The Proclamations Of The First Angel
Identity of the Angels of Rev. 14:6 and 10:1
"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his Judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. " Rev. 14:6, 7. |
WE call this the first angel, because it is the first of the series. See verse 9. John calls it "another angel, " from the fact that he had previously seen an angel flying through the midst of heaven, after the fourth angel had sounded, announcing the last three trumpets as woe trumpets. See Chap. 8:13. This was about the close of the sixth century, and this fact shows that the first angel of Rev. 14 does not belong to the apostolic age.
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This oath cannot mean duration as measured by days and years, for in chap.
20 we have 1000 years measured off between the two resurrections; and, for
aught that appears to the contrary, duration will ever be measured thus. Nor
can it mean probationary time, for two reasons:
The truth on this point is well expressed in the following language of the
late Sylvester Bliss: "
As an indication of the approach of the end, there was, however, to be seen
another angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting
gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and
kindred, and tongue, and people. Rev. 14:6.
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"
It is not merely in great Britain that the expectation of the near return of the
Redeemer is entertained, and the voice of warning raised, but also in
America, India, and on the continent of Europe. In America, about three
hundred ministers of the word are thus preaching `this gospel of the
kingdom;' while in this country, about seven hundred of the Church of
England are raising the same cry. "
Dr. Joseph Wolfe traveled in Arabia Felix, through the region inhabited by
the descendants of Hobab, Moses' father-in-law. In Yemen, he saw a book
which he mentions thus:- Page 30
The "Voice of the Church, " by D. T. Taylor, speaks as follows concerning
the wide diffusion of the advent sentiment:- "
In Wirtemberg there is a Christian colony numbering hundreds, who look
for the speedy advent of Christ; also another of like belief on the shores of
the Caspian; the Molokaners, a large body of dissenters from the Russian
Greek Church, residing on the shores of the Baltic, - a very pious people of
whom it is said, `Taking the Bible alone for their creed, the norm of their
faith is simply the Holy Scriptures, ' - are characterized by the `expectation
of Christ's immediate and visible reign upon earth. ' In Russia, the doctrine
of Christ's coming and reign is preached to some extent and received by
many of the lower class. It has been extensively agitated in Germany,
particularly in the south part among the Moravians. In Norway, charts and
books on the advent have been circulated extensively, and the doctrine has
been received by many. Among the Tartars in Tartary, there prevails an
expectation of Christ's advent about this time. English and American
publications on this doctrine have been sent to Holland, Germany, India,
Ireland, Constantinople, Rome, and to nearly every missionary station on
the globe. At the Turks Islands, it has been received to some extent among
the Wesleyans. Page 31 David N. Lord informs us
that a large proportion of the missionaries who have gone from Great
Britain to make known the gospel to the heathen, and who are now laboring
in Asia and Africa, are millennarians; and Joseph Wolfe, D. D. , according
to his journals, between the years 1821 and 1845 proclaimed the Lord's
speedy advent in Palestine, Egypt, on the shores of the Red Sea,
Mesopotamia, the Crimea, Persia, Georgia, throughout the Ottoman Empire,
in Greece, Arabia, Turkistan, Bokhara, Afghanistan, Cashmere, Hindoostan,
Thibet, in Holland, Scotland, and Ireland, at Constantinople, Jerusalem, St.
Helena, also on shipboard in the Mediterranean, and at New York City to all
denominations. He declares he has preached among Jews, Turks,
Mohammedans, Parsees, Hindoos, Chaldeans, Yescedes, Syrians, Sabeans,
to pashas, sheiks, shahs, the kings of Organtsh and Bokhara, the queen of
Greece, etc; and of his extraordinary labors the Investigator says, `No
individual has, perhaps, given greater publicity to the doctrine of the second
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ than has this well-known missionary to the 20
world. Wherever he goes, he proclaims the approaching advent of the
Messiah in glory. ' " Page 32
The prophetic periods of
Dan. 7, 8, 9, 12 and Rev. 11, 12, 13, were shown to harmonize with, and to
unitedly sustain, this great proclamation. The signs in the heavens and upon
the earth and sea, in the church and among the nations, with one voice bore
witness to the warning which God addressed to the human family. Joel
2:30, 31; Matt. 24:29-31; Mark 13:24-26; Luke 21:25-36; 2 Tim. 3;2 Pet. 3;
Rev. 6:12, 13. And besides the mighty array of evidence on which this
warning was based, the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit in connection
with this proclamation set the seal of Heaven to its truth. Page 33
And after his
resurrection, when they expected him to restore again the kingdom to Israel,
they could not but be disappointed when they understood that he was going
away to his Father, and that they were to be left for a long season to
tribulation and anguish. But disappointment does not prove that God has no
hand in the guidance of his people. It should lead them to correct their
errors, but it should not lead them to cast away their confidence in God. It
was because the children of Israel were disappointed in the wilderness that
they so often denied their guidance as divine. They are set forth as an
admonition to us, that we should not fall after the same example of unbelief. Page 34 The same thing may also be
seen in the fact that after the angel of chap. 10 has sworn that time shall be
no longer another work of prophesying before many people and nations is
announced. Hence we understand that the first angel preaches the hour of
God's Judgment come; that is, he preaches the termination of the prophetic
periods, and that this is the time which he swears shall be no longer.
The Judgment does, of necessity, commence before the advent of Christ; for
he comes to execute the Judgment (Jude 14, 15; Matt. 25:31-46; John 5:27);
and at the sound of the last trumpet, he confers immortality upon every one
of the righteous, and passes by all the wicked. The investigative Judgment
does, therefore, precede the execution of the same by the Saviour. It is the
province of the Father to preside in this investigative work, as set forth in
Dan. 7. At this tribunal, the Son closes up his work as high priest, and is
crowned king. Thence he comes to earth to execute the decisions of his
Father. It is this work of judgment by the Father which the first angel
introduces.
The great period of 2300 days, which was the most important period in
marking the definite time in that proclamation, extends to the cleansing of
the Sanctuary. That the cleansing of the Sanctuary is not the cleansing of
any part of the earth, but that it is the last work of our great High Priest in
the heavenly Tabernacle, before his advent to the earth, has been clearly
shown. And we understand that it is while the work of cleansing the
Sanctuary takes place that the latest message of mercy is proclaimed. Thus
it will be seen that the prophetic periods, and the proclamation which is
based upon them, do not extend to the coming of the Lord.
Identity of the Angels in Rev. 14
We understand that this angel is the same as the one brought to view in Rev.
10. We shall therefore briefly refer to that chapter as explanatory of chap.
14:6, 7, and as furnishing an important argument respecting the time of its
fulfillment. Chap. 9 of Revelation, presents the first and second woes. The prophetic
period connected with the second woe terminated with the political power
of the Ottoman Empire, Aug. 11, 1840. * Thus ends the ninth chapter, and
the tenth opens with the descent of a mighty angel from heaven with a little
book in his hand, who cries with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth, and
then lifts up his hand to heaven, and swears that time shall be no longer.
1. It is certain, from verse 7,
that this announcement precedes the voice of the seventh angel, (seventh trumpet) and it is in
the days of the commencement of his voice that the mystery of God is
finished;
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2. After this oath of the angel, it is said to John, who doubtless
personates the church, that he must prophesy again.
These reasons furnish
conclusive proof that probation has not closed when this oath is uttered.
Hence we understand that this oath has reference to the prophetic periods,
and that this angel with the little book open in his hand is the same as the
angel of Chap. 14, announcing that the hour of God's Judgment has come.
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The burden of this angel was to
be the same gospel which had been before proclaimed; but connected with
it was the additional motive of the proximity of the kingdom - `saying with
a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his Judgment
is come; and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the seas, and the
fountains of waters. ' Verse 7. No mere preaching of the gospel, without
announcing its proximity, could fulfill this message.
Hence it is evident that the advent proclamation comes in at the right time
in this prophecy. The declaration of this angel, that the mystery of God
should be finished in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, as He had
declared to his servants the prophets, presents several important facts:
1.
That the angel bases his preaching upon the authority of the prophets;
2.
That the finishing of the mystery of God occupies days at the
commencement of the voice of the seventh angel, and we understand the
days of this angel to be years, as were those of the fifth and sixth angels of
chap. 9; 3. That it shall be finished in the days of the voice of the seventh
angel in the manner that the prophets have declared. One of them, Daniel,
has told how the mystery of God should be finished at the end of the 2300
days; viz. , the Sanctuary should be cleansed, which event accomplishes the
work of our great High Priest.
"
The Arabs of this place have a book called SEERA. which treats of the
second coming of Christ, and his reign in glory! In Yemen, he spent six
days with the Rechabites. `They drink no wine, plant no vineyards, sow no
seed, live in tents, and remember the words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab. '
With them were children of Israel, of the tribe of Dan, who reside near
Terim in Hatramawt, who expect, in common with the children of Rechab,
the speedy arrival of the Messiah in the clouds of heaven. "
"Mr. Fox, a Scottish missionary to the Teloogoo people, was a believer in
Christ's soon coming. James MacGregor Bertram, a Scottish missionary of
the Baptist order at St. Helena, has sounded the cry extensively on that
island, making many converts and pre-millennialists; he has also preached it
at South Africa at the missionary stations there.
None can deny that this world-wide warning of impending judgment has
been given. The nature of the evidence adduced in its support now claims
our attention, as furnishing the most conclusive testimony that it was a
message from Heaven.
But it must be apparent to every student of the Scriptures, that the angel
who proclaims the hour of God's Judgment does not give the latest message
of mercy. Rev. 14 presents two other and later proclamations, before the
close of human probation. This fact alone is sufficient to prove that the
coming of the Lord does not take place until the second and third
proclamations have been added to the first.
Three Messages Table of Contents Page.