Thursday: Prophesy Again
Daily Lesson for Thursday 1st of May 2025
The remnant church was born in the New World, precisely where those seeking religious liberty had fled during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Given the long-standing religious and political obstacles that existed elsewhere, it is doubtful that the launch of this movement would have been as swift or powerful in some other location as it was in the new land that became the United States.
Read Revelation 10:1-11, which describes the birth of the movement. Look for some of the elements we have studied, such as “the nations,” the land, and the sea. Applying appropriate caution so that you do not read too much into the passage, what potential insights can you find in this account?
Image © Steve Creitz at Goodsalt.com
The angel cries with a loud voice, much as the three angels of Revelation 14:1-20 and the angel of Revelation 18:1-24 do. This is an urgent moment in history when the work of the remnant church is established for the sake of “ ‘many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings’ ” (Revelation 10:11, NKJV).
The angel holds a “little book”—likely the book of Daniel (see Daniel 12:4)—which is open for the first time in many generations. He has one foot on the sea and another on the earth. This might be in reference to the idea that the message covers the globe, both the Old World and the New. It might also be a reference to the idea that this message is for all nations: those who live on the land and those who live in the “Gentile” sea.
The world, at long last, will be lighted up with the glory of God, and the final messages of Revelation 14:1-20 are carried to everyone. As with Israel, our mandate as a church is to preach the gospel “ ‘in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come’ ” (Matthew 24:14, NKJV).
God is pushing human history toward its grand conclusion: the end of human empires and the permanent enthronement of Christ. Read Daniel 2:34-35,44-45. The Bible makes it perfectly clear, without any ambiguity, that all these worldly kingdoms will be eradicated, without a trace of them and their ugly legacies left, and will be replaced by God’s eternal kingdom, where sin, suffering, sickness, evil, and death will never rise again.
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Look at how accurately the prophecies of Daniel 2:1-49 and 7 predicted the rise and fall of all these worldly empires. Why should that accuracy, amazing if you think about when Daniel was written, help us trust Him on the promise of God’s final and eternal kingdom? |
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The Seventh-day Adventist Church developed and was organised during the second half of the nineteenth century, mainly in North America. It is interesting to read a secular history of America during this period and see some of the influences that helped shape our church. It is also interesting to read church history from that period as well to grasp some of the dynamics of how our faith grew and our beliefs crystallised within the interactions of church thought leaders with one another. The church was largely American, dealing with the issues that were seen in America. Today the Seventh-day Adventist Church is a worldwide church. The church is no longer a North American church and the demographic has shifted to Africa and South America.
I mention this because some of our interpretations of prophecy have a nineteenth-century North American atmosphere about them that does not transmit all that well once it crosses over the ocean. I am not saying we should give up our interpretation but rather expand it. I mentioned in my comment yesterday, the issue on focusing on current politics and forgetting that Satan is the master of distraction and will attack us where we least expect it. It is easy for the enemy to put on a fireworks display and while everyone is distracted by it, attack from the rear.