Second Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 1
RH VOL. I.-PARIS, ME.-NO. 3
JOSEPH BATES, S. W. RHODES, J. N. ANDREWS, and JAMES WHITE
“HERE IS THE PATIENCE OF THE SAINTS; HERE ARE THEY THAT KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND THE FAITH OF JESUS.”
VOL. I.-PARIS, ME. DECEMBER, 1850.-NO. 3.
TERMS-Gratis, except the reader desires to aid in its publication. ARSH December 1850, page 17.1
All communications, orders, and remittances, for the Review and Herald, should be addressed to JAMES WHITE, PARIS, ME. (Post paid.)
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH THE SABBATH FROM THE TIME OF CONSTANTINE TO THE REFORMATION
We here see how the matter stood until the commencement of Constantine’s career. The Sabbath was generally observed, while Lord’s day was regarded as a festival of no greater importance or authority than Good Friday or Holy Thursday.-No text of Scripture, or edict of emperor, or decree of council, could be produced in its favor. But from this time forth may be found emperors and councils combining to give importance to the Lord’s day and to oppose the Sabbath. ARSH December 1850, page 17.2
An important change was undoubtedly produced upon the regard paid to the first day, soon after the accession of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, in the early part of the fourth century. When he became master of Rome, he soon gave himself up to the guidance of the Christian clergy. “He built places of public worship. He encouraged the meeting of synods and bishops-honored them with his presence, and employed himself continually in aggrandizing the church. He was scrupulously attentive to the religious rites and ceremonies which were prescribed to him by the clergy. He fasted, observed the feasts in commemoration of the martyrs, and devoutly watched the whole night on the vigils of the saints,” 1 and showed great anxiety for uniformity in the doctrines and observances of religion in the church. He was, therefore, exactly suited to the wishes of the Roman bishop and clergy, in establishing, by his imperial authority, what they had no Scripture to support, and what their influence had hitherto been unable to effect, viz. a uniformity in the celebration of Easter and the first day. In 321, Constantine first published his edicts enjoining upon his subjects these superstitious celebrations which he had been taught to perform. ARSH December 1850, page 17.3
Eusebius says, 2 “He appointed as a suitable time for prayers the dominical day, which then was an especial day, and now is undoubtedly the very first. His body guard observed the day, and offered in it prayers written by the Emperor. The happy prince endeavored to persuade all to do this, and by degrees to lead all to the worship of God; wherefore he determined that those obeying Roman power should abstain from every work upon the days named after the Saviour, that they should venerate also the day before the Sabbath, in memory, as seems to me, of the events occurring in those days to our common Saviour.” He says again, “An edict also, by the will and pleasure of the emperor, was transmitted to the Prefects of the provinces, that they thenceforth should venerate the dominical day; that they should honor the days consecrated to the Martyrs, and should celebrate the solemnities of the festivals in the churches, all of which was done according to the will of the emperor.”-And as quoted by Lucius, he says, that he admonished his subjects likewise that those days which were Sabbaths should be honored or worshipped. ARSH December 1850, page 17.4
Sozomen says, 3 “He (Constantine) also made a law that on the dominical day, which the Hebrews call the first day of the week, the Greeks the day of the Sun, and also on the day of Venus, (i.e. Friday,) judgments should not be given, or other business transacted, but that all should worship God with prayer and supplications, and venerate the dominical day, as in it Christ rose from the dead; but the day of Venus, as the day in which he was fixed to the cross.” ARSH December 1850, page 17.5
Dr. Chambers says, 4 “It was Constantine the Great who first made a law for the observance of Sunday, and who, according to Eusebius, appointed that it should be regularly celebrated throughout the Roman Empire. Before him, and even in his time, they observed the Jewish Sabbath as well as Sunday; both to satisfy the law of Moses, and to imitate the Apostles, who used to meet together on the first day.” He adds, “Indeed, some are of opinion that the Lord’s day mentioned in the Apocalypse, is our Sunday; which they will have to have been so early instituted.” “By Constantine’s laws, made in 321, it was decreed that for the future the Sunday should be kept a day of rest in all cities and towns; but he allowed the country people to follow their work. In 538, the Council of Orleans prohibited this country labor.” ARSH December 1850, page 17.6
To give the more solemnity to the first day of the week, Sylvester, who was bishop of Rome while Constantine was Emperor, changed the name of Sunday, giving it the more imposing title of Lord’s Day. 5 ARSH December 1850, page 17.7
It is not to be doubted, that the laws of Constantine made the first day more conspicuous throughout the empire, as all public business was forbidden upon it. They changed its character from a special day, in which, as a weekly festival, all kinds of business and labor were performed in city and country, to be, as Eusebius says, the very first. This imperial favor for the first day was oppressive to all who conscientiously regarded the Sabbath from respect to the fourth commandment, in obedience to which the seventh day had always been observed; and if it had produced a general abandonment of its observation, it would not have been very surprising, considering the influence of court example and the general ignorance and darkness of the age.-Yet this does not appear to have been the case. The Sabbath was still extensively observed; and to counteract it the Council of Laodicea, about A. D. 350, passed a decree saying, “It is not proper for Christians to Judaize and to cease from labor on the Sabbath, but they ought to work on this day, and put especial honor upon the Lord’s day, as Christians. If any be found Judaizing let him be anathematized.” ARSH December 1850, page 17.8
Yet this did not produce any material change, for Socrates, a writer of the fifth century, who resided at Constantinople, makes the following remarks upon the celebration of the Sabbath, at the time he wrote, A. D. 440. He says, “There are various customs concerning assembling; for though all the churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath day, yet the Alexandrians and the Romans, from an ancient tradition, refuse to do this; but the Egyptians who are in the neighborhood of Alexandria, and those inhabiting Thebeis, indeed have assemblies on the Sabbath, but do not participate in the mysteries, as is the custom of the Christians. At Caesarea, Cappadocia, and in Cyprus, on the Sabbath and dominical day, at twilight, with lighted lamps, the Presbyters and Bishops interpret the Scriptures. At Rome they fast every Sabbath.” 6 ARSH December 1850, page 17.9
This account of the manner of celebrating the Sabbath in the fifth century, is corroborated by Sozomen. 7 He says, “At Constantinople, and almost among all, the Christians assemble upon the Sabbath, and also upon the first day of the week, excepting Rome and Alexandria; that the ecclesiastical assemblies at Rome were not upon the Sabbath, as in almost all other churches of the rest of the world; and that in many cities and villages in Egypt, they used to commune in the evening of the Sabbath, on which day there were public assemblies.” ARSH December 1850, page 17.10
In regard to fasting on the Sabbath at Rome, here referred to, it ought to be said, that from the earliest times to the fourth century, the practice had been to observe the Sabbath as a holiday. But the Church of Rome, in its opposition to the Jews, made it a fast day, that the separation might be marked and strong. In the eastern churches they never fasted upon the Sabbath, excepting one Sabbath in the year, which was the day before the Passover. But in the western churches they celebrated a fast every week. It was in reference to this that Ambrose said, “When I come to Rome, I fast upon the Sabbath; when I am here, I do not fast.” Augustine also said concerning this, “If they say it is sinful to fast on the Sabbath, then they would condemn the Roman Church, and many places near to and far from it. And if they should think it a sin not to fast on the Sabbath, then they would blame many eastern churches, and the far greater part of the world.” This Sabbath fasting was opposed by the eastern church; and in the sixth general Council held at Constantinople, it was commanded that the Sabbath and dominical day be kept as festivals, and that no one fast or mourn upon them. The practice of fasting, therefore, was chiefly in the western churches, about Rome. ARSH December 1850, page 17.11
It is perhaps difficult to determine exactly the relative importance attached to the seventh and first day of the week, at this time. Sufficient may be found, however, to assure us, that the Sabbath was observed, and that no one regarded Sunday as having taken its place. This is shown by the provision of the Council of Laodicea, A. D. 365, that the Gospels should be read on that day. It is shown by the action of a Council in 517, (mentioned in Robinson’s History of Baptism,) which regulated and enforced the observance of the Sabbath. It is shown by the expostulation of Gregory of Nyssa, “How can you look upon the Lord’s day, if you neglect the Sabbath? Do you not know that they are sisters, and that in despising the one you affront the other?” And as sisters we find them hand in hand in the Ecclesiastical Canons. Penalties were inflicted by the councils both of Laodicea and Trullo, on clergymen who did not observe both days as festivals. ARSH December 1850, page 18.1
How the first day of the week, or Lord’s day, was observed in the early part of the fifth century, we may learn from the words of St. Jerome. In a funeral oration for the Lady Paula, he says: “She, with all her virgins and widows who lived at Bethlehem in a cloister with her, upon the Lord’s day, repaired duly to the church, or house of God, which was nigh to her cell; and after her return from thence to her own lodgings, she herself and all her company fell to work, and every one performed their task, which was the making of clothes and garments for themselves and for others, as they were appointed.” ARSH December 1850, page 18.2
St. Chrysostom, patriarch of Constantinople, “recommended to his audience, after impressing upon themselves and their families what they had heard on the Lord’s day, to return to their daily employments.” 1 ARSH December 1850, page 18.3
Dr. Francis White, Lord Bishop of Ely, speaking of this matter, says, “The Catholic Church for more than six hundred years after Christ, permitted labor, and gave license to many Christian people to work upon the Lord’s Day at such hours as they were not commanded to be present at the public service by the precepts of the church.” ARSH December 1850, page 18.4
In the sixth century efforts were made to prevent this labor. The following promulgation of a synod held by command of King Junthran, of Burgundy, will show the condition of things, and the means used to improve them: “We see the Christian people, in an unadvised manner, deliver to contempt the Dominical day, and, as in other days, indulge in continual labor.” Therefore they determined to teach the people subject to them, to keep the dominical day, which, if not observed by the lawyer, he should irreparably lose his cause, but if a countryman or servant did not keep it, he should be beaten with heavier blows of cudgels. 2 The council of Orleans, held 538, prohibited the country labor on Sunday, which Constantine, by his laws, permitted. This council also declared, “that to hold it unlawful to travel with horses, cattle and carriages, to prepare food, or to do anything necessary to the cleanliness and decency of houses or persons, savors more of Judaism than Christianity. 3 In another council held at Narbonne in France, in the seventh century, they also forbid this country work. ARSH December 1850, page 18.5
Early in the 7th century, in the time of Pope Gregory I., the subject of the Sabbath attracted considerable attention. There was one class of persons who declared, “that it was not lawful to do any manner of work upon the Saturday, or the old Sabbath; another that no man ought to bathe himself on the Lord’s day, or their new Sabbath.” 4 Against both of these doctrines Pope Gregory wrote a letter to the Roman citizens. Baronius, in his Councils, says, “This year (603) at Rome, St. Gregory, the Pope, corrected that error which some preached, by Jewish superstition, or the Grecian custom, that it was a duty to worship on the Sabbath, as likewise upon the dominical days; and he calls such preachers the preachers of Antichrist.” Nearly the same doctrine was preached again in the time of Gregory VII., A. D. 1074, about five hundred years after what we are now speaking of. This is sufficient to show that the Sabbath was kept until those times of decline which introduced so many errors in faith and practice. Indeed, it is sufficient to show, that wherever the subject has been under discussion, the Sabbath has found its advocates both in theory and in practice. ARSH December 1850, page 18.6
According to Lucius, Pope Urban II., in the eleventh century, dedicated the Sabbath to the Virgin Mary, with a Mass. 5-Binius says, “Pope Innocent I., constituted a fast on the Sabbath day, which seems to be the first constitution of that fast; but dedicating the Sabbath to the Virgin Mary was by Urban II. in the latter part of the eleventh century.” 6 About this time we find Esychius teaching the doctrine that the precept for the observance of the Sabbath is not one of the commandments, because it is not at all times to be observed according to the letter; and Thomas Aquinas, another Romish ecclesiastic, saying, “that it seems to be inconvenient that the precept for observing the Sabbath should be put among the precepts of the Decalogue, if it do not at all belong to it; that the precept, ‘Thou shalt not make a graven image,’ and the precept for observing the Sabbath, are ceremonial.” ARSH December 1850, page 18.7
The observance of the first day was not so early in England and in Scotland as in most other parts of the Roman Empire.-According to Heylyn, there were Christian societies established in Scotland as early as A. D. 435; and it is supposed that the gospel was preached in England in the first century by St. Paul. For many ages after Christianity was received in these kingdoms, they paid no respect to the first day. Binius, a Catholic writer, in the second volume of his works, gives some account of the bringing into use the Dominical day [Sunday] in Scotland, as late as A. D. 1203. “This year,” he says, “a council was held in Scotland concerning the introduction of the Lord’s day, which council was held in 1203, in the time of Pope Innocent III.,” and quotes as his authority, Roger Hoveden, Matth. Paris, and Lucius’ Eccl. Hist. He says, “By this council it was enacted that it should be holy time from the twelfth hour on Saturday noon until Monday.” 7 ARSH December 1850, page 18.8
Boethus (de Scottis, p. 344) says, “In A. D. 1203, William, king of Scotland, called a council of the principal of his kingdom, by which it was decreed, that Saturday, from the twelfth hour at noon, should be holy; that they should do no profane work, and this they should observe until Monday.” ARSH December 1850, page 18.9
Binius says that in A. D. 1201, Eustachius, Abbot of Flay, came to England, and therein preached from city to city, and from place to place. He prohibited using markets on Dominical days; for he said that this command underwritten concerning the observation of the Dominical day, came from heaven. The history of this singular epistle, entitled A holy command of the Dominical day, the pious Abbot stated to be this: “It came from Heaven to Jerusalem, and was found on St. Simon’s tomb in Golgotha. And the Lord commanded this epistle, which for three days and three nights men looked upon, and falling to the earth, prayed for God’s mercy. And after the third hour, the patriarch stood up; and Akarias the archbishop stretched out his mitre, and they took the holy epistle of God and found it thus written.” ARSH December 1850, page 18.10
[We will give some extracts from this epistle, partly as a matter of curiosity, and partly to show the credulity of our ancestors, and by what means they were awed into what was to them a new religious observation.] ARSH December 1850, page 18.11
“I, the Lord, who commanded you that ye should observe the Dominical day, and ye have not kept it, and ye have not repented of your sins, as I said by my gospel, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away; I have caused repentance unto life to be preached unto you, and ye have not believed; I sent pagans against you, who shed your blood, yet ye believed not; and because ye kept not the Dominical day, for a few days ye had famine: but I soon gave you plenty, and afterwards ye did worse: I will again, that none from the ninth hour of the Sabbath until the rising of the sun on Monday, do work any thing unless what is good, which if any do, let him amend by repentance; and if ye be not obedient to this command, Amen, I say unto you, and I swear unto you by my seat, and throne, and cherubim, who keep my holy seat, because I will not change any thing by another epistle; but I will open the heavens, and for rain I will rain upon you stones and logs of wood, and hot water by night, and none may be able to prevent, but that I may destroy all wicked men. This I say unto you, ye shall die the death, because of the Dominical holy day, and other festivals of my saints which ye have not kept. I will send unto you beasts having the heads of lions, the hair of woman, and tails of camels; and they shall be so hunger-starved that they shall devour your flesh, and ye shall desire to flee to the sepulchres of the dead and hide you for fear of the beasts; and I will take away the light of the sun from your eyes; and I will send upon you darkness, that without seeing, ye may kill one-another; and I will take away my face from you, and will not show you mercy; for I will burn your bodies and hearts of all who keep not the Dominical holy day. Hear my voice, lest ye perish in the land because of the Dominical holy day. Now know ye, that ye are safe by the prayers of my most holy mother Mary, and of my holy angels who daily pray for you. I gave you the law from Mount Sinai, which ye have not kept. For you I was born into the world, and my festivals ye have not known; the Dominical day of my resurrection ye have not kept; I swear to you by my right hand, unless ye keep the Dominical day and the festivals of my saints, I will send pagans to kill you.” 8 ARSH December 1850, page 18.12
Provided with this new command from heaven, “Eustachius preached in various parts of England against the transgressions of the Dominical day, and other festivals; and gave the people absolution upon condition that they hereafter reverence the Dominical day, and the festivals of the saints.” 1 The time appointed as holy, was from the ninth hour on the Sabbath until Monday morning at sunrise. And the people vowed to God, that hereafter they would neither buy nor sell any thing but food on Sunday. ARSH December 1850, page 19.1
“Then,” says Binius, “the enemy of man envying the admonitions of this holy man, put it into the heart of the king and nobility of England, to command that all who should keep the aforesaid traditions, and chiefly all who had cast down the markets for things vendible upon the Dominical day, should be brought to the king’s court to make satisfaction about observing the Dominical day.” Binius relates many miraculous things that occurred on the Sabbath to those that labored after the ninth hour-i. e. after three o’clock in the afternoon of the seventh day, or Saturday. He says, upon a certain Sabbath, after the ninth hour, a carpenter, for making a wooden pin, was struck with the palsy; and a woman, for knitting on the Sabbath, after the ninth hour, was also struck with the palsy. A man baked bread, and when he broke it to eat, blood came out. Another grinding corn, blood came in a great stream instead of meal, while the wheel of his mill stood still against a vehement impulse of water. Heated ovens refused to bake bread, if heated after the ninth hour of the Sabbath; and dough left unbaked, out of respect to Eustachius’s new doctrine, was found on Monday morning well baked without the aid of fire.-These fables were industriously propagated throughout the kingdom; “yet the people,” says Binius, “fearing kingly and human power, more than divine, returned as a dog to his own vomit, to keep markets of saleable things upon the Dominical day.” 2 ARSH December 1850, page 19.2
Mr. Bampfield says, 3 “The king and princes of England, in 1203, would not agree to change the Sabbath, and keep the first day, by this authority. This was in the time of King John, against whom the popish clergy had a great pique for not honoring their prelacy and the monks, by one of whom he was finally poisoned.” ARSH December 1850, page 19.3
Binius (Councils, Cent. 13) states that King John of England, in 1208, in the tenth year of his reign, for not submitting to popish impositions upon his prerogatives, was excommunicated by the Pope, and his kingdom interdicted, which occasioned so much trouble at home and abroad, that it forced him at last to lay down his crown at the feet of Mandulphus, the Pope’s agent. After he was thus humbled by that excommunication and interdiction, the king, in the fifteenth year of his reign, by writ, removed the market of the city of Exon from Sunday, on which it was held, to Monday. 4 The market of Lanceston was removed from the first to the fifth day of the week. In the second and third years of Henry III. many other markets were removed from the first to other days of the week, which King John would not permit to be done. He also issued a writ which permitted the removal of markets from the first day to other days without special license. ARSH December 1850, page 19.4
The parliament of England met on Sundays until the time of Richard II., who adjourned it from that to the following day. ARSH December 1850, page 19.5
In A. D. 1203, “A council was held in Scotland to inaugurate the king, and [concerning] the feast of the Sabbath: and there came also a legate of the Pope, with a sword and purple hat, indulgencies and privileges for the young king. It was also there decreed, that Saturday, from the twelfth hour at noon, should be holy.” 5 The Magdeburgenses say, this Council was about the observation of the Dominical day newly brought in, and that they ordained that it should be holy from the twelfth hour of Saturday even till Monday. ARSH December 1850, page 19.6
Binius says, “A synod was held in Oxford, A. D. 1223, by Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, where they determined that the Dominical day be kept with all veneration, and a fast upon the Sabbath. 6 ARSH December 1850, page 19.7
The first law of England made for the keeping of Sunday, was in the time of Edward VI., about 1470. “Parliament then passed an act, by which Sunday and many holy days, the feasts of all Saints, of holy Innocents, were established as festivals by law. This provided also, that it should be lawful for husbandmen, laborers, fishermen, and all others in harvest, or any other time of the year when necessity should require, to labor, ride, fish, or do any other kind of work, at their own free will and pleasure, upon any of the said days.” 7 ARSH December 1850, page 19.8
By such means as these, the observation of the first day was gradually but forcibly urged upon the people, wherever they owed allegiance to the Pope as head of the church, and in England and Scotland, as late as the thirteenth century, and the Sabbath was as gradually brought into contempt and disuse. ARSH December 1850, page 19.9
The process by which the change was effected appears to be this: By first obtaining an annual celebration of the first day at the close of the Passover in honor of the resurrection; then a partial observation of the day weekly, it being then generally so observed among the heathen; then obtaining for it the support of civil laws, ecclesiastical canons, and penalties, and by giving it the title of Lord’s day; then by requiring the consecration of the entire day. To abate and ultimately eradicate all respect for the Sabbath, it was first turned into a fast, then it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, resting upon it stigmatized as Judaism and heresy, and the preaching of it called Antichrist; and finally, pronouncing the fourth commandment ceremonial, and abstracting it from the Decalogue. And thus, so far as the Roman church was concerned, the point was gained, and thus probably she performed her part in the fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel (7:25,) “He shall think to change TIMES and LAWS; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” ARSH December 1850, page 19.10
The cause of the Sabbath must also have been seriously affected by the rise of the Ottoman empire in the seventh century, and the success of the Mahometans in conquering the eastern division of the church. Mahomet, as he professed, formed the plan of establishing a new religion; or, as he expressed it, of replanting the only true and ancient one professed by Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and the prophets; by destroying idolatry, and weeding out the corruptions which the later Jews and Christians had, as he supposed, introduced. He was equally opposed to both Jews and Christians. To distinguish his disciples the more fully from both, he selected as their day of weekly celebration, the sixth day, or Friday. And thus, as a writer of the seventeenth century remarked, “they and the Romanists crucified the Sabbath, and the Jews and Romans did the Lord of the Sabbath, between two thieves, the sixth and the first day of the week.” ARSH December 1850, page 19.11
We have thus traced the history of the Sabbath in the Roman church down to the thirteenth century; and we see that through the whole of this period, the seventh day every where retained at least the nominal honor of being called the Sabbath, and that no other day had ever borne that title; and that not until the remarkable letter found on St. Simon’s tomb, had it been asserted by any one that the observation of the first day, Lord’s day, or Sunday, was enjoined by the authority of Jesus or his apostles, nor any example of theirs plead in its favor. Even then it was not pretended that the Scriptures suggest its observation. ARSH December 1850, page 19.12
There are some traces of the Sabbath found among those Christians who separated from the Catholic communion, or were never embraced in it. Among these is the Greek church, which separated from them about the middle of the eleventh century, and had a larger extent of empire than the papists now have.-According to Brerewood’s Enquiries, p. 128, this church solemnizes Saturday festivals, and forbids as unlawful to fast on any Saturday except in Lent; retaining the custom followed before their separation. The same author states that the Syrian Christians, who compose a numerous body in the East, celebrate divine worship solemnly on both the Sabbath and first day, continuing the custom of the Roman church at the time they separated from that community. Sandy’s Travels, p. 173, speak of a Christian empire in Ethiopia that celebrate both Saturday and Sunday, “that they have divers errors and many ancient truths.” The Abyssinian Christians are another numerous body, whose principal residence is in the empire of Abyssinia, in Central Ethiopia. They are represented as being similar in some respects to the Papists. Purchase speaks of them as “subject to Peter and Paul, and especially to Christ, as observing the Saturday Sabbath.” 1 They are also mentioned by Brerewood.-Mosheim mentions a sect of Christians in the twelfth century in Lombardy, called Pasaginians, charged with circumcising their followers, and keeping the Jewish Sabbath. Mr. Benedict considers the account of their practicing the bloody right a slander charged on them on account of their keeping the Jewish Sabbath. 2 Binius says that in 1555 there were Christians in Rome who kept the Sabbath, and therefore called Sabbatarii, and are represented as differing in other respects from the Romanists. 4 Many of the Armenian Christians are believed to observe the ancient Sabbath. The language of Dr. Buchanan, when speaking of those of them who are settled in the East Indias, indicates this. He says, “Their doctrines are, as far as the author knows, the doctrines of the Bible. Besides this, they maintain the solemn observation of Christian worship throughout our empire on the seventh day.” ARSH December 1850, page 20.1
There has probably not existed a class of Christians since the Apostles’ time, who could more justly claim to be apostolic than the Waldenses, who were formerly a numerous people living in the valleys of Piedmont, whither they retired, says Mr. Burnside, on the promulgation of Constantine’s laws for the observation of the first day, in the fourth century; where they remained, according to Scaliger and Brerewood, in the time of Elizabeth of England, i.e. the latter part of the sixteenth century. 5 They adhered firmly to the apostolic faith, and suffered severe persecutions from the Catholics, who were their most bitter enemies. Mr. Robinson, in his History of Baptism, says, “they were called Sabbati and Sabbatati; so named from the Hebrew word Sabbath, because they kept the Saturday for the Lord’s day.” They were also called Insabbatati, because they rejected all the festivals, or Sabbaths, in the low Latin sense of the word. The account the Papists gave of their sentiments in 1250, is briefly this: That they declared themselves to be the apostolic successors, and to have apostolic authority; that they held the church of Rome to be the ‘Whore of Babylon;’ that none of the ordinances of the church which have been introduced since Christ’s ascension, ought to be observed; that baptism is of no advantage to infants, because they cannot actually believe. They reject the sacrament of confirmation, but instead of that, their teachers lay their hands upon their disciples. Mr. Jones says, because they would not observe saint’s days, they were falsely supposed to neglect the Sabbath also. Another of their enemies, an Inquisitor of Rome, charged them with despising all the feasts of Christ and his saints. Another, a Commissioner of Charles XII. of France, reported to him, “that he found among them none of the ceremonies, images nor signs of the Romish church, much less the crimes with which they were charged; on the contrary, they kept the Sabbath day, observed the ordinance of baptism, according to the primitive church, and instructed their children in the articles of the Christian faith and commandments of God.” 6 Mr. Jones quotes Perrin, who cites Chassagnon, who wrote their history, thus: “It is recorded of the Waldenses, that they rejected all the traditions and ordinances of the church of Rome as being superstitious and unprofitable, and that they made light of the whole body of clergy and prelates; on which account, having been expelled their country, they dispersed themselves in different places, viz. Piedmont, Calabria, Dauphiny, Provence, Languedoc, Bohemia, England, and elsewhere.” 7 ARSH December 1850, page 20.2
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
PARIS, DECEMBER, 1850.
Our remarks on “Our present position,” are necessarily deferred until the next number. The lengthy article in this number from Bro. Bates will be read with interest and profit. ARSH December 1850, page 20.3
The following from Bro. Butler’s letter, is to the point. It is cheering to hear from our dear brethren who have recently embraced the present truth. Bro. Chamberlain sent the letter to us, that we might publish a portion of it, which we do with pleasure. W. ARSH December 1850, page 20.4
“Dear Bro. Chamberlain-When I think of the many scriptural objections, which I formerly had to my present position, (I say scriptural, for I never undertook to establish a Sabbath, or a No-Sabbath in any other way than by scripture,) the construing the many passages as I did, the want of any direct or positive distinction, being made between the law and covenant written on tables of stones, and the laws and statutes given to Moses, the long established belief that the law and old covenant were done away in Christ, I am almost surprised at my present position. Had it not been for the Types, together with some conviction that the Lord was on the side of those that held the Sabbath, it is doubtful whether I should ever have left my old POSITION. But when I saw, by the word, with what peculiar care God had preserved the Ark, containing the tables of stone on which was written the law or covenant by his own finger, and that this was in exact imitation of the Ark of his testament which Moses saw on Mount Sinai, and John the Revelator saw “in heaven,” [Revelation 11:19; 15:5,] I was led to see by the Type that he had made a very clear distinction between this law, and that law of Ordinances, which was done away in Christ. It may seem singular to those, who, through their whole religious instruction, have made distinction between the two laws, that any one should suppose he had the word of God to support a No-Sabbath system from the New Testament. But I assure you that it is one of the strong holds of Satan; and I had rather undertake to demolish the scriptural arguments of forty that believe in the first day as holy time, than to silence one in the former position. We have need of patience with this class. I know how to sympathize with them. I trust there are many honest souls who have read their Bibles much, with a desire to know the truth, that are still opposing the Sabbath, and especially as a seal. With such individuals, the declaration that our brethren sometimes make in their confidence of the truth they sustain, (that they have not a passage of scripture in the Bible to sustain them,) will have no other effect than to prejudice them. Sound scriptural argument, with a willingness to give to our opponents all the weight of their arguments, is the most effectual way to win some. “He that winneth souls is wise.” You see I am throwing in my cautions, which would be entirely useless were we at all times filled with the Spirit of Wisdom. Give them no more weight than they deserve. But you will by this time say, how do you get along in keeping the Sabbath? I commenced by putting up a short notice at each of my Starch Factories, that I should receive no potatoes on the seventh day of the week, for it was the “Sabbath of the Lord thy God;” I agreed to pay my men as much for working five, as formerly for working six days in the week. I did not know but that it might subject me to a loss of from fifty to one hundred dollars in closing my work for two days in succession; but when duty is decided, I have always found it safe trusting in God. It made no little stir, and I trust has preached to some in that place. I have had a labor and strength imparted which I have not felt for years. The light has shone upon the Book of Revelation, and the Types, such as I never saw before. I have had my mind called to the “Jewels,” which have long been covered up in the “rubbish.” ARSH December 1850, page 20.5
Waterbury, Vt. Nov. 21, 1850. E. P. BUTLER.
MIDNIGHT CRY IN THE PAST
In the fall of 1844, about every Advent believer taught and believed that a cry at midnight, as taught by Jesus our Saviour in the parable of the ten virgins, [Matthew 25:6,] was the true cry, then sounding throughout the land; and that cry would close by the personal appearing of the Lord Jesus, on the tenth day of the seventh month, 1844. ARSH December 1850, page 21.1
The basis of the whole argument rested on the termination of the 2300 days, [years,] which were to begin at the going forth of a certain decree to restore and build Jerusalem, after the Babylonish captivity. See Daniel 9:25. It was clearly established that this decree was given to Ezra, by the Persian king Artaxerxes, in the seventh year of his reign, the chronological date of which, is B. C. 457. See Ezra 7:7, 12, 13. See also the date in the margin. It was admitted on all hands, that if this date was right, the whole argument was conclusive; for by subtracting B. C. 457, from 2300, it would inevitably bring the time to A. D. 1843 or 4. Our opponents would not admit this date, because it was the work of uninspired men. ARSH December 1850, page 21.2
This date, B. C. 457, was the testing point, and had been from about the commencement of the proclamation of the Advent doctrine. Learned men, both in and out of the colleges; ministers and historians throughout the land, raised all their most weighty objections. Chronology was examined, and re-examined, discussion after discussion was had between them, and the leading men in the Advent doctrine. It was finally settled, as far as it then could be, that Advent believers had the clear light, that B. C. 457, was the only, and true point from which to begin to count the 2300 days. And thus, with all confidence it was placed upon the old chart, and in the Advent standard works. And it was the starting point to settle the whole subject of the Advent doctrine; and with it the true Midnight Cry was shown by all the lecturers. Indeed, without this date to start from, it was utterly impossible for any Advent lecturer to prove where, or when, the 2300 days would end. Because with this decree, or permission to Ezra, to restore and build Jerusalem, began Daniel’s seventy weeks of 490 years, which were to be cut off from the first part of the 2300 years leaving 1810 years more to carry us to the end. ARSH December 1850, page 21.3
A simple figure will illustrate this point. Suppose for instance, that all of the Advent lecturers referred to above, should have understood the science of navigation, equally as well as the science of chronology. And they, by some invisible power, had been placed on board a ship on the ocean, nothing visible but sky and water; and were then told, that the ship had sailed from Boston, some indefinite number of miles, and was bound for Liverpool. That the precise distance between B, and L, was 2300 miles. Could they have ever understood how many miles they would have to run, to reach Liverpool? No, it would have been impossible, except it had been revealed to them how many miles the ship had run from Boston, up to the time they found themselves on board of her. ARSH December 1850, page 21.4
A starting point is equally as necessary in chronology, as in navigation, to understand our whereabouts, and how much farther to go to reach the end of a point given. But with the true starting point, as settled in chronology, all the Advent lecturers and believers moved on with unwavering confidence, that they should come to the end of the appointed time [2300 days] in 1844. And what makes it very clear, that they were then right, is that there is not one of them now that knows how to fix another date. No, search the world over, and the man is not to be found that can point, with any greater degree of certainty than a mere guess, that the days will end somewhere in the future. ARSH December 1850, page 21.5
Now with this clear starting point, B. C. 457, (not so clear however, as it will be seen in the sequel,) we will try to learn from the Bible the great and glorious object of the 2300 days; and what was to be accomplished at the end of them, so that those who were faithfully engaged in accomplishing the revealed purposes of God in proclaiming the Advent, may know for a certainty when, and where these days would end. We come then to the ARSH December 1850, page 21.6
OBJECT OF THE 2300 DAYS
“And he said unto me, Unto 2300 days; THEN SHALL THE SANCTUARY BE CLEANSED,”-Daniel 8:14. Daniel saw in his vision that this was an “APPOINTED TIME.” See, chap 8:19 and 10:1. Habakkuk saw the same, and says further, “But at the END it shall SPEAK and not LIE.” Now there is no other marked appointed time in the Bible. Then when we come to the end of this bible marked, appointed time, it will speak. How? Answer, by the voices of the very people that understood the prophecy, and in no other way. It was to be by a Cry at midnight. In two very prominent ways we learn from the scriptures the event to transpire at the end of the 2300 days. ARSH December 1850, page 21.7
1. By God’s instruction to Moses, on Mount Sinai, viz: And let them make me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8. According to this, and some of the following chapters, God directed Moses, to build him an house after the pattern which he caused him to see; and it was called a Sanctuary. It was the only place for the public worship of God, for his Israel, then in the wilderness. It was to have two rooms, first, the Holy, and second, the Most Holy. Aaron and all the priests that succeeded him in his office, officiated in the Holy Place 364 days in the year. This was the daily ministration for all the people, or daily atonement for individual known sins. The high priest had an “appointed time” to visit the Most Holy Place-once a year. God directed that day to be on the tenth of the seventh month. This may be called the national atonement; and finishes the work of the whole year; for on this day, the Sanctuary must be cleansed. This work was done by first assembling all Israel around the Tabernacle. They remained there in a state of affliction from evening to evening, twenty-four hours. At the same time the high priest was attired in his royal robes, with the breast-plate of judgment over his breast, and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel represented thereon by twelve precious stones. He appears before God, in the Most Holy Place, with the blood of a goat, emblematical of the blood of the Lord Jesus, and sprinkles it on the mercy-seat, and seven times before the mercy-seat, to atone for the whole people. See Leviticus 16:14, 15. “And he shall make an atonement for the holy, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins.” Verse 16. Will the reader please read these eighteen words again, and see if he cannot tell the meaning of the cleansing of the Sanctuary. Oh yes!! You say, it was to cleanse the people, all of them, from their sins. Very well, do not forget it, when it comes down to you in the antitype. For further instruction read this whole chapter; and see how the whole work is accomplished in the type, figure, or shadow, once a year upon all Israel. Now Paul calls these, shadows of good things to come, and goes on to show how Jesus is the substance of the typical priesthood thus:- “Then said he, [Jesus,] Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once.-Hebrews 10:9, 10. The high priest offered the same sacrifices daily. Jesus makes but one. The high priest appears in the Most Holy Place once a year. Jesus but once. Chap 9:25, 26. Paul says again, We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A MINISTER of the SANCTUARY, and of the TRUE TABERNACLE, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Chap 8:1, 2. The same Sanctuary which John saw.-Revelation 11:19; 15:5. Here it is perfectly plain that the Tabernacle in heaven, is the one which Moses saw while on the Mount. He made the Sanctuary in the wilderness just like it. This is the house that our Great High Priest officiates in, since the day of Pentecost, when his first work in his daily ministration commenced by the conversion of 3000 souls. And when his daily ministration ends, he will, like the shadow, rise up and shut to the door, and still following the shadow, or type; he will pass into the Most Holy Place, and present the whole house of Israel before God. This he must do, on the tenth day of the seventh month, at the end of his “APPOINTED TIME,” which is the last day of the 2300 years. This is one clear part of the scripture testimony, which brings us to the Midnight Cry. We come then to the second prominent portion of scripture which shows the event to transpire at the end of the 2300 days, viz, the teachings of our divine Lord, in the parable of the ten virgins. ARSH December 1850, page 21.8
On this point we design to be brief; because our view, and the history of this glorious work which we wrote about four years since, is now published in part in the “Advent Review,” No. 5, page 69. “At Midnight there was a Cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh: go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, give us of your oil: for our lamps are going out. [See margin,] But the wise answered, saying, not so;-lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came; and they that were ready, went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.”-Matthew 25:6-12. When this parable was fulfilled, it brought us to the true substance of the shadow of which we have been speaking in the first prominent portion of scripture, with this difference, the true Israel are in every nation, kindred, and tongue, and people; hence the messengers, and their messages are flying in every direction, to every nation, proclaiming the hour of his judgment has come. Seven years is about the period of this proclamation. See “Advent Shield” No. 1, Page 53. “It was not however until the winter of 1837-8 that the work attracted much attention,” etc. Here we see it requires a series of years to get the true Israel ready; whereas in the type they could be, and undoubtedly were brought around the tabernacle in a few moments, by the sound of the silver trumpets. They remained around the tabernacle, outside of the court, one day in a state of affliction, with their minds and sympathies within the second vail, in the Most Holy Place; listening to hear the sound of the bells on the robe of their high priest-The first sound would be knowledge to them that their sins were all blotted out; and then the scape-goat would carry them away into a land not inhabited. During all this time the door was shut. ARSH December 1850, page 21.9
Now in the antitype, all of the true Israel of God, must be in a similar position, by faith, in every place where they are. For when the Midnight Cry is made as it was, in the fall of 1844, at the end of the 2300 days, then at that time the door is shut. Do read the parable again, Matthew 25:10. See how clear it is when compared with the type. The door must be shut, for our High Priest to open the other door, [Revelation 3:7, 8; 11:19,] and enter into the Most Holy Place to cleanse the Sanctuary, to fulfill the prophecy; because Daniel was shown in vision, that it WOULD BE. ARSH December 1850, page 22.1
This work of cleansing the Sanctuary is this; Jesus our Great High Priest, crowned and robed, in his royal court dress, (just like the high priest in the shadow,) rises up, and shuts to the door [Luke 13:25,] where he had been the Mediator for all the world, and opens the door of the Most Holy Place, (or as John calls it, the Temple of God,) and there appears before God, as Daniel saw him [chap 7:13,] with the whole Israel of God represented on his breast-plate of judgment, (like the high priest,) to plead with God, to blot out the sins of Israel. This is the coming of the Bridegroom to cleanse the Sanctuary, at the end of 2300 days; and the fulfillment of Matthew 25:10. From this time to the voice of God, the whole house of Israel are in the little while, Hebrews 10:36, 37, their soul afflicting time, as in the type, Leviticus 16:29, patiently waiting establishing their hearts, for the judge stands before the door: the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. James 5:7-9. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:12. They are doing the work of the third angel’s message and are waiting their Lord’s return from the wedding. Luke 12:36. The precious promise of the Bridegroom to all such is, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I ALSO WILL KEEP THEE, etc. Amen. This is the state of the Israel of God, and must be until the house of God is judged, 1 Peter 4:17, and fitted for deliverance. See how it resembles the type. Now this must all take place after the Midnight Cry, and the door is shut. And to have any agreement with the type, Jesus our High Priest must have a calling out, and gatherings of the true Israel, in their places of worship on earth, at his “APPOINTED TIME,” (2300 days,) just as much as the high priest did at his appointed time, once a year. Both in the type and anti-type, must be on the tenth day of the seventh month. ARSH December 1850, page 22.2
When the high priest went in before God, to plead for the forgiveness of the sins of ancient Israel, on the day of atonement, in other words, to cleanse the Sanctuary, the people did not see him until the whole work was finished, and the scape-goat had gone away with all their sins.-When the whole day’s work was finished they were delivered from their state of affliction, and returned to their tents, rejoicing in God for deliverance. So Jesus our Great High Priest is invisible to the true house of Israel, when he shuts the outer, and opens the inner door, and appears before the Ancient of days, in the Most Holy Place, in the New Jerusalem, to cleanse the sanctuary, on the day in which the Midnight Cry is closed. That is not his coming to this earth after his people. No matter if we did explain it so; that will never make it true. Our mere explanation of the thing did not, neither will it, alter the prophecy. The prophetic and clear cry was: “Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.” This was the proper, the right, and only true time for it. The Cry was in its fullest sense given, and the Bridegroom did come, according to the “manner” in the type, and they that went in with him did it by faith. Therefore, when the Sanctuary is cleansed, and the great day of atonement ended; which work will be the blotting out of all the sins of the true Israel of God; then we believe the Devil, [the scape-goat,] will be chained, or led away into a land uninhabited, bearing on him all the sins which are now being confessed by the whole Israel of God, in THEIR day of atonement. ARSH December 1850, page 22.3
Then, “the Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake,” etc. Joel 3:16. Then he will deliver every one, that shall be found written in the book.” Daniel 12:1. This event is the signal for “the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” After this work is finished, then Jesus will descend from heaven with a shout, etc., and redeem his waiting people. This is scripture testimony. ARSH December 1850, page 22.4
Jesus plainly taught us that there would be a Cry at Midnight, and that the door would be shut, and the Bridegroom would come, [Matthew 25:6, 10.] and that this would not be the “coming of the Son of Man.” For he had already said, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Matthew 24:36. Then again in the parable he admonishes us thus: “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.” Chap 25:13. But we did know the very day the Bridegroom came, viz: on the last day of the 2300 years, the tenth day of the seventh month, 1844. This was also the last day of a Cry at Midnight, and that day the door was shut. If it was not, then the whole Advent doctrine which has been proclaimed throughout the land, is no more to us than “sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.” It is even worse than “hay, wood or stubble.” For the 2300 days was the rallying point during the two angel messages, clear down to the tenth day of the seventh month. Take those figures from the true chart, the old one, and every advent believer would lose their reckoning. Before 1844, the 2300 days, speaking after the manner of men, was EVERY THING. Since Oct. 1844, by the greater portion of Adventists, it is NOTHING, only as a point which they have moved from year to year, to suit their purposes. We say that it was the sure guide that led us to the end of A Cry at Midnight; and the only sure guide in the vision, to run from, to the day of deliverance and redemption. We see, also, that it is impossible for the Sanctuary to be cleansed, or for the shadow given by God to Moses to find its substance, unless, (as we have stated,) the anti-type of the national atonement is accomplished after the door is shut. ARSH December 1850, page 22.5
We say that Jesus never was to come here as Bridegroom; but does go as such, to the Father. Therefore he does not come here at the end of the 2300 days; neither does the world end with these days. Now in the clear light of this subject, let us just look at the course taken by the conductors of the two leading Advent papers in our midst, viz: the “Advent Herald,” and “Voice of Truth;” also, Bro. Miller, and about all the Advent lecturers in this work. Please read their Confessions, Vindications, Positions, and their then present duty, respecting this very work, in the “Advent Review,” for 1850. ARSH December 1850, page 22.6
We will here give a few extracts: ARSH December 1850, page 22.7
“Those who have not been in this late movement, can appreciate nothing respecting it. And we regard it as another, and a more SEARCHING TEST, than the first proclamation of the time.” ARSH December 1850, page 22.8
“So we believe that THIS LAST CRY HAS BEEN A TEST; and that with our views of duty, we should as much have sinned against God, had we refrained from giving that message, as Jonah did when “he rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”-Page 5. ARSH December 1850, page 22.9
“In the meantime we kept two power presses in continual operation, so long as was needed, in multiplying the copies of our paper of Oct. 16, of which we issued about 100,000 copies.” Page 6. [Copied from the Advent Herald.] ARSH December 1850, page 22.10
The motto for the above paper was, “BEHOLD THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH, GO YE OUT TO MEET HIM!” ARSH December 1850, page 22.11
Again-“But we cannot yet admit that our Great High Priest did not on that very day, ACCOMPLISH ALL THAT THE TYPE WOULD JUSTIFY US TO EXPECT. WE NOW BELIEVE HE DID.” ARSH December 1850, page 22.12
“We think the parable of the ten virgins clearly tells where we are. The proclamation of the tenth day of the seventh month, we believe was the midnight cry, when all, not a part, of the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. This work continued until the tenth day passed.” Page 7. [Copied from the “Voice of Truth.”] ARSH December 1850, page 22.13
Further-“We have done our work in warning sinners, and in trying to awake a formal church. God in his providence has SHUT THE DOOR. Page 8 ARSH December 1850, page 22.14
“I presume, brother Marsh, you have seen Bro. Hale and Turner’s “Advent Mirror,” printed in Boston, Jan. 1845, concerning the marriage, in the parable of the virgins. I do believe in the main they are right-that cannot be the personal coming of Christ.” “Has Christ come in the sense spoken of, Matthew 25:10? I think he has.” Page 10. ARSH December 1850, page 23.1
“That God has been in this cause, I have not a shadow of a doubt; and that time has been the main spring, is equally as clear; and that if we leave out time, no mortal could prove that Christ is near, even at the door. Yours as ever, looking for, etc. WILLIAM MILLER.” Page 11. Once more: ARSH December 1850, page 23.2
“They found the spirit and the Providence of God concurring most manifestly to give the Midnight Cry. Amid the signs of these last days nothing like this occurred till after the tarrying. Nothing like it has occurred since. The Cry was given at the right time, so far as could be ascertained by a prayerful, critical, study of the word. It came in the right place, in the series of prophetic fulfillment. J. B. COOK.” Page 24. ARSH December 1850, page 23.3
And thus we might go on, adding testimonies from scores of writers, from the “Review,” and their papers; but let what we have quoted suffice. The question of the Midnight Cry, was settled in the time that we have stated, by about all that believed in the Advent doctrine. With all this array of argument before them, many of them would say, at times, why I believe it in part; because it looked too glaring to deny it. We say that God never had this work done in part. It was all accomplished then, and we have just shown how it was affirmed to by the church of God. When they say they believe it, they prove themselves liars; for after the formation of the Laodicean state of the church at Albany, N. Y., April 29, 1845, the greater portion of the lecturers went out through the land, advocating an open door, in direct and immediate opposition to the work of the Midnight Cry. For that work shut the door without the shadow of a doubt. ARSH December 1850, page 23.4
Shall we once more repeat what they said? hear it. “SO WE BELIEVE THAT THIS LAST CRY [Midnight Cry] HAS BEEN A TEST; and that with our views of duty, we should as much have sinned against God, had we refrained from giving that message, as Jonah did when he rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” ARSH December 1850, page 23.5
We say then, that here is positive proof that they have been SINNING AGAINST GOD EVER SINCE, in writing, preaching, and in various other ways, by opposing and setting at naught the very and identical point in their Advent experience, which was the “MAIN-SPRING” to the whole vision. Yes, after the Albany Conference in 1845, where they organized the Laodicean Church, they went out openly and boldly declaring to their hearers, that the door was wide open.-They said it was not shut, neither would it be, until Jesus came, and then the 2300 days would end. This of course began to destroy, and has eventually ruined the whole work and design of the Midnight Cry, and left them not on the flat rock which they boasted of, but on sliding sand, which in a little moment will leave those that continue to stand there in the gulf of perdition. ARSH December 1850, page 23.6
To make their case appear consistent, these leaders claimed the three and a half years of disputed time about the Saviour’s birth, before A. D. which would not run out until the spring of A. D. 1847. During this time, or at that point, the 2300 days would end, and the Lord Jesus would come. It was obvious and clear still, that secret convictions were on the minds of some of the leading ones, that the 2300 days were in the past; but this must be wrapt up and kept behind the curtain, and out of the papers; for such a view again made public, would destroy the very foundation of their nameless fabric. But to the points in their HISTORY. Amid this confusion, about all that believed in the Lord’s coming were looking to the fall of 1845. That passed; and soon after came A. Hale’s work, “Time of the Advent to be known.” The prophetic periods were now moved two years forward [1846] and of course the starting point also, to make the 2300 days end there. Next came the rallying point for 1847. We were told that there were no chronological dates beyond this, that would prove any thing about the close of the 2300 days. If they did not end there, then our reckoning was up. The prophetic periods must all be moved again. This also proved a perfect failure, and ran their ship ashore, high and dry out of all disputed time. This did not quell the rebellious house of Israel. They still continued sliding down, and pouring out their anathemas and contempt on those who were insisting that the work was done, where they had affirmed that it was, in the fall of 1844. They were still determined to have their own way; so away goes all the chronological dates down to the spring of 1848. It seemed to be just as easy to stretch and move the dates in history, as to prove that Bonaparte and the Pope of Rome were living in 1802. “One built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar.” But the vision did not speak. Well the days would end in 1849; so the time must be altered again, and there was nothing but disappointment there. Not satisfied with this continued stretching, and prolonging the vision, the spring of 1850 was fixed upon as the true termination of the appointed time for the Lord to come. The great argument to prove it, was, that Jesus was crucified in the end of the 69th week; a clear perversion of the Angel Gabriel’s message to Daniel. Nevertheless, they were right now! No matter if the appointed time did come on the tenth day of the seventh month, the 2300 days would end this spring, and the Lord would come. Months, seasons and times, which God had fixed, could be altered easy enough, when they desired it. ARSH December 1850, page 23.7
The tenth day of the seventh month is now past, and with it, all their hopes and “daubings.” Now we ask, how much is gained by these six or more successive failures, every time moving farther off from the true point, and causing disappointment and confusion in their ranks, every passing time? NOTHING, Methinks this makes the starting point look clear. See, first, seven years examining chronological dates, to get the true starting point, viz. B. C. 457, to prove that the 2300 days of Daniel’s vision would end in the fall of 1844. This they settled beyond all controversy, and affirmed to it, before God, and the world; and then rose up in rebellion against it, and for about six successive years, wrote, preached, and argued against it, with all their power; without giving one single particle of light, or moving the point they started from. But have filled themselves and their hearers with pride, worldly mindedness, and a disrelish for every thing that God would have them honor and love, under the sounding of the third angel’s message. ARSH December 1850, page 23.8
Say, is the Midnight Cry in the past? Are the foolish virgins manifest? Is the starting point settled? We suppose the Editors of the “Advent Herald” claim some merit for settling this starting point in their paper for March 2, 1850. See also, the extract in “Present Truth,” No. 10, page 78. God will give them none, for they settled it right in 1844. If, after their five years rebellion against it, they had acknowledged the truth connected with it, I think they might have been rewarded. Instead of this, the writer of the article told us that the 2300 days were ended; but nothing was accomplished. He well knew that that was a “lying divination.” He knows it now. It is plain, therefore, that those articles were not given, to bring back the honest erring ones, to the plain simple truth, that the Midnight Cry was given in 1844, and that the door was shut. For they knew that was the clear fulfillment of the Cry, both in the parable and type. We said that they settled it in 1844. The following letter is still further proof. ARSH December 1850, page 23.9
“Boston, Oct. 30, 1844. My dear Bro. Bates-This will be handed to you by Bro. Davis. He will tell you of our affairs, and of our faith in this time, this ‘trying time.’ I repose in God. I never felt more happy and reconciled to his will: the late work has saved me-it has been a blessing to us all. Now let us hold on. Let us remember, that though we have not realized our hope, yet we have condemned the world by our faith and stand justified before God. Abraham did not offer Isaac, God provided a lamb; so he has provided something else for us. And now to suffer and live for his name a little while longer. Yours, J. V. HIMES.” ARSH December 1850, page 23.10
If the reader is still curious enough to know how the leader of the rebellious house of Israel gets round this, we reply-He very kindly and frankly acknowledges that HE did believe it; but he saw his error, and CONFESSED it. Very true; but what did he confess. Please turn to the first page of the “Advent Review,” and read on and there you will see not only his confession of all the past being true, but he vindicates it, and declares the whole work to be right, the LAST CRY [Midnight Cry] A TEST, both in the type and parable, as we have already quoted. He says. “We are free to confess that we have been twice disappointed in our expectations in the time of our Lord’s Advent.” The two disappointments were the spring and fall of 1844. These few words comprise his confession. After this, hundreds of others followed in confessions, in the two leading papers; and in their confessions, except some few that afterwards, acknowledged they were mistaken about the shut door view. ARSH December 1850, page 23.11
Here was a general acknowledgment of all the past; and yet after the organization of the Laodicean Church, April, 1845, they came out in open rebellion against the very vital point, that gave them any title to the name of Adventists. Consistency would have required them to have adopted their proper Scripture name; [Rebels;] then all the honest believers, searching for truth, would have understood them, and avoided their treacherous dealings against the Lord, and the “strange children” they have begotten in connection with fallen Babylon. If by any means whatever, they could prove from all their past six years united labor, throughout this land, England, or the West Indias, that they had gained one single convert to God, then would they appear in a hundred fold more heinous light than they now do. For, by their own published, standing confessions, (as before stated,) the Lord Jesus, as Master of the house, (before described,) had shut the door, and no man could open it. See Revelation 3:7; Luke 13:25; Matthew 25:10. This was the last day’s work of the Midnight Cry, where the fulness of the Gentiles came in, Romans 11:25. Now if they have opened the door, then they have gained the victory over the Son of God, and proved him to have uttered a falsehood. In no other way could they get one true Gentile convert. But there need be no fear on this case. Jesus has done this work, and he is now advocating the cause of all true believers in the house of Israel. We know that these people are saying, and will still insist, that they have reclaimed hundreds of backsliders, and that scores have been converted to God, under their teaching, since the Albany Conference, April, 1845. ARSH December 1850, page 23.12
We say, that as long as they continue rebellious against their lawful Prince, it is morally impossible for them to beget for him one peaceful subject. God has a true test, by which to try every individual since the Midnight Cry. It is “the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,” Revelation 14:9-12. We have yet to learn, that one single one of their professed converts, or reclaimed backsliders, have reached this standard.-But we fully believe they have some honest souls that they have drawn away with them, into their delusive snares, by their treacherous dealing with the Lord, and false teaching. Our hearts yearn after these. We would use every right way to get them from this Laodicean state. This then is one strong reason why we send forth this article, to open the eyes of those who were, and still are honest, and may possibly be saved, if they will at once flee from this rebellious house of Israel. For he is about to spue the rebellious ones out of his mouth; while he tenderly invites the honest ones. Do be persuaded to read his invitation. Here it is:- “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous, therefore, and repent.”-Revelation 3:19. Yes, after all your backsliding, if you have not done it willfully, Jesus says to you, “repent.” If you overcome, you will set with him on his throne. Perhaps you will say, that we have written hard things, and that you cannot bear them. Our answer is, we have no unkind feelings towards the most rebellious person in the house of Israel. We would plead for them as long as we see any Bible ground for it. We have spoken the simple unvarnished truth. God requires this, that the precious may be separated from the vile. For he is now about to destroy them. We therefore beseech you, in the name of Jesus, who stands before the Father, spending but a few moments more on your doubtful case, to have you sealed for him, or your precious name forever blotted from the book of life, to flee from all such delusive, treacherous, soul-destroying teaching. We repeat it, if there is any hope in your case, you have but a little moment more. The seven last plagues, with the four sore judgments of Almighty God, are just upon all those who have denied the great truths of God, which we have been passing through. And every one that does not repent speedily, and confess every known sin, in this treacherous work, will in a little moment, as it were, be ushered into the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and be destroyed by the wrath of God and the Lamb. O, do, do! I entreat you, seize the glimmering light of salvation, that is about to be forever extinguished from this guilty world. Grasp it with all your soul, and might, and mind. Plead with the blessed Jesus, for immortality and eternal life. Talk about searching out sinners, that the work of the Midnight Cry left in outer darkness six years ago! He will not save you, if you do not quickly flee from the dreadful snare you are now in. Hear the warning of God. “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.”-Ezekiel 12:2. This to the 21st verse inclusive, refers to literal Israel, when they were carried to literal Babylon, and held there for 70 years, while the land enjoyed her sabbaths.-2 Chronicles 36:20, 21. It is evident that they were continually rebelling against them. From verse 21, and onward to the end of chap 13, God shows Ezekiel the perverse, rebellious spirit of both men and women, in the anti-typical rebellious house of Israel, since the speaking of Daniel’s vision of the 2300 days, at the end of the Midnight Cry, in the fall of 1844. Let us read. ARSH December 1850, page 24.1
“Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? Tell them therefore, thus saith the Lord God; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, the days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged, for in YOUR DAYS, O rebellious house, I will say the word and, will perform it, saith the Lord God.”-Verses 22-25. ARSH December 1850, page 24.2
Throughout the Scriptures there is but two literal speakings of God to the people, first, from Mount Sinai, and second from heaven. See Hebrews 12:25, 26. This second time, then, is from heaven, in the midst of the great and dreadful day of God, that is now dawning upon this doomed world. Dear reader, do you not clearly see that there was no vision when God spake from Sinai; but there is one here which perfectly agrees with the one mentioned by Ezekiel. Six long years this rebellious house have been stretching out, moving and prolonging the days of the 2300 days vision. Time will be spent in vain searching the Bible for any other. Will you admit that the history which we have given you is true? God says, “it is a flattering divination within the house of Israel.” Only see how souls have been flattered to believe, by these treacherous dealers with God’s word, that the end of the days was always in the future. They have been prolonged to suit the pleasure of any one of their teachers, like this. They will end next spring! Well, they will next fall! Very soon! Any time! I do not know but today. We should be expecting it all the time, etc., etc. Says God, “I will SPEAK, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass, it [the vision of days] shall be no more prolonged; for in YOUR DAYS, O rebellious house, will I say the word.” How plain that here, right before us, this prophecy is to be fulfilled. This settled, then what follows is unavoidable, and conclusive. ARSH December 1850, page 24.3
“Thus saith the Lord God; Wo unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing. O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle of the DAY OF THE LORD. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying the Lord saith: and the Lord has not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say the Lord saith it, albeit I HAVE NOT SPOKEN?”-Ezekiel 13:3-7. ARSH December 1850, page 24.4
This rebellious house made others to hope that they would confirm the word, and said the Lord said it. God says he did not say it. It was their vain and lying divinations. They prolonged the days. He did not tell them to. Hear what God says to them for their rebellion against him. ARSH December 1850, page 24.5
“Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold I am against you, saith the Lord God. And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of my people, [secret or council, see margin,] neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel; neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God. Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying peace and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar. Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall; there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. [See Revelation 16:21.] Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon THEM THAT HAVE DAUBED IT WITH UNTEMPERED MORTAR,* and will say unto you, the wall is no more, neither THEY THAT DAUBED IT.”-Chap 13:8-11, 15. ARSH December 1850, page 24.6
This is the sad and dreadful state, and fearful doom, which God has pronounced upon those who were once among our dearest friends, with whom we took sweet counsel together in the house of God; and listened with delight to their soul-stirring teaching. Alas, alas, they have turned “diviners,” and “speak lies;” and have continued their rebellious course (without repentance, when Jesus urged, counseled, and entreated them to repent,-Revelation 3:18-21.) for six long years, stretching out and “prolonging” the fulfillment of the 2300 days of the prophecy of Daniel; which prophecy they so faithfully labored to proclaim, and then affirmed to it, before God and the world, that the MIDNIGHT CRY WAS IN THE PAST. ARSH December 1850, page 24.7
JOSEPH BATES.
Fairhaven, Dec. 12th, 1850.
CONFERENCE.-There will be a Conference of the brethren at the house of Bro. Asa Hazeltine in Melbourne C. E. to commence on Friday the tenth day of January, at ten o’clock, A. M. and continue over the Sabbath. It is hoped that Bro. Bates and Bro. Rhodes will meet with us. The scattered brethren are invited to attend. In behalf of the brethren. ARSH December 1850, page 24.8
JOHN LINDSEY.
LETTERS RECEIVED SINCE DEC. 10. Hiram Edson; Thomas Gardner; Stockbridge Howland; Otis Nichols 2; A. R. Morse; Elias Goodwin; Eunice Harmon; Ira Abbey; D. M. Little; S. W. Rhodes; J. F. Hammond; Harvey Morgan; A. E. Randall; E. Scribner; F. M. Shimper; E. L. H. Chamberlain; E. P. Butler; G. W. Barns; J. G. Foy; A. N. Curtis, $1; Ruth Coggshall, $1; P. M. Bates, $1; Oliver Moore, $3; G. W. Holt, $3, for A. Wing; S. R. Burgess. ARSH December 1850, page 24.9
FOR SISTER SHIMPER-Ruth Coggshall, $1. ARSH December 1850, page 24.10