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Symbolism of the Three Angels’ Messages, June 14
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the Lord.
Malachi 4:5
.
To prepare a people to stand in the day of God, a great work of reform
was to be accomplished [by the Advent Movement]. God saw that many of
His professed people were not building for eternity, and in His mercy He
was about to send a message of warning to arouse them from their stupor
and lead them to make ready for the coming of the Lord.
This warning is brought to view in
Revelation 14
. Here is a threefold
message represented as proclaimed by heavenly beings and immediately
followed by the coming of the Son of man to reap “the harvest of the earth.”
The angels are represented as flying in the midst of heaven, proclaiming
to the world a message of warning, and having a direct bearing upon the
people living in the last days of this earth’s history. No one hears the voice
of these angels, for they are a symbol to represent the people of God who
are working in harmony with the universe of heaven.
The three angels’ messages are to be combined, giving their threefold
light to the world. In the Revelation, John says, “I saw another angel come
down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with
his glory.”... This represents the giving of the last and threefold message of
warning to the world.
Revelation 18
points to the time when, as the result of rejecting the
threefold warning of
Revelation 14:6-12
, the church will have fully reached
the condition foretold by the second angel, and the people of God still in
Babylon will be called upon to separate from her communion. This message
is the last that will ever be given to the world; and it will accomplish its work.
When those that “believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness”
(
2 Thessalonians 2:12
), shall be left to receive strong delusion and to believe
a lie, then the light of truth will shine upon all whose hearts are open to
receive it, and all the children of the Lord that remain in Babylon will heed
the call: “Come out of her, my people” (
Revelation 18:4
).
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