The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 4
V. The Apocalypse Completes the Prophetic Picture
1. CHURCHES AND SEALS COMPRISE HISTORY OF CHURCH
On the book of Revelation, the recognized complement and consummation of Daniel’s prophecy, Smith reckoned the seven churches to be the seven major periods of the Christian church, covering the Christian Era. The “ten days” of dreadful persecution, under Smyrna, were from A.D. 303-313, suffered under Diocletian. The seven seals, as commonly expounded, cover the same period, but set forth the growing corruption in the apostatizing dominant church. The period of the four horsemen, riding down the corridor of time, marks the transition from the apostolic purity of the first century, on to Constantine; and from thence to the establishment of the Catholic Church, and ultimately to the Reformers. The sixth seal dates from the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and the celestial signs following, on to the end. Then the apostle John repeats, as was characteristic of Daniel the prophet, with another paralleling line of prophecy. PFF4 1122.2
2. TRUMPET-FROM ROME’S BREAKUP TO THE FINALE
Tne first four trumpets, said Smith, clearly parallel the breakup of the old Roman Empire into its ten divisions. This too had been the standard exegesis for several centuries, 29 though Smith largely followed Litch’s particular exposition on the trumpets. 30 The fifth trumpet portrays the Saracens, with their “five months” (150 years) extending from July 29, 1299, to 1449. And the sixth trumpet represents the Ottoman Turks, with their “hour, day, month, and year” (391 years and 15 days), reaching from 1449 to Aug. 11, 1840. The seventh trumpet, Smith believed, began to sound in 1844. PFF4 1123.1
3. BIBLE SUPPRESSION AND FRENCH REVOLUTION
The Two Witnesses, Smith continued, were widely recognized to be the Old and New Testaments, and their 1260 years of witnessing in sackcloth during the well-known period of papal triumph. The three and one-half “days” of Revelation 11 are the three and one-half years of the suppression of the Bible, from 1793 to 1796, during the violent portion of the French Revolution. The “earthquake” was itself the symbol of the French Revolution, as scores of able interpreters had contended for more than a century. And the “tenth part of the city,” had been widely reckoned as France. His was therefore a revival and restoration of what multiplied scores of scholars had taught for years. PFF4 1123.2
Picture 3: EXPOSITORS OF THE TRUMPETS AND THEIR TIME PERIODS
The value of the historical approach, in weighing the evidence for and against a given interpretation, may be seen through a chronological, or tabular, listing. It is both interesting and important to know just who began a certain application, as with the year-day principle to the “five months” of the fifth Trumpet-Joachim of Floris back in 1191; or the Turk as the power of the sixth Trumpet-Heinrich Bullinger in 1577; or the northern barbarians as the scourge of Western Rome-by Joseph Mede in 1631; or the “hour, day, month, In 1795 E. W. Whitaker first placed the 391 years from 1453 to 1844, with about sixteen following his lead in subsequent decades. but not until Josiah Litch, in 1838, was the Principle employed of linking the 150 years and the 391 years in sequence. There is thus portrayed the development, built up over fifteen centuries, of the exposition of the Trumpets. Moreover, such a tabulation removes the stigma of irrationality from such
4. PERSECUTING DRAGON, WOMAN, AND WILDERNESS
The pure woman in white, of Revelation 12, had likewise for centuries been generally held to be the true church, and the Child, Christ Jesus. The dragon was, as hundreds had contended, pagan Rome, persecuting the church as she fled into the “wilderness”—this persecution continuing during 1260 years of papal spiritual supremacy. The “remnant” is held by Smith to be the commandment-keeping Christian group constituting the final segment of the true church. PFF4 1126.1
5. THE PAPAL AND PROTESTANT BEASTS
The first beast of Revelation 13 was, as had also been generally conceded, papal Rome; the seven heads being the seven forms of Roman government. 31 The ten horn-kingdoms are, naturally, the same as those that spring out of the Roman Empire in Daniel 7. And the 42 months are the same three and one-half times or 1260 years—always from A.D. 538 to 1798. The “wound” by the sword is obviously the captivity of Pope Pius VI, in 1798, effected by the French general Berthier, as many in Europe and America declared at the time. The second beast, Smith held, is now clearly seen to be the Protestant United States, the horns denoting youthfulness and innocence. The “image” is to be a likeness of the papal union of church and state, yet to be developed, with enforcement of religious dogma by civil enactment. The “mark” he believed to be the counterfeit sabbath, with “666” as the mystical number of the Papacy, based on the title Vicarius Filii Dei. PFF4 1126.2
6. THREE WARNING MESSAGES AND LAST PLAGUES
The first angel’s message, of Revelation 14, is the heralding in many lands, between 1831 and 1844, of the impending judgment hour. The second is the call to separate from apostasy. And the final, or third, message in the inseparable series is the warning against receiving the mark of papal apostasy. The seven last plagues follow swiftly upon the close of probation and are poured out upon the willful rejectors of God’s final overtures of mercy and messages of warning. This, more than any other chapter in the Revelation, was the subject of special study and emphasis by the Adventists. PFF4 1126.3
7. CORRUPTED CHURCH SUPPORTED BY CIVIL POWER
The gay, corrupted “woman” and “Babylon” of Revelation 17 are primarily the papal church, and the seven headed beast she rides are the civil powers supporting her. The ten horns are declared to be the same ten nations of Europe, and the seven heads the same seven forms of Roman government enunciated under Revelation 13, with the papal head as the last form. The Protestant “daughters” are those communions that follow her way ward steps. PFF4 1127.1
8. MILLENNIUM-FROM SECOND ADVENT TO EARTH RENEWED
The millennial thousand years follow the second coming of Christ. They open with the literal first resurrection (of the righteous), and close with the literal second resurrection (that of the wicked). The new heavens and the new earth supersede the present heaven and earth, springing out of its ashes, after the destruction of the old. And the New Jerusalem is the Father’s house and Holy City-the abode of the redeemed saints forever. PFF4 1127.2
Uriah Smith was the leading editor of the growing movement, and such, in condensed form, was his systematic coverage of the prophecy of the Revelation of John, as matching that of Daniel. His interpretations were recognized as the standard exposition of Seventh-day Adventists generally, except on certain minor matters. (Its main features appear in chart form on pp. 1128, 1129.) PFF4 1127.3