Dual Fulfillment
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Based on time span, Dr. Litch concluded the fifth trumpet marked the rise of Othman, a Moslem commander who founded the Ottoman Empire. Litch calculated the five months mentioned in Revelation 9:5 began on July 27, 1299 when Othman began to assault (torment) the Greeks and the 150 years (using a day for a year) of torment ended when Constantine was crowned at Sparta in 1449. (This Constantine is not to be confused with the Constantine who ruled over Rome during the fourth century A.D.) Shortly after Constantine was crowned, Constantinople fell to the Moslems and according to Litch, the Ottoman Empire ruled over the Greeks for 391 years and 15 days. Litch concluded in 1838 that the Ottoman Empire would fall two years later, specifically on August 11, 1840. Litch’s prophetic position was hot news! It was widely published throughout New England and everyone waited anxiously to see what would happen. “At the very time specified.” Ellen White wrote in 1888, “Turkey, through her ambassadors, accepted protection of the allied powers of Europe, and thus placed herself under the control of Christian nations.” The Millerites were overjoyed. Their prophetic interpretation was on track. The Ottoman Empire had fallen and their joy increased as hundreds of new converts swelled the Millerite movement. Seeing was believing. The end of the world was less than four years away!  

 

Three Tragic Outcomes

 

There are three tragic outcomes in this story. First, Jesus did not come in 1843 (the date was later changed to the Spring of 1844 and changed again to October 22, 1844) and this was a bitter disappointment for thousands of Millerites – the disappointment was so deep that many abandoned their faith in Jesus altogether. Second, history reveals that the Ottoman Empire did not fall on August 11, 1840 as Litch predicted. Consequently, anyone still clinging to Litch’s interpretation on the fifth and sixth trumpets is trusting in a meaningless interpretation. Third, by 1850 many Protestants churches in the United States abandoned the study of Daniel and Revelation altogether because Miler’s fiasco had proven that a historical approach to prophecy could not be trusted.

 

The Millerites reaped a bitter harvest because they (unwittingly) forced the Bible to support their conclusions. Ironically, history is about to be repeated. Millions of Christians today are forcing the Bible to support their prophetic conclusions and they will be bitterly disappointed when they discover that there is no pretribulation rapture and no way of escape the destruction of the seven trumpets. On the other hand, millions of Christians who hold to a historical interpretation of prophecy will also be bitterly disappointed when they discover there is no escape from the seven trumpets! In both cases, the result will be the same – an overwhelming disappointment and spiritual bitterness.

In 1873 (35 years later), Dr. Litch published a book titled, A Complete Harmony of Daniel and the Apocalypse (published by Claxton, Temsen & Haffelfinger, Philadelphia) and to his credit, he indicated that his previous view on the seven trumpets had been wrong. After the failures of 1843 and 1844, he went back to the Bible to see where he had went wrong. He found some answers and became convinced that the seven trumpets would be seven future events (including a meteoric firestorm that burns up a third of Earth and two civilization threatening asteroid impacts). Litch concluded the seven trumpets would take place just before the Second Coming. (See pages 155-158.)

 

Just the Facts

 

Faye, I have considered the SDA position on the seven trumpets and it makes no sense to me. It is basically the same position the Millerites held. It appears to me that the SDA Church defends the Millerite position on the seven trumpets for two primary reasons. First, Ellen G. White (who was a Millerite) believed the seven trumpets were historical in nature and any deviation from the prophet’s “pen of inspiration” is thought to be an abomination. In other words, some SDAs believe that God spoke through Ellen White and her words have the weight and authority of Scripture. Second, Seventh-day Adventists are committed to a historical position on prophecy because they believe the historical approach uniquely identifies the true Antichrist, which they believe is the pope, and they also believe the mark of the beast is Sunday observance.

 

Some SDA scholars have recognized that Litch’s August 11, 1840 date is meaningless. For example, Mervyn Maxwell positions the 391 years between 1453 and 1844. Unfortunately, SDAs are locked in the historical approach because (a) no one within the church can openly say the prophet was wrong, and (b) the SDA Church believes that any other approach to prophecy undermines the identity of the Antichrist and the mark of the beast.

 

I have asked some SDA pastors and scholars about the church’s relationship to the seven trumpets. Usually, they brush aside the importance of the topic with one of two arguments. First, they often say the trumpets are in the past and are not essential to our salvation. Some, like your pastor, may say that a dual fulfillment is possible. This seems to open the door for further Bible study without directly addressing Ellen White’s authority or statements on the matter. In other words, the dual fulfillment argument allows staunch members to hold to their historical views, but also allows new members to embrace another view. (Ironically, the Catholic Church did the same thing at the turn of the 16^th century by offering the preterist and futurist views of prophecy simultaneously.)  For reasons already presented, dual fulfillment is impossible. Multiple interpretations make putty out of the “more sure word of prophecy.” Let me be clear, the intended meaning of a passage does not change with time and a fulfillment only occurs when all of the specifications are perfectly full-filled.

 

Second, a few Adventists claim that Ellen White believed the seven trumpets are yet future and they quote for a book written in 1890, Selected Messages Volume III, page 426. This quote says, “Solemn events before us are yet to transpire. Trumpet after trumpet is to be sounded; vial after vial poured out one after another upon the inhabitants of the earth.” To me, this argument is not academically honest for four reasons. First, if Ellen White believed the seven trumpets were future, why didn’t she correct her errant position published two years earlier in the 1888 edition of The Great controversy? This book was published 27 years before she died and that is plenty of time to correct a glaring mistake. Second, if Ellen White believed the “seven trumpets” were future, why didn’t she say something specifically about the seven trumpets being future events? For someone who wrote 250,000 handwritten pages during her lifetime, there is total silence about any of the seven trumpets as future events. The silence speaks for itself.

 

Third, my research indicates that Ellen White mentioned the word “trumpets” 95 times in her writings. In all these references she neither treats the seven trumpets as seven historical events or uses the word “trumpet” to identify a warning instrument, such as: “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand.” (Joel 2:1) Finally, some Seventh-day Adventists say that her statement on the sixth trumpet in The Great Controversy should not be taken as though she is presenting her thoughts; rather she is presenting Litch’s view on the sixth trumpet. This argument is a smokescreen. If Ellen White knew that Litch was in error, why didn’t she say so? Litch’s error occurred in 1840. Ellen White lived 75 years after 1840 and she never once wrote a word about Litch’s error. Truthfully, if she is writing about Litch’s position in The Great Controversy she lives the reader with the idea that Litch’s position is perfectly valid! After hearing this four argument a few times, I conclude that Seventh-day Adventists are avoiding the fact that she is factually wrong. (My research has revealed that she is factually wrong in several areas, but that is another matter.)

 

Summary

 

In closing, I believe the historical position on the seven trumpets the SDA Church defends is not valid. Further, the SDA Church does not use valid rules of interpretation and history does not support their claims of fulfillment in several prophetic topics. Faye, I know my remarks are painful, but this is an honest view of my conclusions. The three most compelling reasons I believe the historical view cannot be supported are:

 

1.   The Ottoman Empire Did Not Fall in 1840

 

From 1783 to 1914, the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire were increasingly reduced through a series of defeats. The war waged against the Sultan of Turkey in 1840 ended in 1841 without significant changes in territory. During World War I, Turkey allied with Germany and lost even more territory. Most historians today 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 historians do not regard August 11,1840 as having any significance in Turkish history.

 

2.   Faulty Understanding of the Greek Language

 

Dr. Litch reached the August 11, 1840 date through a 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 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. The translation should 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 position to defend one way or another) widely agree that the syntax of Revelation 9:15 points to a specific point in time and is therefore punctiliar. The phrase should not be regarded as the sum of the chronological units of time. (See the NIV, NEB, NEV, RSV, and ASV.) In other words, the sixth trumpet says nothing about the 391 years and 15 days.

 

3.   August 11, 1840 Is the Wrong Date

 

The final problem with August 11, 1840 date is that Dr. Litch failed to adjust his 391 year, 15 day prophecy according to a change in the calendar which occurred in October, 1582. Pope Gregory XIII removed ten days from the Julian calendar that year to reset the Julian calendar with respect to the Sun. Therefore, Dr. Litch’s August 11, 1840 date should have been adjusted to August 21, 1840 and nothing of historical consequence occurred on that date.

 

I know that my responses may be difficult to accept, but the truth speaks for itself. Once the 1843 paradigm of the Millerite movement is understood and the once historical facts are put on the table, it is clear that the historical position advocated by Miller, Litch, and Ellen White is factually wrong. Of course, well meaning SDA pastors may promote the illusion of dual fulfillments, but multiple interpretations only harms and further obscures the truth. Why not let the Bible speak for itself? I have no doubt that Miller, Lich and White did their best to understand God’s truth and if they were alive today, I believe they would eagerly update their thinking. 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 have to use valid rules of interpretation. If the bitter failure of the Millerite movement teaches us anything, it proves there is no other way!

 

Best wishes,

Larry Wilson

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