Deceived, self-satisfied, asleep

Hi Pastor A____, 

  You deserve a lot more than one grateful thanks. You greatly broadened my understanding of the Bible, which I still use, and no doubt, much of what you taught us went right over my head, never to be retrieved. I still remember your pep talk in the gym where you spelled out (in no uncertain terms) that if we desired good grades, we should not study while laying down in our beds. And the other point that still sticks in my mind from that talk was your expression that the Sabbath shouldn’t be a disruption of what would otherwise be a normal week. I smelled the smoke of righteous indignation, and very much needed!

  I go back to __ Academy sometimes, and the students don’t appreciate the blessings of the Sabbath. We’ve lost our urgency. We’re repeating the history of the Jews. Do you believe Desire of Ages is prophetic, pointing at the last generation of the Advent movement? If it is, Mrs. White spoke of us when she wrote,

“He [John the Baptist] saw his people deceived, self-satisfied, and asleep in their sins. He longed to rouse them to a holier life. The message that God had given him to bear was designed to startle them from their lethargy, and cause them to tremble because of their great wickedness. Before the seed of the gospel could find lodgment, the soil of the heart must be broken up. Before they would seek healing from Jesus, they must be awakened to their danger from the wounds of sin.” p. 103.

   Maybe she applied this to her role as prophet, but the need is greater now, isn’t it? Or is this just my narrow perspective of 50 years, instead of a 170 year scope? I believe that the Advent movement experience will differ nothing from ancient Israel, where blatant disregard of the prophets ended them in a long 600 year captivity, rife demonic control, and pervasive ignorance of the character of God. At the end, the people would finally be able to listen to the Spirit of God. And that’s when He sent His Son. God had one shot at redeeming the world, and He wouldn’t squander the gift of His Son on a nation that wasn’t run through the ringer in order to circumcise their ears and minds. He must do everything possible to open ears and minds. And He has never been too nice to hit hard if that would wake up the people He loved. “Too nice” would be like a defibrillator set on 1 volt.

  Based on that idea, I have interpreted Daniel 12:7, “when he (God) shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people....” And Isaiah 40:1, 2, “Cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned....” What this says to me is that the Advent movement and all of Protestantism are due a very big punishment from above; and the armies of Babylon are already amassing outside the walls. The final assault will take many by surprise; but the final pardon will be worth it.

  It’s not a pretty story that I’m writing about in my manuscript, but I believe it is the message of Revelation to this last generation before the troubles come. However, I do like the promise from Isaiah 40:1, 2 to the descendents of the Reformation. I love it very, very much. And I want to be able to correctly let it have its day in court throughout my book. But, it needs to be balanced with the bad news, because only the bad news will arouse the sleeping people and prepare their hearts for the good news. This is God’s age-old method, isn’t it? (Deut. 32:39; Hos. 6:1). How can He deeply heal unless we are first deeply wounded? If we won’t learn the easy way during times of peace, we might learn the hard way during times of difficulty.

   But, the only message from the false prophets was “good news”, that Babylon would just give a little love tap─which never happened. That kind of message made the people happy, but it put them in a deeper sleep.  I see that this is why Mrs. White concentrated so heavily, although not exclusively, on the bad news. I have brought up this concept often in the manuscript.

    Take care, Pastor A____,

David