, and their eyes are fixed upon His perfect purity, that they so clearly discern the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Their contrition and self-abasement are infinitely more acceptable in the sight of God than is the self-sufficient, haughty spirit of those who see no cause to lament, who scorn the humility of Christ, and who claim perfection while transgressing God's holy law. Meekness and lowliness of heart are the conditions for strength and victory. The crown of glory awaits those who bow at the foot of the cross. Blessed are these mourners, for they shall be comforted. {5T 474.4}

When God was about to smite the first-born of Egypt, He commanded the Israelites to gather their children from among the Egyptians into their own dwellings and strike their door posts with blood, that the destroying angel might see it and pass over their homes. It was the work of parents to gather in their children. This is your work, this is my work, and the work of every mother who believes the truth. The angel is to place a mark upon the forehead of all who are separated from sin and sinners, and the destroying angel will follow, to slay utterly both old and young. {5T 505.2}

I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven. An angel with a writer's inkhorn by his side returned from the earth and reported to Jesus that his work was done, and the saints were numbered and sealed. Then I saw Jesus, who had been ministering before the ark containing the ten commandments, throw down the censer. He raised His hands, and with a loud voice said, "It is done." And all the angelic host laid off their crowns as Jesus made the solemn declaration, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." {EW 279.2}

Who are standing in the counsel of God at this time? Is it those who virtually excuse wrongs among the professed people of God, and murmur in their hearts, if not openly, against those who would reprove sin? Is it those who take their stand against them, and sympathize with those who commit wrong? No, indeed! These, unless they repent, and leave the work of Satan in oppressing those who have the burden of the work, and holding up the hands of sinners in Zion, will never receive the mark of God's sealing approval. They will fall in the general destruction of all the wicked, represented by the five men bearing slaughter weapons. Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those "that sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done" in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in an agony, even sighing and crying. Read Ezekiel, chapter nine. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 5}

But the general slaughter of all those who do not thus see the wide contrast between sin and righteousness, and do not feel as those do who stand in the counsel of God and receive the mark, is described in the order to the five men with slaughter weapons: "Go ye after him through the city, and smite; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity; slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary." {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 6}

Note, The six men includes the one among them who has the writer’s inkhorn. End note.

The Close of Probation

I was pointed down to the time when the third angel's message was closing. The power of God had rested upon His people; they had accomplished their work and were prepared for the trying hour before them. They had received the latter rain, or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and the living testimony had been revived. The last great warning had sounded everywhere, and it had stirred up and enraged the inhabitants of the earth who would not receive the message. {SR 402.1}

I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven. An angel with a writer's inkhorn by his side returned from the earth and reported to Jesus that his work was done, and the saints were numbered and sealed. Then I saw Jesus, who had been ministering before the ark containing the Ten Commandments, throw down the censer. He raised His hands, and with a loud voice said. "It is done." And all the angelic host laid off their crowns as Jesus made the solemn declaration, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." Rev. 22:11. {SR 402.2}

Every case had been decided for life or death. While Jesus had been ministering in the sanctuary, the judgment had been going on for the righteous dead, and then for the righteous living. Christ had received His kingdom, having made the atonement for His people and blotted out their sins. The subjects of the kingdom were made up. The marriage of the Lamb was consummated. And the kingdom, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, was given to Jesus and the heirs of salvation, and Jesus was to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. {SR 402.3}

Who are standing in the counsel of God at this time? Is it those who virtually excuse wrongs among the professed people of God and who murmur in their hearts, if not openly, against those who would reprove sin? Is it those who take their stand against them and sympathize with those who commit wrong? No, indeed! Unless they repent, and leave the work of Satan in oppressing those who have the burden of the work and in holding up the hands of sinners in Zion, they will never receive the mark of God's sealing approval. They will fall in the general destruction of the wicked, represented by the work of the five men bearing slaughter weapons. Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those "that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done" in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in agony, even sighing and crying. Read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel. {3T 267.1}

But the general slaughter of all those who do not thus see the wide contrast between sin and righteousness, and do not feel as those do who stand in the counsel of God and receive the mark, is described in the order to the five men with slaughter weapons: "Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." {3T 267.2}

The Third Message Closed

As Jesus moved out of the most holy place, I heard the tinkling of the bells upon His garment; and as He left, a cloud of darkness covered the inhabitants of the earth. There was then no mediator between guilty man and an offended God. While Jesus had been standing between God and guilty man, a restraint was upon the people; but when He stepped out from between man and the Father, the restraint was removed and Satan had entire control of the finally impenitent. It was impossible for the plagues to be poured out while Jesus officiated in the sanctuary; but as His work there is finished, and His intercession closes, there is nothing to stay the wrath of God, and it breaks with fury upon the shelterless head of the guilty sinner, who has slighted salvation and hated reproof. In that fearful time, after the close of Jesus' mediation, the saints were living in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor. Every case was decided, every jewel numbered. Jesus tarried a moment in the outer apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and the sins which had been confessed while He was in the most holy place were placed upon Satan, the originator of sin, who must suffer their punishment. {EW 280.2}

Then I saw Jesus lay off His priestly attire and clothe Himself with His most kingly robes. Upon His head were many crowns, a crown within a crown. Surrounded by the angelic host, He left heaven. The plagues were falling upon the inhabitants of the earth. Some were denouncing God and cursing Him. Others rushed to the people of God and begged to be taught how they might escape His judgments. But the saints had nothing for them. The last tear for sinners had been shed, the last agonizing prayer offered, the last burden borne, the last warning given. The sweet voice of mercy was no more to invite them. When the saints, and all heaven, were interested for their salvation, they had no interest for themselves. Life and death had been set before them. Many desired life, but made no effort to obtain it. They did not choose life, and now there was no atoning blood to cleanse the guilty, no compassionate Saviour to plead for them, and cry, "Spare, spare the sinner a little longer." All heaven had united with Jesus, as they heard the fearful words, "It is done. It is finished." The plan of salvation had been accomplished, but few had chosen to accept it. And as mercy's sweet voice died away, fear and horror seized the wicked. With terrible distinctness they heard the words, "Too late! too late!" {EW 281.1}

The Seal of God

What is Your Refuge in that Day?

If such scenes as this are to come, such tremendous judgments on a guilty world, where will be the refuge for God's people? How will they be sheltered until the indignation be overpast? John sees the elements of nature--earthquake, tempest, and political strife-- represented as being held by four angels. These winds are under control until God gives the word to let them go. There is the safety of God's church. The angels of God do His bidding, holding back the winds of the earth, that the winds should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree, until the servants of God should be sealed in their foreheads. The mighty angel is seen ascending from the east (or sunrising). This mightiest of angels has in his hand the seal of the living God, or of

445

Him who alone can give life, who can inscribe upon the foreheads the mark or inscription, to whom shall be granted immortality, eternal life. It is the voice of this highest angel that had authority to command the four angels to keep in check the four winds until this work was performed, and until he should give the summons to let them loose. {TM 444.3}

Those that overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, will be the favored ones who shall receive the seal of the living God. Those whose hands are not clean, whose hearts are not pure, will not have the seal of the living God. Those who are planning sin and acting it will be passed by. Only those who, in their attitude before God, are filling the position of those who are repenting and confessing their sins in the great anti-typical day of atonement, will be recognized and marked as worthy of God's protection. The names of those who are steadfastly looking and waiting and watching for the appearing of their Saviour--more earnestly and wishfully than they who wait for the morning--will be numbered with those who are sealed. Those who, while having all the light of truth flashing upon their souls, should have works corresponding to their avowed faith, but are allured by sin, setting up idols in their hearts, corrupting their souls before God, and polluting those who unite with them in sin, will have their names blotted out of the book of life, and be left in midnight darkness, having no oil in their vessels with their lamps. "Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings." {TM 445.1}

This sealing of the servants of God is the same that was shown to Ezekiel in vision. John also had been a witness of this most startling revelation. He saw the sea and the waves roaring, and men's hearts failing them for fear. He beheld the earth moved, and the mountains carried into the midst of the sea (which is literally taking place), the water thereof roaring and troubled, and the mountains shaking with the swelling thereof. He was shown plagues, pestilence, famine, and death performing their terrible mission. {TM 445.2}

"Escape for Thy Life"

The same angel who visited Sodom is sounding the note of warning, "Escape for thy life." The bottles of God's wrath cannot be poured out to destroy the wicked and their works until all the people of God have been judged, and the cases of the living as well as the dead are decided. And even after the saints are sealed with the seal of the living God, His elect will have trials individually. Personal afflictions will come; but the furnace is closely watched by an eye that will not suffer the gold to be consumed. The indelible mark of God is upon them. God can plead that His own name is written there. The Lord has shut them in. Their destination is inscribed--"God, New Jerusalem." They are God's property, His possession. {TM 446.1}

Will this seal be put upon the impure in mind, the fornicator, the adulterer, the man who covets his neighbor's wife? Let your souls answer the question, Does my character correspond to the qualifications essential that I may receive a passport to the mansions Christ has prepared for those who are fitted for them? Holiness must be inwrought in our character. {TM 446.2}

God has shown me that at the very time that the signs of the times are being fulfilled around us, when we hear, as it were, the tread of the hosts of heaven fulfilling their mission, men of intelligence, men in responsible positions, will be putting rotten timbers in their character building--material which is consumable in the day of God, and which will decide them to be unfit to enter the mansions above. They have refused to let go the filthy garments; they have clung to them as if they were of precious value. They will lose heaven and an eternity of bliss on account of them. {TM 446.3}

Achan's Sin and Punishment

God had specially guarded His people against mingling with the idolatrous nations around them, lest their hearts should be deceived by the attractive groves and shrines, temples and altars, which were arranged in the most expensive, alluring manner to pervert the senses so that God would be supplanted in the minds of the people. {3T 263.2}

The city of Jericho was devoted to the most extravagant idolatry. The inhabitants were very wealthy, but all the riches that God had given them they counted as the gift of their gods. They had gold and silver in abundance; but, like the people before the Flood, they were corrupt and blasphemous, and insulted and provoked the God of heaven by their wicked works. God's judgments were awakened against Jericho. It was a stronghold. But the Captain of the Lord's host Himself came from heaven to lead the armies of heaven in an attack upon the city. Angels of God laid hold of the massive walls and brought them to the ground. God had said that the city of Jericho should be accursed and that all should perish except Rahab and her household. These should be saved because of the favor that Rahab showed the messengers of the Lord. The word of the Lord to the people was: "And ye, in anywise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it." "And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it." {3T 264.1}

God was very particular in regard to Jericho, lest the people should be charmed with the things that the inhabitants had worshiped and their hearts be diverted from God. He guarded His people by most positive commands; yet notwithstanding the solemn injunction from God by the mouth of Joshua, Achan ventured to transgress. His covetousness led him to take of the treasures that God had forbidden him to touch because the curse of God was upon them. And because of this man's sin the Israel of God were as weak as water before their enemies. {3T 264.2}

Joshua and the elders of Israel were in great affliction. They lay before the ark of God in most abject humility because the Lord was wroth with His people. They prayed and wept before God. The Lord spoke to Joshua: "Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you." {3T 264.3}

Duty to Reprove Sin

I have been shown that God here illustrates how He regards sin among those who profess to be His commandment-keeping people. Those whom He has specially honored with witnessing the remarkable exhibitions of His power, as did ancient Israel, and who will even then venture to disregard His express directions, will be subjects of His wrath. He would teach His people that disobedience and sin are exceedingly offensive to Him and are not to be lightly regarded. He shows us that when His people are found in sin they should at once take decided measures to put that sin from them, that His frown may not rest upon them all. But if the sins of the people are passed over by those in responsible positions, His frown will be upon them, and the people of God, as a body, will be held responsible for those sins. In His dealings with His people in the past the Lord shows the necessity of purifying the church from wrongs. One sinner may diffuse darkness that will exclude the light of God from the entire congregation. When the people realize that darkness is settling upon them, and they do not know the cause, they should seek God earnestly, in great humility and self-abasement, until the wrongs which grieve His Spirit are searched out and put away. {3T 265.1}

The prejudice which has arisen against us because we have reproved the wrongs that God has shown me existed, and the cry that has been raised of harshness and severity, are unjust. God bids us speak, and we will not be silent. If wrongs are apparent among His people, and if the servants of God pass on indifferent to them, they virtually sustain and justify the sinner, and are alike guilty and will just as surely receive the displeasure of God; for they will be made responsible for the sins of the guilty. In vision I have been pointed to many instances where the displeasure of God has been incurred by a neglect on the part of His servants to deal with the wrongs and sins existing among them. Those who have excused these wrongs have been thought by the people to be very amiable and lovely in disposition, simply because they shunned to discharge a plain Scriptural duty. The task was not agreeable to their feelings; therefore they avoided it. {3T 265.2}

The spirit of hatred which has existed with some because the wrongs among God's people have been reproved has brought blindness and a fearful deception upon their own souls, making it impossible for them to discriminate between right and wrong. They have put out their own spiritual eyesight. They may witness wrongs, but they do not feel as did Joshua and humble themselves because the danger of souls is felt by them. {3T 266.1}

The true people of God, who have the spirit of the work of the Lord and the salvation of souls at heart, will ever view sin in its real, sinful character. They will always be on the side of faithful and plain dealing with sins which easily beset the people of God. Especially in the closing work for the church, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand who are to stand without fault before the throne of God, will they feel most deeply the wrongs of God's professed people. This is forcibly set forth by the prophet's illustration of the last work under the figure of the men each having a slaughter weapon in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side. "And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." {3T 266.2}

But the general slaughter of all those who do not thus see the wide contrast between sin and righteousness, and do not feel as those do who stand in the counsel of God and receive the mark, is described in the order to the five men with slaughter weapons: "Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." {3T 267.2}

In the case of Achan's sin God said to Joshua: "Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you." How does this instance compare with the course pursued by those who will not raise their voice against sin and wrong, but whose sympathies are ever found with those who trouble the camp of Israel with their sins? Said God to Joshua: "Thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you." He pronounced the punishment which would follow the transgression of His covenant. {3T 267.3}

Chap. 288 - God Intervenes in Armageddon

A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Jer. 25:31.

For six thousand years the great controversy has been in progress; the Son of God and His heavenly messengers have been in conflict with the power of the evil one, to warn, enlighten, and save the children of men. Now all have made their decisions; the wicked have fully united with Satan in his warfare against God. The time has come for God to vindicate the authority of His downtrodden law. Now the controversy is not alone with Satan, but with men. "The Lord hath a controversy with the nations"; "He will give them that are wicked to the sword." {Mar 296.1}

The mark of deliverance has been set upon those "that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done." Now the angel of death goes forth, represented in Ezekiel's vision by the men with the slaughtering weapons, to whom the command is given: "Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary." Says the prophet: "They began at the ancient men which were before the house." Ezekiel 9:1-6. The work of destruction begins among those who have professed to be the spiritual guardians of the people. The false watchmen are the first to fall. There are none to pity or to spare. Men, women, maidens, and little children perish together. {Mar 296.2}

"The Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Isaiah 26:21. . . . In the mad strife of their own fierce passions, and by the awful outpouring of God's unmingled wrath, fall the wicked inhabitants of the earth--priests, rulers, and people, rich and poor, high and low. "And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried." Jeremiah 25:33. {Mar 296.3}

Christian cheerfulness is not condemned by the Scriptures, but reckless talking is censured. Those who live in the last days should be circumspect in words and acts. Sobriety is more in accordance with our faith than levity. Those who realize the solemnity of the times in which we live will be among the number who bear about with them a weight of solemn influence. They are rich in good works, bearing the burden of souls, and by holy example faithfully represent Jesus Christ and win souls to accept Christ as their Saviour. Ezekiel 9:3-6. Notice particularly [that] the sighing and crying ones are alone marked. Those who have engaged in afflicting their souls before God are especially remembered of Him, and the angel is bidden to place a mark upon them. 1 Peter 5:5-9. {18MR 370.3}

32: PREPARING for the JUDGMENT HOUR [Ellen White Equates Ezekiel 9 with the Judgment]

"He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand." {CET 185.1}

"And He called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house." Ezekiel 9:1, 3-6. {CET 185.2}

Jesus is about to leave the mercy seat of the heavenly sanctuary, to put on garments of vengeance, and pour out His wrath in judgments upon those who have not responded to the light God has given them. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Ecclesiastes 8:11. Instead of being softened by the patience and long forbearance that the Lord has exercised toward them, those who fear not God and love not the truth, strengthen their hearts in their evil course. But there are limits even to the forbearance of God, and many are exceeding these boundaries. They have overrun the limits of grace, and therefore God must interfere and vindicate His honor. {CET 185.3}

Of the Amorites, the Lord said, "In the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." Although this nation was conspicuous because of its idolatry and corruption, it had not yet filled up the cup of its iniquity, and God would not give command for its utter destruction. The people were to see the divine power manifested in a marked manner, that they might be left without excuse. The compassionate Creator was willing to bear with their iniquity until the fourth generation. Then, if no change was seen for the better, His judgments were to fall upon them. {CET 186.1}

Note by Ron: A generation is reckoned at about 30 years among human beings.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

gen·er·a·tion /ˌdʒɛnəˈreɪʃən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[jen-uh-rey-shuhn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun

1.	the entire body of individuals born and living at about the same time: the postwar generation.

2.	the term of years, roughly 30 among human beings, accepted as the average period between the birth of parents and the birth of their offspring.

Ellen White first called the church a harlot in 1882. It is a point of interest that 2002 was four generations since 1882. The evidence is that the church has imbibed a continuum progression of apostasy since 1882. Israel’s final probation closed in A.D. 34, at the stoning of Stephen, and it was destroyed 36 years later.

https://omega77.tripod.com/harlotstat1.htm End note by Ron.

With unerring accuracy, the Infinite One still kept an account with all nations. While His mercy is tendered, with calls to repentance, this account will remain open; but when the figures reach a certain amount which God has fixed, the ministry of His wrath commences. The account is closed. Divine patience ceases. There is no more pleading of mercy in their behalf. . . . {CET 186.2}

The crisis is fast approaching. The time for God's visitation has about come. Although loth to punish, nevertheless He will punish, and that speedily. Those who walk in the light will see signs of the approaching peril; but they are not to sit in quiet, unconcerned expectancy of the ruin, comforting themselves with the belief that God will shelter His people in the day of visitation. Far from it. They should realize that it is their duty to labor diligently to save others, looking with strong faith to God for help. "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16. {CET 186.3}

The leaven of godliness has not entirely lost its power. At the time when the danger and depression of the church are greatest, the little company who are standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the land. But more especially will their prayers arise in behalf of the church, because its members are doing after the manner of the world. {CET 186.4}

The earnest prayers of this faithful few will not be in vain. When the Lord comes forth as an avenger, He will also come as a protector of all those who have preserved the faith in its purity, and kept themselves unspotted from the world. It is at this time that God has promised to avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them. {CET 187.1}

The day of God's vengeance is just upon us. The seal of God will be placed upon the foreheads of those only who sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land. Those who link in sympathy with the world are eating and drinking with the drunken, and will surely be destroyed with the workers of iniquity. "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry;" but "the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." Psalm 34:15, 16. {CET 187.2}

Note by Ron: We are to sigh and cry for the abominations done in the CHURCH, as well:

“Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those "that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done" in the church.” {Mar 240.1}

Our own course of action will determine whether we shall receive the seal of the living God, or be cut down by the destroying weapons. Already a few drops of God's wrath have fallen upon the earth; but when the seven last plagues shall be poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation, then it will be forever too late to repent, and find shelter. No atoning blood will then wash away the stains of sin. {CET 187.3}

"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book." Daniel 12:1.

When this time of trouble comes, every case is decided; there is no longer probation, no longer mercy for the impenitent. The seal of the living God is upon His people. {CET 187.4}

This small remnant, unable to defend themselves in the deadly conflict with the powers of earth that are marshaled by the dragon host, make God their defence. The decree has been passed by the highest earthly authority that they shall worship the beast and receive his mark under pain of persecution and death. May God help His people now, for what can they then do in such a fearful conflict without His assistance! {CET 188.1}

Courage, fortitude, faith, and implicit trust in God's power to save, do not come in a moment. These heavenly graces are acquired by the experience of years. By a life of holy endeavor and firm adherence to the right, the children of God were sealing their destiny. Beset with temptations without number, they knew they must resist firmly or be conquered. They felt that they had a great work to do, and at any hour they might be called to lay off their armor; and should they come to the close of life with their work undone, it would be an eternal loss. They eagerly accepted the light from Heaven, as did the first disciples from the lips of Jesus. When those early Christians were exiled to mountains and deserts, when left in dungeons to die with hunger, cold, and torture, when martyrdom seemed the only way out of their distress, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ, who was crucified for them. Their worthy example will be a comfort and encouragement to the people of God who will be brought into the time of trouble such as never was. {CET 188.2}

Not all who profess to keep the Sabbath will be sealed. There are many even among those who teach the truth to others who will not receive the seal of God in their foreheads. They had the light of truth, they knew their Master's will, they understood every point of our faith, but they had not corresponding works. These who were so familiar with prophecy and the treasures of divine wisdom, should have acted their faith. They should have commanded their households after them, that by a well-ordered family they might present to the world the influence of the truth upon the human heart. {CET 189.1}

Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul-temple of every defilement. Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost. {CET 189.2}

We are too easily satisfied with our attainments. We feel rich and increased with goods, and know not that we are "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Revelation 3:17. Now is the time to heed the admonition of the True Witness: "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." Verse 18. {CET 189.3}

In this life we must meet fiery trials and make costly sacrifices, but the peace of Christ is the reward. There has been so little self-denial, so little suffering for Christ's sake, that the cross is almost entirely forgotten. We must be partakers with Christ of His sufferings, if we would sit down in triumph with Him on His throne. So long as we choose the easy path of self-indulgence, and are frightened at self-denial, our faith will never become firm, and we cannot know the peace of Jesus, nor the joy that comes through conscious victory. The most exalted of the redeemed host that stand before the throne of God and the Lamb, clad in white, know the conflict of overcoming, for they have come up through great tribulation. Those who have yielded to circumstances rather than engage in this conflict, will not know how to stand in that day when anguish will be upon every soul, when, though Noah, Job, and Daniel were in the land, they could save neither son nor daughter, for everyone must deliver his soul by his own righteousness. {CET 189.4}

No one need say that his case is hopeless, that he cannot live the life of a Christian. Ample provision is made by the death of Christ for every soul. Jesus is our ever-present help in time of need. Only call upon Him in faith, and He has promised to hear and answer your petitions. {CET 190.1}

Oh, for living, active, faith! We need it; we must have it, or we shall faint and fail in the day of trial. The darkness that will then rest upon our path must not discourage us, or drive us to despair. It is the veil with which God covers His glory when He comes to impart rich blessings. We should know this by our past experience. In that day when God has a controversy with His people, this experience will be a source of comfort and hope. {CET 190.2}

It is now that we must keep ourselves and our children unspotted from the world. It is now that we must wash our robes of character and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. It is now that we must overcome pride, passion, and spiritual slothfulness. It is now that we must awake, and make determined effort for symmetry of character. "Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." Hebrews 4:7. We are in a most trying position, waiting, watching for our Lord's appearing. The world is in darkness. "But ye, brethren," says Paul, "are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thessalonians 5:4. It is ever God's purpose to bring light out of darkness, joy out of sorrow, and rest out of weariness, for the waiting, longing soul. {CET 190.3}

What are you doing, brethren, in the great work of preparation? Those who are uniting with the world, are receiving the worldly mold, and preparing for the mark of the beast. Those who are distrustful of self, who are humbling themselves before God and purifying their souls by obeying the truth,--these are receiving the heavenly mold, and preparing for the seal of God in their foreheads. When the decree goes forth, and the stamp is impressed, their character will remain pure and spotless for eternity. {CET 191.1}

Now is the time to prepare. The seal of God will never be placed upon the forehead of an impure man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of the ambitious, world-loving man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of men or women of false tongues or deceitful hearts. All who receive the seal must be without spot before God,--candidates for heaven. Search the Scriptures for yourselves, that you may understand the fearful solemnity of the present hour. {CET 191.2}

The mark of deliverance has been set upon those "that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done." Now the angel of death goes forth, represented in Ezekiel's vision by the men with the slaughtering weapons, to whom the command is given: "Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." Says the prophet: "They began at the ancient men which were before the house." Ezekiel 9:1-6. The work of destruction begins among those who have professed to be the spiritual guardians of the people. The false watchmen are the first to fall. There are none to pity or to spare. Men, women, maidens, and little children perish together. {GC 656.2}

"The Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants

657

of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Isaiah 26:21. "And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor." Zechariah 14:12, 13. In the mad strife of their own fierce passions, and by the awful outpouring of God's unmingled wrath, fall the wicked inhabitants of the earth--priests, rulers, and people, rich and poor, high and low. "And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried." Jeremiah 25:33. {GC 656.3}

At the coming of Christ the wicked are blotted from the face of the whole earth--consumed with the spirit of His mouth and destroyed by the brightness of His glory. Christ takes His people to the City of God, and the earth is emptied of its inhabitants. "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof." "The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word." "Because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned." Isaiah 24:1, 3, 5, 6. {GC 657.1}

The Last King of Judah and Ezekiel’s Role in Regard to Jeremiah

Zedekiah at the beginning of his reign was trusted fully by the king of Babylon and had as a tried counselor the prophet Jeremiah. By pursuing an honorable course toward the Babylonians and by paying heed to the messages from the Lord through Jeremiah, he could have kept the respect of many in high authority and have had opportunity to communicate to them a knowledge of the true God. Thus the captive exiles already in Babylon would have been placed on vantage ground and granted many liberties; the name of God would have been honored far and wide; and those that remained in the land of Judah would have been spared the terrible calamities that finally came upon them. {PK 440.1}

Through Jeremiah, Zedekiah and all Judah, including those taken to Babylon, were counseled to submit quietly to the temporary rule of their conquerors. It was especially important that those in captivity should seek the peace of the land into which they had been carried. This, however, was contrary to the inclinations of the human heart; and Satan, taking advantage of the circumstances, caused false prophets to arise among the people, both in Jerusalem and in Babylon, who declared that the yoke of bondage would soon be broken and the former prestige of the nation restored. {PK 440.2}

The heeding of such flattering prophecies would have led to fatal moves on the part of the king and the exiles, and would have frustrated the merciful designs of God in their behalf. Lest an insurrection be incited and great suffering ensue, the Lord commanded Jeremiah to meet the crisis without delay, by warning the king of Judah of the sure consequence of rebellion. The captives also were admonished, by written communications, not to be deluded into believing their deliverance near. "Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you," he urged. Jeremiah 29:8. In this connection mention was made of the Lord's purpose to restore Israel at the close of the seventy years of captivity foretold by His messengers. {PK 441.1}

With what tender compassion did God inform His captive people of His plans for Israel! He knew that should they be persuaded by false prophets to look for a speedy deliverance, their position in Babylon would be made very difficult. Any demonstration or insurrection on their part would awaken the vigilance and severity of the Chaldean authorities and would lead to a further restriction of their liberties. Suffering and disaster would result. He desired them to submit quietly to their fate and make their servitude as pleasant as possible; and his counsel to them was: "Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; . . . and seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace." Verses 5-7. {PK 441.2}

Among the false teachers in Babylon were two men who claimed to be holy, but whose lives were corrupt. Jeremiah had condemned the evil course of these men and had warned them of their danger. Angered by reproof, they sought to oppose the work of the true prophet by stirring up the people to discredit his words and to act contrary to the counsel of God in the matter of subjecting themselves to the king of Babylon. The Lord testified through Jeremiah that these false prophets should be delivered into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and slain before his eyes. Not long afterward, this prediction was literally fulfilled. {PK 442.1}

To the end of time, men will arise to create confusion and rebellion among those who claim to be representatives of the true God. Those who prophesy lies will encourage men to look upon sin as a light thing. When the terrible results of their evil deeds are made manifest, they will seek, if possible, to make the one who has faithfully warned them, responsible for their difficulties, even as the Jews charged Jeremiah with their evil fortunes. But as surely as the words of Jehovah through His prophet were vindicated anciently, so surely will the certainty of His messages be established today. {PK 442.2}

From the first, Jeremiah had followed a consistent course in counseling submission to the Babylonians. This counsel was given not only to Judah, but to many of the surrounding nations. In the earlier portion of Zedekiah's reign, ambassadors from the rulers of Edom, Moab, Tyre, and other nations visited the king of Judah to learn whether in his judgment the time was opportune for a united revolt and whether he would join them in battling against the king of Babylon. While these ambassadors were awaiting a response, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, "Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah." Jeremiah 27:2, 3. {PK 442.3}

Jeremiah was commanded to instruct the ambassadors to inform their rulers that God had given them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and that they were to "serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come." Verse 7. {PK 443.1}

The ambassadors were further instructed to declare to their rulers that if they refused to serve the Babylonian king they should be punished "with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence" till they were consumed. Especially were they to turn from the teaching of false prophets who might counsel otherwise. "Hearken not ye to your prophets," the Lord declared, "nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish. But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein." Verses 8-11. The lightest punishment that a merciful God could inflict upon so rebellious a people was submission to the rule of Babylon, but if they warred against this decree of servitude they were to feel the full vigor of His chastisement. {PK 443.2}

The amazement of the assembled council of nations knew no bounds when Jeremiah, carrying the yoke of subjection about his neck, made known to them the will of God. {PK 444.1}

Against determined opposition Jeremiah stood firmly for the policy of submission. Prominent among those who presumed to gainsay the counsel of the Lord was Hananiah, one of the false prophets against whom the people had been warned. Thinking to gain the favor of the king and of the royal court, he lifted his voice in protest, declaring that God had given him words of encouragement for the Jews. Said he: "Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon: and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the Lord: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." Jeremiah 28:2-4. {PK 444.2}

Jeremiah, in the presence of the priests and people, earnestly entreated them to submit to the king of Babylon for the time the Lord had specified. He cited the men of Judah to the prophecies of Hosea, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and others whose messages of reproof and warning had been similar to his own. He referred them to events which had taken place in fulfillment of prophecies of retribution for unrepented sin. In the past the judgments of God had been visited upon the impenitent in exact fulfillment of His purpose as revealed through His messengers. {PK 445.1}

"The prophet which prophesieth of peace," Jeremiah proposed in conclusion, "when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him." Verse 9. If Israel chose to run the risk, future developments would effectually decide which was the true prophet.{PK 445.2}

The words of Jeremiah counseling submission aroused Hananiah to a daring challenge of the reliability of the message delivered. Taking the symbolic yoke from Jeremiah's neck, Hananiah broke it, saying, "Thus saith the Lord; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. {PK 446.1}

"And the prophet Jeremiah went his way." Verse 11. Apparently he could do nothing more than to retire from the scene of conflict. But Jeremiah was given another message. "Go and tell Hananiah," he was bidden, "Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. . . . {PK 446.2}

"Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month." Verses 13-17. {PK 446.3}

The false prophet had strengthened the unbelief of the people in Jeremiah and his message. He had wickedly declared himself the Lord's messenger, and he suffered death in consequence. In the fifth month Jeremiah prophesied the death of Hananiah, and in the seventh month his words were proved true by their fulfillment.
{PK 446.4}

The unrest caused by the representations of the false prophets brought Zedekiah under suspicion of treason, and only by quick and decisive action on his part was he permitted to continue reigning as a vassal. Opportunity for such action was taken advantage of shortly after the return of the ambassadors from Jerusalem to the surrounding nations, when the king of Judah accompanied Seraiah, "a quiet prince," on an important mission to Babylon. Jeremiah 51:59. During this visit to the Chaldean court, Zedekiah renewed his oath of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar. {PK 447.1}

Through Daniel and others of the Hebrew captives, the Babylonian monarch had been made acquainted with the power and supreme authority of the true God; and when Zedekiah once more solemnly promised to remain loyal, Nebuchadnezzar required him to swear to this promise in the name of the Lord God of Israel. Had Zedekiah respected this renewal of his covenant oath, his loyalty would have had a profound influence on the minds of many who were watching the conduct of those who claimed to reverence the name and to cherish the honor of the God of the Hebrews. {PK 447.2}

But Judah's king lost sight of his high privilege of bringing honor to the name of the living God. Of Zedekiah it is recorded: "He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord. And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel." 2 Chronicles 36:12, 13. {PK 447.3}

While Jeremiah continued to bear his testimony in the land of Judah, the prophet Ezekiel was raised up from among the captives in Babylon, to warn and to comfort the exiles, and also to confirm the word of the Lord that was being spoken through Jeremiah. During the years that remained of Zedekiah's reign, Ezekiel made very plain the folly of trusting to the false predictions of those who were causing the captives to hope for an early return to Jerusalem. He was also instructed to foretell, by means of a variety of symbols and solemn messages, the siege and utter destruction of Jerusalem. {PK 448.1}

In the sixth year of the reign of Zedekiah, the Lord revealed to Ezekiel in vision some of the abominations that were being practiced in Jerusalem, and within the gate of the Lord's house, and even in the inner court. The chambers of images, and the pictured idols, "every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel"--all these in rapid succession passed before the astonished gaze of the prophet. Ezekiel 8:10. {PK 448.2}

Those who should have been spiritual leaders among the people, "the ancients of the house of Israel," to the number of seventy, were seen offering incense before the idolatrous representations that had been introduced into hidden chambers within the sacred precincts of the temple court. "The Lord seeth us not," the men of Judah flattered themselves as they engaged in their heathenish practices; "the Lord hath forsaken the earth," they blasphemously declared. Verses 11, 12. {PK 448.3}

There were still "greater abominations" for the prophet to behold. At a gate leading from the outer to the inner court he was shown "women weeping for Tammuz," and within "the inner court of the Lord's house, . . . at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east." Verses 13-16. {PK 448.4}

And now the glorious Being who accompanied Ezekiel throughout this astonishing vision of wickedness in high places in the land of Judah, inquired of the prophet: "Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke Me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in Mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them." Verses 17, 18. {PK 449.1}

Through Jeremiah the Lord had declared of the wicked men who presumptuously dared to stand before the people in His name: "Both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in My house have I found their wickedness." Jeremiah 23:11. In the terrible arraignment of Judah as recorded in the closing narrative of the chronicler of Zedekiah's reign, this charge of violating the sanctity of the temple was repeated. "Moreover," the sacred writer declared, "all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which He had hallowed in Jerusalem." 2 Chronicles 36:14. {PK 449.2}

The day of doom for the kingdom of Judah was fast approaching. No longer could the Lord set before them the hope of averting the severest of His judgments. "Should ye be utterly unpunished?" He inquired. "Ye shall not be unpunished." Jeremiah 25:29. {PK 450.1}

Even these words were received with mocking derision. "The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth," declared the impenitent. But through Ezekiel this denial of the sure word of prophecy was sternly rebuked. "Tell them," the Lord declared, "I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God. {PK 450.2}

"Again," testifies Ezekiel, "the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; There shall none of My words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God." Ezekiel 12:22-28. {PK 450.3}

Foremost among those who were rapidly leading the nation to ruin was Zedekiah their king. Forsaking utterly the counsels of the Lord as given through the prophets, forgetting the debt of gratitude he owed Nebuchadnezzar, violating his solemn oath of allegiance taken in the name of the Lord God of Israel, Judah's king rebelled against the prophets, against his benefactor, and against his God. In the vanity of his own wisdom he turned for help to the ancient enemy of Israel's prosperity, "sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people." {PK 450.4}

"Shall he prosper?" the Lord inquired concerning the one who had thus basely betrayed every sacred trust; "shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered? As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war: . . . seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape." Ezekiel 17:15-18. {PK 451.1}

To the "profane wicked prince" had come the day of final reckoning. "Remove the diadem," the Lord decreed, "and take off the crown." Not until Christ Himself should set up His kingdom was Judah again to be permitted to have a king. "I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it," was the divine edict concerning the throne of the house of David; "and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him." Ezekiel 21:25-27. {PK 451.2}

Some Recent Internet Postings I Made After My Vision of March 30, 2008:

My comments under yours in the post below.

----- Original Message -----

From: Name Withheld

To: SDAIssues@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 4:01 PM

Subject: [SDAIssues] Re: Ezekiel 9 and 22 When Applicable

the answers to your questions are in the quotes you posted. lets see
what they say:

"6. Begin at my sanctuary.
In its primary application this decree marks the close of Jerusalem's
probation. God had exhausted His resources in appealing to rebellious
Israel.

Ron responds: His Sanctuary was not in Babylon. The close of Jerusalem's probation was not 500-600 years before A.D. 34, when the Babylonian (Chaldean) captivity of the Jews took place. The SDA Bible Commentary is dead wrong on this. I thought you would bite for that.

"His restraining power would be removed from the invading CHALDEANS.

Ron responds: The Ezekiel 9 slaughter was not perpetrated by the invading CHALDEANS. The slaughter that began at His Sanctuary, was perpetrated by the Romans in A.D. 70. The Babylonians took the Jews captive to Babylon. They did not kill them as Ezekiel 9 and 22:17-31 describes IN THE MISTS OF JERUSALEM, AT HIS SANCTUARY--God had not sanctuary in Babylon.

"Mercilessly their armies would execute the sentence to 'slay utterly
old and young.' They would begin at the sanctuary, where the gross
sins of the people had been concentrated.

Ron responds: You and _________ say that Ezekiel 9 was the Babylonian (Chaldean) invasion that led to the taking of the Jews captive to Babylon. There was not SANCTUARY in Babylon to begin any slaughter at, and the Jews were merely taken captive by the Chaldeans and returned to Jerusalem later.

"These scenes will be re-enacted in the last days. Judgment, then,
too, begins at the "house of God" (1 Peter 4:17), with those whom God
has given great light and who have stood as guardians of the
spiritual interests of the people, but how have betrayed their trust
(see 5T 211)."

Ron responds: By your interpretation, in the last days we will be taken captive to Babylonia by Chaldeans and somehow, judgment will begin at the house of God there in Babylonia--all the apostate Adventists and apostate other fallen churches will be taken captive in lieu of being killed AT HIS SANCTUARY. This would also demand that fallen Babylonian churches are God's Sanctuary--the house of Jaocob. That is not the case.

for a complete understanding of 5T 211 we have to read the whole
chapter, as well as, "the desolation of the earth" in "the great
controversy." according to those 2 sources the "house of God" will
be everyone church claiming to be christian.

Ron responds: I pray that all will indeed read the whole chapter. The destruction of the world that Ezekiel 9 symbolized, p. 25, Great Controversy, BEGINS AT HIS SANCTUARY, spiritual Jerusalem, the omega of apostasy SDA new movement church that has removed God. How does the chapter of 5T 207 and on describe the SDA church AFTER THE SUNDAY LAW at which time its danger and depression is greatest?:

"The leaven if godliness has not entirely lost its power. At the time when the danger and depression of the church are greatest, the little company who are standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the land. But MORE ESPECIALLY will their prayers arise in behalf of the church because ITS MEMBERS are doing after the manner of the world." Testimonies, vol. 5, 209, 210.

That is why Ezekiel 9 BEGINS AT HIS SANCTUARY, the omega of apostasy new movement, masquerading as the SDA church.

Ron