The Closing Messages by R. F. Cottrell

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 12, 1870

The Closing Messages

By R. F. Cottrell

The Closing Messages.—No. 29.

“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of Heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell; and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” Rev. 16: 17-21.

In the seven last plagues the special wrath reserved for the last generation of men, who, above all others, have sinned against light and rejected offered mercy, is “filled up,” or, as rendered by others, “completed.” And when the last of the series is poured out into the air—the element which encompasses the whole globe, and hence the effect of this vial is general—the voice of Jehovah comes from the throne, which is in his heavenly temple, saying, IT IS DONE; and tempest, earthquake, and storm, such as were never known, close up the sinful drama of earth, and its horrid blasphemies are hushed in death until the second resurrection, at the termination of a thousand years. The kings of the earth and their armies having been gathered, under the sixth vial, the Lord comes forth to the battle of the great day, “the windows from on high are open,” and while “the earth is moved exceedingly,” and its foundations shake, the “host of the high ones” and the “kings of the earth” are punished with great stones cast down from heaven, are gathered in the pit of death and “shut up in the prison,” to be visited again “after many days”—at the close of the thousand years. See Isa. 24: 17-22.

Upon the pouring out of the seventh vial the voice of God, so many times promised in prophecy, is heard, and the earth is shaken exceedingly. Paul refers us to the fact that the voice of God shook the earth when he spake his holy law from Sinai, and also to the promise in prophecy that his voice shall be heard again, and not only the earth, but also the heavens shall shake. “Whose voice then shook the earth; but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” Heb. 12: 26.

Joel, in describing the great day of the Lord, when the heathen are gathered to the valley of Jehoshaphat—the valley of decision, or, rather, conclusion—cutting off—says:

“The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” Chap. 3: 16.

The testimony of Jeremiah corroborates this and gives additional light. He says:

“Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 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. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 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; they shall be dung upon the ground.” Chap. 25: 30-33.

Much more might be quoted on this point, but let this suffice. When God spake his holy law the earth trembled. Now men have set that law at nought, and have slighted the last warning to turn and keep the commandments of God; probation closes; the avenging vials are poured out, and when the series is completed by the pouring out of the seventh, the voice of God comes from his heavenly temple, from the throne which is between the cherubim, above the mercy-seat and ark of his testament—the ten commandments—saying, “IT IS DONE;” and the most tremendous earthquake shakes the earth so exceedingly that the constellations of heaven seem to vibrate. And when cities and all human habitations have been prostrated by the unprecedented shock, which removes mountains and islands out of their places, the plague of hail follows upon the defenseless and unsheltered heads of the wicked which remain, especially those of the great Babylon, who have been reserved to drink of the cup of the wine of the fiercest wrath of God. The Lord said to Job:

“Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow, or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?” Job 38: 22, 23.

Something slightly resembling this last plague was visited upon Egypt. “And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven; and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.” Ex. 9: 23, 24. The Lord also fought for Israel in the days of Joshua, by casting down great stones from heaven upon their enemies.

“And the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died; they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.” Josh. 10: 10, 11. And this slaughter at Gibeon, as also that when the Lord fought for David at Perazim, 2 Sam. 5: 20, is taken in prophecy as a type of the battle of the great day, which we are now considering.

“Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night; and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Now, therefore, be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong; for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.” Isa. 28: 17-22. See also Isa. 30: 30, and Eze. 13: 4-16.

Now men may think to hide themselves under a refuge of lies; but the hail of that day shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. And this consumption is “determined upon the whole earth.” See Jer. 25: 30-33; Zeph. 1: 14-18; 3: 6-8; Isa. 24: 1-5.

And why is the earth to be thus desolated by these fearful plagues? Because they have not heeded the warning voice of mercy and turned to the Lord. Because that with all the light of a world of Bibles, they have chosen to follow false traditions instead of revealed truth. “Because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth.” Isa. 24: 5, 6. The laws of God are the commandments which are kept by those who obey the last message. Rev. 14: 12. The ordinance referred to is that ordinance of the moral law which has been changed, and which is the special burden of the third angel’s message, being directly opposed to the mark of the beast; for if men fail to be saved by the gospel, they are judged and condemned by the moral law, and not by the institutions of the gospel. The everlasting covenant is the ten commandments, the basis of all covenants which God ever made with man. In proof of this, we refer to the following texts:

“And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.” Deut. 4: 13.

“Be ye mindful always of his covenant, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; and hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.” 1 Chron. 16: 15-17.

“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jer. 31: 33. See also Heb. 8: 10.

But when the earth is desolated by these fierce judgments—“with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones,”—there are a “few men left.” These are the righteous. Isa. 24: 13-16. These have obeyed God and are sealed with his seal. Their security amid the desolating plagues is set forth in Ps. 91. They have made the Lord their refuge, his truth is their shield and buckler, and though thousands fall at their side, they have the sure promise that no evil shall befall them, neither shall any plague come nigh their dwelling. (Read the chapter.) And though their raging foes decree their death, Rev. 13: 15, they are delivered and caught up to Mount Zion above; Dan. 12: 1; Rev. 14: 1-5; and on the sea of glass, before the throne, they sing the song of Moses and the Lamb, having “gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.” Rev. 15: 2.

May the Lord grant that the reader and the writer may participate in that grand celebration and song of triumph. If we will do so, the way is clear: we must “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

R. F. COTTRELL.