The Origin of
Sunday Blue Laws in the United States
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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 is 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 their 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
result.
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 read the following
article for free and
read the Addendum at the end of the
article or you can purchase a book that
includes this article.
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 which 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
months 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 rest [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 had 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 months. 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 within [ ] for
clarity.)
Seven chronological steps stand out
very clearly:
- 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.
- The
dragon waits for his final
opportunity to make war on
the remnant of the woman.
- A
beast with seven heads and
ten horns rises from the sea.
- One
of the heads seems to have
had a fatal wound, but the
fatal wound had been
healed.
- The
whole world is astonished and
follows after the beast.
- The
beast is given power for
forty-two months.
- The
beast blasphemes God.
Look
again at item #4: One of the heads
seems to have had a fatal wound, but
the fatal wound had been
healed. This specification forces
this 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 – 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
insertions mine)
SDAs correctly believe that the devil
is preparing to make war on the
remnant of God’s people, but
they do not properly understand Revelation 13:1-8. The devil
is preparing to wage war on the
remnant of the woman in Revelation 12:17, and verse 7
says the devil will conquer the
saints. When this war ends, "All [of
the wicked] inhabitants of
the earth will worship the
beast." Will this war
last forty-two literal months or
another 1,260 years (calculated using
the SDA rule, that is, a day always
represents a year)?
This war will last forty-two literal
months because there is a mechanism
that tells us when God translates a
day for a year and when He does not.
SDAs do not understand this mechanism
and their conclusions on Revelation
13 are prophetically confusing
and harmful. The devil is preparing
to wage war against God’s
saints, and although the SDA Church
anticipates religious persecution,
they are sitting at the wrong bus
stop, prophetically speaking, waiting
for the arrival of a national Sunday
law. Why is the church sitting at the
wrong bus stop? They have put the
seven trumpets in the wrong place!
End
Time Scenario
Because space is limited, I would
like to close with an end time
scenario for your consideration. The
biblical basis for this story is
supported in my book, A Study
on the Seven Trumpets, Two Witnesses
and Four Beasts, so I will not
defend the details here. Just read
over the story, consider its
ramifications and pray about it. If
you want to further examine "the
rest of the story," you
can download the book for
free or you can
purchase a printed copy.
The overall purpose of the seven
trumpets is to awaken the whole world
to the authority and reality of the
returning of our God and Savior,
Jesus Christ. God’s wrath
against degenerate and decadent
behavior is about to be released.
During the seven trumpets, Jesus will
send destructive judgments that will
cause devastation and death on a
scale not seen since the flood in
Noah’s day. The scope and
severity of this destruction will
awaken everyone to the reality that
corporate mercy has ended. The
144,000 will put this world on notice
that Jesus is in charge of Heaven and
Earth, and that He is about to return
to Earth to conclude the sin problem.
Even in His wrath, His generous offer
of salvation is extended. For 1,260
days, the 144,000 will faithfully
proclaim the eternal gospel
throughout the world! (Matthew 24:14; Revelation 14:6,7) Jews,
Moslems, Hindus, Catholics,
Protestants, Atheists, and Pagans
will humbly listen to a gospel that
is unlike anything they have ever
heard. Millions of honest-hearted
people will embrace Jesus Christ as
their Creator and worship Him on His
holy Sabbath as He decrees.
The first four trumpets will occur
over a period of about sixty-four
days and the results will be
overwhelming and catastrophic for the
whole world. The first
trumpet-judgment will be a meteoric
shower of burning hail that burns up
a third of Earth! (Revelation 8:7) Notoriously
wicked places all over the world will
be burned up just like Sodom and
Gomorrah were. The second
trumpet-judgment will be an asteroid
impact on an ocean. Ships will sink
and sea creatures will die. But
worse, the impact of a huge asteroid
will create a tsunami that rises
several hundred feet high. Of course,
a wall of water several hundred feet
high moving at a high rate of speed
will quickly destroy thousands of
coastal cities within a few hours.
The ocean will roil with great
turbulence for months. (Luke 21:25) (Do you
remember the December 26, 2004
tsunami that destroyed 230,000 people
in southeastern Asia? That event
stands as a prophetic warning and is
just a sample of the huge tsunami
that will soon destroy thousands of
coastal cities.)
The third trumpet-judgment will be
another asteroid impact, only this
impact will hit a wicked continent.
Seismic havoc will cause rivers and
underground aquifers to become
contaminated with buried sewage and
toxic waste. Millions of people will
die from drinking poisoned water. The
fourth trumpet describes a judgment
that will affect the Sun, Moon, and
stars. Even though the Bible does not
explicitly say what causes the
darkness, there is a simple
ecological answer. Hundreds of
volcanos will erupt simultaneously.
The ash and ejecta, carried by the
jet stream, will darken the middle
third of planet Earth for months.
Crops will perish and famine will
overtake the world. God’s
coming wrath is beyond calculation,
but so is His great offer of
salvation!
The first four trumpets will achieve
two impressive goals. First,
religious and political leaders will
see God’s wrath with their own
eyes, and the smoldering ruins will
force all mankind to realize that
there is one living God and He is not
happy with this planet. Every nation
on Earth will reel from God’s
judgments. All 194 nations will be
afflicted and as a result, citizens
of the world will conclude that they
must unite as one family to beg
Almighty God for forgiveness so that
His wrath will cease. Out of anguish
and fear, the nations of the world
will repeat the words of ancient
Israel, Whatever you want oh
God, we will do! (Exodus 19:8)
Second, the world’s religious
and political leaders will meet to
discuss ways to appease God. During
this meeting, world leaders will
create a new religious government
that will have authority over all of
the nations of Earth to lead the
world in repentance. The book of
Revelation calls this beast,
"Babylon." Babylon
will be given authority over every
nation without firing a single
bullet. In fact, at first
almost everyone will think that
forming Babylon is a great idea! (Revelation 13:3)
Babylon and its global authority
represent mankind’s united
response to God’s wrath.
Babylon’s mission will be
simple: Appease God so that His
wrath will cease. The leaders
of Babylon will have authority over
all nations to determine what must be
done within each nation to best
appease God’s wrath. Because no
nation wants to further offend God
and risk more destruction, secular
legislators will dutifully carry out
Babylon’s religious demands,
outlawing sinful behaviors of all
kinds.
The
Deadly Wound Healed
Babylon will have seven heads. The
seven heads represent the seven
religious systems on Earth. The head
that was wounded and healed is the
Roman Catholic Church. Preeminent
among equals, the pope will be
selected as the leader of Babylon
because the Catholic Church is the
only church that already has
diplomatic relations (and respect)
with most of the world. Currently,
the Roman Catholic Church has
diplomatic relations with 177
nations. When the religious and
political leaders of the world select
the pope to lead Babylon, the deadly
wound will be healed. Finally, the
reigning pope will have authority
over the nations as he did during the
Dark Ages.
Keep in mind that the pope will not
be put in a position to impose the
doctrines of the Roman Catholic
Church on the nations of Earth.
(Christians are a mere 25% of the
world’s population.) The
world’s religious systems view
the will of God in different ways,
but all seven will have one thing in
common after they see and experience
God’s wrath! They will agree
that mandatory worship and respect is
necessary to appease God! This
process explains the enactment of
laws mandating worship.
The pope and his religiously diverse
executives will approach each nation
according to the prevailing religion
within that nation. For example, the
pope and his cabinet will direct
lawmakers in the United States to
establish a day for repentance and
worship. This is how a national
Sunday law will occur in the United
States. Moslem nations will implement
Friday laws (the Moslem day for
worship), and the modern nation of
Israel will honor Saturday as its
holy day. In fact, every nation on
Earth will enact laws mandating
respect for God so that His judgments
will cease. Each nation will also
implement and enforce additional laws
forbidding sinful behaviors such as
homosexuality (including gay marriage
or gay clergy), abortion, sexual
immorality, gambling, cursing, and
drinking. A long list of
"sin-less" laws will
constitute Babylon’s desperate
effort to appease God’s wrath,
and everyone, in every nation, will
be obligated by severe penalties to
obey these laws.
I know it seems outrageous to say
that the world’s political
leaders will voluntarily submit to
the leadership of the pope and
Babylon’s religious authority!
In today’s secular and diverse
societies, submitting to a single
religious authority is unthinkable
and impossible, but the Bible
predicts it will occur. Do you recall
how Republicans and Democrats stood
together for prayer on the steps of
Capitol Hill after the World Trade
Towers fell? Remember when
representatives from many different
religions later stood together on
that same platform and prayed
together? When world leaders see and
experience the magnitude and scope of
God’s wrath on thousands of
notably wicked places and when they
witness how God’s wrath has
killed almost two billion people,
everyone will tremble at God’s
displeasure.
Final Three Trumpets
A few words about the last three
trumpets is necessary. The fifth
trumpet will be the physical and
glorious appearing of the devil
– the Antichrist himself. The
devil will physically masquerade
around the world as Almighty God! He
will deceive the world through his
mighty miracles. One miracle will
stand out above all others. He will
convince the world that he truly is
God by calling fire down out of
heaven at will. (Revelation 13:13,14) Jesus will
grant the devil, attended by 200
million angels (actually demons
– Revelation 9:11,16), five
months to convince the world that he
is God. (See 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12) The sixth
trumpet is even worse. At the end of
the fifth trumpet, the devil will
demand that a theocracy (the image to
the beast) be established. He will
kill a third of mankind (those who
oppose him) and set himself up as
King of kings and Lord of lords.
Masquerading as God, the devil will
declare, "There is no room
for religious diversity!"
Everyone willing to obey and worship
the devil on his universal holy day
will receive a tattoo (a mark) on his
or her right hand. Evidence of this
tattoo will be required each time a
business transaction occurs. Finally,
the seventh trumpet will sound in
Heaven’s court. This trumpet
will mark the close of God’s
grace and mercy. Every choice will
have been made, every decision is
final. At this time, God will
demonstrate a great display of His
divine power. Everyone on Earth will
look up and see the Ark of the
Covenant, which contains the Ten
Commandments. God will show the world
that His Law is above all laws. The
seven bowls will then be poured out
on those having the tattoo that
represents the mark of the beast.
Summary
We have briefly examined the origin
of Sunday blue laws. We have briefly
examined the prophetic beliefs of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church as they
pertain to a national Sunday law in
the United States. We have briefly
considered the problem of imposing
Sunday laws on 194 countries of the
world. We have noticed that SDAs do
not know what will trigger a national
Sunday law. SDAs do not have an
explanation for Revelation 13:8 because
they do not properly understand the
seven trumpets.
We have also briefly examined the
first four trumpets because they will
drastically change life on planet
Earth as we know it. The first four
trumpet events will be the catalyst
that causes Revelation’s end
time story to begin. They reveal how,
when, and why Revelation’s story
will unfold so that worship will
become the matter of greatest concern
for everyone on Earth. We have
examined some of the obstacles that
prevent SDAs from putting the seven
trumpets in the future. We have also
learned how the long held SDA
position (promoted by Ellen White) on
the sixth trumpet does not have
historical support or significance.
So, where does all of this
information leave you? I hope it
causes you to want to learn more
about the book of Revelation!
This little brochure has been
prepared and distributed in hopes
that you might become motivated to
restudy Revelation and reexamine your
prophetic position. This is
not an attempt to siphon members or
money away from your church. My
concern is simple and
straightforward. I believe the seven
trumpets are about to sound. I
believe that God’s wrath will
soon be directed at Earth and
billions of people will soon perish
as a result. I believe that
God’s Word has much to say about
coming events – much more than
Christians have been willing to
embrace.
Because the Great Tribulation will be
the worst time in Earth’s
history, we need to know and
understand God’s Word. His Word
will be a lamp unto our feet
and a light on our path as
we proceed through 1,335 days of
severe tribulation. At a minimum,
please download the free material. No
strings are attached. The information
provided there is carefully
documented. If you want to order a
printed copy, please contact us. This
brochure has not been sent to sell
you something or to ask for money.
Our joy is sowing the good seed, the
Word of God. The Bible has never been
more relevant than now. Bible truth
is more complete and comprehensive
than ever before. God’s truth is
marching on. We cannot afford to
depend on church leaders or the final
crisis to awaken us. "The
end of all things is near. Therefore
be clear minded and self-controlled
so that you can [study and] pray."(1 Peter 4:7, insertion
mine)
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