Part I might have been a bit shocking, but I trust that you have gotten over the shock to some degree if you are with me for this follow-up. Maybe subjects like this would not be so hard to swallow if we really knew and understood the history of the Advent movement. After the Great Disappointment of 1844 when the sanctuary doctrine was being developed, our pioneers recognized a definite “shut door” against the Protestant churches of that day.

The shut door had two sides: on the one hand, the spiritual Door to salvation had moved. Jesus (the open door) was no longer in the Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary, but had moved to the Most Holy Place. The sanctuary doctrine brought a whole new understanding of Jesus’ work in heaven, which necessitated a different approach to faith here on earth.

On the other hand, the Protestant churches closed their doors^[1] to the midnight cry^[2] of the Millerite movement. Thus the churches ceased to carry present truth, and from that time forward, present truth was carried by the Advent movement. This did not mean that individuals in the other churches could not be saved, but that they had to look outside their churches to find the Way of salvation. We must follow the Lamb by faith whithersoever He goeth.^[3]

The truth was not a static knowledge. It was progressing forward in the light of the sanctuary doctrine, which was connected with the discovery of the true Saturday Sabbath of the Lord as written in His law. Ellen G. White commented on this experience as follows:

The Open and the Shut Door

Sabbath, March 24, 1849, we had a sweet and very interesting meeting with the brethren at Topsham, Maine. The Holy Ghost was poured out upon us, and I was taken off in the Spirit to the city of the living God. Then I was shown that the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ relating to the shut door could not be separated, and that the time for the commandments of God to shine out with all their importance, and for God’s people to be tried on the Sabbath truth, was when the door was opened in the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary, where the ark is, in which are contained the ten commandments. This door was not opened until the mediation of Jesus was finished in the holy place of the sanctuary in 1844. Then Jesus rose up and shut the door of the holy place, and opened the door into the most holy, and passed within the second veil, where He now stands by the ark, and where the faith of Israel now reaches.

I saw that Jesus had shut the door of the holy place, and no man can open it; and that He had opened the door into the most holy, and no man can shut it (Revelation 3:7, 8); and that since Jesus has opened the door into the most holy place, which contains the ark, the commandments have been shining out to God’s people, and they are being tested on the Sabbath question. {EW 42.1–2}^[4]

From that time forward, sincere Seventh-day Adventists were looking to the heavenly sanctuary in expectation of the completion of Christ’s work in the Most Holy Place. The early years were years of diligent study as the pioneers of the SDA Church laid the foundations of their faith. The light that was shining brighter and brighter from the open door in heaven almost broke forth with all of its heavenly splendor in 1888 at the Minneapolis General Conference Session. It is essential that you know that story.^[5] Tragically, the light was put out. God had offered them an open door to heaven at that time, but they didn’t take the opportunity. Afterward, they regretted it—just like how the children of Israel “repented” and decided to enter Canaan immediately instead of waiting the 40 years. Their repentance was not sincere enough in either case, however, as can be seen through the fact that they continued acting independently of God by trying to avoid the inevitable consequences (the wilderness wandering). The opportunity had passed, and would not return to that generation.

Since the Orion message was published in 2010, the opportunity has returned in its fullness. The true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man,^[6] was revealed in the heavens. It was time for God’s people to look up, and lift up their heads.^[7] For five years the Orion message was the open door for the SDA Church.

In the grand scheme of things, 1888 was two and a half Jubilee cycles ago. The Jubilee year is the 50^th year of the 49-year cycle that God instituted for the children of Israel to commence on their entrance to Canaan. In fact, the periodic seventh sabbatical year began in 1889, and God wanted to take His people home in 1890—which began the 70^th Jubilee year since the children of Israel entered ancient Canaan. We can count how many sabbatical years there were from 1889 until the present as follows:

2015 – 1889 = 126 years

126 years ÷ 7 years/cycle = 18 cycles

The result comes to an exact number because the sabbatical year starts this very 2015, in the autumn. As the plagues come, the land will finally begin to have its rest from the heavy burden that modern greed has been taxing it with.

We quickly recognized that the organized SDA Church had missed its last opportunity to repent, as the events of the end of November indicate (covered in Part I). That led us to begin directing our articles to all Christians, and not especially Adventists. Divine Providence ensured that we published the Last Call on December 17, 2014. That was the anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the second temple, as recorded in the book of the prophet Haggai, who had a special two-part message from God on that day. The first possibility for Hanukkah, the Feast of Lights, began the following day on December 18. Indeed, the movement of the fourth angel has been having a feast of light—which has continued beyond Hanukkah—and this article series brings more of that feast to you.

Can you see why this present Festival of Light began on the 18^th day after the door closed for the SDA Church? From the time that the SDA Church rejected Christ in Minneapolis till the great light of the fourth angel fully opened the door of opportunity again was 18 cycles. Similarly, we have 18 days from the closing of the door for the SDA Church on November 30, 2014 until the Feast of Lights blazed from the open door again for those of the world who should believe. By this relationship, God emphasizes that this light is in fact the completion of the message of the fourth angel of Revelation 18.

The children of Israel had to wander in the wilderness until the unbelieving generation had died. God would not bring the unbelievers into the land of Canaan. A similar thing is happening now. Those who have cherished the same spirit of unbelief today that the leaders in the Minneapolis General Conference had are not going to be beneficiaries of the promise. Where there is repentance, yes, but one must seek the open door where it is to be found.

As the Protestant churches of the 1844 era closed their doors to the Millerite message, so the SDA Church has closed its doors to the Orion message. They have refused to baptize those who believe the Orion message, they have dropped the membership of Orion believers, and they censor the message wherever it appears. In other words, a person must go outside the church to find the present truth for today! That is the de facto reality of the church’s fall. But praise be to God that the spiritual “open door” has moved again so that all who wish to enter, may do so.

There are many “doors” of probation that have opened and closed for different peoples throughout history, and they are all examples for the one great door that the Bible speaks of, which will affect every person alive. All of the smaller doors that have closed serve as a warning for that one great door. That is the final close of probation for the world, before the plagues fall and Jesus returns. Speaking to the church of Philadelphia (which represents God’s faithful at the end of time), Jesus said:

I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)

If we belong to the church of Philadelphia, then we should be able to see this open door and enter therein. Remember what was said in the opening quote about the open and shut door, that this teaching could not be separated from the commandments of God. The open door is mentioned two other times in the book of Revelation, each time in connection with the Ark of the Covenant. The first time is in the description of the seventh trumpet:

And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament... (Revelation 11:19)

We already know that the seventh trumpet will sound at the close of probation, and the temple will be opened in heaven at that time. The second reference to the open door is as follows:

And after that [description of the 144,000 standing on the sea of glass, symbolizing the close of probation] I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. (Revelation 15:5-6)

This verse speaks of the same moment as the other verse: it is the close of probation at sunset on October 17, 2015, when Jesus (as the anti-typical High Priest) will finish the atonement in the Most Holy Place. However, we are still in the time of probation—short though it is! Those things were written for us to understand before probation ends. That is why the Adventist pioneers could see by faith into the Most Holy Place; these verses guided them in their understanding of the Law of God.

The same is true for us today, so I invite you to continue with me on a fascinating and pertinent exploration of this subject.

Ichabod

It wasn’t long after discovering the date of Creation that we tried to piece together the entire timeline of the history of the world, as recorded in the Bible. It was not easy, but the Clock of God in Orion helped us at the key points (as you can read about in the Seven Steps to Eternity article). As we traced sacred history forward through the book of Judges, and traced sacred history backward through the books of Kings, after much effort the timeline almost came together with one last mismatch of a single year.

Interestingly, the book of Judges doesn’t speak about the number of years of Samuel, despite how important he was. On the other hand, the books of Kings don’t speak about the number of years of Saul, despite how important he was. The link between the timeline of the judges and that of the kings hinges on one thing: the Ark of the Covenant.

Eli was the last judge whose reign is recorded. He died as a result of hearing the terrible news of the great tragedy that the ark had been taken by the Philistines. The children of Israel believed that with the ark accompanying them in battle, they could not suffer defeat. This attitude is reflected today in the SDA Church, which believes that as commandment-keeping (especially Sabbath-keeping) people, they cannot fail. Thus, the news that the ark had been taken by the Philistines struck Eli with a force that literally knocked him off his seat, and he died:

And it came to pass, when he [the messenger returning from battle] made mention of the ark of God, that he [Eli] fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. (1 Samuel 4:18)

This news of the unthinkable also struck his pregnant and just-widowed daughter-in-law with an equally lethal blow:

And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. (1 Samuel 4:20-21)

This tragic story is happening again for Seventh-day Adventists today. First, the court symbolically relocated away from the organized Church. Now, the ark of God, the depository of His law and the seat of His glory, has figuratively gone to the non-Adventist peoples (represented by the Philistines). Notice what Ellen G. White had to say:

In the days of Samuel, Israel thought that the presence of the ark containing the commandments of God would insure them the victory over the Philistines, whether or not they repented of their wicked works. Just so, in Jeremiah’s time, the Jews believed that a strict observance of the divinely appointed services of the temple would preserve them from a just punishment of their sinful course.

The same danger exists today among the people who profess to be the depository of God’s law. They are too apt to flatter themselves that the regard in which they hold the commandments will preserve them from the power of divine justice. They refuse to be reproved for evil, and charge the servants of God with being too zealous in putting sin out of the camp. A sin-hating God calls upon those who profess to keep his law to depart from all iniquity. Neglect to repent and to obey his word will bring as serious consequences upon God’s servants today as did the same sin upon ancient Israel. There is a limit beyond which he will no longer delay his judgments. The desolation of Jerusalem [we will come back to that] stands as a warning before the eyes of modern Israel, that the corrections given through his chosen instruments cannot be disregarded with impunity. {RH June 30, 1885, par. 6–7}

The same serious consequences that came upon ancient Israel for this same sin are happening today to spiritual Israel, the SDA Church.

Adventures of the Lost Ark

It is a key principle in biblical chronology that the timelines were recorded to convey a message, and not merely to record the dates of historical events (although they are historically accurate). The timelines were given to trace the work of God from Eden via the Messiah to Eden Restored. Only a minimum of dates are given to make the connection from the first Adam to the second Adam, Jesus Christ, and from there to the “third Adams,” the 144,000.

Not all time periods given in the Bible carry the same weight. For example, it is the timeline of the kings of Judah, and not the kings of Israel, that matters more, because it was from the tribe of Judah that the Savior was to come. This weighing based on importance is why neither the length of Samuel’s ministry nor the length of Saul’s reign were recorded in the Old Testament. The most important element of the story in the times of Samuel and Saul was neither Samuel nor Saul, but rather the movement of the Ark of the Covenant.

The Philistines were plagued because of the ark. They moved it to several different cities until their cry reached to heaven:

And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven. And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. (1 Samuel 5:12-6:1)

In the above verse, we are told just how long the ark was with the Philistines. Under divine guidance, we published our article Last Call on December 17, 2014. That article strongly hinted that the door had closed for Adventists. The “Ichabod” moment had come for Adventism, and it was time for the ark of God to be taken from their country, figuratively. On December 18, the ark, which we can see by faith, began its figurative seven-month adventure in the land of the nominal “Philistine” Christians, and that leg of its journey will be complete on July 17, 2015, seven months later.

The ark caused so much trouble to the Philistines that they sent it back to Israel with a trespass offering. Remembering what great acts God had done for the children of Israel in bringing them out of Egypt, and remembering the fate of Pharaoh, the Philistines fearfully let the ark return to the Israelites.

Inside the ark was the Law of God. The majority of Christians do not hold the law in as high regard as they should. The fourth commandment is especially overlooked, and Sunday is regarded instead of the seventh-day Sabbath that God set apart for worship. For that reason, the nominal Christian feels plagued when the ark—or shall we say the Law of God—is in his presence.

The ark stayed in one place for 20 years, which was a long and sad time for the children of Israel. The Bible says:

And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD. (1 Samuel 7:2)

Faithful Adventists have also come through a long and sad time. Many have wondered why Jesus has not come yet. It has been a time of watching apostasy grow and precious Adventist truths getting trampled in the dust. Such ones have also “lamented after the LORD,” for “the time was long.” They have yearned for His law to be in their presence again, written on tables of flesh,^[8] as it were.

David was a man after God’s own heart.^[9] His thoughts were on God, and he was quick to bring back the Ark of the Covenant.

And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. (2 Samuel 6:2)

Do you desire to see God’s presence in your life? Would you like to bring the ark to your home by faith? Be glad! The root and offspring of David is restoring the Law of God to spiritual Israel today! If we would catch a glimpse of it, we must look to the heavenly sanctuary where the Lord of hosts dwells between the cherubim. We must look with spiritual eyesight, to see the Law of God as the standard of judgment in the heavenly court.

Figure 1 – Adventures of the Lost Ark

Proper care and reverence must be taken, for when Uzzah touched the ark, he was struck dead. David called the place Perezuzzah, which literally means “break of strength.” That was the reason the ark dwelt briefly in the house of Obededom:

And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obededom, and all his household. (2 Samuel 6:11)

From Sabbath, July 18, 2015, we can expect three months of mixed blessing because of the presence of the Law of God among His people. On the one hand, it will begin with fear and trembling, as it did with Uzzah’s death, but on the other hand it will be a great blessing in the sense that the cause of God should greatly increase. It will be a time of mourning for the martyrs who must die, but it will end in victory.

When David saw that the Lord blessed the house of Obededom, he was glad and decided to bring the ark to the City of David, careful to obey God’s instructions for the handling of the sacred object. He brought the ark into the city with joy and song, and he was wearing a linen ephod (the clothing of the priests). On that day, David gave the people portions of bread and wine.

Joyfully bringing the ark into the City of David corresponds to the last High Sabbath of 2015. The three months would conclude on October 17, 2015, at the close of probation. Every soul will have chosen his side in the great conflict between good and evil, and Jesus will stop his work of intercession in the heavenly sanctuary. Then the great carillon of the Clock of God will ring out in celebration, because the subjects of Christ’s kingdom will have been made up. This is when the last 372 rations of the Holy Spirit will be given as the “bread and wine” to sustain the 144,000 through the time of plagues. Jesus will lay aside His priestly attire and put on His kingly robes like David did.

The movement of the Ark of the Covenant is the link between the history of Israel’s judges and that of its kings. So in our time, the ten months of the ark’s movement represents the transition from the “judgment people” (Laodicea) to the era of kings and priests (the 144,000).

The Law of God

Inside the ark was the Law of God. The ark was designed as a container in which to place the Ten Commandments. That is why it is called the ark of the covenant or testament. The ark was made as a beautiful piece of furniture not for its own sake, but because of its sacred contents.

The ark in the tabernacle on earth contained the two tables of stone, upon which were inscribed the precepts of the Law of God. The ark was merely a receptacle for the tables of the law, and the presence of these divine precepts gave to it its value and sacredness. {GC 433.2}^[10]

Therefore, when we see the Ark of the Covenant in heaven and study its figurative movements on earth, we must remember that the Ten Commandments are the focal point of the subject.

A covenant or testament is a legal (law) document that defines the terms of an agreement between parties. When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai, it was a legal covenant that was valid and binding in the Universal Supreme Court of Heaven. We know that both parties received a copy of the covenant, because Moses constructed the wilderness tabernacle according to the pattern of the heavenly courtroom, and the heavenly courtroom also contains an ark with the covenant as John the Revelator saw in vision.

It was the legal force of the covenant that gave the ark power in the hands of the children of Israel. The covenant was God’s promise to bring them into the land of Canaan, so when they carried it into battle, they were claiming their legal right to the land and appealing to the Court of Heaven to sustain their claim. This is what made the conquest of Canaan something other than a barbaric seizure of someone else’s property. They were given lease to the land by the Title Holder, who was evicting the former tenants for their crimes.

That is the example or pattern for what is happening on a universal scale. God’s covenant with Israel was only a pattern of a greater covenant with the heirs of salvation. Satan and his evil angels are the Canaanite “giants” of the heavenly realms who were evicted, and God has covenanted with us to bring us into the heavenly Canaan in their stead.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day [the year of plagues], and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:12-13)

In the book of Hebrews, the apostle Paul describes the covenant in terms of a last will.^[11] In essence, Paul says that Jesus, the Heir of the universe, bequeathed His inheritance to us through His “last will.” A last will does not go into effect until the person dies, which is why Jesus’ death for our sins made it possible for us to receive heaven as an inheritance.

However, the covenant granted the children of Israel a claim to the land of Canaan only upon certain conditions, namely, the Ten Commandments. They had obligations under the covenant:

And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. (Exodus 24:7)

It would be crazy to think that a landlord would evict tenants for being criminals only to bring in new tenants who are also criminals. It is equally crazy to think that God would expel Satan and his angels for their rebellion against His law only to bring into heaven, to replace them, a bunch of rebellious human beings who also disregard His law. The covenant has conditions to be met as well as promises to be delivered, and those conditions are simply the Ten Commandments.

Newly Transcribed

The notable travels of the ark—when its power was manifested both in cursing and blessing—happened in two periods, first for seven months then for three months. Doesn’t it strike you that the time of its adventures totaled ten months? In other words, just as the Ten Commandments were contained within the ark, so within the ark’s travel, ten months are filled with potency—one month for each commandment.

Let us peer through the telescope of faith into the heavenly courtroom to watch the judgment proceedings. The judgment of the living is in progress, and probation has just closed for the SDA Church as of November 30, 2014. Moments later, on December 18, the conditions of the covenant are brought forth before the court to determine whether she is worthy to receive an interest in heaven. As month after rapid month passes on earth, the question in the heavenly court is: Has she met the conditions of the contract?

Figure 2 – Conditions of the Covenant

This is not merely a trial of the corporate church, but of each one of us who claims to be a Christian. Do you claim to be under the new covenant (or New Testament) of Jesus Christ? Then you ought to look at the testament in the heavenly courtroom, and strive to meet the conditions required to inherit an interest in the Kingdom of God.

The reason that a copy of a contract is given to every party is to guard against fraud. If the contract is altered in any way, the other party can compare the altered version to his own copy and dispute the fraudulent changes. The safety deposit boxes of the vaults of heaven contain the great original, and they guard against any tampering of the contract. The Ten Commandments which were given to Moses were a copy of that great original to which every man is compared.

For every truth, Satan has a counterfeit. He has tampered with the Law of God by replacing the Saturday Sabbath of the Lord with Sunday, among other things. He has altered the contract, and wants you to believe that his version is as valid as any. Will his substitution pass as valid in the heavenly court? Certainly not!

The fourth commandment is the most attacked, and thus it is the topic of greatest import in the judgment, both on earth and in heaven. Are you ready to be judged on this issue? Are you ready to be judged on all of the others?

God’s law does not require of us more than we can comply with. With Jesus as our advocate—our defense attorney—we have the privilege of the best help possible. He died for the sins of the world,^[12] and when we confess our sins, He accounts them with the burden that wrung out His life.^[13] Jesus is a just attorney, and He can only speak on our behalf insofar as we express our desires to Him. Until we confess our sins and ask Him to clear us of them, He cannot be of service to us. But when we confess and ask for pardon, He can proceed to account our sins as nailed to the cross.

The next part of the process is to cleanse us so that we remain free and clear. It would do no good to acquit us of our past sins if we are not also given a heart of obedience to avoid future sins. For this, we must know the Law of God intuitively. We must study it and make it a part of us.

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 10:16-17)

Thus, as we study the events that are unfolding in the world during these last ten months of probation, our prayer as individuals should be, “Lord, put Your Law into my heart and write it in my mind.” He already promised to do it, so we can thank Him for helping us as we sing with David:

With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:10-11)

We will take a closer look at the Law shortly, but first...

The Fourth Trumpet

Now we come to the fourth trumpet, which began to sound on January 1, 2015. The fourth trumpet is connected to the third, and a continuation of it. In the third trumpet, we saw the great star that fell from heaven which is ultimately a reference to Lucifer, the great red dragon of Revelation 12 which was cast out of heaven. Now in the fourth trumpet, we see more symbolism of Revelation 12:

And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. (Revelation 8:12)

The picture of the sun, moon, and stars in the fourth trumpet is a clear reference to the woman in Chapter 12:

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. (Revelation 12:1-2)

We saw very clearly in the third trumpet that Satan, Lucifer, the fallen star, the great red dragon, is now leading the SDA Church organization as well as the pope and all of the other churches whose leaders have signed agreements with him. The pure woman, on the other hand, represents the faithful people of God as individual members of the body of Christ, but as a movement and not as a church organization. Sadly, members who would be faithful are being led astray by the satanic organizations. The fourth trumpet represents this development by the darkening of the woman, which parallels the red dragon’s tail casting down (or smiting) a third of the stars:

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. (Revelation 12:3-4)

The fact that the dragon casts down a third of only the stars, and not of the sun or moon, is significant. Remember that the symbols that make up the woman show God’s people in progressive eras of time. The moon, sun, crown, and stars represent Judaism, Christianity, Adventism, and the 144,000, respectively (see The End of the SDA Church). The casting down of the stars shows that this scene relates especially to the generation of the 144,000, who belong to the era represented by the stars. In other words, this prophecy has never applied more than it does today in this generation where the stars of Orion are shining.

Furthermore, the symbolism in the fourth trumpet shows the whole woman (sun, moon, and stars) darkened, because the darkening applies to the whole church that is in existence at the time the trumpet sounds. Let’s take a look at what this darkening of all God-fearing churches looks like in reality.

The Darkening of the Sun, Moon, and Stars

For an index into the spiritual state of the SDA Church for the fourth trumpet, we don’t need to look any further than at what the Adventist Review published on the first day of the trumpet, New Year’s Day. A headline on January 1, 2015 reads:

Concern, Compassion, and Hope for Ex-Adventist Pastor Who Left God

News commentary: May God surround Ryan Bell and each of us with servants of the Lord who will not be quarrelsome but be kind and able to teach.

For a headline like this to usher in the fourth trumpet, there is no doubt that the church is being darkened! Think about how deep this is. This is not just about a church member; it is about a pastor! It is not just about leaving the church, but about leaving God! It is not just about some church, but the Adventist Church! What an indictment!

Almost more stunning than the headline is the subheading, where “each of us” is placed right next to Ryan Bell as having the same need of teachers (and repentance as the article itself says). Thus saying, the author even includes himself. I wonder just how many Adventists are on the verge of losing all faith in God like Ryan Bell. Could it really be “the third part” like the Bible text says?

The by-line tells us just who is exposing the church’s condition in this article:

By Don Mackintosh, spiritual counselor, Nedley Depression Program; director, NEWSTART Global, Weimar College

This picture is being painted by a man who is in the know. He is in a position to see what is going on in the church, and should be qualified to assess these matters.

It is remarkable that just when the door of mercy for the SDA Church has closed and the light of the fourth angel is being withdrawn from it, Don Mackintosh comes out and says that the whole church—each of “us”—is in need of two things:

1. Repentance, and
2. Teachers.

Those are the two things that Jesus was trying to give them for the past five years through the Orion Message! Interestingly, he carefully omits the rest of the church when he says that Ryan also needs one other thing:

3. An experience so he may see God for who He really is.

Of course everyone should see God for who He really is, so by not saying that the rest of the church has that need, he is implying that in general they already have seen God for who He is. Indeed, they were shown Orion, which shows Him as He is, but Don Mackintosh admits that after having seen God for who He is, they still lack repentance and are untaught.

The words of the Lord went unheeded, and now darkness is the result:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:19-23)

The SDA Church was the light of the world—so what kind of darkness is this!?

Indeed, the story of Ryan Bell has been making waves in the whole world, not just in the Adventist church. He was promptly interviewed by NPR, the BBC, CNN, and has been discussed in the various circles of Christian denominations and atheists alike. He is being discussed by people who have no special interest in the SDA Church, for reasons that have nothing to do with Adventism.

Ryan Bell has not just turned his back on Adventism; he has turned his back on God. That is why his story is especially relevant to the rest of the world. They are not interested in his story because an Adventist pastor lost his faith in Adventism, but because a pastor in general has lost his faith in God. That is an issue that is relevant across the board to Christians and non-Christians alike.

The recent NPR article alone garnered thousands of comments. The top comment says:

Famous atheists say they are contacted frequently by priests, pastors, rabbis, etc who have discovered ... that they are atheists...

I would not ascribe much truth to such a comment itself, but the fact that this is the top comment sends a strong message. The message to anyone who reads about Ryan Bell is that people of all religions that profess belief in God are losing their faith that He exists. Even if such a claim is not true, it does still cast a dark shadow upon the people, and will lead many who already doubt in God to express themselves, which in turn will lead many more to doubt in God.

Instead of this darkness, a loud voice saying “fear God”^[14] should be sounding everywhere!

Suicide Bomber

It was the duty of the SDA Church to spread the three angels’ warning messages^[15] to the world. This church was supposed to be a light to the world. In other words, it was to be a light-bearer, like Lucifer, receiving the light of God from the heavenly sanctuary and distributing it to the world.

In the third trumpet, we saw that the organized SDA Church came fully under the control of that Lucifer whose place it should have taken. In so doing, the church fell from its exalted position as the bearer of God’s light to the world, and became a “fallen star.” The church’s own prophet said in this context that “when an angel falls he becomes a fiend.”^[16]

It is no secret that Satan’s agents have infiltrated the church,^[17] and it would be no stretch of the imagination to think that Ryan Bell is just one of them. I highly doubt that he is merely a normal person living out his convictions (or lack thereof). More likely, he was planted as a “suicide bomber” of sorts, aimed at destroying the church.

The Year Without God film trailer opens by dropping the following bomb:

I stepped down from my position as a pastor under pressure from my denomination because we were doing all sorts of non-Adventist things such as inviting gays and lesbians into leadership in our church...

This is exactly the kind of thing that I wrote about in the Checkmate article, which could threaten the Church’s non-profit status as a 501(c)(3) corporation and land it in a debt of billions. The Year Without God film is a public testimony against the church for inequality in leadership.

Regardless, the greater factor in darkening the gospel is that Ryan Bell criticizes the central doctrines of Adventism. In their place, he embraces the ecumenical-friendly notion that instead of doctrines, all we need is “love.” For example, Deseret News reports him as saying:

…I want to be for something good, but I don't want boundaries, and religion just feels like a very bounded thing. The question I am asking right now: Why do I need religion to love?

He states his backwards thinking very clearly in the film trailer by saying:

The effort to make my theology fit real life became so overwhelming to me that it just didn't seem worth the effort.

It should be the other way around. Instead of making his theology conform to his life, a person should seek to make his life conform to his theology, as I explained in the article Preparing the Armour.

It’s a Family Problem

Interestingly, we could have foreseen this fulfillment of the fourth trumpet a full year before this news (overlooking the fact that we didn’t even know about the trumpet cycle at that time). This year-without-God experiment began as Ryan Bell’s 2014 New Year’s resolution.

With the amount of media attention it got in 2014, the issue could have easily gotten out of control even at that time. However, he was still “undecided” on God, so there was some room for a different outcome than we have today. God was still undecided on the Church too, hoping it would accept Him. The door of mercy hadn’t fully closed yet. Ryan’s year-long experiment is symbolic of the year of grace that God allowed the church.

Wouldn’t it have been nice to hear the news reports announcing that after a year of atheism, Ryan Bell returned to God and to his church, humbled and reformed by the experience? Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

It is a common principle that the covert sins of parents manifest as overt sins in their children. Ryan Bell’s rejection of God is a reflection of what has happened behind closed doors in the Church. The Church leadership’s covert refusal of the warning from heaven is now manifesting in the overt rejection of God in their wayward “child,” Ryan Bell. His decision now at the end of his year-long experiment with sin is heaping shame upon their heads.

He truly had them in a checkmate situation: either Pastor Ryan would disgrace them with his activities as a pastor, or else Atheist Ryan would disgrace them once they finally put their foot down to stop him from going any further. The Church simply didn’t have the moral authority to deal with the situation.

This is common family drama that plays out in homes everywhere. The principles that are involved are the same whether we speak of a single family, or a global church. Is it any wonder that world synods are called together to discuss the collective crisis in the family unit?

Ryan Bell’s defection is just one step in the satanic plan to defame the SDA Church in the public mind, so that it will be perceived as a fundamentalist cult with strange doctrines and beliefs. He specifically attacks the sanctuary doctrine, the notion of a Remnant Church and its teachings about the end times, just to name a few. Quietly, all of those doctrines are already being downplayed at the leadership level in the Church. What we have here is the classic case of little Ryan blaring out in public what Mommy and Daddy said behind closed doors.

Secular “Morality”

Whenever we talk about atheism, we can’t help but remember where it took root. Wikipedia explains:

The French Revolution marked a turning point for the ascendancy of atheism to a preeminent position as a cognitive and cultural stance against papal supremacy and the Holy Roman Empire across Europe and throughout the world.^[18]

Note that atheism’s supposed “preeminent position” was against God in general, and not only against papal supremacy and the Holy Roman Empire. Nevertheless, it did gain its ascendancy in France. As we look at the fourth trumpet and consider how atheism is darkening the entire theistic world, it should not be surprising that merely seven days into the fourth trumpet, France takes the world stage.

The terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris was instantly international news.^[19] Some reports cited this as an attack against French values, which ultimately boil down to Human Rights.^[20] The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a legal document of the United Nations, traces its origin to the French Revolution. The symbolism used on the original Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (photo) flaunts this law of man as a replacement for the Law of God; it is depicted in the shape of the Ten Commandments with the Luciferian all-seeing eye above it, and the ouroboros and other occult symbolism present. Thus, the attack in France during the fourth trumpet warns that the laws of man will soon be set up against God’s law. For a sobering historical review of where this will lead, I advise you to read (or re-read) the chapter entitled The Bible and the French Revolution from the Great Controversy. Too many facets of France’s dark history are repeating today.

The international response to the Charlie Hebdo attack was impressive. World leaders came to France to show their “solidarity” in fighting for their values. U.S. President Obama was noticeably absent, but that does not mean the U.S. was uninvolved. CNN reports:

Attorney General Eric Holder was also in Paris, attending a security summit on combating terrorism. He recorded interviews that appeared on several U.S. news outlets Sunday, but was not spotted at the unity march.^[21]

The Attorney General is the main legal advisor for the government. His presence in Paris means that the international response to terrorism has a primarily legal basis. This is a warning that the laws of nations (particularly the U.S.) will be especially involved in future responses to terrorism. At this time when the Ten Commandment Law of God is open to view in the heavenly sanctuary, and living men and women are being judged by it, secular governments are working to refine their own laws based on the godless and faux morality of secular humanism.

The truth is that human rights are trumped by the greater good as far as the world leaders see it. That means they will honor the human rights they promote only so far as it doesn’t interfere with the U.N.’s greater purpose of achieving international peace and security.^[22] This goes along with the pope’s recent comment that anyone who insults his mother can expect a punch.^[23] In other words, your rights are limited. It is easy to infer from his punch comment that he means anyone who insults his Mother Mary or his Mother Church can expect a surprising physical punishment in response. In the context of the Paris shooting, we would call that a terrorist attack against free speech, but he wants to adjust where the line is drawn between the good guys and the bad guys.

A “Fundamental” Shift

After the world leaders met in France, the press reported Pope Francis’ speech on this wise:

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis on Monday denounced the religious fundamentalism that inspired the Paris massacres and ongoing Mideast conflicts, saying the attackers were enslaved by “deviant forms of religion” that used God as a mere ideological pretext to perpetuate mass killings. . . .”Religious fundamentalism, even before it eliminates human beings by perpetrating horrendous killings, eliminates God himself, turning him into a mere ideological pretext,” he said.^[24]

Pay attention to the subtle but definite shift in the problem’s nomenclature. Pope Francis identifies the target as fundamentalism, not terrorism. This sweeps into the picture a large section of Bible-believing Christians who are fundamentalists, putting them in the same category as Islamic terrorists. Isn’t that alarming? In a previous interview, the pope expressed his view:

The three religions, we have our fundamentalist groups, small in relation to all the rest…A fundamentalist group, although it may not kill anyone, although it may not strike anyone, is violent. The mental structure of fundamentalists is violence in the name of God.^[25]

The pope is pulling in the reins of free speech when it is against his interests at the same time that he is slightly shifting the gun sights from terrorism to fundamentalism. It is not hard to see where this will lead. In his view, “Good” “Protestants” who are friendly with the ecumenical church are not fundamentalists, but anyone who places the Bible in authority above the laws of man and interprets prophecy as depicting the Mother Church as a big whore^[26] is doing mental violence in the name of God, and although it might not kill or strike anyone, it is going to get a physical punch from the kindly ol’ Grandpa Francie.

The prophetess was right after all:

God’s word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution. {GC 581.2}^[27]

The Messenger of Doom

The trumpets are getting louder. Each successive trumpet builds on the previous ones, but each trumpet also crescendos all by itself. This is especially true of the fourth trumpet, as the text indicates:

And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Revelation 8:13)

This text indicates that something should happen during the fourth trumpet timeframe that will serve as a harbinger of what is to come in the last three trumpets. Furthermore, this harbinger is one of woe to the world.

The key to identifying this “angel” lies in the fact that it warns of the threefold woe—the fifth, sixth, and seventh trumpets. According to the Trumpet Clock, the fifth trumpet will begin on exactly February 18, 2015. That means the warning cry must come before that, and be announcing something that will begin on February 18 at the fifth trumpet, later to escalate with the sixth and seventh trumpets.

Indeed, the news headline came: “White House Continues Fight Against Extremism By Announcing Meeting”…scheduled for February 18, 2015!

This announcement is very relevant to the situation. Note again the use of the term extremism instead of terrorism. The subtle shift is still there, but the exact term fundamentalism was probably avoided to be less arousing to Bible-believing fundamentalists in the U.S.

It is important to note that the word “angel” should probably have been translated as “eagle.” The SDA Bible Commentary remarks as follows:

An angel. Textual evidence favors (cf. p. 10) the reading “an eagle.” The eagle may be thought of as an omen of doom (see Matt. 24:28; cf. Deut. 28:49; Hosea 8:1; Hab. 1:8).^[28]

The eagle, aside from being an omen of doom, could symbolize the U.S. as the one who called and announced the meeting to take place on February 18. But another reason might be to hint to the following verse:

Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law. (Hosea 8:1)

The eagle comes against God’s people for breaking God’s law. Once again, we see that the Law of God is at the heart of the matter.

A Message of Woe!

Let’s take a close look at the White House’s announcement mentioned above, and understand where this is really leading. We’ve seen how the fourth trumpet is dealing with issues of law. We’ve seen how it is about the substitution of man’s law (human rights under the greater good) for God’s law (the Ten Commandments). We’ve seen how the U.S. Attorney General was involved in the security meetings in France.

Leaders met in France not just to show solidarity, but to take definite action toward preventing home-grown fundamentalist groups before they have a chance to cause harm. Obama seemed disconnected from the peace rally in France, but the White House is definitely playing a lead role, because now it is hosting the security summit as a follow-up.

The White House announced today [January 11, 2015] its next step in fighting extremism: a meeting. “On February 18, 2015, the White House will host a Summit on Countering Violent Extremism to highlight domestic and international efforts to prevent violent extremists and their supporters from radicalizing, recruiting, or inspiring individuals or groups in the United States and abroad to commit acts of violence, efforts made even more imperative in light of recent, tragic attacks in Ottawa, Sydney, and Paris. This summit will build on the strategy the White House released in August of 2011, Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States, the first national strategy to prevent violent extremism domestically,” the White House press secretary said in a statement released today.

Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) efforts rely heavily on well-informed and resilient local communities. Boston, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis-St. Paul have taken the lead in building pilot frameworks integrating a range of social service providers, including education administrators, mental health professionals, and religious leaders, with law enforcement agencies to address violent extremism as part of the broader mandate of community safety and crime prevention. The summit will highlight best practices and emerging efforts from these communities.

At the same time, our partners around the world are actively implementing programs to prevent violent extremism and foreign terrorist fighter recruitment. The summit will include representatives from a number of partner nations, focusing on the themes of community engagement, religious leader engagement, and the role of the private sector and tech community.

Through presentations, panel discussions, and small group interactions, participants will build on local, state, and federal government; community; and international efforts to better understand, identify, and prevent the cycle of radicalization to violence at home in the United States and abroad. Additional information regarding participants and the agenda will be provided at a future date.^[29]

This will clearly involve curbing freedom of speech for supposed extremists and their supporters, which shows again that for them, defending rights comes second to the greater good. It is also about surveillance (note the involvement of the private sector and tech community), which shows the same thing. The real red flag, however, is in the involvement of the community—especially religious leaders—who would be responsible for assessing radical tendencies in their sphere. Twice it is mentioned that religious leaders will be involved, meaning that they will be partly responsible for deciding if a person’s beliefs are extreme or fundamentalist in nature. They want to prevent even the mere act of inspiring groups or individuals toward fundamentalism, which means that they could interfere with a religious group just because it teaches certain things. This will lead to fear, suspicion, betrayal, and all sorts of evils. Again, I urge you to know the history of the French Revolution.^[30]

Do you see how we are at the point where anyone is a target if they esteem the Bible more highly than they esteem ecumenism, and how that puts not only the Word of God, but also the Law of God, under attack? Here in the fourth trumpet, the eagle is announcing the February 18 meeting that will likely bring the first woe, and it will intensify in the second and third woe—because the entire threefold woe is announced by the same eagle.

The fourth trumpet does not tell us exactly what the woe is, but just that it is coming. Perhaps you already have a pretty good idea of what it is?

Breaking the Ten Commandments

We are living in the time of the figurative travels of the Ark of the Covenant. Remember, the ark’s ten months of movement began on December 18, 2014, and will end on October 17, 2015, inclusive (Figures 1 and 2). The important point here is that it is not just “approximately” ten months. We see that it is exactly 10 months, beginning on the 18^th day of December, 2014, and ending on the 17^th day of October, 2015, inclusive. We can infer, then, that each of the ten months begins on the 18^th of that month and ends on the 17^th of the following month.

This correspondence between the ten months and the Ten Commandments gives us an opportunity to study what kinds of events to expect during each month. Here is a chart showing the periods of the ten months with the trumpets alongside:

Figure 3 – The World is Tested by the Law of God

The first question we must answer regarding the above chart is whether or not it really fits. Has God’s law really come under special attack, and is there really a correlation between the individual commandments and the months?

In the chart above, I labeled each sin that corresponds to each of the Ten Commandments. Take a close look at the first one—atheism—and notice how Ryan Bell’s rejection of God at the beginning of the fourth trumpet is a blatant transgression of the first commandment right in the first month. Let’s break it down piece by piece:

1. I am the LORD thy God,

2. which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:2-3)

Compare this with what Ryan Bell says:

1. “I don't think that God exists.” (Ryan Bell, January 1, 2015)

2. “I will not…refer to God as the cause of things or hope that God might intervene and change my own or someone else’s circumstances.” (Ryan Bell, December 31, 2013)

3. “Why do I need religion to love?” (Ryan Bell, December 25, 2014)

Point by point, Ryan broke the first commandment. Whereas God declares that He is the Lord God, Ryan says he doesn’t believe that God exists. Whereas God proactively brought His people out of Egypt and bondage, Ryan doesn’t acknowledge that God does anything. Whereas God rightfully requires that nothing come before Him, Ryan puts “love” in the first place.

Jesus summarized the first four commandments, which deal with our relationship with God, as follows:

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. (Mark 12:29-30)

How can a person love God if they deny that He exists? How can a person express love if they are disconnected from God? The answer is: they cannot. Atheism is an overt transgression of God’s law, and even a transgression of the first and most important of all the commandments. It is blatant sin.

As the fourth trumpet began on January 1, the sin of atheism was committed near the middle of the first month. This first example shows us that we can expect a specific sin to surface in the unfaithful churches during each month, unless they repent.

Mind you, Ryan Bell is just the public face of this sin. You would be surprised to see how many common church-goers, who might have even shared a pew with you in the past, are ready to speak up and defend Ryan’s blatant sin. Many of them even open up to express that they have similar doubts themselves.

In other words, while there is a corporate spectacle of atheism—a public sin—there is also a private reality for the individual. Those who identify with Ryan Bell are commandment breakers too, not only sinning themselves, but defending and promoting the same sin in others.

Can the 144,000 who keep the commandments of God be found among that class? Can a faithful Christian, who is willing to die for his faith as a martyr, be found among that class? Can a person be admitted to heaven if they know the commandments and willingly transgress them? In every case, the answer is a definite “No!”

The first month has passed now. Examine yourself—how did you measure up to God’s law? Did you test faithful to the first commandment? I hope so! But if not, I urge you to repent and seek God while there is still time. It does not matter which commandment or how many commandments you break, because breaking one is the same as breaking them all.^[31] What matters is that in every case, you recognize your mistake and turn away from it immediately.

The Sin of Idolatry

Dare we examine how the SDA Church is faring in the judgment thus far in regards to the second commandment? We are now most of the way through the second month, so we should already be able to discern some things. First of all, we should have a clear understanding of what idolatry is, and why it is wrong.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)

Idolatry is making an image of something, and worshiping it. Making an image is not a sin all by itself, but when the image is worshipped then it is sin.

It doesn’t matter what word you use for worship—Catholic defenders often play down veneration of the saints by playing word games. The commandment is clear: it’s an idol if it comes before God, so if you look to a dead person or an image thereof instead of looking to Jesus Christ who is alive in Orion, it is a sin. (Spiritualism, including the false teaching that good people “go to heaven” before the resurrection at the second coming, is an enabler of idolatry.)

On January 18, the very first day of the second month—marking the second commandment—the SDA Church hosted a “service” to quell tensions between police and civil rights groups.^[32] First of all, one has to wonder how mediating between the police and citizens is any of the church’s business to start with—but of course we know that the church is doing its duty to show itself a community player as part of its good ecumenical image. Regardless, the question at hand is about idolatry.

You need not read any further than the second paragraph of the church’s report to see an idol, even named as such!

Tying in with celebrations to commemorate the legacy of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., the Hope and Healing for Better Police and Community Relations program featured Church leaders, city leaders, police officials and congressional representatives.

An “icon” is an idol, or image. I have to ask you... what does Martin Luther King Jr. have to do with the mission of the SDA Church, and why are they identifying him as an idol? Are they openly admitting that they have idols like him? Or are they just recognizing him as an idol of the world—and if so, why are they bringing the world’s idol into a church-hosted function?

The shocking reality comes in the third paragraph from the end:

Sunday’s program also included worship and a press conference. One poignant moment during the service came when the audience—comprised of a variety of races and ethnicities—collectively rose to their feet and enthusiastically applauded eight-year-old Nathanel McKenzie after his recitation of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

The SDA Church publicly hosted a Sunday idol-worship service in its own sanctuary! And how was that worship “poignantly” expressed? By adoration of the idol represented by an eight-year-old boy! (Did you read about the French Revolution as I recommended? Do you remember how they brought in one of the dancers from the opera house to play the role of the goddess Reason?)

There is a reason why political figures are elevated like idols in front of the people. It is because they stand for something. Although Martin Luther King Jr. is best known for driving progress in the lines of civil liberty, he also stood for other things. Wikipedia notes:

King organized and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labor rights and other basic civil rights.[68] Most of these rights were successfully enacted into the law of the United States with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.[82][83]^[33]

Keep in mind that the worker’s unions will play an important role in end-time events.

The trades unions will be one of the agencies that will bring upon this earth a time of trouble such as has not been since the world began.—Letter 200, 1903. {2SM 142.1}^[34]

Economic pressure drives the worker to work more, so the workers’ right to have at least one day of rest gets more attention. For the “good of society” (trumping individual rights) a common day will be selected, naturally Sunday in accordance with the practice of the majority. Do you see how the SDA Church is unwittingly promoting the end-goals of the Sunday law?

Those who claim to be the children of God are in no case to bind up with the labor unions that are formed or that shall be formed. This the Lord forbids. Cannot those who study the prophecies see and understand what is before us? {4MR 78.2}^[35]

Furthermore, he was a supporter of social welfare and was suspected of ties to communism (which is probably what got him assassinated). Those are the kinds of social principles that always lead to very bad scenarios. I don’t want to get off topic, but one point is too relevant to overlook. In a nutshell, the SDA Church is lauding social systems and governmental principles that will be the very means to oppress its members under the Sunday law, when they lose their jobs and homes in faithfulness to the Sabbath. Just open your eyes! You will see soon enough where it is all headed: straight to FEMA “community” centers!

The first verse of the fourth trumpet was about the darkening of the church by atheism, which goes against the first commandment. The second verse of the fourth trumpet is talking about a threefold woe that is coming, and here we see idolatry involved. Could idolatry have a connection to the threefold woe?

Searching for this story in the public press, I found a single newspaper covering it—the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.^[36] Does that ring a bell? The “eagle” announces the threefold woe! And what is the subject matter of the threefold woe? The subtitle of the Adventist article gives a hint: “Congresswoman commends Church for ‘timely’ service!”

What was “timely” about that idol-worship service? It was on Sunday, and the state commends that! It was especially commended because this was a designated day to honor Martin Luther King Jr. In other words, the church was praised for adapting to the “needs” of the secular world.

In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with worshiping God on any day of the week including Sunday, although one has to wonder at how eagerly SDA Churches are doing so.^[37] Neither is there anything wrong with making an image or recognizing a person for good things they have done. But when worship is conducted through an image, then it is the sin of idolatry. When worship services are conducted on Sunday for the purpose of respecting an institution, a law, a political figure, or other purpose, that institution, law, figure, or purpose becomes the icon through which worship is conducted. That is a transgression of the second commandment (not to mention others). This act of adapting the church’s worship to the pressure of secular society foreshadows the worship of the image of the beast—which is idolatry in the highest form!

Take heed, and consider what you would do if your government were to pressure you to agree to worship on their terms. After this commandment-month ends on February 17, the fifth trumpet (first woe) will begin.

The Hemorrhoids of the Philistines

The eagle of the fourth trumpet doesn’t stop with one warning of woe. Before the first commandment-month had ended, the U.S. Supreme Court made a surprise announcement, saying that it will make a nation-wide ruling on the question of same-sex marriage.^[38] Thus, the principle of atheism was also at work in secular government to rid every vestige of God’s Edenic design from their laws.

What does this have to do with a coming woe?

Anyone who knows the story of Sodom and Gomorrah should see the connection immediately.

And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. (Genesis 18:20-21)

The sins of the wicked cry out. The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were so great that the cry of them reached the Lord in heaven. The Supreme Court is planning to issue its ruling at the end of the term, at the end of June. That means the decision will be announced in the very month that stands for the test on the seventh commandment—the very commandment that protects the boundaries of marriage. As the nation removes God from its laws, the cry of its sins will reach the heavenly court, and judgment will be denounced upon it.

The amount of time from the announcement till the Supreme Court decision parallels the seven months when the ark was in the land of the Philistines:

And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods [hemorrhoids!^[39]]: and the cry of the city went up to heaven. And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. (1 Samuel 5:12-6:1)

That means the cry of the sins of America will reach heaven in the seventh month just as the cry of the Philistines did.

Note that the sin in Sodom and Gomorrah was not incidental—it was total.

But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: (Genesis 19:4)

Once the sin of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah had reached totality, God visited them with judgment. This is what is happening today. Many individual states have already legalized same-sex marriage, but the Supreme Court will decide at a national level. When “every quarter” of the nation has crossed the threshold, God will act.

Punctuating the first seven months and the last three months of the ark’s movement is the sixth trumpet—the falling of the stars of the sixth seal, destructive fireballs. This will come on July 8 (shortly after the Supreme Court decision) as the result of total rejection of God’s law on the part of the nation. Then there will be woe to the world the second time at the sound of the sixth trumpet!

Thus the eagle of the fourth trumpet (the U.S.) has announced not only the first woe, but also the second.

The Cause of Climate Change

The third woe is heralded by the same eagle again, this time in the form of President Obama’s 2016 U.S. Budget proposal. The headlines focused on the billions of dollars the president allocated toward things related to climate change.^[40] It is also noteworthy that the White House made a special effort to make this budget proposal available as widely (and on-time) as possible by publishing it online and by publishing the source data that contributes to the budget—steps that are unprecedented.

Before you immediately dismiss this budget request because you think Congress will not honor it, consider that even the pope is behind measures to address climate change. Pope Francis spoke on the issue in comments to the press on January 29.

His theological justification for both environment and climate action has been that respect for the “beauty of nature and the grandeur of the cosmos” is a Christian value.^[41]

It is interesting that he justifies taking action with something so tender-hearted as respect for the beauty of the earth and the cosmos. We will come back to that. The real question to be answered is: Why is climate change such a big part of the budget proposal? Why is it such a big topic at all?

The timing of this budget should be taken into consideration. This budget would go into effect on October 1, 2015, just days after the U.N. Post-2015 Sustainable Development Summit, where on September 25 the pope will deliver a highly anticipated speech, as well as attend the World Meeting of Families. That will definitely be an eventful time,^[42] and the budget will go into effect just three days after those meetings conclude.

The budget also includes funding for federal infrastructure work. In a new Executive Order, the president makes some changes in the planning requirements for federal construction projects.

“The federal government must take action, informed by the best-available and actionable science, to improve the nation’s preparedness and resilience against flooding.”

...When drawing up plans, federal agencies have multiple options by which they can establish the flood hazard area in which future projects are located. First, again with that subtle jab, planners can use a “climate-informed science approach” to determine hydrological and hydraulic data to anticipate possible future changes in flooding based on — gasp! — climate science. They can also simply add two feet above the current flood elevation or three feet for critical buildings such as hospitals.

Prior to this executive order, such rules were only applicable if there was a 1 percent chance of flooding in the region — now the bar has been lowered to 0.20 percent...^[43]

When you put all of the pieces together, you begin to realize that the kind of climate change they are talking about is not the result of gradual processes like high carbon emissions or such things. It will be the result of a global disaster that will instantly change the climate and thrust the nation and world into a whole new climate scenario. Think of it from the world leaders’ point of view. Surely they know what is coming and when, and they want to prepare, and they want funding, but they can’t risk telling the public what the real reasons are behind it because the general population would go into a mad panic. So they’ve had to almost invent a justification for it. The following video conveys the point very well:

With that perspective, the budget makes more sense. New “resilient” infrastructure will be needed in the wake of destruction, thus the change in federal building requirements. More money will be needed to combat the changes in climate, thus the timely budget request. Even the pope’s strange justification makes sense: respect for the grandeur of the cosmos (and the damage it can cause to the earth’s climate)! The title of the U.N. summit in September also makes sense; what else could “Post-2015” mean other than the beginning of a new era after a great climate disaster? The topic of the summit will be how to develop a sustainable world in the disaster’s wake.

Making Provisions for the Papacy

In addition to the budget proposal, the “eagle” announced the third woe on February 5. John Boehner, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, announced that Pope Francis would address a joint meeting of Congress (both House and Senate) on September 24, 2015.^[44]

Considering how eventful that time will be, Francis’ words to the lawmakers of the U.S. will have deep implications. You can see that, once again, laws are at the heart of the matter. The eagle of the fourth trumpet is warning of matters of law in every case, and although the woe that is coming will be felt in so many ways, the legal aspect is the prominent theme throughout. The primary attack is on the Law of God by setting man’s law above it.

By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the Law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness [her probation will close]. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power [fulfilled in 1999^[45] ], when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism [fulfilled in 2014], when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country [U.S.] shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1}

Note that the prerequisite is that the U.S. makes provision, not that it actually propagates papal falsehoods and delusions. By inviting the pope to address a joint meeting of Congress, the provision has now been made, and thus we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan. What will actually happen at that joint meeting of Congress is another matter, which will lead very quickly to the general close of probation and the outpouring of the seven last plagues.

Thus the eagle (the U.S.) has also announced the third woe.

Every stage of the threefold woe is an intensification of the same effort to exalt man’s law above God’s law, and especially to replace the fourth commandment with Sunday observance.

Each woe represents a phase of the Sunday law:

1. In the first woe, the Sunday law will likely be developed as a secular law and will only cause hardship (persecution) to God’s people.

2. In the second woe, the Sunday law will inevitably take on religious motivation in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision and subsequent destruction. The persecution will increase to the point that those who obey God’s law will be put to death (martyred) as a result.

3. In the third woe, the Sunday law will likely become universal. Thus God will respond with the plagues, and deliver His people.

Events are rapidly fulfilling. The investigative judgment of the living is progressing swiftly. The SDA Church has broken two of the Ten Commandments so far. Have you taken a personal inventory to see how you are faring? Are you prepared for the third month under the first woe? What about the fourth month in regard to the Sabbath question? Will you be ready for the big crisis? Or will you stay in the enemy’s ranks—in the church—to partake of her sins and receive of her plagues?

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven [shown by the stars of Orion], and God hath remembered her iniquities. (Revelation 18:4-5)

The Fifth Trumpet

When we speak about the fifth trumpet at the time of this writing, we are speaking about yet-future events. We will not be able to interpret every detail, but the most important things should be apparent because of the eagle’s warning in the fourth trumpet. For example:

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. (Revelation 9:1-2)

The symbolism of the great furnace calls to mind one of the most famous stories of the Bible, which we already touched on in Part I in connection with the fallen star of the third trumpet. Here we see the fallen star mentioned again in the fifth trumpet. We identified the fallen star as a specific reference to the complete fall of the organized SDA Church, which has formed its character into the image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

The SDA Church was the last church in the line of the Protestant Reformation. As long as it was holding out, Protestantism was holding out. In that sense, it was given a key role as “the last of the Mohicans.” When it fell, it marked the end of the line for Protestantism, which allowed the papacy to rise to universal power again.

Whereas the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was a depiction of future kingdoms that would rise after his own, the image of all gold that the king later built represented his rebellion against that future and his intention for his kingdom to rule the world forever. Again, the SDA Church reflects this attitude by dismissing all criticism with the remark “the church will go through to the end.” Such an attitude paints the picture of Nebuchadnezzar.

The great furnace of the fifth trumpet brings to remembrance the furnace that was prepared for any who would refuse to worship according to the king’s decree:

Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:4-6)

A never-ending kingdom is ultimately Satan’s goal, and he is using the world leaders in the hopes of achieving it. Those who don’t go along with him will become fodder for the furnace of affliction. The text of the fifth trumpet indicates that this furnace is being prepared during the fifth trumpet. The preparations will begin with Obama’s Summit on February 18, and will increase throughout the “five months” of the trumpet, during which people who choose to stay faithful to God will increasingly encounter persecution and hardship.

The Sword of Fire

As if the movements of the enemy are not enough to trouble the faithful in the fifth trumpet, their “brethren” will also become a curse to them. The complete fall of the SDA Church (the completion of its investigative judgment) means that God’s executive judgments can now fall upon it. This is indicated by the destruction of those without the seal:

And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. (Revelation 9:3-4)

The seal of God is understood by the SDA Church to be the Sabbath truth, which indicates again that the fifth trumpet will involve an attack on God’s law as we saw the eagle announce in the fourth trumpet. However, like we learned from the story of the Ark of the Covenant, the SDA Church will not be protected merely by its regard for the Sabbath of the Lord. The church has been warned that God will visit her iniquities as it is prophesied in the ninth chapter of Ezekiel.

Study the ninth 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. {18MR 236.2}

The church was warned once before. Intense fires burned the SDA publishing house in 1902^[46] as a sign of God’s displeasure with the course that the leadership was pursuing. Of that, Ellen G. White wrote the following:

In the visions of the night, I saw a sword of fire hung out over Battle Creek [the church headquarters at that time].

Brethren, God is in earnest with us. I want to tell you that if after the warnings given in these burnings, the leaders of our people go right on, just as they have done in the past, exalting themselves, God will take the bodies next. Just as surely as He lives, He will speak to them in language that they cannot fail to understand. {4MR 367.2–3}

The leadership did change for a time, thus deferring the above prophecy, but the condition of things has deteriorated again over the years till it has reached the sad case that exists today. Therefore, the warning is in full and imminent force, and now that the organization’s fall is total, it will come. The sword of fire is none other than the cleansing of the church as described in Ezekiel 9, but instead of hanging over Battle Creek, it is hanging over the present headquarters and various other institutions of the church.

The wording surrounding the seal of God in the fifth trumpet is substantially the same as the passage in Ezekiel 9:

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 9:6)

This association shows us that the seal of God spoken of in the fifth trumpet is not just Sabbath-keeping, but also sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the church.^[47] This explains the lesson from the Ark of the Covenant, why not all “commandment-keepers” will be protected. Not all of them have the commandments written on their heart; not all of them sigh and cry for sin.

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... {3T 266.2}

The sealing of the 144,000 must be completed during the fifth trumpet, because only then can the four winds^[48] be let loose in the sixth trumpet. In this sense, we can understand Ellen G. White’s comment about the time when the great crisis is nearing:

Oh, that the people might know the time of their visitation! There are many who have not yet heard the testing truth for this time. There are many with whom the Spirit of God is striving. The time of God’s destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who have had no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter. {9T 97.2}

Notice that she speaks of a door being closed.

Men Shall Seek Death, and Shall Not Find It

And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. (Revelation 9:5-6)

The fifth trumpet describes a time when people are tormented, but not killed. With the preparations for the Sunday law taking place, that is exactly what will happen. Those who resist it will have a hard time. Those who want to stay faithful to the Law of God will eventually lose their jobs. They will suffer need and hardship. They will experience hunger. Being without income, they will lose their homes and become homeless. The homeless will be rounded up and taken to FEMA “community centers” where they will “be re-educated” to cooperate with civil authorities. How many Adventists are prepared for these eventualities? How many Adventists are prepared to go through all of these sufferings in order to keep the Sabbath and refuse the mark?

The fifth trumpet speaks of a terrible anguish. The text emphasizes “seeking death” and “desiring to die” by repeating it twice. What could it mean?

We have to face some hard truths in connection with this verse. Anyone can commit suicide relatively easily, so “seeking death” cannot have such a shallow meaning. It is not enough to say that the trials are so hard that people just want to die. There must be a deeper meaning.

Adventists are a special people. They are the “judgment people,” elected to be priests for God in the service of the heavenly sanctuary—elected to be the 144,000. The majority have not taken their calling seriously. They have not followed the health message or proper dress code, and have generally let themselves degrade to the condition of the world, both in their theology and practice. A priest is supposed to be set apart, holy. In Old Testament times, a priest who did not respect his office was struck dead.^[49] In connection with the loss of the ark, the story of Eli and his two sons comes to mind.

God gave the fourth angel’s message to His people to prepare them for the difficult test they would face when the Sunday law would finally come. That is why Adventists expect the latter rain…it is the rain that ripens the fruit to prepare it for harvest. Without the latter rain, without the fourth angel’s message, the people will not have the strength to go through the Sunday law test successfully. They will falter and fail, because that is what they have been practicing up to this time by their compromising lifestyle habits. They will give in just to feed their bellies and their covetousness—as many already do today without there being persecution!

They have lived so carelessly and proudly that many of them will never have even considered making a personal sacrifice. They will have just assumed that they knew everything they needed to know to be “faithful to the end” as one of the 144,000. They thought it wouldn’t matter how they live until the Sunday law comes—if it would come at all in their lifetime—and that then they would somehow muster up the faith to stand firm in the time of crisis. They figured they knew the key points not to be deceived: that Saturday is the Sabbath, and if a “Jesus” came and let his feet touch the earth, then he must be an imposter. But without the heart preparation, and without having allowed the Holy Spirit to shape their character ahead of time, they will be unprepared to stand the test in practical terms.

It is almost too late for such nominal Adventists to learn their duty, to clean up their act, and offer a sacrifice pleasing to God. Even if their predicament would humble them to that point, they would find out that they have already failed the test and are well-nigh disqualified from being among the group who “keep the commandments of God, and have the faith of Jesus.”^[50] They know nothing of sacrifice, much less of experiencing the second death as Jesus did on the cross. They would not be able to endure seeing Jesus come in the clouds of glory.

Maybe in their humiliation, they will actually consider the option of giving their physical life as a martyr—a thought that probably never occurred to them before. As the Sunday law situation worsens, and the reality of their failure sets in, they might come to their senses, but too late. All along, they flattered themselves that they were the remnant, the chosen of God, and that they would be among the 144,000 who would not taste of death. Instead, they will find themselves having failed the test, and having lost their eternal life. They might seek desperately just to be a martyr—just to find salvation at any cost—but they won’t be able to, because the killing won’t generally begin until after the fifth trumpet is over.

Very, very few repented before the door closed for the church on November 30, 2014. Very, very few were living their profession, and sighing and crying for the abominations done in the church. The rest were not a pure sacrifice for Jesus, and when they realize that they lost heaven, they will “seek death” as a martyr, but they will not find it. And if they would “desire to die” the second death to be among the 144,000, it would flee from them because they are not worthy. It is a sad predicament for those who have continually spurned the voice of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

The Bible says that the torment will last five months. Interestingly, in all of the months of the ark’s movement, the five months of the fifth trumpet are the only five months that can be taken in sequence for a total of exactly the prophetic period of 150 days.

The Fall of Jerusalem

We can divide the church into two distinct classes: scoffers, and non-scoffers. The non-scoffers are the ones who really are trying to be faithful. They see that we are at the end of time, and they are warning others accordingly. The scoffers, on the other hand, deny that we are living any closer to the end than we ever have been. The Bible describes them as follows:

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (2 Peter 3:3-4)

The scoffers are not warning at all, and not warning is already enough to classify a person as a scoffer, but many of the scoffers are in fact working actively to keep everyone calm. They minimize the signs and say “oh, we saw something like that happen years ago, and Jesus didn’t come then, so don’t worry!”

In contrast to the scoffers are those who see the signs and are warning others of the impending Sunday law, and of the closing of the door of mercy. The story of Jerusalem’s fall in AD 70 offers a prime example for what is happening today. The Rabbis and other leaders of Jerusalem saw the city as a mighty fortress that could never be conquered nor destroyed (which is especially the attitude of the SDA Church). Rome besieged Jerusalem in AD 66, and that was the sign for Christians to flee. The army withdrew itself for no apparent reason, and the Christians escaped before the city was besieged the second time and ultimately destroyed in AD 70. (Some aspects of the siege are explained in more detail in the Time of Trouble article.)

The trick in studying the story of Jerusalem’s fall, however, is to recognize that it was after the Jewish nation had ceased to be God’s favored people. Normally we treat ancient Israel as a type for the SDA Church as “spiritual Israel,” but it would not be correct to say that Jerusalem at the time of its fall still represents the church—unless we say that it represents the church after the church ceased to be God’s favored people.

When the door of mercy closed for the SDA Church, it lost God’s especial care and protection. In fact, it has blended in so much with the other churches in the ecumenical movement that it has become indistinguishable from them on a spiritual level. That means the SDA Church no longer has a unique identity under God; it and the other churches are one and the same under Satan.

In a similar way, Jerusalem of old had become as common as the surrounding heathen nations by rejecting Christ, so by the time it was destroyed in AD 70 it was effectively representing the heathen religions of that time, and certainly not Christianity. That means the destruction of Jerusalem cannot be a type for just the destruction of the church, but it must be a type for the destruction of the world in general.

Recognizing the scope of what Jerusalem symbolizes is key to understanding what its story has to teach us. To put the whole situation another way, the SDA church itself allows every wind of false doctrine in its ranks. They proudly hold ecumenical meetings with the leaders of the other fallen churches in their own buildings. So if we want to say that Jerusalem primarily represents the SDA Church, then we still have to allow room for the other non-Adventists to be represented within it. The SDA Church is fully “Ecu-Adventist” now, so even applying the type of Jerusalem directly to the SDA Church, it would still in fact represent ecumenism and include the world, just as ancient Jerusalem did.

The Strange Being

Even though the city elders felt secure in Jerusalem, not everyone else did. The people saw unusual signs, which has happened in our day as well.

Signs and wonders appeared, foreboding disaster and doom. In the midst of the night an unnatural light shone over the temple and the altar. Upon the clouds at sunset were pictured chariots and men of war gathering for battle. The priests ministering by night in the sanctuary were terrified by mysterious sounds; the earth trembled, and a multitude of voices were heard crying: “Let us depart hence.” The great eastern gate, which was so heavy that it could hardly be shut by a score of men, and which was secured by immense bars of iron fastened deep in the pavement of solid stone, opened at midnight, without visible agency.—Milman, The History of the Jews, book 13. {GC 29.3}^[51]

Notice how voices were heard, deciding to depart. Notice how the great eastern gate opened, like how the Orion message opened in 2010! Ellen G. White goes on to relate the strange warning effort of a particular man:

For seven years a man continued to go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, declaring the woes that were to come upon the city. By day and by night he chanted the wild dirge: “A voice from the east! a voice from the west! a voice from the four winds! a voice against Jerusalem and against the temple! a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides! a voice against the whole people!”—Ibid. This strange being was imprisoned and scourged, but no complaint escaped his lips. To insult and abuse he answered only: “Woe, woe to Jerusalem!” “woe, woe to the inhabitants thereof!” His warning cry ceased not until he was slain in the siege he had foretold. {GC 30.1}^[52]

This man warned for seven years, which certainly has a meaning. Who could the man be? He was warning about the woe coming upon Jerusalem, which should mean someone warning about the woe coming upon the churches of the world. Our ministry gives such warnings, as do others. Let’s investigate further.

The strange man died in the siege, which isn’t a good thing. It makes you wonder: if he knew about the trouble that was coming, why didn’t he save himself and others? In fact, if the topic weren’t so sober, it would almost be humorous that in the very next sentence after speaking of his death, Ellen G. White says:

Not one Christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem. {GC 30.2}

This man was apparently not a Christian! If the ancient Jews represent the modern-day Christians (including Adventists), and the ancient Christians represent modern-day Orion believers, then the strange man must represent modern-day Christians who do not believe in the Orion message, but who see the signs and warn of the trouble. In other words, he is a type especially for conservative Seventh-day Adventists.

We could even carry our investigation of the man’s death a step further by going to the original source for this story. It comes from the Jewish historian Josephus, and we find that he mentioned a “little” detail that Ellen G. White did not include:

This cry of his was the loudest at the festivals; and he continued this ditty for seven years and five months, without growing hoarse, or being tired therewith, until the very time that he saw his presage in earnest fulfilled in our siege, when it ceased; for as he was going round upon the wall, he cried out with his utmost force, “Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and to the holy house!” And just as he added at the last, “Woe, woe to myself also!” there came a stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him immediately; and as he was uttering the very same presages he gave up the ghost.

Brother John suspected there was more to this story than meets the eye, and that it has a special application for our time. That is why he included it in the Orion presentation (slide 154). Note exactly how the man died—he was hit by a stone from a catapult as he was uttering his warnings.

When you think about the horrors of the siege of Jerusalem, remember that God made a way of escape. Jesus Himself taught His followers in advance what the sign would be to flee the city. The same is true today!

The Cost of Indifference

Who does the man represent? Who do the people of the city represent? Who is represented by those that did not perish?

We can begin to answer all those questions fairly easily now. Ellen G. White put this story in the first chapter of the Great Controversy because it would repeat at the end of time (meaning in our time). We already talked about how Jerusalem was full of Jews (not Christians), and since the siege was at the time of the feasts, the people of the city would have even included a large number of visiting Gentiles who had come to profit from the traffic. The whole world was represented there! Surely, the people of the city must represent the people of the world.

We also talked about the Christians who escaped the city during the three and a half years between the first siege and the second. They were the believers of present truth in their day, and the ones who had faith in Jesus. They obeyed the warning He gave them to flee when they would see the city encompassed by armies. The fact that they didn’t perish is symbolic of the 144,000 who will not taste of death. They will be obedient to Jesus’ voice, which is coming from Orion this time. They will flee through the “great eastern gate” that is now open, and they will go to figurative Mt. Zion instead of the mountains in general. Thus, the Christians, who all escaped, are a representation of the 144,000 who will not experience death.

That leaves just one other group—those represented by the man who cried “Woe woe!” to the city, and yet died in it. This is a group who knew the truth (or most of it) but did not know or obey Christ. This man represents the “faithful” Seventh-day Adventists of our time who are seeing the signs and warning others, but who have either not heard or not accepted the sign that Jesus gave them (the Orion message).

The man cried in the streets of the city for seven years—long before the first siege of Cestius fulfilled the sign that Jesus had given. Adventists have been crying for 24 times seven years, and they saw the first sign to flee when the national Sunday law was almost passed in 1888.

If the strange being had been a Christian, he would have escaped and led others to do the same. His mistake cost him his life. In our day, the SDA pastors who preach about the woe that is coming make a similar mistake. They should have heeded Jesus in Orion! They should have fled to the mountains (figuratively to the true teachings of our Mt. Zion)!

The mistake will cost them their life. They cannot be among the 144,000 while confining their faith within the walls of historic Adventism. Those who are still warning and woe!-ing from within the SDA church will never be among the 144,000, even if at the last moment they too realize, “Woe is me!” Faith has to be exercised, and it is no longer possible to find its object within the confines of the church. One has to reach the promised sign by faith—now outside the church—and respond while there is time.

If not, then like the man ceased not to cry until he gave up the ghost, so they will have to give their message in their death as martyrs, not able to escape themselves, but still choosing to spill their blood in warning to others to put their loyalty on God’s side.

“Woe, woe to Jerusalem!” “woe, woe to the inhabitants thereof!”

The strange man’s cry should have instantly reminded you of the fourth trumpet:

And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Revelation 8:13)

The parallel between the strange man’s wild dirge and the fourth trumpet is too striking to dismiss. Both mention woe to the inhabitants, but instead of the inhabitants of the earth, the man refers to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This again confirms the validity of our interpretation that Jerusalem represents the fallen churches of the world in general, and not only the SDA Church.

Strangely, however, the man only cries woe twice each time, and not three times! What could that mean?

We could analyze this in a couple of ways. In one sense, this is an indication that the man will not see the third woe. His counterparts today will not live to see the seventh trumpet. The seventh trumpet will sound when general probation has closed for the world. At that time, there will be no more martyring, because there will be no more fertile ground to accept their blood, which is the seed of the gospel. This harmonizes with our interpretation that the man represents the martyrs who will not live to see the seventh trumpet.

Another way to interpret the fact that the man only voices a twofold woe is that he is simply missing something. He has a prophecy to give, but part of it is missing—the part that would have indicated the time to leave the city. This is reflected in those conservative Adventists who are still preaching to their followers, trying vain to warn them of what is imminently coming. They are missing something which would involve the third woe.

They are like the man in Jerusalem who probably never even heard what Christ said, or did not listen. The Christians fled, because they knew Jesus. This man apparently did not, or didn’t heed. He prophesied on his own, but did not give the real sign. He saw the destruction coming, but he did not see the sign to flee, or else he did not obey.

The conservative Adventists have not seen Jesus in Orion. Some of them have not fled from their Babylonian doctrinal surroundings. They do not listen to the time message of Orion. We can even know that Adventists are specifically the ones represented by the strange man, because he was crying for seven years—a year for a day—referring to the seven-day week established at Creation as the basis for the seventh-day Sabbath in the Seventh-day Adventist name.

Conservative Adventists are missing the seventh trumpet, which is the warning about the close of probation and the plagues. They are supposed to be preaching the third angel’s message, but they are missing the part about the time of plagues, which is the wrath of God.

When you read the third angel’s message, you can see that the majority of the text is dedicated to the warning about the plagues—more so than the mark of the beast—yet this part is generally not heard from the lips of Adventists:

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. (Revelation 14:9-12)

Ellen G. White clearly states that the warning about the plagues is the third angel’s message:

John came in the spirit and power of Elijah to proclaim the first advent of Jesus. I was pointed down to the last days and saw that John represented those who should go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah to herald the day of wrath and the second advent of Jesus. {EW 155.1}

Thus the Adventist church, which should have fulfilled the type of John the Baptist, had the responsibility to warn of two days or dates in particular: the day of the wrath of God on October 25, 2015, and the Second Coming on October 24, 2016. Those dates delineate the year of plagues, which are the subject of the third angel’s message, as well as the seventh trumpet and the third woe.

Like the strange being in Jerusalem who was missing the third woe, not even the “faithful” in the SDA church are heralding the third angel’s message completely. They are not time-setters. They don’t warn about “days” or dates. The only trumpet which is defined as part of the third angel’s message is exactly the one that they avoid. They even see that the time is approaching and are preparing to suffer for their faith, and because they do not lift up their heads^[53] to see Jesus in Orion, they will die as martyrs instead of living as part of the 144,000.^[54]

The Sincere vs. the Scoffers

It is at least comforting that conscientious, practicing Adventists should be saved through martyrdom and not be lost eternally. There is one example that is too obvious to refrain from mentioning. It is Pastor Andrew Henriques of the Saved to Serve ministry in Florida, U.S. It is amazing that his topics have often paralleled ours, but that makes it all the more sad that he does not recognize nor accept the force of time prophecy. A recent (January 17!) sermon^[55] of his illustrates the point clearly.

He might not be a scoffer, but he is like the man who died in Jerusalem—he is missing part of the message. Here is a transcript of a brief segment of the video from 6:45 to 7:35:

. . . . Now the question is WHEN. We know WHAT he [Satan] will do to lead into the National Sunday Law—the question is WHEN. WHEN will Satan bring the fire down? When will Satan bring the calamities? Go with me in your Bibles to Genesis chapter nineteen. Where are we going to my friends? The question is WHEN. Prophecy gives us the TIME. WHEN. Not asking for a DATE, as if we would say January seventeen, two thousand fifteen, or January eighteen, two thousand fifteen. Not asking for a day. We’re looking for events. WHEN will Satan bring such calamities that will cause the people to enforce a National Sunday Law and persecute those who refuse to bow. . . .

Seven times he asks the question! Later, he does give an approximate answer by connecting the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and his sermon closes with the martyr’s song “I Surrender All.” He tells the martyrs when the trouble will start, but then leaves them to cry, “How long!”

Oh, that good preachers like him would be among the 144,000! Oh, that they would lead their followers to join the fourth angel’s movement instead of leading them to the guillotine! He is preparing his listeners as “sheep for the slaughter.”^[56] We can thank God that there are people at least as faithful as they are, but it is truly a sad thing that good pastors—the cream of the crop—will be martyrs at best, and are actually working against the 144,000 with their anti-time-setting stance and by teaching an incomplete message.

I think we all know some people in the church who seem sincerely concerned—the ones who sigh and cry—and do not scoff even though they might have stumbled at the Orion message. This gives us some hope for their ultimate salvation, if they can withstand being purified by fire.

If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:15)

There were two groups of people in Jerusalem in relation to the strange man. There were some who fed him, which represent non-scoffers. They also eventually died in the siege, and represent martyrs. An entirely different picture is painted of those who scoffed at his warning cries. They beat him, jailed him, whipped him, tortured him—that is a picture of what the martyrs will suffer at the hands of their brethren, but in dying for their faith they will at least gain eternal life in contrast to their scoffing brethren who will die without salvation.

One who perishes as a scoffer is really committing the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost,^[57] because the Holy Spirit gives the light in the outpouring of the latter rain. In the 23^rd chapter of Matthew, seven times Jesus said to His scoffers “Woe unto you…!” Then he made a promise to them:

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Matthew 23:38-39)

In modern terms, Jesus is speaking to the leaders of the SDA Church who scoffed at and rejected Him anew. He is saying that they won’t see Him till it’s too late—till His appearance in brilliant glory forces the unwilling confession from their lips,^[58] and they are eternally lost.

Recognizing Jesus by His Character

How do you esteem somebody with a different character than your own? We have very different characters represented in our group, but when we try with love to understand each other, we realize that we all have the same elements of character but in different degrees and expressed in different ways. We have similar traits, but the traits that are very visible in one person might be relatively subtle in another. When we try to understand each other, our own traits of character allow us to recognize and appreciate those traits in others.

The Bible tells us that we can find God when we search for Him with all our heart:

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

In other words, if the character we see in Orion strikes a resonant chord in our heart, we will recognize that it is Jesus. Those who don’t develop a right character in themselves will not be able to recognize Him. They won’t be able to understand Him, because they will see a character trait that is foreign and unrecognizable and even undesirable to them.

If you don’t develop an understanding of God, then you cannot be a partaker of His character, and you will not be among the 144,000. The 144,000 will be nearer to the throne of God because they know Him better. They know His hidden character trait. The ones who love Him the most know Him the best and recognize that the Orion clock is a depiction of Him.

Too many are boxed in by Ellen G. White and the anti-time-setting teaching. She wrote within a certain frame of reference, but the voice of God from Orion speaks the unbounded truth. If you read Ellen G. White in the wrong way, you end up in a frame that excludes the Orion message. If you limit your view of the Spirit of Prophecy to Ellen G. White, then you cannot get out of the frame to find Jesus in Orion. You cannot turn to the celestial east, from whence cometh the voice of God like many waters.^[59]

The voice involves the breath. God’s voice involves His breath, which is another word for the Holy Spirit. That is why rejecting His voice from Orion amounts to the unpardonable sin. It is a rejection of the very life that comes from God,^[60] His breath.

The Sixth Trumpet

The sixth trumpet on the trumpet clock points to Wednesday, July 8, 2015, which is eight days after the probable Supreme Court decision on gay marriage, and seven days into the 2015 GC Session which will probably vote in favor of women’s ordination.

And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. (Revelation 9:13-14)

The text of the sixth trumpet does not speak about the desecration of the marriage institution. Instead, it gives us an entirely different picture—beginning in the heavenly sanctuary. The revelator hears a voice which commands the four angels to release. Comparing:

And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. (Revelation 7:2-3)

We see that the four angels are held until the sixth trumpet. Thus, the sealing of the servants of God (the 144,000) must be complete by that time. Why?

Remember, the 144,000 must exercise a degree of faith. Abraham’s nephew Lot had to believe before Sodom was destroyed, or he would never have escaped. The sealing of the 144,000 must be complete before the destruction comes in reward to the U.S. national sin of sodomy.

And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. (Revelation 9:15)

In the Last Call article, we reviewed Josiah Litch’s classical interpretation of the sixth trumpet and offered our own interpretation for the judgment cycle. Now we are dealing with a third application for the Trumpet Cycle. Keeping the different cycles straight in your mind can be a challenge, so take a moment to think it through:

All we have to do to understand how the sixth trumpet was prepared for 391 days is to look back in time to see what event marked the beginning of that period. With the sixth trumpet date of July 8, 2015, all we have to do is subtract 391 days, which brings us to June 12, 2014.

On that very day, an interview with Pope Francis was published^[61] wherein he condemned the world’s economic systems and predicted World War if changes are not made. It was during that interview (which hit the mainstream press the following day) that he condemned religious fundamentalism. In essence, the interview was a condensed statement of his political agenda.

What we saw in the sixth trumpet of the judgment cycle we see again in the trumpet cycle. The pope declared war on fundamentalism to begin the sixth trumpet of the judgment cycle, and he also did the same thing 391 days before the sixth trumpet of the Trumpet Cycle. He already drew the lines very clearly, saying that fundamentalist groups are violent by definition even if they don’t strike anyone. Of course that will include Bible-believing, Sabbath-keeping Christians.

So here again, Josiah Litch’s exciting prediction—re interpreted—confirms the sixth trumpet.

Like the door for the SDA Church closed at the sixth trumpet of the judgment cycle so that no more of the 144,000 can come through that church, so the door will close for the rest of the world at the sixth trumpet of the Trumpet Cycle. All who would be among the 144,000 must prepare quickly!

The Consequences of Ignoring the Warnings

Four trumpets have fulfilled as of this writing, and we have given them a certain sound,^[62] which means a sure interpretation. These first four trumpets were times of preparation for what will come now during the last three trumpets, each of which bring woe. Remember the distinction between four and three in the mathematics of God? The trumpets and the plagues both exhibit this distinction.

Some students of prophecy have already recognized that there seems to be a correlation between the trumpets and the plagues. In fact, the text of the third plague even says plainly that the plagues are a just and well-deserved punishment upon the wicked:

And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. (Revelation 16:4-7)

The trumpets are warnings mingled with mercy, but the plagues are the undiluted wrath of God. Each trumpet warns of the corresponding plague. Each trumpet shows the cause for which the respective plague is the consequence. This cause and effect relationship explains why God revealed the plague cycle of the Orion clock at the same time He revealed the trumpet cycle: they go together, like two parts of a sentence. If you do that, then this will happen. Understanding this relationship allows us to use the punishments described in the plagues as additional evidence for interpreting the trumpets.

Let’s compare the first four trumpets and plagues side-by-side to see how the plagues are the punishment for the deeds which the trumpets warn against.

1st Trumpet: The first angel sounded [beginning February 1, 2014], and there followed hail and fire [stones and lava = volcanic eruption of Mt. Sinabung] mingled with blood [causing deaths (16)], and they were cast [as an image of something] upon the earth [in the United States, namely Yellowstone]: and the third part of trees [Charismatics] was burnt up [taken by Rome], and all green grass [Crimea] was burnt up [annexed by Russia]. (Revelation 8:7)	1st Plague: And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth [the same venue as the trumpet]; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore [or boil = eruption] upon the men [Sunday keepers] which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image [Protestants]. (Revelation 16:2)	Notes: In the first plague, the punishment comes upon the actors in the first trumpet: those who have the mark (Sunday worship), and those who bow to the “Protestant” image of the beast. The volcanic eruption and boiling cauldron of Yellowstone warned of the boils that would plague the guilty parties.
2nd Trumpet: And the second angel sounded [beginning April 12, 2014], and as it were a great mountain [Russia] burning with fire [condemned, persecuting God’s people] was cast [by the Ukraine conflict] into the sea [Europe]: and the third part of the sea [Pacific Ocean] became blood [died from radiation poisoning]; And the third part of the creatures [souls] which were in the sea [people], and had life [eternal], died [lost to deception of miracles/spiritualism (Day of Four Popes)]; and the third part of the ships [European financial markets] were destroyed. (Revelation 8:8-9)	2nd Plague: And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea [the same venue as the trumpet]; and it became as the blood of a dead man [what happened to the sea life will happen to men]: and every living soul died [eternally] in the sea. (Revelation 16:3)	Notes: Again there is a tight correlation. The death of the creatures of the Pacific Ocean is a warning illustration for the fate of mankind as a result of the political movements that took place in the second trumpet. The deception by miracles and spiritualism will result in death, both physically and eternally.
3rd Trumpet: And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star [Lucifer] from heaven, burning as it were a lamp [leading Catholic and SDA Churches], and it fell upon the third part of the rivers [delivery channels (ministries)], and upon the fountains of waters [sources of doctrine (Synod; Annual Council)]; And the name of the star is called Wormwood [bitter like Satan]: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died [were deceived] of the waters, because they were made bitter. (Revelation 8:10-11)	3rd Plague: And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters [the same venue as the trumpet]; and they became blood [deception now results in death]. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. (Revelation 16:4-7)	Notes: The rivers and fountains are the target of this plague, as they were the subject of warning in the trumpet. Those who stay with the satanically-led organizations will not only be deceived, but will also die in their deception in the plagues without salvation. Now is the time to repent and leave the satanic organizations, before it is too late!
4th Trumpet: And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun [Christendom] was smitten, and the third part of the moon [Judaism], and the third part of the stars [last generation]; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. And I beheld, and heard an angel [eagle = U.S.] flying through the midst of heaven [acting a part in the Orion message], saying [announcing] with a loud voice [loud cry], Woe, woe, woe [for the three stages of the Sunday law], to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Revelation 8:12-13)	4th Plague: And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun [the object of their worship]; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire [in direct contrast to being darkened]. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. (Revelation 16:8-9)	Notes: The sun, which symbolized Christianity in the trumpet, is not darkened but brightened to the point that it burns men. The world powers were working to establish false worship via the Sunday law, and now they are burned by the very object of their worship—the sun (which Sunday worship is in honor of).

Figure 5 – A Comparison of the First Four Trumpets and Plagues

The relationship is very clear, isn’t it? This not only provides a second witness to confirm our trumpet interpretations, but it gives us a valuable way to study the last three trumpets which have not taken place yet. We can know if our interpretation of the last three trumpets is accurate, even though they haven’t happened yet, by comparing the results with the corresponding plagues.

One difficulty with the last three trumpets is their unwieldy length and the number and diversity of symbols involved. The corresponding plagues, however, are concise and give a clear indication of the nature of the issue. In the following table, I offer some initial study notes based on this comparison, which support our interpretation of the last three trumpets.

5th Trumpet, 1st Woe: And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. (Revelation 9:1-12)	5th Plague: And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. (Revelation 16:10-11)	Notes: This plague upon the seat of the beast confirms that the Sunday law will be erected in the fifth trumpet, because the punishment must correspond to the crime. The seat of the beast is the place of her authority, which is darkened in punishment for setting up the mark of her authority. Furthermore, we can infer that laws are involved because of the tongue as a symbol. The tongue is used for speaking, and a nation speaks through its legislation. Therefore, in punishment for legislation, their tongues are caused pain. The reference to the sores draws attention to the fact that as the first four plagues began with a selective plague upon those who have the mark and those who worship the image, so the last three plagues open with a selective plague upon the seat of the beast.
6th Trumpet, 2nd Woe: And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. . . . The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. (Revelation 9:13-21, 11:14)	6th Plague: And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. (Revelation 16:12-16)	Notes: The reference to Euphrates establishes a strong link between the trumpet and the plague. The plague description resembles the historic conquest of ancient Babylon, but now the kings of the east are a reference to the imminent coming of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the second advent. The battle of Armageddon is a reference to the death decree, which will also come during the sixth trumpet, but will likely be postponed for some reason as in the story of Esther.
7th Trumpet, 3rd Woe: And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. (Revelation 11:15-19)	7th Plague: 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. (Revelation 16:17-21)	Notes: The division of the city comes exactly one year to the day after the highly-anticipated speeches of Pope Francis before Congress on September 24, 2015, and the U.N. on September 25. The mention of the fierceness of God’s wrath in the seventh plague agrees with the fact that the plagues begin just into the seventh trumpet. The great mighty earthquake suggests the waking of the dead in the special resurrection, of those who died under the third angel’s message. (The general resurrection of the righteous should be on the very day of the second advent, and the resurrection of the wicked will be after the thousand years.)

Figure 6 – A Comparison of the Last Three Trumpets and Plagues

This relationship between the plagues and the trumpets has been noticed before in a sterile sort of way, but what we have here for the first time ever in the history of prophecy is the harmony of the seven last plagues with the interpreted/fulfilling trumpets, and this is only possible with the very last iteration of the trumpets (in the Trumpet Cycle). This is one more application of the Key of David in principle. It was not possible to completely harmonize the plague texts with past fulfillments of the trumpets because the nature of the fulfilling events was different.

Are you beginning to see why God gave the Plague Cycle on the same day as the Trumpet Cycle (January 31, 2014)? Do you see why that day is known to us as the day when the fourth angel came down to the earth with great power, shortly after the relocation of the judgment was complete?

Now we finally have answers for the burning questions that Brother John expressed in the introduction to the entire Orion message. In Iceberg Ahead!, Brother John wondered aloud why Adventists could not defend all of Ellen G. White’s prophetic statements directly from the Bible:

More and more I began to ask myself why the Bible describes so accurately and tells so precisely the last events. And I wondered why these things were apparently of no interest to our brothers and sisters. According to Ellen G. White, the Old Testament prophets wrote less for their own time, and more for our “end time”. And reading many books of Ellen G. White who was blessed by God in her life and who had received thousands of visions which contained prophetic statements among many other things, I noticed that we are only able to connect a few of those statements directly with the Bible. She always said that she was the “lesser light,” which would lead to the study of the “Great Light,” the Bible, and that if we were really studying the Bible as we should, it would not have been necessary for God to send her.

The fact is that most Adventists have incredible difficulties just to find the Sunday law in the Bible. Yeah sure, they know that the mark of the beast is Sunday observance. But if that is so important, and Ellen G. White wrote about it again and again, where is the announcement of the National Sunday Law in the United States recorded in the Bible? Well, who can tell me? Is it difficult? Or tell me, where are the big natural disasters of which the Spirit of Prophecy talks, if all the trumpets and seals have been fulfilled prophetically before 1844? Fine, so we still have Matthew 24 and Luke 21, but do these passages show the exact sequence of events? Or even more difficult: Where do we find the “national ruin of the United States” following the Sunday law? Or, how can we show biblically the subsequent formation of a One World Government with the pope on top in a prophetic time line?

Now we can finally answer all of these questions completely, based on the Bible—right in time for this message to go to the non-Adventist (non-Ellen-White-believing) world. Now the message that the SDA Church was so privileged to hold has become accessible to all Christians who base their faith on sola scriptura. It was the duty of the SDA Church to find these things in their own efforts to reach the world with the three angels’ messages. Now it is too late for it to participate in completing the work.

The fact that this work is being finished without it shows once more that its time is over. It blended with the other churches, relegating Ellen G. White to merely an inspired author and began to claim sola scriptura instead, like the Protestant churches of the world, without being able to base the Spirit of Prophecy’s important unique contributions on the Bible alone. That is actually a worse condition than those who don’t hold the church's unique beliefs at all!

Dear reader: no matter what your current church membership status is, you as an individual can step forward today to join the movement of the fourth angel to lighten the earth with glory.^[63] As the third commandment-month is about to begin with the fifth trumpet on February 18, will you make the decision to work under God’s name^[64] responsibly,^[65] and labor to sow this message in your field?^[66]

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