Three Angels' Messages

In brief, SDAs...

  1. Teach that all non-SDA churches are "apostate," "fallen," "heathen," "Babylon," and "under the banner of Satan"
  2. Believe their God-given mission is to call other Christians to leave their churches (Babylon) and join the one and only true church, the SDA Church
  3. Make other Christians their primary target for evangelism

What SDAs Teach

The Three Angels' messages of Revelation 14 are highly significant to the SDA sect. In the sect's official mission statement, the Three Angels' Messages are prominent:

The mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is to proclaim to all peoples the everlasting gospel in the context of the Three Angels' messages of Revelation 14:6-12.1

At first glance, this almost sounds like a typical mission statement for any Christian denomination: "to proclaim to all peoples the everlasting gospel." That sounds very good. But then, there is an odd addition: "in the context of the Three Angels' messages." What does this "context" mean? Those are code words which only those familiar with the SDA sect would understand.

The "context of the Three Angels' messages" places an entirely different spin on proclaiming the gospel message.

Here is what the SDA Church teaches about the Three Angels' Messages:

1. The first angel's message was first proclaimed from 1837-1844 during the Millerite movement by those who were erroneously announcing the imminent return of Jesus. Ellen White, Seventh-day Adventism's prophet, wrote:

Prophecy was fulfilled in the first and second angels' messages. They were given at the right time and accomplished the work which God designed to accomplish by them.2
Thousands were led to embrace the truth preached by Wm. Miller, and servants of God were raised up in the spirit and power of Elijah to proclaim the message. ... And as the Spirit of God rested upon them, they helped to sound the cry, Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come.3
William Miller
William Miller

The SDA Church traces its origins to the preaching of William Miller, a farmer-turned-preacher who pieced together various Bible texts to calculate the time of Christ's return. Miller and his associates went around the Northeastern United States warning people of Christ's imminent return, gathering perhaps 50,000 followers. Miller believed he was fulfilling the first angel's message by proclaiming Christ's imminent return to judge the wicked with fire (Rev. 14:6).

Christ did not return on October 22, 1844, leading to the Great Disappointment. Shortly afterwards, Miller admitted he was wrong, verifying that he did not speak "the truth" as Ellen White suggested. Most of his followers agreed and returned to their old churches. However, some groups of "Adventists" refused to return. One group kept setting new dates while trying to explain away Miller's failure. This group later developed into the SDA Church. SDAs soon adopted a different stance, saying the "judgment" of Revelation 14 was a judgment of the righteous, not upon the wicked as the text would suggest.

To accommodate this new view, the SDA Church changed the meaning of the first angel's message to something entirely different from what Miller taught. In her book Great Controversy prophetess Ellen White writes:

...the first angel's message, "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come," pointed to Christ's ministration in the most holy place, to the investigative judgment, and not to the coming of Christ for the redemption of His people and the destruction of the wicked.4

2. The second angel's message is a call for non-SDA Christians to leave their churches and join the one true remnant church—the Seventh-day Adventists. As Mrs. White noted above, SDAs believed this prophecy was fulfilled in 1844 when some Christians left their churches to unite with the Millerite movement:

As the churches refused to receive the first angel's message, they rejected the light from heaven and fell from the favor of God. They trusted to their own strength, and by opposing the first message placed themselves where they could not see the light of the second angel's message. But the beloved of God, who were oppressed, accepted the message, "Babylon is fallen," and left the churches.5
When the churches spurned the counsel of God by rejecting the advent message, the Lord rejected them. The first angel was followed by a second, proclaiming, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." Revelation 14:8. This message was understood by Adventists to be an announcement of the moral fall of the churches in consequence of their rejection of the first message. The proclamation, "Babylon is fallen," was given in the summer of 1844, and as the result, about fifty thousand withdrew from these churches.6

To be clear, most churches in America initially accepted Miller and allowed him to preach in their churches about the imminent return of Christ. It was only after he and his associates started preaching a definite time-table for the Lord's return that they started closing their doors to him. They knew this teaching was contrary to the Word of God and warned Miller of such. Those churches that rejected Miller's message about the definite time of the return of Jesus were labeled by the Millerites as "Babylon" and "Synagogue of Satan." Mrs. White claimed they were rejected by God for rejecting Miller's message (a message that was not only incorrect, but one that the principal proponent, Mr. Miller, later admitted was wrong). According to SDA prophetess Ellen White, after 1844, the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from all non-SDA churches:

Since the rejection of the first message, a sad change has taken place in the churches. As truth is spurned, error is received and cherished. Love for God and faith in His Word have grown cold. The churches have grieved the Spirit of the Lord, and it has been in a great measure withdrawn.7
I saw the nominal [non-SDA] churches had fallen, coldness and death reigned in their midst. ...and God's Spirit left them, for instead of praying and talking to God, they prayed and talked to man.8

Ellen White explains that Christians in "nominal" or non-SDA churches cannot be benefited by Christ's intercession, their prayers are useless, and Satan is now in control of them:

And by rejecting the two former messages, they have so darkened their understanding that they can see no light in the third angel's message, which shows the way into the most holy place. I saw that as the Jews crucified Jesus, so the nominal churches had crucified these messages, and therefore they have no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and they cannot be benefited by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare. ... He also comes as an angel of light and spreads his influence over the land by means of false reformations. The churches are elated, and consider that God is working marvelously for them, when it is the work of another spirit.9

Thus, all of the revivals over the past 180 years, including the crusades of Dwight Moody and Billy Graham, were merely false reformations that are the work of Satan. Ellen White emphasizes there have been no true converts to Christianity in modern revivals:

I saw that the mysterious signs and wonders, and false reformations would increase, and spread. The reformations that were shown me, were not reformations from error to truth; but from bad to worse; for those who professed a change of heart, had only wrapt about them a religious garb, which covered up the iniquity of a wicked heart. Some appeared to have been really converted, so as to deceive God's people; but if their hearts could be seen, they would appear as black as ever.10

Mrs. White teaches that Revelation's prophecies regarding "Babylon" apply specifically to Protestant churches:

The term Babylon, derived from Babel, and signifying confusion, is applied in Scripture to the various forms of false or apostate religion. But the message announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to some religious body that was once pure, and has become corrupt. It cannot be the Romish Church which is here meant; for that church has been in a fallen condition for many centuries. But how appropriate the figure as applied to the Protestant churches, all professing to derive their doctrines from the Bible, yet divided into almost innumerable sects. The unity for which Christ prayed does not exist. Instead of one Lord, one faith, one baptism, there are numberless conflicting creeds and theories. Religious faith appears so confused and discordant that the world know not what to believe as truth. God is not in all this; it is the work of man,—the work of Satan.11

Finally, in 1885, Mrs. White made it clear that non-SDA Christians are worse than heathen. However, for the sake of winning these non-SDAs over to the SDA sect it was best for SDAs to publicly pretend that non-SDAs were not heathens:

We can do nothing that would close up the way before us in this country like taking a position of superiority and putting before the people that we consider them heathen. In truth they are worse than heathen, but this we are not to tell them.12

To summarize SDA beliefs about other Christian denominations:

  1. Catholicism is "fallen"
  2. Protestant denominations are "Babylon"
  3. God does not hear the prayers of non-SDAs
  4. Jesus does not intercede for non-SDAs
  5. Non-SDA revivals are false
  6. Non-SDA conversions to Christ are not real
  7. God's Spirit is largely withdrawn from non-SDA churches
  8. Non-SDA Christians are worse than heathens

Given this understanding, one can see why SDAs believe it to be their duty to try and convert other Christians over to their beliefs.

3. The third angel's message is a warning against receiving the Mark of the Beast, which SDAs teach is worship on Sunday. According to the SDA end-time scenario, the last great battle between good and evil will be fought over the day of worship. Those who keep the Seventh-day Sabbath will receive the Seal of God, while those who keep Sunday receive the Mark of the Beast. According to SDA teachings, all the world will unite under the leadership of Satan to impose Sunday laws upon Seventh-day Adventists. As this frightening scenario unfolds, eventually Sunday laws will be passed requiring a death sentence for anyone who refuses to worship on Sunday. Ellen White explains:

As the Sabbath has become the special point of controversy throughout Christendom, and religious and secular authorities have combined to enforce the observance of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a small minority to yield to the popular demand will make them objects of universal execration. It will be urged that the few who stand in opposition to an institution of the church and a law of the state ought not to be tolerated; that it is better for them to suffer than for whole nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness. ... This argument will appear conclusive; and a decree will finally be issued against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment and giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to put them to death.13

Problems with This Teaching

1. SDAs claim the first angel's message was sounded in 1844, fulfilling prophecy, but was it really fulfilled in 1844?

The Bible is unmistakably clear about the scope of the first angel's message. It was to be proclaimed:

"...to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people."

Did the Millerite proclamation of Christ's imminent return in 1844 actually reach every nation, language, and people group on earth? The leading figures of the movement did not think so.

After the Great Disappointment, Joshua V. Himes, the chief organizer and promoter of the Millerite movement and William Miller's closest associate, gave a candid assessment of what had actually occurred:

"...the cry of the seventh month was a local and partial one. It was confined to this country..."14

Himes was speaking as an insider. He helped direct the movement, traveled extensively promoting it, and maintained correspondence with believers overseas. If anyone was qualified to evaluate the reach of the Millerite message, it was Himes.15 He further acknowledged that the movement produced virtually no effect in Europe.

World map showing limited reach of Millerite movement
The Millerite movement was concentrated primarily in the Northeastern United States.

The historical evidence confirms Himes's assessment. The Millerite movement was overwhelmingly concentrated in the Northeastern United States. It gained some interest in Southeastern Canada, attracted a few thousand adherents in Britain, and had scattered supporters elsewhere. But there is no credible evidence that it ever penetrated most of North America, much less the nations of Asia, Africa, South America, or the Middle East.

Historians estimate that the entire Millerite movement consisted of roughly 50,000 believers worldwide. Even if every person exposed to Millerite preaching were counted, the audience represented only a tiny fraction of humanity.

In 1844, the world's population stood at approximately 1.25 billion people. At most, perhaps 12 million people living in parts of the Northeastern United States, Southeastern Canada, and Britain had any realistic opportunity to hear Millerite preaching. That means more than 99 percent of humanity never heard the message. Entire continents remained untouched. Thousands of languages were never reached. Vast populations never encountered a Millerite preacher, publication, or missionary:

Even today, nearly two centuries later, Christian missionaries continue working to bring the gospel to every language group on earth. Yet SDAs ask us to believe that a movement largely confined to English-speaking regions of the Northeastern United States fulfilled a prophecy directed to "every nation, kindred, tongue, and people."

The prophecy and the history are irreconcilable. Revelation describes a message carried to every nation, every language, and every people group on earth. The Millerite movement reached only a tiny fraction of the world's population and was largely confined to English-speaking regions of the Northeastern United States. A movement that failed to reach more than 99 percent of humanity cannot honestly be called a fulfillment of a prophecy intended for the entire world. The first angel's message of Revelation 14 was global. The Millerite movement was local.

2. What is the Judgment of the First Angel's Message?

When the Millerites preached Revelation 14:7 in the years leading up to 1844, they had no doubt what the verse meant:

"Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come."

To them, the message was crystal clear. The judgment hour referred to God's impending judgment upon a sinful world. Christ was about to return, the wicked were about to be punished, and probation was about to close. This was the very heart of Millerite preaching.

And why wouldn't they understand it that way? The rest of Revelation 14 describes the outpouring of God's wrath, the harvest of the earth, and the destruction of the wicked. The chapter does not portray God reviewing records in a heavenly courtroom. It portrays God executing judgment.

Then came October 22, 1844.

Christ did not return. The wicked were not judged. The wrath of God was not poured out. The event the Millerites had confidently predicted simply did not happen.

This left the early Adventists with a serious problem. If the judgment announced by the first angel had not occurred, how could they continue claiming that Revelation 14 had been fulfilled?

The solution was to redefine the judgment.

After 1844, Adventist leaders gradually abandoned the original Millerite understanding and replaced it with the doctrine of the Investigative Judgment. According to this new teaching, the judgment was not God's punishment of the wicked on earth. Instead, it was a heavenly examination of the records of professed believers. Rather than executing judgment, God was supposedly reviewing cases.

The problem is that nothing in Revelation 14 suggests such a scenario. There is no mention of heavenly books being examined, no description of a courtroom investigation, and no indication that the judgment concerns the righteous rather than the wicked. The doctrine was not drawn from the text itself. It was adopted because it provided a way to pretend that something meaningful happened in 1844 after the original prediction had failed.

This creates an obvious contradiction. The Millerites proclaimed that the judgment hour meant Christ was about to return and punish the wicked. Modern SDAs insist the judgment hour means Christ entered a heavenly phase of ministry to investigate the records of professed believers. These are not minor variations of the same message. They are fundamentally different messages.

Which one is the second angel's message?

If the Millerites were right, then the SDA doctrine of the Investigative Judgment is wrong. If the Investigative Judgment is right, then the Millerites misunderstood the very message they supposedly fulfilled. Either way, the claim that Revelation 14 was fulfilled in 1844 becomes impossible to sustain.

More importantly, there is no indication anywhere in Revelation 14 that the meaning of the angel's message would change after a failed prediction. The prophecy presents a single message, not one message before 1844 and a fundamentally different one after the first one failed. Yet that is precisely what Adventist history requires.

The simplest explanation is often the correct one. The Millerites believed Revelation 14 announced the imminent judgment of the wicked because that is exactly how the chapter reads. When the predicted event failed to occur, a new interpretation was developed to rescue the movement from the consequences of its mistake.

As you read the verses below, ask yourself an honest question: Do these passages describe God investigating the records of believers in a heavenly courtroom, or do they describe the outpouring of divine wrath upon a rebellious world?

The answer is obvious. Revelation 14 is describing the execution of judgment, not an investigation preceding judgment. The chapter speaks of wrath, harvest, punishment, and destruction — not a heavenly audit of believers' records. The Investigative Judgment must be imported into the chapter because it cannot be derived from it. This is yet another indication that the first and second angels' messages were not fulfilled in 1844 and that the doctrine created to salvage that date rests on a foundation the text itself does not support.

3. Are All Protestant Churches Babylon?

The most appalling aspect of Seventh-day Adventism is its treatment of other Christian denominations. According to SDAs, non-SDA churches made the dreadful mistake of rejecting the false teachings of William Miller. Therefore, God has rejected them, their prayers are "useless," and they are under the influence of Satan. It is mind-boggling to try and understand the total lack of common sense in this theology! First, the Protestant churches were absolutely correct in rejecting Miller's setting of times for Christ's return. These Christians did not reject Miller because they did not love Christ nor want Him to return. They rejected Miller for four solid Biblical reasons:

  1. Christ stated plainly, "But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." (Matt. 24:36)
  2. Time-setting is a device the devil uses to stir up fanaticism, and it always ends in disappointment and failure. That's why Jesus warned against it (Matt. 24:42, 25:13).
  3. Jesus had said, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Matt. 24:14) The gospel message had not yet penetrated even half of the world in 1844. Therefore, the end could not be imminent.
  4. Many other Bible prophecies had not yet come to fulfillment in 1844.

Those are very strong Biblical reasons for rejecting Millerism! Protestants were absolutely right in rejecting Miller. In fact, modern SDAs often reject modern time-setters for the exact same reasons! So, why would God punish Protestant churches for being correct? Why would God reject Protestant churches when they were right and the Adventists were the ones who were wrong?

For the last 180+ years, Adventists have spent the vast majority of their efforts and resources aimed at recruiting members from other Christian churches. On more than one occasion it has been reported that SDA missionaries, rather than attempting to convert the heathens, would try to win converts from natives that had already been converted to Christianity through the efforts of other non-SDA missionaries. This is because SDAs view all other churches as "fallen" or "Babylon" and they see it as their special mission to call people out of "Babylon." This teaching seriously distorts the meaning of the gospel message. Instead of "seeking and saving the lost" as Jesus did, and as He instructed his true disciples to do, SDAs invest substantial effort in trying to convert the "saved" to adopt SDA doctrines.

4. What is the Third Message?

Ellen White made it crystal clear that the mission of the SDA Church is to recruit believers from the Sunday-keeping churches so that they will not receive the Mark of the Beast. Mrs. White wrote:

...the churches were left as were the Jews; and they have been filling up with every unclean and hateful bird. I saw great iniquity and vileness in the churches; yet they profess to be christians. Their profession, their prayers and their exhortations, are an abomination in the sight of God. Said the angel, God will not smell in their assemblies. Selfishness, fraud and deceit are practiced by them without the reprovings of conscience. And over all these evil traits they throw the cloak of religion. I was shown the pride of the nominal churches. God was not in their thoughts; but their carnal minds dwell upon themselves. They decorate their poor mortal bodies, and then look upon themselves with satisfaction and pleasure. Jesus and the angels looked upon them in anger. Said the angel, Their sins and pride have reached unto heaven. Their portion is prepared. Justice and judgment have slumbered long, but will soon awake. Vengeance is mine, and I will repay, saith the Lord. The fearful threatenings of the third angel are to be realized, and they will drink the wrath of God. An innumerable host of evil angels are spreading themselves over the whole land. The churches and religious bodies are crowded with them.16

Notice Ellen White's assessment of non-SDA Churches:

  1. They were rejected by God just as the Jews were rejected
  2. They are full of vileness
  3. Their prayers are an abomination
  4. God's presence is gone from their assemblies
  5. Jesus and the angels are angry with them
  6. They will suffer the wrath of God
  7. They are crowded with evil angels

Instead of viewing communism, atheism, heathenism, paganism, and Islam as major threats to their religious liberty, SDAs view other Christians as the main threat to their liberty and consider them to be under the influence of Satan. Many unsuspecting individuals are not told this up front during SDA evangelistic crusades. Only later do they find out the incredible bigotry and sectarian animosity of a sect that holds every other Christian church in the utmost contempt. For fear of bad publicity, these teachings are not prominently promoted by the SDA sect today, but they are nevertheless the underpinning of the sect's philosophy. It is this "context" that warps and distorts the SDA presentation of the gospel message. Instead of seeking the lost, they are seeking the saved.

In fact, one might question how committed the SDA sect is to the gospel message. By the sect's own admission, the organization was caught up in the chains of legalism for the first 25 years of their existence. One SDA scholar laments:

In early Seventh-day Adventist sermons, books, and periodicals there is but scant mention of justification by faith and salvation by grace."17

It was not until 1888 that the message of Justification by Faith was prominently taught in the SDA Church by A.T. Jones and E.J. Waggoner. Even then, some of the leading brethren fought against the message. Even today, it is still being debated as to whether or not the sect ever fully accepted it. It is astonishing that the SDA Church can claim that all other churches are led by Satan, when those very churches were the ones preaching a true understanding of the foremost Christian doctrine—Justification by Faith—for a quarter of a century while the SDA Church was caught up in the chains of legalism!

What the Bible Actually Teaches

1. The Bible truth about the Three Angels' Messages is quite simple.

The first message announces that the everlasting good news goes to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. This true gospel message is the good news about salvation by faith in Christ alone. It is not about the Investigative Judgment or the Sabbath. The first angels' message commenced during the life of Christ and has been spreading throughout the world to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. At the end of time, this angel announces that the judgment hour has arrived, but this is not a judgment of the righteous. There is not a hint anywhere in Revelation 14 of a judgment upon the righteous. The judgment is a judgment of vengeance and punishment upon the wicked. In the book of Revelation the souls of the martyrs are heard crying out for vengeance:

How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? (Rev. 6:10)

The wicked are about to fill up their cup of wrath, and the Lord Jesus will return to earth to punish the inhabitants for their wickedness and to obtain vengeance for the blood of the martyrs.

2. The second message announces that Babylon is fallen. The Bible very clearly identifies who Babylon is. In Revelation 18, Babylon is described as a female who commits fornication with the kings of the earth (Rev. 18:3). This could only refer to the "whore" of Revelation 17. Rev. 17:18 says the "whore" is "that great city."18 The "great city" is identified in Rev. 11:8 as the city where "our Lord was crucified." All Christians agree that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem. Therefore, Jerusalem and Judaism is fallen.

In Revelation 18:4, a voice is heard saying, "Come out of her [Babylon], my people." Who are the "my people" in this verse? Yahweh identified the Israelites as His people. Throughout Scripture He repeatedly refers to them as "my people."19 Paul wrote of the Jewish people: "I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid...God hath not cast away his people" (Rom. 11:1-2). God's people, the Jews, are to "come out" of Babylon (Judaism) and join the Christian faith. To review more evidence proving this point, visit our study on Babylon.

3. The third message is a warning against receiving the Mark of the Beast. Contrary to SDA teachings, this has nothing to do with a day of worship. The Bible teaches that "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9). Those who are carnally minded receive the Mark of the Beast. Their carnal minds are sealed with a mark to identify their loyalty to the carnal kingdom of Satan. Those who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit will receive the Seal of God, denoting their loyalty to the Kingdom of God.

Conclusion - Seventh-day Adventism has elevated an obscure and easily-misunderstood passage in the book of Revelation to a position of prime importance to their sect. Unfortunately, they have misinterpreted the meaning of this passage, resulting in a twisted and warped understanding of their relationship to other Christian churches. Realizing the absurdity of their position, SDA evangelists are reluctant to reveal their understanding of the meaning of this passage to other Christians whom they are recruiting to join the sect. However, once they are in the sect, new Seventh-day Adventists are groomed to view other Christian churches as "Fallen," "Babylon," or "Apostate Protestantism." While Jesus prayed for unity between believers (John 17:22), SDAs seek to drive a wedge between Christian faiths.20 Such vicious sectarianism is contrary to both the gospel and the Spirit of Christ.

Common Questions

The Gospel that Peter proclaimed in the book of Acts was to all the world. For the Bible says very plainly, "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." (Acts 2:5) You have all of the people that come to your website thinking that "world" in this context means the geographical space instead of the people. I know that there were people from every part of the world in the Northeastern United States at the time of the proclamation of the First Angel's message. I don't base this on an assumption but on immigration records. America is the great melting pot. So I believe you have failed in trying to paint Ellen White out to be a false prophetess. Paul must have lied to because he said that the gospel had been preached to all the world in Colossians 1:5, 6: "For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:" We know Paul wasn't including India, China, and what today is Russia, now don't we? (Pastor T.)

Pastor T: There are two parts to your question. First, let me deal with your assumption that because Peter and Paul used the terminology "every nation under heaven" and "all the world" to refer to mere parts of the world (and not the whole), then it is acceptable for Seventh-day Adventists to claim the first angel's message went to all the world (when in fact it went to less than one percent of the world.)

To prove that assumption, one must prove that John really meant the first angel's message would only go to a tiny sub-section of the world, and that Seventh-day Adventists understood it as such.

First, there are times when the world or nations was used in the New Testament in reference to the Roman Empire, or what we might call the "civilized world" (see Luke 1:2; Acts 11:28; 17:6; 24:5). This is the usage of Peter and Paul as noted in your question. Secondly, there are times when world or nations actually meant the entire world and every nation on earth. For example,

  • ...in all the world for a witness unto all nations... (Matt. 24:14)
  • And before Him shall be gathered all nations... (Matt. 25:32)
  • Go ye therefore, and teach all nations... (Matt. 28:19)
  • Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mk. 16:15)
  • And the gospel must first be published among all nations. (Mk. 13:10)
  • ...he...shall gather together his elect...from the uttermost parts of the earth... (Mk. 13:27)
  • ...remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations... (Lk. 24:27)
  • For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son... (John 3:16)
  • ...ye shall be witnesses...unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
  • Their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. (Rom. 10:18)

In every case above, SDAs interpret these as references to the entire globe. The question is, what was the first angel referring to? The nations of the Roman Empire, or the entire world?

To begin, the first angel had a message to preach "unto them that dwell on the earth" (Rev. 14:6). How do Seventh-day Adventists interpret this? According to the SDA Bible Commentary:

...a worldwide proclamation of the gospel is here envisioned... The universality of the message is emphasized by this... (p. 827)

There is no doubt among SDAs that the three angels' messages are to literally be preached to every "nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people."

Furthermore, SDAs repeatedly interpret similar language in the book of Revelation to indicate the entire world, not a subset of it. In each of the passages below, SDAs interpret these as the whole earth, not a part:

  • ...redeemed...of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. (Rev. 5:9)
  • ...I beheld a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues... (Rev. 7:6)
  • ...and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. (Rev. 13:7)
  • ...for all nations shall come and worship before thee... (Rev. 15:4)
  • ...For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication... (Rev. 18:3)

The bottom line is that from their inception, SDAs have understood that the three angels' messages were to go into the entire world (not just Northeastern USA), and into every language (not just English). The fact that Peter and Paul used the terms "world" or "every nation" does not justify SDAs in claiming the Millerite message went into all the world, because SDAs fully understood the first angel's message was to go to every human on the planet. For example, SDAs have intentionally tried to cast the Millerite movement as a worldwide fulfillment of the first angel's message even when they knew full well that it did not even begin to fulfill the scope or nature of that message.

Second, you claim that because the Millerite message was preached in the Northeastern USA, and that because many people of different European nationalities lived in the Northeastern USA, that this is an acceptable fulfillment of the first angel's message.

First, immigration to the Northeastern USA was primarily from Western Europe during the 1800s, and I have seen no proof that any more than a dozen nationalities actually heard the message. Furthermore, I have seen no proof that it was preached anywhere in the USA in any language other than English. This pales in comparison to the message described in Revelation, that was to go to "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people."

Again, let it be stated, that SDAs have never understood the first angel's message as only going to English-speaking people of different national origins living in a single nation. If they believed that, they would have stopped evangelizing the world as soon as they had evangelized the Northeastern USA! How could a message preached in English be construed as a message that went to "every language?"

Pastor T., I have no doubt you sincerely believe the Millerite fiasco was a fulfillment of the first angel's message. However, do you believe that because you are looking at an objective analysis of Scripture and history? Or because you are viewing the event through the eyes of your prophetess Ellen White?

For Deeper Study

Citations

  1. SDA Mission Statement as of Dec. 21, 2008, www.adventist.org/world_church/name_mission/index.html.en.
  2. Ellen White, Early Writings (1882), 235.
  3. Ellen White, Spiritual Gifts (1858), vol. 1, 134.
  4. Ellen White, The Great Controversy (1911), 424. See also Life Sketches Manuscript, 112.
  5. White, Early Writings, 237.
  6. Ellen White, The Story of Redemption (1947), 364-65.
  7. Ibid., 366.
  8. Ellen White, Letter 9, 1853, to Sister Kellogg.
  9. White, Early Writings, 260.
  10. Ellen White, The Present Truth, August 1, 1849.
  11. Ellen White, The Spirit of Prophecy vol. 4 (1884), 232-233.
  12. Ellen White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 17 (1885), 334.
  13. Ellen White, The Great Controversy (1911), 615-616.
  14. Joshua V. Himes, The Morning Watch, Feb. 20, 1845, emphasis supplied.
  15. Ibid. Note: His testimony is certainly more reliable than that of Ellen White, who was, after all, only a sickly 17-year-old teenager in 1844.
  16. White, Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1, 190-191.
  17. Arnold Valentin Wallenkampf, What Every Adventist Should Know About 1888, (Washington, DC, 1988), 10.
  18. The Apostle Peter may also be alluding to Rome, when he uses the term "Babylon" in 1 Peter 5:13.
  19. See for example, Ex. 3:7,10; 5:1; 7:4,16; 8:1,8,20-23; 9:13; 10:3-4; 12:31; 20:25; Lev. 26:12; 1 Chron. 17:7-10; 2 Chron. 11:1; 2 Chron. 6:5-6; 2 Chron. 7:13-14; Isa. 1:3; 3:12,15; 5:13; 10:2; 10:24; 22:4; 26:20; 32:13,18; 40:1; 43:20; 47:6; 51:4,16; 52:4-6; 53:8; 57:14; 58:1; 65:19; Jer. 2:11,13,31,32; 4:22; 5:26,31; 6:14,27; 7:12,23; 8:7,11,19,21,22; 9:2,7; 11:4; 12:14,16; 15:7; 18:15; 23:13,22,27,32; 24:7; 30:3,22; 31:1,14,33; 32:38; 33:24; 51:45; Lam. 2:11; 3:48; 4:3,6,10; Eze. 11:20; 13:9,10,18,19,21,23; 14:8,9,11; 21:12; 25:14; 34:30; 36:8,12,28; 38;14,16; 39:7; 45:8,9,18; Hos. 4:6,8,12; 6:11; 11:7; Joel 2:26,27; 3:2,3; Amos 7:8,15; 8:2; 9:10,14; Oba. 1:13; Mic. 1:9; 2:4,8,9; 3:3,5; 6:3,5,16; Zep. 2:8,9; Zec. 2:11; 8:7,8; 13:9; Mat. 2:6; Acts 7:34.
  20. For example, some follow Ellen White's example in claiming that the prayers of non-SDAs are not heard by Jesus, because non-SDA prayers are ascending to the Holy Place, whereas Jesus has moved into the Most Holy Place.