Signs of the Times

"I looked and saw the likeness of a throne of sapphire above the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim. The Lord said to the man clothing linen, 'Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.*...Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple." Eze. 10:1-4.

*[The act of scattering the coals over the city "symbolizes the impending destruction of the city." See 4BC 609.]

"Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim....They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the Lord's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them." Eze. 10:18, 19.

"Then the cherubim with wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. The glory of the Lord went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain* east of it." Eze. 11:22, 23.

*[Probably the Mount of Olives where the divine glory rested after departing from the Temple (DA 827), and from which Jesus later made His visible ascension into heaven. Upon this mountain the New Jerusalem will make its descent. (GC 662, 663.)] See 4BC 613.

An interesting correlation for our time:

The seven trumpets of Revelation 8 and 9 were also preceded with coals of fire from the golden altar before the throne being taken and hurled upon the earth:

"When he opened the seventh seal there was *silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

"Another angel, who had a golden sensor, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the sensor, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake." Rev. 8:1-5.

*[Silence in heaven represents reverential awe among the angels in anticipation of what is about to happen upon the earth. See 7BC 787; EW 15, 16; DA 693.]

Since we are now in the sixth trumpet and the seventh trumpet is the coming of Jesus, we can rejoice and be glad, for our redemption draweth nigh!

"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. Plagues and judgments are already a falling upon the despisers of the grace of God....

"The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones." 9T 11.

"There will be a series of events revealing that God is master of the situation. The truth will be proclaimed in clear, unmistakable language.... Through most wonderful workings of divine providence, mountains of difficulty will be removed and cast into the sea. The message that means so much to the dwellers upon the earth will be heard and understood. Men will know what is truth. Onward and still onward the work will advance until the whole earth shall have been warned, and then shall the end come." 9T 96.