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First Angel’s Message
227
Jesus and all the heavenly host looked with sympathy and love
upon those who had with sweet expectation longed to see Him whom
their souls loved. Angels were hovering around them, to sustain
them in the hour of their trial. Those who had neglected to receive
the heavenly message were left in darkness, and God’s anger was
kindled against them, because they would not receive the light which
He had sent them from heaven. Those faithful, disappointed ones,
who could not understand why their Lord did not come, were not
left in darkness. Again they were led to their Bibles to search the
prophetic periods. The hand of the Lord was removed from the
figures, and the mistake was explained. They saw that the prophetic
periods reached to 1844, and that the same evidence which they had
presented to show that the prophetic periods closed in 1843, proved
that they would terminate in 1844. Light from the Word of God
shone upon their position, and they discovered a tarrying time—
“Though it [the vision] tarry, wait for it.” In their love for Christ’s
immediate coming, they had overlooked the tarrying of the vision,
which was calculated to manifest the true waiting ones. Again they
had a point of time. Yet I saw that many of them could not rise above
their severe disappointment to possess that degree of zeal and energy
which had marked their faith in 1843.
Satan and his angels triumphed over them, and those who would
not receive the message congratulated themselves upon their farsee-
ing judgment and wisdom in not receiving the delusion, as they
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called it. They did not realize that they were rejecting the counsel
of God against themselves, and were working in union with Satan
and his angels to perplex God’s people, who were living out the
heaven-sent message.
The believers in this message were oppressed in the churches.
For a time, those who would not receive the message were restrained
by fear from acting out the sentiments of their hearts; but the passing
of the time revealed their true feelings. They wished to silence the
testimony which the waiting ones felt compelled to bear, that the
prophetic periods extended to 1844. With clearness the believers
explained their mistake and gave the reasons why they expected
their Lord in 1844. Their opposers could bring no arguments against
the powerful reasons offered. Yet the anger of the churches was
kindled; they were determined not to listen to evidence, and to shut