The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 4

II. High Lights on the Apocalypse

1. SEVEN CHURCHES SPAN CHRISTIAN ERA

In interpreting the book of Revelation, which Mrs. White called the “complement of the book of Daniel,” ³² she states that it carries us through to the completion of the plan of redemption. She taught, as have hundreds of students of prophecy down through the centuries, that the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3 represent the condition of the church during the various periods comprising the Christian Era-as Ephesus, for the apostolic age; Sardis, in the eighteenth century; and Laodicea, the “remnant” church at the end of the age. Here is her covering statement: PFF4 1144.1

“The names of the seven churches are symbolic of the church in different periods of the Christian Era. The number seven indicates completeness, and is symbolic of the fact that the messages extend to the end of time, while the symbols used reveal the condition of the church at different periods in the history of the world. PFF4 1144.2

“Christ is spoken of as walking in the midst of the golden candlesticks. Thus is symbolized His relation to the churches. He is in constant communication with His people.” ³³ PFF4 1144.3

2. SIXTH SEAL PRECEDES SECOND ADVENT

Similarly in the series of the seven seals, the Lisbon earthquake (1755), the Dark Day (1780), and the falling stars (1833) are mentioned as taking place under the sixth seal in the latter days preceding the second advent.” ³⁴ PFF4 1144.4

3. TURKEY INVOLVED IN SIXTH TRUMPET

As to the sixth trumpet in that paralleling series of judgments, the situation of Turkey in August, 1840, is noted as a widely recognized fulfillment of Revelation 9:15 as the period of the 391 years and 15 days of the second woe trumpet. ³⁵ PFF4 1144.5

4. Two WITNESSES IDENTIFIED AS THE Two TESTAMENTS

The “open” book of Revelation 10 involves the “sealed” portion of the book of Daniel, to be opened in the “time of the end.” ³⁶ The Two Witnesses of Revelation 11 are plainly declared to be the Old and New Testaments, ³⁷ and the oft-recurring period of the 1260 years (or 42 prophetic months) is specifically dated from A.D. 538 to 1798. ³⁸ They began when the bishop of Rome was recognized as the head of the church. ³⁹ PFF4 1145.1

5. FRENCH REVOLUTION PREDICTED IN Revelation 11

The tenth part of the great city of Revelation 11 is France. And the atheistic power that ruled France during the Revolution and Reign of Terror produced the fruits portrayed. ⁴⁰ Then follows the anger of the nations, the wrath of God, and the time to judge the dead, which Mrs. White holds are successive events. ⁴¹ PFF4 1145.2

6. WOMAN, CHILD, AND DRAGON IDENTIFIED

Ellen White says the “woman” of Revelation 12 symbolizes the true church, the “child” is Christ, and the dragon, though primarily Satan(who in his rebellion drew alter him a third part of the angels), is in a secondary sense a “symbol of pagan Rome,” ⁴² with verse 17 portraying the soon-coming assault against the “remnant.” ⁴³ PFF4 1145.3

7. Two BEASTS INDICATE PAPACY AND PROTESTANTISM

The two “beasts” of Revelation 13 are “symbols of earthly governments.” The first, or ten-horned, beast symbol, Mrs. White explains—and as most Protestants have believed—“unquestionably points” to the Papacy, after paganism had given way to the Papacy. With this is a reiteration of the 1260-year period of its dominance. ⁴⁴ Of the second, or two-horned, “beast” from the earth, Mrs. White clearly says, “One nation, and only one, meets the specification of this prophecy; it points unmistakably to the United States of America.” ⁴⁵ PFF4 1145.4

Elsewhere she states that “Prophecy presents Protestantism as having lamblike horns,” ⁴⁶ though that aspect would change. The two lamblike horns “indicate youth, innocence, and gentleness”—characteristic of the United States when seen coming into prominence in 1798. And the “image” is that development that will come when Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil power for the enforcement of religious dogma. ⁴⁷ PFF4 1146.1

8. THREE ANGELS’ MESSAGES OF Revelation 14

Mrs. White wrote much on the three angels’ messages as constituting the nineteenth-century heralding of the judgment hour, the message to the churches when they rejected that announcement, and the warning against the mark of papal apostasy. ⁴⁸ And sheads: “The messages of Revelation 14 are those by which the world is to be tested, they are the everlasting gospel, and are to be sounded everywhere.” ⁴⁹ PFF4 1146.2

9. SEVEN LAST PLAGUES STILL FUTURE

The seven last plagues are still future but are imminent, according to Mrs. White, with Armageddon soon to be fought. ⁵⁰ PFF4 1146.3

10. CORRUPTED WOMAN Is ECCLESIASTICAL ROME

The corrupted “woman,” or church, of Revelation 17, that for centuries “maintained despotic sway over the monarchs of Christendom is [ecclesiastical] Rome,” while the intoxicating “wine” in her golden goblet is her false doctrine. The Babylon of Revelation 18 is the religious world. ⁵¹ The “fall” there set forth results from the final rejection of the truth proclaimed, and the “wrath” mentioned is produced by her false doctrines. ⁵² PFF4 1146.4

11. MILLENNIUM INTRODUCED BY ADVENT AND RESURRECTION

On Revelation 20, Ellen White’s teachings are strictly premillennialist, the two resurrections marking the beginning and the close of the thousand years. ⁵³ The millennial reign of the saints is in heaven, she adds, not on this earth. The bottomless pit “represents the earth in a state of confusion and darkness.” ⁵⁴ And the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21 and 22 is the “metropolis of the glorified new earth” to stand forever ⁵⁵ Those are the high lights of her exposition of the book of Revelation. PFF4 1146.5