The National
Sunday Law - Revisited
What will cause seven
billion people
to worship the beast?
Revelation 13:8
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Simple Facts
There are several
reasons why the historical position
on the seven trumpets that the SDA
Church defends is not valid or
defensible. The following facts are
simple. These remarks may be
frustrating to SDAs, but please
prayerfully consider them. Ellen
white wrote: “In the year 1840
another remarkable fulfillment of
prophecy excited widespread interest.
At the very time specified [in
Revelation 9:15], Turkey, through her
ambassadors, accepted protection of
the allied powers of Europe, and thus
placed herself under the control of
Christian nations. The event exactly
fulfilled the prediction.”1
1. The Ottoman
Empire Did Not Fall in 1840
The war waged against
the Sultan of Turkey in 1840 actually
ended in 1841 without significant
changes in territory. From 1783 to
1914, the boundaries of the Ottoman
Empire were increasingly reduced
through a series of defeats. In fact,
during World War I, Turkey allied
with Germany and lost even more
territory. Today, historians widely
agree that the Ottoman Empire ended
during World War I. In 1923, the
Grand National Assembly of Turkey
proclaimed Turkey to be a republic
and Turkey remains a sovereign nation
to this day. History does not
validate that the Ottoman Empire fell
on August 11, 1840 and it is no
surprise that history does not give
August 11, 1840 any significance in
Turkish history.
2. Faulty
Understanding of the Greek Language
Dr. Litch identified
the August 11, 1840 date for the fall
of the Ottoman Empire through faulty
translation of Scripture. The KJV
says: “And the four angels
were loosed, which were prepared for
an hour, and a day, and a month, and
a year, for to slay the third part of
men.” (Revelation 9:15) Dr.
Litch applied the day/year principle
to this verse and derived 391 years
and 15 days out of the hour, day,
month, and year mentioned. However,
the translation should actually read:
“And the four angels who had
been kept ready for this very hour
and day and month and year were
released to kill a third of
mankind.” Greek scholars around
the world (who have no prophetic
position to defend) widely agree that
the syntax of Revelation 9:15 points
to a specific point in time. The
phrase should not be regarded as the sum
of chronological units of time. (See
the NIV, NEB, NEV, RSV, and ASV.) In
other words, the sixth trumpet says
nothing about a span of time lasting
391 years and 15 days.
3. August 11,1840
Is a Totally Meaningless Date!
The insurmountable
problem with the date August 11,
1840, is that Dr. Litch failed to
adjust his 391 year, 15 day prophecy
to reflect a change in the calendar
which occurred in October 1582. Pope
Gregory XIII removed ten days from
the Julian Calendar that year to
reset it with respect to the Sun.
Therefore, Dr. Litch’s August
11, 1840 date should have been
adjusted to August 21, 1840 and
again, nothing of historical
consequence occurred on that date.
Once the 1844 paradigm
of the Millerite movement is
understood and once the facts are put
on the table, it’s clear that
the historical position on the seven
trumpets advocated by Miller, Litch,
and Ellen White is factually wrong.
Of course, some well-meaning SDA
pastors may promote the illusion of
dual fulfillment, but multiple
interpretations only harm and obscure
the truth. Why not let the Bible
speak for itself? I have no doubts
that Miller, Litch, and Ellen White
did their best to understand
God’s Word, and to his credit,
Dr. Litch discovered and publicly
corrected his mistake. I believe that
William Miller and Ellen White would
do the same if they were alive today.
Previous generations could not know
all that we know today because
man’s understanding of
God’s truth is progressive. To
reach the intended meaning of
apocalyptic prophecy, we must use
valid rules of interpretation. If the
bitter failure of the Millerite
movement teaches us anything, it
proves that we have to let the Bible
speak for itself!
The Second Reason
SDAs Keep the Seven Trumpets in the
Past
With one glaring
exception, SDAs believe that all
prophetic time periods in Daniel
and Revelation must be translated
according to their “day
for a year” rule. However, it
remains a mystery why most SDA
scholars do not translate the 1,000
years of Revelation 20 into 365,000
years – which the day/year rule
requires. Nevertheless, because the
fifth trumpet has five months
embedded in it, SDAs have been
unwilling to put the fifth trumpet in
the future. Consistency in
interpretation is very important, but
it is more important to use valid
rules of interpretation. Flawed rules
always yield flawed results.
Note: There is
a Bible process that determines
whether prophetic time is translated
as a day for a year or whether it
should be considered literal time. If
you would like to examine this
process, you can download the
following article for free and read
the Addendum at the end of this
article or you can purchase a book
that includes this article for $5
(including shipping). The web address
is: http://www.sdasundaylaw.org
The rule that SDAs
use, “In Bible prophecy, time is
always translated as a
day for a year,” is invalid. The
process mentioned in the note above
demonstrates that God translates some
prophetic time periods using a day
for a year and others He does not. To
illustrate the difference, we will
examine the forty-two months
mentioned in Revelation 13:5 and
hopefully, you will see that the
day/year rule does not always apply.
Embarrassingly
Simple Logic
To begin, almost
everyone would agree that a wound has
to be inflicted before a wound can be
healed. This is embarrassingly simple
logic, but it is a point that SDAs
distort in Revelation 13. SDAs
believe the papacy received a deadly
wound in 1798 and they also
accurately believe the deadly wound
is healed after 1798. The
problem that SDAs cannot resolve is
that the beast in Revelation 13 is
empowered for forty-two month after
the deadly wound is healed! Study the
following passage from Scripture and
observe the chronological order of
events. This passage of Scripture
begins in 1798. After 1,260 years of
trying to destroy the woman in the
wilderness (538-1798), the devil was
forced to admit failure.
“Then the
dragon was enraged at the woman and
went off to make war against [the
remnant] of her offspring –
those who obey God’s
commandments and hold to the
testimony of Jesus. And the
dragon stood on the shore of the sea [impatiently
waiting for the time when God would
permit him to make war on the remnant
of the woman]. And I saw a beast
coming out of the sea. He had ten
horns and seven heads… The
dragon gave the beast his power and
his throne and great authority. One
of the heads [actually, the sixth
head] of the beast seemed to have
a fatal wound, but the fatal wound
had been healed [when the beast
came up out of the sea]. The whole
world was astonished [at the
appearing of this beast] and [they
voluntarily] followed the
beast…. The beast was given a
mouth to utter proud words and
blasphemies and to exercise his
authority for forty-two month. He
opened his mouth to blaspheme God,
and to slander his name and his
dwelling place and those who live in
heaven.” (Revelation
12:17-13:6. I have added insertions
with [] for clarity.)
Seven Chronological
steps stand out very clearly:
1.
After failing to destroy the woman in
the wilderness (538-1798), the dragon
is furious and he prepares to make
war on the remnant of the woman.
2.
The dragon waits for his final
opportunity to make war on the
remnant of the woman.
3.
A beast with seven heads and ten
horns rises from the sea.
4.
One of the heads seems to have a
fatal wound, but the fatal wound had
been healed.
5.
The whole world is astonished and
follows after the beast.
6.
The beast is given power for
forty-two months.
7.
The beast blasphemes God.
Look again at item #4.
One of the heads seems to have a
fatal wound, but the fatal wound had
been healed. This
specification forces the beast to
rise from the sea after 1798.
Remember, simple logic says a wound
must be inflicted before a wound can
be healed. In other words, this beast
has to rise from the sea after
1798 because the deadly wound is
healed when the beast rises from the
sea and the whole world
follows this beast for forty-two
months as it blasphemes (insults)
God.
SDA evangelists
vigorously argue that the forty-two
months in Revelation 13:5 took place
during the Dark Ages (538-1798). This
is not a reasonable argument because
(a) this beast has no power other
than the forty-two months granted to
it, and (b) this beast rises from the
sea after 1798 because the deadly
wound is healed when the beast
appears! Contrary to what Adventists
say, this beast is not the papacy.
This beast is not to be confused with
the fourth beast in Daniel 7 that was
empowered for 1,260 years. The fourth
beast in Daniel 7 is Rome and the
little horn in Daniel 7 is the
papacy. The little horn persecuted
the saints for 1,260 years during the
Dark Ages.
The first beast in
Revelation 13 represents Babylon and
the papacy is only one seventh of
Babylon. Remember, this beast has
seven heads, and one of the seven
heads, and one of the seven heads
– the head that was wounded
– is the papacy. The fourth
beast in Daniel 7 and the first beast
in Revelation 13 are completely
different beasts. They live at
different times and are empowered at
different times! The forty-two months
of power granted to the first beast
in Revelation 13 occurs after the
deadly wound is inflicted on the
papacy because the deadly wound is
healed when Babylon rises out
of the sea!
Consider the following
two verses and especially notice
verse 8: “He [the
leopard-like beast] was given
power to make war against the saints
and to conquer them. And
he was given authority over every
tribe, people, language and nation
[including China, Russia, India, and
the United States]. All
inhabitants of the earth
will worship [obey] the beast
– all whose names have not been
written in the book of life belonging
to the Lamb that was slain from the
creation of the world.” (Revelation
13:7,8, italics and insertion mine)
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