Dear Jeff,
The study of prophecy is very intriguing. Having spent enough time and note-taking to become generally confused, I go back to abiding in Christ and then back to prophecy again. I see that time is shorter than we think.
I have some questions about September 11, 2001 being the beginning of the 3rd woe:
Question 1
Does the information we now have on the 3rd woe enhance the following statement by James White:
“The third woe is by reason of the voice of the seventh angel… The seven plagues are poured out under the sounding of that angel, hence the plagues are future, and constitute the third woe”. Life Incidents connection with the Great Advent Movement, page 261?
With the information we now have that James did not have, could it be that by the principle of the ‘triple application of prophecy’, Islam’s rise to terror is the beginning of the third woe?
Question 2
But how do the woes fit with Daniel 11:41? If verse 40 is about 1989, then verse 41 cannot be about 1841 or 1833. (You can tell that my notes have confused me and my brain is not retentive.)
Question 3
Then again, does Isaiah 11:14 have any relational application with Daniel 11:41 or Revelation 11:15-19?
Too many mysteries for one day. I am sure you have covered these things in some of your materials. If the material is available I will be glad to purchase a CD or two.
Thank you for your dedication to God’s Word. May you always be faithful. JH.
Response
Dear JH,
Answer to Question 1
If James White was suggesting that the third woe is the plagues (and I believe he is), then he is mistaken. I have no problem identifying that the third woe begins a crisis that continues to escalate up to, and during the seven last plagues; the arrival of the plagues simply adds to the escalating crisis. We point out when dealing with this subject, that there was a time when Joseph Bates wrote an article identifying that all the events of Revelation 11:18 occurred simultaneously.
“And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.” Revelation 11:18.
After Elder Bates penned the article, Sister White wrote a statement in 1849 in response to it:
“I saw that the anger of the nations, the wrath of God, and the time to judge the dead were separate and distinct, one following the other, also that Michael had not stood up, and that the time of trouble, such as never was, had not yet commenced. The nations are now getting angry, but when our High Priest has finished His work in the sanctuary, He will stand up, put on the garments of vengeance, and then the seven last plagues will be poured out.” Early Writings, 36.
Here we are clearly told that the angering of the nations takes place before the wrath of God, and that the wrath of God is the seven last plagues.
Verse 18 identifies the third woe by the phrase: “the nations were angry” (please bear in mind that the third woe is not the seventh trumpet, but is an aspect of it). So from this, I understand that the work of Islam is to anger the nations, in fulfillment of the third woe; and that this is to take place before the wrath of God – the seven last plagues.
In verse 14 the second woe has concluded:
“The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.” Revelation 11:14.
And from verse 15 onward we see the progression of history under the seventh angel: from the beginning of the sounding of the trumpet on October 22, 1844 until the end of the Great Controversy.
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
“-And the nations were angry, “-and thy wrath is come,
“-and the time of the dead, that they should be judged,
“-and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. ” Revelation 11:15-18.
Verses 15 through 17 identify the beginning of the judgment when Christ came to receive His kingdom, then verse 18 identifies the angering of the nations; thus marking the troublous times of prophecy that transpire when God’s people are being sealed. Then human probation closes.
Answer to Question 2
Daniel 11:40 is the history from 1798 until the Sunday law. In 1989 the “king of the south” (the former Soviet Union) was swept away by the “king of the north” (the Papacy) and its ally the United States. The history of this verse continues until verse 41 which identifies the Sunday law in the United States.
This war between the Papacy and the Soviet Union in verse 40 is a parallel history to the war between Pagan Rome and the two-fold power of Persia that was correctly identified by the pioneers as the “key” of Revelation 9:1; that when turned, opened the bottomless pit and brought Islam of the first woe into history. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 marked the conclusion of the long waged war that began in 1798, between Papal Rome and the two-fold power of France (remember that the “king of the south” in verse 40, although maintaining the same spiritual characteristics, changed geopolitically from atheistic France to the communistic Soviet Union). At the conclusion of this war, the key had been turned that allowed modern Islam of the third woe to arrive in history; thus September 11, 2001 is also part of the historical narrative of verse 40.
Verse 41 describes the Sunday law in the United States. On August 11, 1840 the first angel’s message was empowered by the fulfillment of the 391 year 15 day time prophecy of the second woe that is set forth in Revelation 9:14, 15. Take note that it is a woe trumpet that empowered the Millerite message in 1840, and that the Millerite history is to be repeated here at the end of the world; therefore we should expect to see a woe trumpet empower the message of the 144,000, which it did on September 11, 2001, when modern Islam was restrained by the world.
As we have already pointed out, modern Islam of the third woe arrived in history on September 11, 2001 after the conclusion of the war in 1989; in fulfilment of the repeat of the first woe. But we also see that a restraint was put on modern Islam on September 11 2001, when the message was empowered, in fulfilment of the repeat of the second woe.
Once the message was empowered in 1840 it was to go to the whole world, and it was to test the world. However the test was progressive; it first tested the Protestants of the United States before it went to the rest of the world. The Protestants were tested in 1841 paralleling the test of the Sunday law in verse 41, and by the June of 1842, according to Sister White, the different denominations, with few exceptions closed their doors to the Millerite message.
“In June, 1842, Mr. Miller gave his second course of lectures in Portland. I felt it a great privilege to attend these lectures, for I had fallen under discouragements and did not feel prepared to meet my Saviour. This second course created much more excitement in the city than the first. With few exceptions the different denominations closed the doors of their churches against Mr. Miller.” Testimonies, volume 1, 21.
We refer to the year 1833 in connection with William Miller formalizing the message for that generation. All great reformatory movements are the same and one waymark of each of these histories is the development of the message for that particular generation. Moses, Noah, Elijah, Cyrus, John the Baptist were each used to formalize a message for their particular reformation history and in 1833 the Lord used Miller to formalize the first angel’s message.
Answer to Question 3
Isaiah 11:14 represents the eleventh-hour workers who come out of Babylon during the loud cry message as Edom, Moab and Ammon:
“But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.” Isaiah 11:14.
These three tribes are also employed by Daniel in verse 41 for the same symbol – the one-hour laborers. It is in verse 41 – at the Sunday Law in the United States – that the loud cry message to come out of Babylon begins; and “Edom, and Moab and the chief of the children of Ammon” represent the one-hour laborers who respond to that message.
In verse 41, Daniel uses the word “chief ” but in verse 14, Isaiah does not; there is a reason for this. The word “chief ” in the original means ‘first fruits’; thus Daniel is identifying that the ‘first’ of God’s “other sheep” that are outside of Adventism “come out of her” [Babylon] at the Sunday Law; whereas Isaiah is identifying the ‘last’ of those one-hour laborers to “come out of her” just before probation closes. Sorry it has taken so long for me to respond. Hope this enhances your studies. Jeff.
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