11.) Seven Trumpets for Today

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When Adam and Eve were created, they were placed in the beautiful Garden of Eden where every need was provided for their happiness. Their spiritual and social needs were met by the companionship of angels and the daily visits with Jesus in the cool of the day. All was peace and happiness until they yielded to the sorcery of the devil through the medium of the serpent, and fell from their Edenic existence and their perfect agreement with God and each other. The plan of salvation which God has provided through Jesus provides the way back to our original condition of perfect agreement and companionship with God and with those who belong to the family of God.

The Bible is the handbook and the roadmap for our journey back to Eden, and the Holy Spirit is our Guide. Have you ever wondered why there are so many different concepts of truth, even by those who claim to be students of the word of God? It is because the Bible was authored by the Holy Spirit, and therefore can only be understood by those who are guided by the Holy Spirit as they study its pages. It is also true that those who have studied the Bible through past ages receive only the light from God that He deems necessary for their time in history. Therefore those in every generation who study the Bible should study to perceive what God wants to reveal to them which will be relevant for their time in history. Then their preaching will be indicted by the power of the Holy Spirit who will reveal the meaning of the scriptures to the minds of the hearers who are open to the moving of the Holy Spirit.

However, it is more often the case that when people receive a truth from God, they build a fence around it and are not able to move on to further light as it is revealed for succeeding generations. For example, Lutherans continue the teachings of Luther, Methodists the teachings of John Wesley, Baptists the discoveries of the Anabaptists, and so on. While there is certainly precious truth in the past history of Christianity, and certainly in Protestantism as it came out of the darkness and abuses of Catholicism, yet there is present truth and continuing revelations of light that will guide us all the way to the Promised Land. To be reminded of our own danger, we need only to go back to the history of the Jewish people when it was time for Jesus to come as the long-waited Messiah. Because His coming was not in the manner that they had anticipated, many of the Jewish leaders and people rejected Him and thus they were led to crucify the Lord of Glory.

Through the centuries, God moved upon the hearts of men who were open to the movings of His Spirit and revealed to them truths that were not only applicable to the people of their time but also for people who would live in succeeding ages, and especially for those would be alive when Jesus comes.

"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter 1:19-21, KJV.

"Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." 1Cor. 10:11, KJV.

"Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours, so that their prophesying is in force for us… The Bible has accumulated and bound up together its treasures for this last generation. All the great events and solemn transactions of Old Testament history have been, and are, repeating themselves in the church in these last days." 3 SM 338, 339.

"In the great final conflict, Satan will employ the same policy, manifest the same spirit, and work for the same end, as in all preceding ages. That which has been, will be, except that the coming struggle will be marked with a terrible intensity such as the world has never witnessed." GC xi.

"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....

"Angels desire to look into the truths that are revealed to the people who with contrite hearts are searching the word of God and praying for greater lengths and breadths and depths and heights of the knowledge which He alone can give.

"As we near the close of this world's history, the prophecies relating to the last days especially demand our study. The last book of the New Testament Scriptures is full of truth that we need to understand." TM 116.

Since history is to be repeated, what diligent and prayerful students we should be to discover the gems of light that will shine upon our pathway to guide us through the perilous days ahead and safely to the heavenly kingdom!

The Book of Revelation, given near the end of the apostle John's life, has been a book of mystery to many scholars through the ages. But since its very name indicates that God wants His people to understand it, and since it is coming from Jesus Christ Himself, it is imperative that we study to know the secrets that are hidden in its pages. One striking point about the book of Revelation, is that everything comes from the heavenly sanctuary after Jesus went back to heaven to begin His ministry there, and follows through the complete history of the world until Jesus comes again and sin is eradicated from the universe.

There is much present truth that we could learn from a study of the seven churches and the seven seals that would be applicable to our day and time. But the study of the seven trumpets is the most urgent because they lead up to the grand climax of the sounding of the seventh trumpet which announces the establishment of Jesus' kingdom as King of kings and Lord of lords before the universe.

"The seventh angel sounded his trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven which said: 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.' And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying: 'We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great -- and for destroying those who destroy the earth.' Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant." Rev. 11:15-19.

Traditionally, Seventh-day Adventists date the beginning of the 7th trumpet, or third woe, as 1844. [See 7 BC 804, 806; 1957 Ed.] This is understandable, because the time for judging the righteous dead began when Jesus entered the second apartment of the sanctuary in 1844. However, I believe this to be a composite prophecy, for certainly not everything in this passage was completely fulfilled in 1844. For example, the kingdoms of this world had not yet become the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ; nor had the wrath of God which is the seven last plagues begun at that time, nor the destruction of those who destroy the earth.

Here are some supportive statements for my premise from the Bible commentary referred to above:

"Wrath. The wrath of God is summed up in the seven last plagues (ch. 15:1). The work of opposition against Christ is brought to a halt by these plagues.

"Time.... This is a time of judgment, both of reward and of destruction....

"The mention of both reward and destruction indicates that John is speaking of the final judgment, which takes place after the millennium (ch. 20:12-15)."


Another interesting comment supporting the dual application is found on page 820:

"The United States today continues to maintain the principles of freedom guaranteed in the Constitution. The manner in which a change in policy will be brought about is outlined in the present prophecy [Revelation 13:11]. The change comes in connection with the final crisis immediately preceding the time when 'the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ' (Revelation 11:15)."


One more support for a dual application of Revelation 11:15-19 is found in Daniel 12:13:

"As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance."

I believe this to be referring to the same event that John is speaking about in Revelation 11:18, when the prophets, along with all the righteous dead, are raised to receive their immortal inheritance at the second coming of Jesus. Paul speaks of this event in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54:

"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has
been swallowed up in victory.'"

Therefore I believe it is fair to say that while Jesus began to receive His kingdom when He entered into His work in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844, the prophecy of the seventh trumpet will not be completed until the end of the world when He comes back to earth again to receive His bride and His kingdom.

Having established that the 7th, or last trumpet, is only completely fulfilled at the second coming of Christ, I want to explore another scripture referring to the seventh trumpet. This is found in Revelation 10:5-7:

"Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth, and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, 'There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.'"

In this quotation, I am purposefully using the New International Version of the Bible rather than the King James Version, because I want to emphasize the phrase, "There will be no more delay!” as translated in the NIV. When our forefathers first read this text, they correctly interpreted it as meaning there would be no more time prophecies extending beyond 1844.

"Seventh-day Adventist have generally understood the 'time' to be prophetic time, and its end
to signify the close of the longest time prophecy, that of the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14. After this there is to be no further message bearing on a definite time." 7 BC 798.

However, it is also possible to translate this passage as it is in the NIV. Please note the Greek wording:

"Gr. chronos ouketi estai, ' time no more shall be' Many expositors have understood it to mark
the end of time, as such, and the beginning of eternity. Others have taken the word 'time' in the sense of the time that elapses before the final events of history, and so have translated, 'there shall be no more delay.'" Ibid.


The Strong's Concordance also gives this wording as a possible translation:

Chronos; of uncert. der.; a space of time (in gen., and thus prop. distinguished from 2540, which designates a fixed or special occasion; and from 165, which denotes a particular period) or interval; by extens. an individ. opportunity; by impl. delay: -- season, space, time (s), (a) while.

I believe that God guided our ancestors in their understanding of this text, and backed up by Ellen White, it has stood as a bulwark of truth preventing a continual reinterpretation of the time prophecies. Interestingly, some of our early pioneers did quote this text as, "There will be no more delay", possibly hoping that Jesus would still come in their day. But it was not to be, for there is yet another part of Revelation 10:6, 7, which must be fulfilled before Jesus comes. It is the completion of the work of the gospel -- the finishing of the mystery of God. Both the scriptures and the writings of Ellen White make clear that the ultimate goal for the people of God is their perfection as they are cleansed of all sin, and therefore become clean vessels through whom Jesus lives out His perfect life by the power and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

"I Paul am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you,
to fulfill the word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to the saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." Col. 1:23-28, KJV.

"In Christ dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily. This is why, although He was tempted in all points like as we are, He stood before the world, from His first entrance into it, untainted by corruption, though surrounded by it. Are we not also to become partakers of that fullness, and is it not thus, and thus only, that we can overcome as He overcame? We lose much by not dwelling constantly upon the character of Christ." 7 BC 907.

It seems clear that the plan of salvation is not finished until the characters of God's people are cleansed from all sin and reflect the character of Jesus fully. When Jesus has completed His work in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary, He will throw down the sensor and proclaim the words, "It is finished!" These are the same words He spoke on the cross when He had successfully paid the price of redemption for every person. Now His righteous character, which He lived for us while on earth, is to be imparted and imputed to us while His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary is still open.

This same message was clearly presented to our church by A. T. Jones from 1888 through the 1890's:

"The finishing of the mystery of God is the ending of the work of the gospel. And the ending of the work of the gospel is, first, the taking away of all vestige of sin and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness -- Christ fully formed -- within each believer....

"Everyone whose heart is inclined to truth and right desires that this thing shall be done. Only the priesthood and ministry of Christ can do it. Now is the time of the complete and effectual doing of it for everyone. Then let us believe in Him who is doing this, and trust Him in the doing of it, that He does it completely and forevermore.

"This is the time and this is the work of which it is written, that 'there should be delay no longer.' And why should there be a delay any longer? When the priesthood of our great High Priest is efficient, and when His sacrifice and ministry are all sufficient in that which is promised and in that for which every believer hopes, then why should there be a delay any longer in the finishing of transgression, the making of an end to sin, the making of reconciliation for iniquity and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness to each believing soul? Then let us trust Him to do that which He has given Himself to do and which He alone can possibly do. Let us trust Him in this and receive in its fullness all that belongs to every soul who believes in and implicitly trusts the Apostle and great High Priest of our profession -- Christ Jesus.

"We have seen that the little horn -- the man of sin, the mystery of iniquity -- has put his own earthly, human, and sinful priesthood, ministry, and sanctuary in the place of the heavenly and holy priesthood, ministry, and sanctuary. In this priesthood and service of the mystery of iniquity, the sinner confesses his sins to the priest and goes on sinning. Indeed, in that priesthood and ministry there is no power to do anything else than to go on sinning, even after they have confessed their sins. But, sad as the question may be, is it not too true that those who are not of the mystery of iniquity but who really believe in Jesus and in His priesthood and ministry -- is it not too true that even these also confess their sins and then go on sinning?

"But is this fair to our great High Priest, to His sacrifice, and His blessed ministry?... Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, in the sacrifice which He has made, in the priesthood and ministry which He exercises in the true sanctuary must not only confess his sins, but he must then forever implicitly trust that true High Priest in His ministry in the sanctuary to finish transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness in his heart and life.

"Everlasting righteousness, remember. Not a righteousness for today and sin tomorrow and righteousness again and sin again. That is not everlasting righteousness. Everlasting righteousness is righteousness that is brought in and stays everlastingly in the life of him who has believed and confessed and who still further believes and receives this everlasting righteousness in the place of all sin and all sinning. This alone is everlasting righteousness; this alone is eternal redemption from sin. And this unspeakable blessing is the gracious gift of God by the heavenly ministry which He has established in our behalf in the priesthood and ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary....

"The time of the coming of the Lord and the restitution of all things is indeed at the very doors. And when Jesus comes, it is to take His people unto Himself. It is to present to Himself His glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that is holy and without blemish. It is to see Himself perfectly reflected in all His saints.

"And before He comes thus, His people must be in that condition. Before He comes we must have been brought to that state of perfection in the complete image of Jesus. Eph. 4:7, 8, 11-13. And this state of perfection, this developing in each believer the complete image of Jesus -- this is the finishing of the mystery of God, which is Christ in you the hope of glory. This consummation is accomplished in the cleansing of the sanctuary, which is the finishing of the mystery of God, which is the final finishing of transgression, the making of a complete end of sins, the making of reconciliation for iniquity, the bringing in of everlasting righteousness, the sealing up of the vision and prophecy and the anointing of the Most Holy." The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection, part 5. "The Time of Finishing the Mystery of God." By A. T. Jones.

I have included these excerpts from this article by A. T. Jones to emphasize that by the late 1800's, our pioneers were hearing a message which if it had been heeded, the work would have been finished in their generation, and there would be no need for a repeat of the trumpets before the coming of Jesus. (Notice his translation of Revelation 10:6 as being, "no more delay".) But this bold message was rejected by the conference president and others, and the light that God was sending to the church at that time had to wait for a future generation who would understand it, heed its message of cleansing, and preach it to the world.

At this point I want to ask the question, Why would God need to repeat the messages that are contained in the seven trumpets for the final generation? There is a principal in Luke 11 that gives us an insight into the character of God which answers this question. Jesus had been invited to the home of a Pharisee, who noted that Jesus did not wash his hands before the meal, and commented to Jesus about it. In response, Jesus spoke six woes upon the Pharisees and the experts in the law. After the fifth woe, He made this significant prophecy:

"Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your forefathers who killed them. So you testify that you approve of what your forefathers did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, God in his wisdom said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.' Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all." Luke 11:47- 51.

Jesus is here speaking to the very generation who would live to see the culmination of the probationary time given to the Jewish people. In my studies, I have found that throughout the scriptures, whenever woes are pronounced, it is always to those who will live to see the woes fulfilled. God in His mercy does not bring punishment upon a generation that has not heard the message of warning, nor the truth that is applicable for their time in history. By these warnings, they either respond and escape the coming judgment, or reject the light and reap the doom that was predicted.

Please notice that the last three trumpets are called "woes." This means that the messages found in the last three trumpets will be fulfilled in the generation who will live to see the finishing of the work of the gospel, the close of probation and the final events of earth's history, including the second coming of Christ.

I believe that while Jesus said clearly that we will not know the day nor the hour of His coming [Matthew 24: 36, 42], He does want us to know when it is in our lifetime, and that we are in the final generation.

"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." Matt. 24:32-35.

Jesus said there will be wars and rumors of wars, but they are not the conclusive sign that we are at the very end of time. Matt. 24:6-8. How, then, can we know when we have come to that final generation? I suggest that we go back to Revelation 8:13 and look more carefully at the last three trumpets, which are called woes:

"As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in mid-air call out in a loud voice: 'Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!'"

As I mentioned before, woes in the Bible are spoken to the generation that will experience the tribulations that are predicted in the woes. If the message of righteousness by faith had been accepted when it was first preached by A. T. Jones, E. J. Waggoner, and Ellen White, that generation would have lived to see Jesus come. But because the light which Jesus was sending to them from the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary was rejected, we have had to spend many more years in the wilderness, as Ellen White predicted. It is now time for our generation to move forward to the Promised Land. The signs are all around us that Jesus' coming is now "even at the door." This is why we need to understand the meaning of the seven trumpets for our generation, for they contain the countdown of events that bring us up to the coming of Jesus.

We have already considered the meaning of the seventh trumpet as being the second coming of Jesus, and that just prior to His coming there will be a people who will experience full cleansing from sin as they cooperate with Jesus in His work in the Most Holy Place. This is the final atonement--or at-one-ment-- which will produce a people who will be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, and will stand before the universe as the finished product of the whole plan of salvation. These are the 144,000, who are described in Revelation 14:1-5, as having the name of Jesus and His Father's name written on their foreheads. In other words, they have the character of God written upon the frontal lobes, or decision-making area of their minds, and they are in complete agreement with God in every facet of their lives. They are the first generation of God's people who reach this perfected state, and they can rightly be called, 'blameless'. Thus they are the same group who experience the mystery of God -- Christ in you, the hope of glory -- which John prophesied would be fulfilled just prior to the coming of Jesus. Rev. 10:7.

Now that we have established that the final work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary is the perfecting of His people -- the mystery which has been hidden in generations past -- and that the seventh trumpet is the second coming of Christ, we now can go back to the first two woes and examine carefully what God is revealing about the things that will happen in the earth just prior to the second coming of Jesus.

It is not my purpose in this article to go deeply into all the possible meanings of everything that is described in this trumpet. The Seventh-day Adventist commentary on this passage can be consulted for greater details. In short, the majority of expositors from the Middle Ages until the present day have favored the concept that the locust invasions are identified as the Muslim Arabs as they have spread their conquests over vast areas of North Africa, the Near East, and Spain.

There are two aspects that I want to emphasize concerning the fifth trumpet, or first woe. The first is the fallen star, Abaddon, which is Satan.

"The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name
in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon." Rev. 9:1-3, 11.

Note: Abaddon means "destruction;" and Apollyon means "a destroyer." Thus it becomes clear that the angel who was given the key to the Abyss is Satan.

What is the significance of Satan being given more control over the earth at the beginning of the fifth trumpet or first woe? Notice that only those who have the seal of God upon their foreheads are exempt from the power of the scorpions who are under the control of Satan.

"When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads." Rev.9:2-4.

Since the people of God are here mentioned as having the seal of God on their foreheads during the fifth trumpet, it is obvious that something has happened in the earth and among God's people that now allows God to go forward with the final events of earth's history. This is why there will be no more delay after the fourth trumpet is sounded. Here is where our forefathers stopped in their progress to the Promised Land. Therefore I want to go back to this point in the beliefs and understanding of our pioneers at this turning-point.

"In 1832 William Miller made a new approach to the dating of these trumpets by connecting them chronologically.... Miller set forth the view that the time of the sixth trumpet followed immediately upon that of the fifth… Thus according to his view, both trumpets represented the Ottoman Turks, the 5th, their rise and the sixth their period of domination." 7 BC 795.

In 1838 Josiah Litch, one of Miller's associates in the second Advent movement in America, revised Miller's dates, and came to the conclusion that the Turkish Empire would be overthrown on August 11, 1840. On that day the Turkish emissary came to terms with the London Convention.

"These events, coming at the specified time of Litch's prediction, exercised a wide influence upon the thinking of those in America who were interested in the Millerite movement. Indeed, this prediction by Litch went far to give credence to other, as yet unfulfilled, time prophecies… which were being preached by the Millerites. Thus this occurrence in 1840 was a significant factor in building up the expectation of the second Advent three years later." Ibid. 795, 6.

In The Great Controversy, pp. 334, 335, Ellen White gave credence to this prediction by Litch, stating that it was a "remarkable fulfillment of prophecy which excited widespread interest," and that "The event exactly fulfilled the prediction. When it became known, multitudes were convinced of the correctness of the principles of prophetic interpretation adopted by Miller and his associates, and a wonderful impetus was given to the Advent movement. Men of learning and position united with Miller, both in preaching and publishing his views, and from 1840 to 1844 this work rapidly extended."

As we can see, our forefathers followed carefully the amount of light that was given to them, and even though most of those who had followed the Advent movement fell away after the disappointment in 1844, a solid core group went on to study more deeply, and found new light on the sanctuary, the Sabbath, the three angels' messages, and their duty to preach these messages around the world to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus. In response to their obedience and enthusiasm for the truths that God had revealed to them, Jesus sent them the precious message of righteousness by faith through Jones, Wagner, and Ellen White which would enable them to experience the cleansing of character needed in order to go all the way through to the Promised Land. It was this message that they needed to understand in order to cooperate with the work that Jesus wanted to do to prepare them to be ready for His coming.

"Christ had come, not to the earth, as they expected, but. to the most holy place of the temple
of God in heaven....

"This coming is foretold also by the prophet Malachi: 'The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.' The coming of the Lord to His temple was sudden, unexpected, to His people. They were not looking for Him there. They expected Him to come to earth 'in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel.'

"But the people were not yet ready to meet their Lord. There was still a work of preparation to be accomplished for them. Light was to be given directing their minds to the temple of God in heaven; and as they would by faith follow their High Priest in His ministration there, new duties would be revealed. Another message of warning and instruction was to be given to the church.

"Says the prophet: 'Who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.' Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above, are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort, they must be conquerors in the battle with evil. While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God's people upon earth. This work is more clearly represented in the messages of Revelation 14. When this work shall have been accomplished, the followers of Christ will be ready for His appearing." GC 424, 425.

It is this work of cleansing that would have allowed our pioneers to have been the generation that would have gone on to see the coming of the Lord. When it was rejected, Jesus had to wait for another generation who would receive and experience the cleansing that is necessary to finish the work of the gospel. This is why it became necessary for there to be a repeat of the trumpets for a warning to those people on earth who would live to see the second coming of Jesus.

It is also the reason why the three angels' messages will be repeated again. As we have already noted in Luke 11:46-51, God is obligated by His own character to warn the generation who will experience the judgments that have been prophesied, in order to give them a chance to see and repent of their sins. Therefore God is counting on His church to perceive and understand the generation in which they live, and to give the warning message to the people of the world.

"For His church in every generation God has a special truth and a special work." COL 78.

"In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation." COL 127.

"The proclamation of the first, second and third angels' messages has been located by the word of inspiration It is just as essential now as ever before that they shall be repeated to those who
are seeking for the truth. By pen and voice we are to sound the proclamation, showing their order, and the application of the prophecies that bring us to the third angel’s message. There cannot be a third without the first and second. These messages we are to give to the world in publications, in discourses, showing in the line of prophetic history the things that have been, and the things that will be." CW 26, 27.

"Many who embraced the third message had not had an experience in the two former messages. Satan understood this, and his evil eye was upon them to overthrow them; but the third angel was pointing them to the most holy place, and those who had had an experience in the two past messages were pointing them the way to the heavenly sanctuary. Many saw the perfect chain of truth in the angels' messages, and gladly received them in their order, and followed Jesus by faith into the heavenly sanctuary. These messages were represented to me as an anchor to the people of God. Those who understand and receive them will be kept from being swept away by the many delusions of Satan." EW 256.

Unfortunately, as I pointed out at the beginning of this article, after the passing of several generations, movements have a tendency to become solidified around the light received by those who were led by God to start the movement in the beginning. But this leaves many of our people at a standstill in their progress forward to prepare for the soon coming of Jesus. This is why a continuing study of truth is essential to a vibrant understanding of what God has revealed to us which will help us to prepare to be the generation who will live to see Jesus come.

Do you wish to be among those who will be a member of the generation that will live to see Jesus come? Then follow me in the next chapter as we dig a little deeper into the seven trumpets of Revelation, chapters eight and nine.

Chapter 2: The seven trumpets -- a complete message of warning for the final generation.

In chapter one we noted that the last three trumpets, or woes, were not completely fulfilled in the time of our pioneers. The progress was arrested when the message of righteousness by faith came to the church through the preaching of Jones, Wagner, and Ellen White and was rejected. Several generations have passed since that time, but now this message is being revived again through people around the world who believe that they are being called to go through the cleansing of the judgment of the living and preach the message once again of total victory in Christ.

It is no wonder, then, that Jesus is sending messages to the world that He is coming in this generation. The waiting time is over and the prophecies are being fulfilled in rapid succession. The warnings that He is sending are not just for His own people. They are warnings to the whole world, for the destiny of every person will be decided by the time probation closes, and the great time of trouble begins. It is time for the three angels' messages to be preached again—this time with the understanding that the hour of God's judgment is the time when Jesus judges and cleanses His people to prepare them to preach the second angels message, which joins with the fourth angel of Revelation 18:4, 5.

"Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes." Rev. 18:4, 5.

Only those who have been cleansed of their own sins can be qualified to preach this message in the power of the latter rain.

"The message of the second angel did not reach its complete fulfillment in 1844. The churches then experienced a moral fall, in consequence of their refusal of the light of the advent message; but that fall was not complete. As they have continued to reject the special truths for this time, they have fallen lower and lower. Not yet, however, can it be said that 'Babylon is fallen…' The work of apostasy has not yet reached its culmination.

"The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord, Satan will work 'with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness;' and they that 'received not the love of the truth that they might be saved,' will be left to receive 'strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.' Not until this condition shall be reached, and the union of the church with the world shall be fully accomplished throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete." GC 389, 390.

What do you suppose will be the message that will enrage the devil to the place where he inspires his followers to wage all-out war against God's people? Yes, it is the cleansing message which enables them to escape entirely from the power of the evil one in their lives, and brings them to the place where they will reflect the image of Jesus perfectly.

"And when the dragon saw that he had been cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev. 12: 13-17, KJV.

In these few short verses, John the Revelator sees the history of the Christian church from the time of Jesus' birth, through the great papal persecution of the Dark Ages, and finally the emergence of the land of America, where the church was no longer persecuted, but was given freedom of worship. During those early years of our country, the Advent message was preached and prospered under the blessing that God had provided in this land where freedom of conscience and religious liberty has been protected.

But notice carefully the two characteristics mentioned in verse 17 that identify the last church -- the remnant, or last part of His people -- who will be alive when Jesus comes. First, they must keep the commandments of God, not just in name only, or by profession of faith, but have the commandments flawlessly written by the blood of Jesus upon their hearts and lives by the indwelling of Holy Spirit. In other words they will be a finished product of the work of Jesus to save His people from their sins.

Second, they have "the testimony of Jesus Christ," which, according to the words of Gabriel in Revelation 19:10, is the spirit of prophecy. This was fulfilled from the beginning of the Advent movement, when Jesus gave us His messages of love, counsel, correction, and prophecy through the visions and writings of Ellen White. But I would like to point out that there is a broader scriptural application of the word "testimony" that is also very important for the identification of God's remnant people before probation closes.


This word is used in numerous other places in the New Testament, and in Revelation. I would like to quote three:

"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held." Rev. 6:9, KJV.

"And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them." Rev. 11:7, KJV.

"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." Rev. 12: 10, 11, NIV.

According to Strong's Concordance, the meaning of the word, "testimony" is: Evidence given: -- record, report, testimony, witness.
Although Ellen White and her inspired writings are certainly a significant and important identification of the Seventh-day Adventist church as being the remnant church of prophecy, God also must have living examples whose lives testify before the universe that Jesus is able to produce in His remnant people a perfected and finished product of the plan of salvation.

"As Christians we are to have a righteousness that shall be developed and seen -- a righteousness that represents the character of Jesus Christ when He was in our world." 4 BC 1151.

"Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads -- it is not in a seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually so they cannot be moved -- just as soon as God's people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has already begun; the judgments of God are now upon the land, to give us warning that we may know what is coming." 4 BC 1161.


"The seal of the living God will be placed upon those only who bear a likeness to Christ in character… Many will not receive the seal of God because they do not keep His commandments or bear the fruits of righteousness.

"We are to look to the man Christ Jesus, who is complete in the perfection of righteousness and holiness… He is the pattern man. His experience is the measure of the experience that we are to gain. His character is our model.... By beholding we may be changed into His likeness… As we look to Him and think of Him, He will be formed within, the hope of glory.

"Let us strive with all the power that God has given us to be among the hundred and forty-four thousand." 7 BC 970.

When Jesus has produced this group of people, there will be no more delay to His coming, for He will have the finished product of His grace -- Christ in you the hope of glory, -- and the mystery of God will be finished.

Chapter 3: The seven trumpets revisited.

Perhaps now you can see why I say that our pioneers never fully reached the seventh trumpet. There cannot be a 7th trumpet until we have completed the 6th and the 5th. A greater depth of understanding and experience concerning the work of Jesus in the most holy place was needed, which would have led them to complete the work of preparation, receive the seal of God and be prepared to go through the end of time alive.

Notice that in the fifth trumpet God's people have already been sealed, or are in the process of being sealed, because they are the only ones who are especially protected during the time when Satan is given more destructive power over the earth.

"The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace… And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree; but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads." Rev. 9:1-4.

The Bible does not tell us the details of how God's people reach the cleansing of character which prepares them to receive the seal of God. But Ellen White gives us a wonderful description of this process in Early Writings, in the chapter called, "The Shaking." Please read this in its entirety to see what God's people must go through in order to be protected during the events that will transpire under the last three trumpets. Here are some excerpts from that chapter:

"I saw some, with strong faith and agonizing cries, pleading with God. Their countenances were pale and marked with deep anxiety, expressive of their internal struggle. Evil angels crowded around, pressing darkness upon them to shut out Jesus from their view, that their eyes might be drawn to the darkness that surrounded them, and thus be led to distrust God and murmur against Him. Their only safety was in keeping their eyes directed upward....

"I saw angels of God hasten to the assistance of all who were struggling with all their power to resist the evil angels and trying to help themselves by calling on God with perseverance. But His angels left those who made no effort to help themselves, and I lost sight of them.

"I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the council of the True Witness to the Laodiceans… Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause the shaking among God's people. This testimony must work deep repentance. All who truly receive it will obey it and be purified....

"Soon I heard a voice like many musical instruments all sounding in perfect strains, sweet and harmonious… I was shown those whom I had before seen weeping and praying in agony of spirit.
The company of guardian angels around them had been doubled, and they were clothed with an armor from their head to their feet… They had obtained the victory, and it called forth from them the deepest gratitude and holy, sacred joy.... Evil angels still pressed around them, but could have no power over them....

"I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel." EW 269-271.

"Christ desires nothing so much as to redeem His heritage from the dominion of Satan. But before we are delivered from Satan's power without, we must be delivered from his power within." COL 174, 5.

"I also saw that many do not realize what they must be in order to live in the sight of the Lord without a high priest in the sanctuary through the time of trouble. Those who receive the seal of the living God and are protected in the time of trouble must reflect the image of Jesus fully....

"I saw that none could share the refreshing unless they obtained the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action. We should, therefore, be drawing nearer and nearer to the Lord and earnestly seeking that preparation necessary to enable us to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord." EW 71.

"A work must be done for the people, or many will not be prepared to receive the light of the angel sent down from heaven to lighten the whole earth with his glory. Do not think that you will be found as vessels unto honor in the time of the latter rain, to receive the glory of God, if you are lifting up your souls unto vanity, speaking perverse things, in secret cherishing roots of bitterness." LS 327.

"Now is the time to lay up treasure in heaven and to set our hearts in order, ready for the time of trouble. Those only who have clean hands and pure hearts will stand in that trying time. Now is the time for the law of God to be in our minds, foreheads, and written in our hearts.

"The Lord has shown me the danger of letting our minds be filled with worldly thoughts and cares. I saw that some minds are led away from present truth and a love of the Holy Bible by reading other exciting books; others are filled with perplexity and care for what they shall eat, drink, and wear. Some are looking too far off for the coming of the Lord. Time has continued a few years longer than they expected; therefore they think it may continue a few years more, and in this way their minds are being led from present truth, out after the world. In these things I saw great danger; for if the mind is filled with other things, present truth is shut out, and there is no place in our foreheads for the seal of the living God. I saw that the time for Jesus to be in the most holy place was nearly finished and that time can last but a very little longer. What leisure time we have should be spent in searching the Bible, which is to judge us in the last day.

"My dear brethren and sisters, let the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ be in your mind's continually and let them crowd out worldly thoughts and cares. When you lie down and when you rise up, let them be your meditation. Live and act wholly in reference to the coming of the Son of man. The sealing time is very short, and will soon be over. Now is the time, when the four angels are holding the four winds, to make our calling and election sure." EW 58.

These words, written by Ellen White to her generation, are the very words that we need now, for we are the generation who will live to see the coming of Christ. How do I know? Because the seven trumpets are sounding a second time and this time there will be no more delay.

Another sign that Jesus is coming soon is that many people around the world are recognizing that Jesus is now calling us to participate in the judgment of the living, or "the shaking," which would be called forth by the testimony of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. Because of this, we have a joyful message to bring to all who are longing for Jesus to come: Arise, and trim your lamps! For the Bridegroom is on His way!


Chapter four: Trumpets 1 - 4.

When our forefathers recognized that their position in prophetic history coincided with the fifth and sixth trumpets, they researched past history and found that Rome was brought down in four stages by marauding tribes, followed by the spread of the Ottoman Empire, and the rise of Mohammedism. Thus the first four trumpets were considered to be the fall of the Roman Empire, which paved the way for the fifth and sixth trumpets. I would like to broaden this view in the light of history and prophecy to also include the rise of the papacy as Rome fell, giving way from pagan Rome to papal Rome. This transition is well Illustrated in Daniel's dream in chapter 7, which is an expansion of the great image of Daniel 2, showing the march of nations that rise and fall before the coming of Jesus.

"The crown removed from Israel [Eze. 21:26, 27] passed successively to the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. God says, "It shall be no more until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him." Ed. 179.

"To every nation and to every individual of today God has assigned a place in His great plan. Today men and nations are being measured by the plummet in the hand of Him who makes no mistake. All are by their own choice deciding their destiny, and God is overruling all for the accomplishment of His purposes." Ed. 178.

After listing the rise and fall of the four great beasts which represented Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, Daniel sees a new phenomenon:

"While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully." Dan. 7:8.

This we know describes the rise of the papacy, and God's people were given into his hand for 1260 years, until the time for the judgment to begin, when God's people would be delivered.

"He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time. But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him. This is the end of the matter." Dan. 7:25-28.

But has all of this been fulfilled as yet? No, although Satan's power to persecute God's people through the papacy was taken away in 1798 when the pope was imprisoned, there is to be another time when Satan will be given a brief period of time in which to display the evil of his character through the papacy. This is recorded in Revelation 13.

"And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had 10 horns and 7 heads, with 10 crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name… The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast… All inhabitants of the earth will worship 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." Rev. 13:1-3, 8.

Yes, the little horn power will rise again in the final generation, and he will display the same characteristics he used when persecuting God's people during the Dark Ages. But this time a new nation will be used by Satan to do the same work and display the same characteristics. It is, of course, the United States of America, the lamb- like beast who will join forces with the papacy and give him the same authority he received from the Devil after the fall of Rome, and herein lies the key to the repeat of the first four trumpets for the final generation.


The papacy is a parasite, capitalizing on the weakness and ignorance of people and nations. In the beginning of our country we were strong against persecuting powers and anyone who would take away liberty of conscience. But like all other nations who govern by worldly principles, the United States has turned the corner, and is deteriorating from within. At the same time, the influence of the papacy is rising, and needs only the support of our government to display the same characteristics that she had during the Dark Ages. This we see prophesied in Revelation 13:11-17:

"Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed… Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name."

This prophecy has not yet been fulfilled, but it is even now in the process. And God is sending his trumpet warnings to let the people of the earth know that something of stupendous importance is about to happen.

"All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it." Isaiah 18:3.

Traditionally, trumpets were used in the Bible to direct and lead God's people, and to instruct them concerning what God wanted them to do. Understanding and obeying the messages of the trumpets meant life or death to the people of Israel. So it is with us today. If we do not comprehend what God is saying by the things He is allowing to happen in the world, we may be tempted to put off the coming of Jesus, and wake up only too late to prepare our hearts and lives and families for His coming.

Are you seeing things in the world around us today that tell you that something stupendous is about to happen? I believe that the first trumpet for our generation was the fall of the towers in New York City.

"When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets." Amos 3:6, 7.

This catastrophic event was the first attack on the mainland of America, just as the first historical trumpet was the first hit on the mainland of Rome by the Visigoths. And was this event prophesied by God for our generation? I believe it was, for Ellen White predicted the falling of the New York towers in volume nine of the Testimonies, in the chapter called, "The Last Crisis."

"We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth… Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones....

"On one occasion when in New York City, I was in the night season called upon to behold buildings rising story after story toward heaven… Higher and still higher these buildings rose, and in them the most costly material was used....

"The scene that next past before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly fireproof buildings and said: 'They are perfectly safe.' But these buildings were consumed as if made of pitch....

"I am instructed that when the Lord's time comes, should no change have taken place in the hearts of proud, ambitious human beings, men will find that the hand that had been strong to save will be strong to destroy. No earthly power can stay the hand of God. No material can be used in the erection of buildings that will preserve them from destruction when God's appointed time comes to send retribution on men for their disregard of His law and for their selfish ambition." 9 T 11-13.

What were the next three trumpets to be heard around the world? I will let the Hope Channel writers outline these important events for you:

"Dear Friend:

"The past decade has been traumatic. One crisis after another has assaulted our peace and security. First, it was the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Then in 2005, the most devastating hurricane season in recorded history wiped out New Orleans and numerous other cities....

"Most recently, financial institutions have collapsed, the stock market has crashed, and businesses are struggling to survive. The cumulative fallout has been devastating....

"Our world is going through change of prophetic proportions. World leaders recognize something unusual is happening. Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, recently said,

"'Historians will look back and say this was no ordinary time but a defining moment: an unprecedented period of global change, and a time when one chapter ended and another began.' Gordon Brown, prime minister.

"What Mr. Gordon probably can't appreciate is that this new chapter that has begun is found in Revelation 13. This predicts a time when global crises prompt church and state to unite in a tragic union.

"Today, we will share with you how the pope, the United States, and other global leaders are lining up to fulfill these age-old prophecies in our day." Hope Channel, August 2009.

As you can see, this report was written ten years ago. Six years later in September, 2015, Pope Francis spoke to our Congress, and to the UN, and introduced his encyclical, Laudato si. In this encyclical, paragraph 71, the pope points out the necessity of a weekly day of rest which was set up by God at creation:

"'On the seventh day, God rested from all his work. He commanded Israel to set aside each seventh day as a day of rest, a Sabbath,' (cf. Gen. 2:2-3; Ex 16:23; 20:10)."

But on pg. 237, the Pope emphasizes that this day of rest for Christians is Sunday:

"On Sunday, our participation in the Eucharist has special importance. Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath, is meant to be a day which heals our relationships, with God, with ourselves, with others and with the world. Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, the 'first day' of the new creation, whose first fruits are the Lord's risen humanity, the pledge of the final transfiguration of all created reality. It also proclaims 'man's eternal rest in God'. In this way, Christian spirituality incorporates the value of relaxation and festivity. We tend to demean contemplative rest as something unproductive and unnecessary, but this is to do away with the very thing which is most important about work: its meaning. We are called to include in our work a dimension of receptivity and gratuity, which is quite different from mere inactivity. Rather, it is another way of working, which forms part of our very essence. It protects human action from becoming empty activism; it also prevents that unfettered greed and sense of isolation which makes us seek personal gain to the detriment of all else. The law of weekly rest forbade work on the seventh day, 'so that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your maidservant, and the stranger, may be refreshed.' (Ex. 23:12). Rest opens our eyes to the larger picture and gives us renewed sensitivity to the rights of others. And so the day of rest, centered on the Eucharist, sheds its light on the whole week, and motivates us to greater concern for nature and the poor."

Notice the ingenious way Pope Francis takes the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and calling it "the Jewish Sabbath", turns the principles for which God gave it to mankind into rhetoric for keeping Sunday as the day of rest for followers of Christ after His resurrection. President Obama and the United Nations accepted the Pope's encyclical when he visited our nation in 2015. Thus the pope has already laid the foundation for the Sunday law when God shall remove His hand and allow the four angels to release the four winds.

However, the encyclical is not the only thing that Pope Francis has done to prepare the world for his leadership. During his tenure, he has steadily worked toward repairing the breach that was made by the Protestant Reformation, and many of the main Protestant leaders have united with him and have publicly declared that the Reformation is over. By the end of his trip to the United States in 2015, Time Magazine announced that he had been voted as the most popular religio- political leader in the world.

As we compare world events today, we can see that there is a correlation with the pattern of the four historic trumpets which brought Rome down and prepared the way for the little horn, or papacy, to rise up and dominate Europe, bringing about the terrible persecution of the Dark Ages. According to Revelation 13, this same scenario will be repeated, only this time it will be the result of the downfall of protestant America, which will set the stage for the papacy to rise again and repeat similar domination and atrocities for a short time just before Jesus comes.

When the time is ripe, when many members in the church are dozing in carnal security, the devil will strike. He does not want to prematurely awaken the sleeping giant of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, for he knows that they are the only people on earth who have been forewarned by the Spirit of Prophecy and the understanding of the scriptures which point forward to the final events of earth's history. Then the messages of the second and third angels, combined with the power of the fourth angel of Revelation 18, will go forth in mighty power around the world under the influence of the outpouring of the latter rain.

But who will be prepared to receive the latter rain when that time comes? It will be those only who have had an experience in the repeat of the first angel's judgment-hour message for the last generation. This is where our forefathers stopped in their progress to the Promised Land; and this is where we, their spiritual children, must pick up and carry the message across the finish line.

"The class represented by the foolish virgins... have not... permitted their old nature to be broken up.... They have been content with a superficial work. They do not know God. They have not studied His character; they have not held communion with Him; therefore they do not know how to trust, how to look and live. Their service to God degenerates into a form." COL 411.

"If they cherish hereditary and cultivated traits of character, while professing to be His disciples, they are represented by the foolish virgins." 4 BC 1179.

It is imperative, then, to know where we are in our walk with God. The trumpets are sounding, and this time there will be no more delay. The foolish virgins slept too long to make their calling and election sure. And when they awoke from their slumbers, it was too late to prepare. I believe that many of our people are waiting for the Sunday law to get their lives ready for Jesus' coming. No one knows just when the Sunday law will become present truth. But when it does, those who have prepared their hearts ahead of time will be those who go in with the Bridegroom to the wedding.

This is why the seven trumpets are so important to understand, for they tell us where we are in the countdown toward the seventh trumpet, or Jesus coming.

Chapter 5: The Sixth Trumpet.

I have left the details of the sounding of the 6th trumpet until last, because the timing of the sixth trumpet is directly related to the readiness of God's people to go through the sealing time which allows them to be protected during the increasingly troublous times of the first woe. In order to better understand the sixth trumpet, we must go back to Revelation 7:1-4:

"After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 'Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.' Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144000 from all the tribes of Israel."

As you can see, this scriptural passage is directly related to the fifth and sixth trumpets. The message given here is that there must be a holding of the four winds until God's people are securely sealed and ready for the winds to be let go. And as we have said before, this sealing takes place among God's people when they are ready to go through the cleansing work of Jesus in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, which will prepare them to be fully protected in the time of trouble which follows the releasing of the four winds.

"The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, 'Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.' 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." Rev. 9:13- 15.

So you see, the plans of God to end the sin and misery of this world and the work of Satan against the government of God has been held up for over a century, waiting for a generation who will be willing to go through the cleansing that is necessary to fulfill the requirements of God's final people - the 144,000. Do you desire to be among that number? You can, for the door is open for anyone to enter who wishes to go all the way with Jesus in His closing work of blotting out the sins of His people in the most holy place of the sanctuary. God is no respecter of persons. He will accept anyone who will cherish salvation enough to fully dedicate themselves to God in this last remnant of time. The trumpets of God are sounding the last call to everyone who is willing to hear and obey.

Conclusion: Seven Trumpets for Today.

Trumpet #1. Fall of the New York Towers: September 11, 2001.

"The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth." Rev. 8:6.

Supporting texts:

"'In the last days,' God says, 'I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Even on my servants, both
men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.... And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'" Acts 2:19; Joel 2:30.

Trumpet #2. Natural Disasters: Asian Tsunamis, Dec. 25, 2004, Easter, 2005; Katrina, Rita, Aug., Sept., 2005.

"The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea." Rev. 8:8.

Supporting texts:

"I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth, declares the Lord. I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain. No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone, nor any stone for a foundation, for you will be desolate forever, declares the Lord. Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Jer. 51:25-27.

"Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, 'Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?'" Deut. 31:17.

"His breath is like a rushing torrent.... He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction The
Lord will cause men to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail." Isa. 30:27, 28, 30.

"God is speaking to us in these last days. We hear His voice in the storm, in the rolling thunder. We hear of calamities He permits in the earthquakes, the breaking forth of waters, and the destructive elements sweeping all before them… When the still small voice which succeeds the whirlwind and the tempest… is heard, let all cover their faces, for God is very near. Let them hide themselves in Jesus Christ, for He is their hiding place." 2 SM 315, 316.

"Already the judgments of God are abroad in the land, as seen in storm, and floods, and tempests, in earthquakes, in perils by land and by sea. The great I Am is speaking to those who make void His law. When God's wrath is poured out upon the earth, who will then be able to stand?" 5T 136.

Trumpet #3: Fall of the Economy: Sept. 15, 2008.

"The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water -- the name of the star is Wormwood." [That is, "bitterness." mg.; "Calamity" Strong's Concord.] Rev. 8:10, 11.


Note: In the Bible a star represents a leader, either good or bad. See Rev. 1:20, and 9:1. Satan is the fallen star; America, as the leading nation in the world, is in the process of falling as she imbibes more and more of the nature of Satan, and changes from the lamb-like beast into the nation that leads the whole world to worship the papacy.

Supporting texts:

"Wail, you who live in the market district; all your merchants will be wiped out, all who trade with silver will be ruined. At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, 'The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.'... The great day of the Lord is near -- near and coming quickly." Zeph. 1:11, 12, 14.

Note: In February, 1929, the Vatican was restored to the papacy by Mussolini. In September, 1929, the economy fell. In the spring of 2008, Pope Benedict visited the United States, and President Bush is reported to have said that when he looked into the eyes of the pope, he saw God. The economy fell in September, 2008.

Trumpet #4: The pope takes an influential role in world affairs; healing of the wound between Catholics and Protestants; Pope Francis speaks to US Congress and the UN in September, 2015.

"The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night." Rev. 8:12.

"'The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly. Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness,' declares the Lord. 'Therefore their path will become slippery; they will be banished to darkness and there they will fall. I will bring disaster on them in the year they are punished,' declares the Lord." Jer. 23:10-12.

"This is what the Lord says: 'As for the prophets who lead my people astray, if one feeds them, they proclaim "peace"; if he does not, they prepare to wage war against him. Therefore night will come over you, without visions, and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for the prophets, and the day will go dark for them. The seers will be ashamed and the diviners disgraced. They will cover their faces because there is no answer from God.'" Micah 3:5-7.

Note: When the spiritual leaders of the church or of the nation capitulate to lies that come from the Devil, spiritual and moral darkness follows, and the judgments of God are sure to follow. This trumpet of darkness is a warning of what will come under the fifth plague:

"The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done." Rev. 16:10, 11.

Trumpet #5: As a result of the ascendancy of the power and influence of the papacy in world affairs, the three woes begin. Satan is given more power by God because this is what the people of the world have chosen by following the beast and her protestant daughters. Only those who have gone through the cleansing and sealing process with Jesus are protected from the disasters that are predicted by the three woes. See Rev. 17.

"The fifth angel sounded his trumpet and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads." Rev. 9:1-4.

"Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations for battle against her Send up horses like a swarm of locusts." Jer. 51:27.

Note: At the beginning of this trumpet, the horrible atrocities of Isis were publicized in the news media, shocking the world. A special report by Time Magazine on October 19, 2015, stated: "Refugees, mainly Syrian, cross from Serbia into Croatia. They are among an estimated 60 million migrants on the move worldwide."

"A storm is coming, relentless in its fury. Are we prepared to meet it? The perils of the last days
are soon to come upon us. Already they have come. We need now the sword of the Lord to cut to the very soul and marrow of fleshly lusts, appetites, and passions The thoughts must be
centered upon God. Now is the time to put forth earnest effort to overcome the natural tendencies of the carnal heart. Our efforts, our self-denial, our perseverance, must be proportionate to the infinite value of the object of which we are in pursuit. Only by overcoming as Christ overcame shall we win the crown of life." 8 T 315.

Trumpet #6: When the sealing of God's people is complete, the winds of strife in the world will be let go. Then the world will reap what they have sown by rejecting the repeat of the three angels' messages, joined by the loud cry of the fourth angel, to come out of the sins of Babylon.

"The 6th angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. It said to the 6th angel who had the trumpet, 'Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.' 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." Rev. 9:13- 15.

"I saw that the four angels would hold the four winds until Jesus' work was done in the sanctuary, and then will come the seven last plagues." EW 36.

"Just before we entered it (the time of trouble) we all received the seal of the living God. Then I saw the four angels cease to hold the four winds. And I saw famine, pestilence, and sword, nation rose against nation, and the whole world was in confusion." 7 BC 968.

"Angels are now restraining the winds of strife, that they may not blow until the world shall be warned of its coming doom; but a storm is gathering, ready to burst upon the earth; and when God shall bid His angels loose the winds, there will be such a scene of strife as no pen can picture." Ed. 179, 80.

Trumpet #7: The Second Coming of Jesus!

Our precious Savior will come in glory to take His people home.

"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words." 1 Thess. 4:16-18.

"He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22: 20.

Note: All scriptural texts are taken from the NIV, 1984 edition, unless otherwise noted.

By Carol Zarska