p. 20 | An Angel Bewildered

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 13, 1864

An Angel Bewildered.

THAT men should often be enveloped in the clouds and fog of earth, and as a consequence become somewhat perplexed, and bewildered, is not strange; but that angels ever found themselves in such a predicament we were not, until quite recently, aware. Such however seems to be the case, if we may credit the arguments that are adduced in favor of the new-time movement. Says Wm. Sheldon, in the Voice of the West, of Nov. 16, 1864:

"Although the great movement of 1843-4 did not bring the Lord, but in the stead thereof brought a sad disappointment to the church, God was in the solemn movement, and it was clearly a matter of prophecy. 'In the 10th chapter of Revelation, between the sounding of the sixth and seventh trumpets,' we have a heavenly messenger brought to view, clothed with a cloud—not fully in the light of sacred Chronology—yet radiant with the 'rainbow' brilliancy of hope, and the cheering countenance of the 'sun' with a 'little book' in his hand, already 'open,' from which he confidently proclaims, on sea and land, 'that there should be time no longer,' and gives the 'little book' to John, (the representative of the Church) and bids him 'eat it up,' which was first found to be 'sweet' to the taste, but which digested, 'bitter' with disappointment; but subsequently it is said to John, the representative of the church, 'Thou must prophesy again before many peoples,' &c. Another great movement on time is to be made by the Church.

"Do not overlook the Chronology of the symbolic scenery; it is after the sixth angel sounds, and nowhere else. The great Advent movement is the only thing, in that Chronological space of time, that bears the faintest resemblance to the symbols here given, and that perfectly fills the picture. Now 'prophesy again.' When? Once Daniel was 'searching what manner of time was given to him, reaching to 'the sufferings of Christ,' and also to 'the glory that should follow,' and 'it was revealed to him, or rather 'unto us' through him (1 Peter i, 11, 12), he being one representative; but prior to the time he 'understood the thing' he says, 'I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.' Dan. x, 3. Just 21 days were spent by Daniel, our representative, in searching and mourning for the light of the vision, before the true light was given him; so in the antitype, after this vision has been brought to bear upon the mind of the Church, and they be led to discover by the passing of time, that they have not understood the vision, they must spend 'three full weeks of years' in searching and mourning before receiving the light; and 21 prophetic days, from 1843, carry us to 1864. And now the light is shining all through our ranks, and we 'prophesy again.' Praise the Lord. This is to be a general movement as we near 1868."

With a less lengthy extract we could not give the reader, as we wished to do, a specimen of the bold and confident tone that is used on this question.

But what about that "heavenly messenger," that angel, that came down, clothed with a cloud, that is, "not fully in the light of sacred chronology?!" It seems, according to this, that, as he came down upon his mission, he unfortunately came in contact with a blinding cloud, got lost in the fog, and became so confused and bewildered, that in his uncertain attempts to carry out his mission, he lifted up his hand to heaven and swore to—shall we say a lie?—certainly to that which was not true; for he solemnly swore by Him that liveth forever and ever that time should be no longer!

But Eld. S. represents that the angel recovered partially at least from his bewilderment, enough, at any rate, to say to John that he must prophesy again, which he thinks represents another great movement on time;—as if the angel, coming to himself in a measure, had exclaimed, "There! all this work that I have been doing, this time that I have been swearing to, is all a mistake! it is all wrong! It must be set right; but I will not again trust myself in this business. Here's John. I will commission him; John, you must prophesy again; go forth with another message on time, and correct the blunders which I have been swearing to here!"

Will the reader say, in view of the above extract, that we have set this forth in any too strong a light? Is not this a faithful representation of the ridiculous interpretation which this new theory gives to Rev. x?

But from a person holding such views as set forth in the above extract, we were not prepared for the admission that "God was in the solemn movement" of 1843-4. One thing is certain, if God was in the time movement of 1844, he is not in the time movement of 1868. But we believe with all our heart that he was in the movement of 1844. We agree with Mr. Sheldon exactly, when he says that "the great Advent movement is the only thing in that chronological space of time that bears the faintest resemblance to the symbols here given [that is, in Rev. x, 1-6], and that perfectly fills the picture." We have no shadow of doubt that that movement was symbolized by the mighty angel of Rev. x, whose face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. But we differ with Mr. S. in this: we believe that the angel swore to the truth, and that time, that is, prophetic time, did end with his message, as he declared it would.

But it is asked, Did not the Advent people make a mistake in 1844? True, but they made no mistake on that in reference to which the angel swore. He declared that the prophetic periods should then end, and that was correct; they only mistook the event that was to transpire at the end of those periods.

But what is the prophesying again, if it is not a new movement on time? We reply, No movement could take place on time, subsequent to that angel's declaration, provided he told the truth, that time should be no longer. But hear what he himself says. After declaring that time should be no longer, he goes right on to say that in the "days of the voice of the seventh angel when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished." It would be reasonable to infer that the prophesying again would be in reference to this finishing of the mystery of God; and this language of the angel proves that the time referred to, which was to be no longer, is prophetic time, and no other. And what have we to answer to the prophesying again? We have the third angel's message of Rev. xiv; the first angel's message of that chapter corresponding to the time message of Rev. x. And this third message has for its very basis the sanctuary work in the holy of holies above, to which the first message introduced us; and this sanctuary work is the finishing up of the plan of salvation, the closing of the "gospel" scheme, which constitutes the "mystery of God."

How smooth and harmonious is truth. How jagged and disjointed is error. Can that theory gain credence among intelligent men which makes an angel of God guilty of swearing to an untruth?