Prepared by
Biblical Research Institute
May 1988
The
study of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation is important to the spiritual
dynamics of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It has always been so. "Ministers
should present the sure word of prophecy as the foundation of the faith
of Seventh-day Adventists," declared Ellen White. "The prophecies of Daniel
and the Revelation should be carefully studied, and in connection with
them the words, 'Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of
the world.'"-Gospel Workers, p. 148.
Again she wrote: "When the books of
Daniel and Revelation are better understood, believers will have an entirely
different religious experience. They will be given such glimpses of the
open gates of heaven that heart and mind will be impressed with the character
that all must develop in order to realize the blessedness which is to
be the reward of the pure in heart." -Testimonies to Ministers,
p. 114.
Historicist
Method of Interpretation
As
every reader of the Bible knows, the books of Daniel and Revelation are
written largely in symbols. Bible students, consequently, describe them
as apocalyptic prophecy to distinguish from straightforward classical
prophecy, such as we find in the major and minor prophets of the Old Testament.
In these two apocalyptic books God reveals the sweep of the moral controversy
which has convulsed our planet, focusing on the ultimate victory of His
cause and the final doom of the forces of evil.
From the beginning Seventh-day Adventists
have followed the historical method of prophetic interpretation
to explain the symbols and their meaning. Sometimes this approach is called
the historicist method or the continuous historical method.
The historicist method accepts the
assumption that the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation are intended to
unfold and to find fulfillment in historical time - in the span between
the prophets Daniel and John respectively and the final establishment
of God's eternal kingdom. The year-day principle (a symbolic day = a literal
year) is an integral part of this method inasmuch as it functions to unroll
the symbolic time periods so that we are able to locate the predicted
events along the highway of history.
Jesus used the historicist method
for interpreting Daniel when He announced, "The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:15). In this affirmation of prophetic
fulfillment He alluded to Daniel's 70 week prophecy (Dan 9:24-27) which
foretold the appearance of the Messiah. Near the close of His life Jesus
again referred to the same prophecy. This time, however, He pointed to
another aspect-to "the prince that [should] come [and should] destroy
the city and the sanctuary." (v. 26; see Matthew 24:15; Luke 21:20.) These
events were to take place after His death and ascension. Their historical
fulfillment occurred in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by
the Romans in A.D. 70.
The Protestant reformers (from whose
roots we spring) likewise employed the historicist method. On this basis
they concluded that the Papacy was the focus of several of the prophecies
in Daniel and Revelation. Following this method the early Seventh-day
Adventist pioneers came to perceive our own times, the twofold ministry
of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, our identity as a people, and our
task. Our understanding of Daniel and Revelation became the distinctive
frame to hold in place and to highlight the biblical truths we teach as
a church.
Preterist
and Futurist Methods of Interpretation
Sixteenth
century Protestant interpretations of Daniel and Revelation shook the
Roman Catholic Church. In response the Catholic Counter-Reformation introduced
the initial arguments for two different systems of prophetic interpretation:
preterism and futurism. These moves served to deflect the accusing finger
of prophecy away from the papal system.
Preterism (from the Latin, praeter,
meaning "past") argued that these prophetic books met their fulfillment
in the pre-Christian past or early centuries of the Christian era. Preterism
eventually penetrated Protestant thought in the late eighteenth century
and became the standard view of liberal Protestantism. Today, standard
historical-critical scholarship places the composition of Daniel in the
second century B.C. and sees its alleged prophecies as reflecting the
person and times of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid king of Syria.
The book of Revelation is restricted to a Roman setting in the first centuries
of the Christian era.
Futurism entered Protestant ranks
in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The most prominent form
of futurist interpretation today places the fulfillment of the bulk of
Revelation (other than chapters 1-3) in a three and one-half year period
of tribulation at the end of the age, commencing with a secret rapture
of the church to heaven. The seventieth week of the 70-week prophecy of
Daniel 9:24-27 is detached from its setting and relocated as the last
seven years of the world. Many conservative Protestants have adopted futurism
(with additions and variations) as their standard system for interpreting
the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.
Rome shrewdly knew that a change
in the method of interpretation would lead inevitably to a change in conclusions.
It is easy to see that both preterism and futurism direct the prophetic
spotlight away from Rome and her activities. Preterism and present-day
historical-critical studies place all fulfillments in the past. Futurism
defers the fulfillment of the bulk of Revelation to a future point - at
the end of the world after an alleged secret rapture. (Historical-critical
scholars also regard Daniel 11:40-45 as a prophecy that failed to materialize.)
Today, Seventh-day Adventists stand
virtually alone as proponents of the historicist method of interpreting
Daniel and Revelation, the method of Christ, Paul, and the Reformers.
Counter-Reformation
"Knocks" at the Adventist Door
In
a very real sense the spirit of the Counter-Reformation is knocking today
at the door of the Adventist Church and urgently pressing to enter!
Some Adventist Bible students propose
that the church seriously consider the preterist and historical-critical
positions that would regard these prophetic books either as fulfilled
or as having failed in the past. Different approaches are then adopted
to make such prophecies meaningful and relevant to the church today.
Preterist
Variations
For
example, some suggest that a prophecy may have multiple fulfillments.
This approach would argue that the little horn of Daniel 8 could find
successive fulfillments (in different ages) in Antiochus IV, pagan Rome,
papal Rome, and even (just before the end) in Satan when he impersonates
Christ.
Another approach asserts that Daniel's
prophecies are not a revelation of God's foreknowledge. Rather, they
were
intended to be a statement of His purpose and were conditional on Israel's
obedience. When Israel failed to accept the Messiah and was rejected
by
God as His agent, the original intent of Daniel's prophecies failed.
Consequently, Daniel has no meaning for today's church unless later
inspired writers
make a reapplication of a given prophecy. On this basis the preadvent
judgment scene recorded in Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 is forced to become
the erecutive judgment scene of Revelation 20:11-15 because
the latter passage is considered to be John's reapplication of
Daniel 7!
A third spin-off of the preterist
position leads some to take an idealist approach to Daniel and Revelation.
This position argues that the books are to be viewed as ilustrating (in
symbolic form) the great controversy between good and evil - between God
and Satan - from which only spiritual principles may be drawn. While such
a struggle is evident, the idealist chooses to go no further; he is unwilling
to make specific application of the symbols to historical realities.
Futurist
Variations
Other
Adventist Bible students (ministers and laity alike) are taking a more
futurist-oriented approach. They commonly claim loyalty to the historicist
interpretations of Daniel and Revelation which we hold as a people. But
there is a deep desire to make these prophecies relevant to current events.
While some place certain prophecies after the close of probation for their
primary fulfillment (such as the seven trumpets), it is more common
to opt for a dual fulfillment in the end-time of certain selected
prophecies in Daniel and Revelation. The only way in which to retain the
church's historicist positions, they believe, and at the same time to
make certain prophecies relevant, is to employ the dual fulfillment
device.
But there is no consistency. Only
certain chapters are reapplied. For example, some teach that the beasts
of Daniel 7 and 8 are currently meeting another fulfillment in the activities
of the United States, Russia, Iraq, and Iran. Some argue that the 1260
year time period is to have another fulfillment in the future on a day-for-a-day
basis, while others have suggested a dual fulfillment for the 70 week
prophecy.
These well-meaning persons who argue
for a dual fulfillment of selected prophecies in Daniel and Revelation
have one thing in common: they all believe that Ellen White supports
the dual fulfillment theory for the books of Daniel and Revelation.
Seventh-day Adventists have always
recognized from the biblical data itself that certain of the classical
prophecies (in the major and minor prophets) give clear evidence in their
contexts that a more complete fuffillment may be expected after a partial
application (for example, Joel's prophecy about the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit [Joel 2:28-32] and Malachi's prophecy of an Elijah message
[Mal 4:5-6]).
However, we have never taken such
a position on the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. To give dual and
multiple fulfillments to these grand revelations of divine foreknowledge
is to give the face of prophecy a nose of wax to be turned this way and
that. Dual and multiple fulfillments rob these great prophecies of real
significance and evaporate their contribution to our spiritual certainty.
The series on the seven churches is
unique (Rev 1-3). When first written, these messages apparently had a
direct application to the local situation (1:11), and they continue to
carry lessons for the church in every age. But even in this special instance
the Spirit seems to have intended only one true prophetic fulfillment.
"The names of the seven churches are symbolic of the church in different
periods of the Christian Era. The number 7 indicates completeness, and
is symbolic of the fact that the messages extend to the end of time, while
the symbols used reveal the condition of the church at different periods
in the history of the world." - The Acts of the Apostles, p. 585.
But is the assertion true that hidden
away in the writings of Ellen White we may find the seeds of a new method
of interpreting Daniel and Revelation - the dual fulfillment method? Is
it possible that Ellen White in fact taught and endorsed the historicist
method of interpreting Daniel and Revelation and at the same time inserted
statements here and there from which the church could later construct
a new method of prophetic interpretation? Let us not forget the valid
truth that Rome fully recognized when her Jesuit theologians proposed
new methods for interpreting Daniel and Revelation: A change in method
inevitably leads to a change in conclusions.
In terms of prophetic interpretation
the Adventist Church stands at a crossroads. The spirit of the Counter
Reformation knocks on the Adventist door. The decision to open the door
and to go the way an earlier Protestantism went is one option. In today's
ecumenical climate the temptation to go that way is alluring. But there
is valid reason why we should remain loyal to the prophetic faith of our
pioneer fathers.
Ellen
G. White's Historicist Position
There
is not the slightest evidence that Ellen White intended for the church
to follow any other method of interpreting the prophecies of Daniel and
Revelation than the historicist method. In the clearest manner her comments
on the book of Revelation present the historicist understanding that the
prophecies of Daniel and Revelation unroll in history from the times of
Daniel and John until the establishment of the eternal kingdom of God.
For instance:
The book of Revelation opens
to the world what has been, what is, and what is to come; it
is for our instruction upon whom the ends of the world are come. It
should be studied with reverential awe. We are privileged in knowing
what is for our learning. - Ellen G White Comments, The SDA Bible
Commentary, vol. 7, p. 954 (emphasis added).
In the Revelation are portrayed
the deep things of God. . . . Its truths are addressed to those living
in the last days of this earth's history, as well as to those living
in the days of John. Some of the scenes depicted in this prophecy
are in the past, some are now taking place; some bring to view the
close of the great conflict between the powers of darkness and the
Prince of heaven, and some reveal the triumphs and joys of the redeemed
in the earth made new. - The Acts of the Apostles, p. 584 (emphasis
added).
In these comprehensive statements
Ellen White demonstrates how apocalyptic prophecy was designed by God
to find sequential fulfillment as history unfolded. (1) Some of these
prophecies have now met their fulfillment in past ages; (2) some of the
prophecies are finding fulfillment now; (3) some focus on the final conflict
in the controversy and have not as yet met their fulfillment; finally,
(4) some portions of the prophecies relate to the new earth estate and
Ellen
White asserts that the book of Revelation is as important to last-day
Christians as it was to Christians in John's day. "Its truths are addressed
to those living in the last days of this earth's history." This is not
because she is proposing dual fulfillments of those portions of the prophecies
already fulfilled. The implication of her statement is clear. The book
remains relevant because the fulfillments of some of these prophecies
"are now taking place," and others will shortly find fulfillment in "the
close of the great conflict between the powers of darkness and the Prince
of heaven." Furthermore, the present day Adventist may continue to learn
spiritual lessons from past history and prophetic fulfillment. In this
manner the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation continue to give encouragement,
confidence, and motivation to last-day Christians even though large portions
of these books have met complete fulfillment in past ages.
Ellen White does not discuss every
portion of Daniel and Revelation in her writings. Her most comprehensive
presentations are found in the well-known volume,
The Great Controversy.
For example, she presents a clear interpretation of the little horn (Dan
7); the dragon (Rev 12); the leopard beast (Rev 13); and the related time
periods (3 1/2 times = 1260 days = 42 months = 1260 years of papal supremacy,
538-1798) as well as the two-horn beast (Rev 13) and the final conflict
over the Sabbath and God's Law symbolized by the enforcement of the "mark
of the beast" by the "image of the beast." (
See The Great Controversy,
pp. 438-450). These views fully endorse the historicist method and the
main conclusions and positions arrived at by our pioneers who employed
this system. Her divinely guided writings confirm the prophetic foundation
(derived from Daniel and Revelation) on which the Seventh-day Adventist
Church rests today.
Do
the Ellen G. White Writings Teach
Another Method of Prophetic Interpretation?
The
Adventists who are giving a dual fulfillment application to selected prophecies
in Daniel and Revelation generally argue that they find Ellen White's
endorsement of this method hidden in certain statements. These alleged
keys to a new system of prophetic interpretation are scattered throughout
her large corpus of writings and have been brought to light only in recent
years. We turn next to examine citations commonly used without attempting
to be exhaustive:
Exhibit
1
The world is stirred with
the spirit of war. The prophecies of the eleventh of Daniel have almost
reached their final fulfillment. -Review and Herald November
24, 1904, p. 94.
Argument:
Emphasis is put on the phrase, "final fulfillment." It is suggested that
if a prophecy has a final fulfillment, it must have had previous
fulfillments.
Answer: There is no hidden
dual or multiple fulfillment principle here. Ellen White is simply noting
that the last portion of this long prophecy is about to meet its
fulfillment. Daniel 11 is about to be completed. That this is the
true sense of the passage can be seen by comparing her restatement of
the same point five years later in an article entitled, "The Last Crisis."
It reads: "The world is stirred with the spirit of war. The prophecy
of the eleventh chapter of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment."
- Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 14 (published 1909 [emphasis added]).
Exhibit
2
We are standing on the
threshold of great and solemn events. Many of the prophecies are about
to be fulfilled in quick succession. Every element of power is about
to be set to work. Past history will be repeated; old controversies
will arouse to new life, and peril will beset God's people on every
side. Intensity is taking hold of the human family. It is permeating
everything upon the earth.
Study Revelation in connection
with Daniel, for history will be repeated. - Testimonies to Ministers,
p. 116 (emphasis added).
The prophecy in the eleventh [chapter]
of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment. Much of the
history that has taken place in fulfillment of this prophecy will be
repeated. - Letter 103, 1904 (MR 1077 [emphasis added]).
Argument:
A repetition of the historical events which fulfilled a given prophecy
indicates that the prophecy itself will have a dual fulfillment.
Answer: Ellen White uses the
expression, "history will be repeated," a number of times. But history
and prophecy are two different matters. It does not follow that a repetition
of a historical experience also means a repetition of the same prophecy.
Such a conclusion distorts her meaning.
Ellen
White is counseling us to study the prophetic fulfillments of the past
- to study the principles involved - because similar issues will rise
again, and God's people will have to meet them. "Old controversies will
arouse to new life." We prepare ourselves for such issues by understanding
the challenges involved in those past events. History will, indeed,
be repeated, but not the same, specific prophecy that has already met
its fulfillment in the past.
For example, Daniel 7:25 and Revelation
13:7 are two prophecies that deal with the persecution of God's people
during the 1260 years of papal dominance in Europe. We know that persecution
against God's people will be repeated in the closing era of human history
because another prophecy says it will (Rev 13:15-17). But this repetition
of persecution (repeated history) does not involve the repetition of the
prophecies of Daniel 7:25 and Revelation 13:7. Studying the lives of the
faithful and the issues they met in their times - and how they met them
- can strengthen us to meet persecution in our own times should we face
it.
Exhibit
3
The light that Daniel received from God was given especially for
these last days. The visions he saw by the banks of the Ulai and
the Hiddekel, the great rivers of Shinar, are now in process
of fulfillment, and all the events foretold will soon come to pass.
- Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 112-113 (emphasis added).
This statement is linked to the angel
Gabriel's explanation to Daniel after he had seen the vision recorded
in chapter 8: "Understand, 0 son of man: for at
the time of the end
"(Dan 8:17).
Argument: Ellen White died
in the first part of this century. Like Gabriel she is evidently pointing
us to a future event beyond her time.
Answer: In citing this paragraph
by itself (lifting it out of the context of her writings and evident beliefs),
we may make it appear that Ellen White is here supporting a dual fulfillment
of Daniel 8. In the chapter Gabriel specifically mentions the kingdoms
of Medo-Persia and Grecia as the fulfillments of the symbolic ram and
goat respectively (Dan 8:20-21). This is now past history. Yet Ellen White
appears to say that the visions Daniel saw in chapter 8 "are now in process
of fulfillment," and since Gabriel also said the fulfillment would take
place in the "time of the end," it would seem that a current or dual fulfillment
of Daniel 8 is to be expected. However, such a conclusion ignores the
historical setting in which Ellen White wrote the above as well
as
the particular aspect of the vision to which she referred when she
said it was "now in the process of fulfillment."
Ellen White, along with the Adventist
Church in general, believed that the period of papal oppression, the 1260
years, extended from 538 B.C. to A.D. 1798. This prophetic period is mentioned
in both Daniel and Revelation under three different time symbols: (1)
three and one-half times-Dan 7:25; 12:7; Rev 12:14; (2) 1260 days - Rev
11:3; 12:6; (3) 42 months - Rev 11:2; 13:5. Accordingly,
Ellen White
and the pioneers believed that the period of time which extended from
1798 to the close of human probation was to be designated as "the time
of the end "the period spoken of by the angel Gabriel. The preadvent
(investigative) judgment would take place in this period and would be
announced on earth by the first angel's message (Dan 7:9-10, 13-14; Rev
14:6-7). Note Ellen White's clear statements on this point:
Daniel stood in his lot to bear
his testimony which was sealed until the time of the end, when
the first angel's message should be proclaimed to our world.-Testimonies
to Ministers, p. 115 (emphasis added).
Since 1798 the book of Daniel
has been unsealed, knowledge of the prophecies has increased, and
many have proclaimed the solemn message of the judgment near. - The
Great Controversy, p. 356.
The message of Revelation 14,
proclaiming that the hour of God's judgment is come, is given in
the time of the end. -Selected Messages, book 2, p. 107 (emphasis
added).
The prophetic visions of Daniel
and John foretell a period of moral darkness and declension; but
at the time of the end, the time in which we are now living the
vision was to speak and not lie. - Testimonies, vol.5, pp.
9-10 (emphasis added).
In the light of the above remarks
it is evident that when Ellen White said that the visions Daniel saw (chap.
8) "are now in process of fulflillment"
she was referring to the great
preadvent investigative judgment (Dan 7-8) that was going on in heaven
in her day, and which will continue until the close of human probation.
She was not disclosing a hidden principle to lead the church to discover
a dual fulfillment for the ram, he-goat, four horns, and little horn.
The
aspect of the vision which Daniel saw by the banks of the Ulai
that is still in the process of being fulfilled pertains to Christ's Most
Holy Place ministry of judgment prior to His reception of the eternal
kingdom and His second coming. On earth the messages of the three angels
(Rev 14:6-14) continue to announce to global populations the urgency of
the times: "the hour of [God's] judgment is come" (Rev 14:7).
Exhibit
4
The Sabbath question will be
the issue in the great conflict in which all the world will act a
part. [Rev. 13:4-8, 10 quoted.] This entire chapter is a revelation
of what will surely take place [Rev. 13:11, 15-17 quoted]. -Ellen
G White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol.7, p. 979 (emphasis
added).
Argument: This passage is cited
as "the clincher" to prove that Ellen White endorsed a dual fulfillment
of the prophecies, and, in this instance, a replay of the 1260 year prophecy
The reader is asked to observe that
Ellen White quotes Revelation 13:4-8, in this passage. The text portrays
the papal power under the symbol of a leopard beast with seven heads and
ten crowned horns. The passage also includes the time element of its supremacy
before its wounding: 42 prophetic months or 1260 prophetic days. The reader's
attention is then directed to the statement following the Scripture passage:
"This
entire chapter is a revelation of what will surely take place"
(emphasis added).
From this two-point sequence the following
position is reasoned: The 1260 year career of the papacy is past. But
now Ellen White tells us that this "entire chapter" - including
the 42 month time element - will [future tense] surely take place. Here
is a clear-cut proof for employing a dual fulfillment principle to interpret
Daniel and Revelation in a manner to render them relevant to our times.
Answer: This Ellen White statement
needs only to be read in its setting to see that it provides no basis
for a dual fulfillment of Revelation 13:1-10 or its time period. If the
commentary volume is available, the reader is invited to follow along
as we sketch the contents of this two-paragraph selection printed as a
comment on Revelation 14.
The context of the alleged "clincher"
begins in a preceding paragraph in which Ellen White first quotes Revelation
14:9-10, the third angel's warning against the mark of the beast and its
image. She then makes her point: "It is for the interest of all to understand
what the mark of the beast is, and how they may escape the dread threatenings
of God.
Why are men not interested to know what constitutes the mark
of the beast and his image? [emphasis added]. it is in direct contrast
with the mark of God" She then cites Exodus 31:12-17 which states that
the Sabbath is God's "sign" or mark, thus implying that the "mark of the
beast" is something that is just the opposite of the Sabbath. She continues:
"The
Sabbath question will
be the issue in the great conflict in which all the world will act a part"
(emphasis added). At this point she cites Revelation 13:4-8, 10. This
passage provides the information by which one can identify the beast:
its origin/power derived from the dragon; its special rule for 42 prophetic
months; its persecution of the saints in that time; its blasphemy against
Heaven; its captivity; and the fact that the world will worship and follow
its lead again. On the basis of this data one can determine that the beast
is the papal power. This puts the reader in a position to identify the
mark and image of the beast as she urged him to do in the first paragraph
of her statement.
After citing Revelation 13:4-8,10
(providing the information for identifying the beast), Ellen White says,
"This entire chapter is a revelation of what will surely take place."
She then immediately quotes (
by way of explanation) Revelation
13:11, 15-17. These verses foretell the rise of the two-horn beast (vs.
11) and the institution of the image of the beast and the enforcement
of the mark of the beast under penalty of boycott and death.
Thus, it is quite clear that when
Ellen White says, "This entire chapter is a revelation of what will surely
take place," she is not saying that Revelation 13:4-8, 10 is going to
have a dual fulfillment. To force such a meaning is to wrest the statement
from its context.
Her topic is not a dual fulfillment
of Revelation 13:1-10, or of its time period. Rather, her subject is "the
mark of the beast" and its end-time enforcement. That is the thrust
of both paragraphs of this selection. The only purpose for citing Revelation
13:4-8, 10 is so the reader may identify the beast. If he can identify
the beast, he is in position to identify its mark which, she says, is
just the opposite of God's sign. Thus with the beast and its mark in place,
she points to the prophetic forecast dealing with the image of the beast
and the enforcing of the mark and the crisis that will surround that issue
in the future.
Exhibit
5
Statements
pertaining to Christ's discourse in Matthew 24. The following items are
usually noted: "When He referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, His
prophetic words reached beyond that event to the final conflagration."
- The Desire of Ages, p. 628. "But this prophecy was spoken also
for the last days." - The Desire of Ages, p. 631. "This prophecy
will again be fulfilled" - The Desire of Ages, 633. "The prophecies
that received a partial fulfillment in the overthrow of Jerusalem have
a more direct application to the last days." - Thoughts From the Mount
of Blessing pp. 120-121.
Argument: It is inferred from
these statements that Christ's prophecy regarding the destruction of Jerusalem
will find a second fulfillment in the destruction of the world. Thus,
it is claimed that, according to this exhibit, Ellen White really taught
dual fulfillments of apocalyptic prophecy.
Answer: Here is the setting
for the several citations from The Desire of Ages and Thoughts From
the Mount of Blessing regarding our Lord's Olivet discourse (Matt
24):
Jesus did not
answer His disciples by taking up separately the destruction of Jerusalem
and the great day of His coming. He mingled the description of
these two events. Had He opened to His disciples future events
as He beheld them, they would have been unable to endure the sight.
In mercy to them He blended the description of the two great crises,
leaving the disciples to study out the meaning for themselves.
When He referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, His prophetic words
reached beyond the event to the final conflagration in that day when
the Lord shall rise out of His place to punish the world for their
iniquity, when the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more
cover her slain. This entire discourse was given, not for the disciples
only, but for those who should live in the last scenes of this earth
s history. - The Desire of Ages, p. 628 (emphasis added); see
also p. 631.
It
should be noted at the outset that Ellen White clearly understood that
our Lord's discourse
dealt with two distinct events. One event
had to do with the destruction of Jerusalem, and one had to do with the
Second Coming and the end of the world. He blended His description of
the two because the two judgments had similarities. Because these two
events are blended in the one discourse, the prophecy has value for us
in the end-time of the world as well as for the disciples then. There
is no principle of repeated fulfillments being enunciated here. Each event
which our Lord discusses has its own one-time fulfillment in its own time
slot - the fall of Jerusalem, and later at the end of the age, the fall
Thus we may say that both the contents
of our Lord's course and the comments of Ellen White in
The Desire
Ages and Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing indicate plainly that
Matthew 24 is
not a single prophecy with a dual fulfillment.
Rather,
it is a twofold prophecy dealing with two distinct events (one event viewed
as a symbol of the other, due to certain similarities), each event to
be fulfilled at its respective time. Consequently, neither Matthew
24 nor the Ellen White comments on it provide a sound basis from which
to derive a principle of dual fullfilment for the prophecies of Daniel
and Revelation.
Exhibit
6:
The great work of the
gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than
marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring
of the former rain at the opening of the gospel are again to be fulfilled
in the latter rain at its close. - The Great Controversy, pp.
611-612.
Argument:
The prophecy of the early rain (Pentecost) to have a dual fulfillment
in the outpouring of the latter rain.
Answer: Ellen White comments
on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit are similar to her comments on Matthew
24. Immediately preceding the paragraph cited above, Ellen White quotes
Hosea 6:3 and Joel 2:23. Both passages predict two events: a former
and a latter rain, just as the natural rainy seasons occur in Israel from
which the biblical imagery is taken. Thus, these prophecies which she
cites met a fulfillment at Pentecost (early rain) and will naturally meet
another fulfillment (latter rain) as the work of the gospel comes to its
finale.
Summary: These six exhibits
give a fair sampling of the kind of statements some Adventist Bible students
are using in an endeavor to find Ellen White support for a dual fulfillment
principle. Honesty and a sense of fairness should prevent us from wresting
the writings of one who stands as a strong exponent of the historicist
method to teach a contrary theory of dual or multiple fulfillments. As
we have seen, when the alleged statements are fairly examined, we find
there is no dual or multiple fulfillment principle present to be used
as a tool to explain the apocalyptic prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.
Ellen
White and Dual Fulfillment Proponents
In
the l890s a few Adventists were suggesting future fulfillments of the
three angels' messages (Rev 14). Ellen White reproved such attempts and
regarded their proponents as misled.
In
our day as in Christ's day, there may be a misreading and misinterpreting
of the Scriptures. . . .
There are those who are searching
the Scriptures for proof that these messages are still in the future.
They gather together the truthfulness of the messages, but they
fail to give them their proper place in prophetic history. Therefore
such are in danger of misleading the people in regard to locating
the messages. They do not see and understand the time of the end,
or when to locate the messages. -Evangelism, pp. 612-613 (emphasis
added).
I have not been able to sleep
since half past one o'clock. I was bearing to Brother T a message
which the Lord has given me for him. The peculiar views he holds
are a mixture of truth and error. . . . The great waymarks of truth,
showing us our bearings in prophetic history, are to be carefully
guarded, lest they be torn down, and replaced with theories that would
bring confusion rather than genuine light. . . .
There have been one and another
who in studying their Bibles thought they discovered great light,
and new theories, but these have not been correct. The Scripture is
all true, but by misapplying the Scripture men arrive at wrong conclusions.
. . . Some will take the truth applicable to their time, and place
it in the future. Events in the train of prophecy that had their
fulfillment away in the past are made future, and thus by these
theories the faith of some is undermined.
From the light that the Lord
has been pleased to give me, you are in danger of doing the same
work presenting before others truths which have had their place
and done
their specific work for the time, in the history of the faith of
the people of God. You recognize these facts in Bible history as
true,
but apply them to the future. They have their force still in
their proper place, in the chain of events that have made us as
a people
what we are today, and as such, they are to be presented to those
who are in the darkness of error."
The leadings of the Lord were
marked [to our pioneers], and most wonderful were His revelations
of what is truth. Point after point was established by the Lord God
of heaven. That which was truth then [author's emphasis], is
truth today. But the voices do not cease to be heard - "This is truth.
I have new light." But these new lights in prophetic lines are manifest
in misapplying the Word and setting the people of God adrift without
an anchor to hold them. - Selected Messages, book 2, pp. 101-104
(emphasis supplied).
Conclusions
In
this survey on Ellen White and the interpretation of the prophecies of
Daniel and Revelation three points and out:
1. Ellen White clearly endorses the
historicist method for interpreting the prophecies of these two important
books.
2. The Ellen White writings contain
no dual fulfillment principle hidden in random paragraphs to support the
current practice of reapplying certain prophecies in Daniel and Revelation
to the present scene.
3. Ellen White disavows attempts to
give such prophecies a dual fulfillment. "Events in the train of prophecy
that had their fulfillment away in the past are made future, and thus
by these theories the faith of some is undermined." -Selected Messages,
book 2, p. 102.
Seventh-day Adventists recognize
that we are living in "the time of the end," the closing era of human
probation. In harmony with the historicist method, we, along with Ellen
White, have traced the unrolling of the prophetic scrolls of Daniel
and Revelation. The prophecies which have been fulfilled in the past
give us a firm confidence that God will fulfill the few remaining portions.
These focus primarily on the final conflict between Heaven and the powers
of darkness over the seal of God and the mark of the beast. What
mistaken zeal would constrain us now to alter our method of prophetic
interpretation? What is the nature of the impulse which prompts some
among us to speculate how certain prophecies must be replayed again
with fulfillments that are considered more important than the "first" fulfillment
to which such persons continue paying lip service? We believe such speculation,
if followed, will ultimately leave "the people of God adrift without
an anchor to hold them." -Selected Messages, book 2, p.104.
In the light of this survey we may
be sure that if Ellen White were alive today, she would deplore the strained
interpretations being urged upon the church as a result of employing the
dual fulfillment concept. Furthermore, we may be sure she would request
that her writings not be used to support such an error. And we may be
sure that she would add: If you want to know what the Lord has revealed
to me regarding Bible prophecy, don't try to deduct a hidden principle
from a paragraph here and a line there. Rather, read my volume, The
Great Controversy, where the major lines of Daniel and Revelation
are treated. Here is the prophetic truth for our times.