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The Great Controversy
gently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: search-
ing what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in
them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ,
and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not
unto themselves, but unto us they did minister.”
1 Peter 1:10-12
.
Yet while it was not given to the prophets to understand fully the
things revealed to them, they earnestly sought to obtain all the light
which God had been pleased to make manifest. They “inquired and
searched diligently,” “searching what, or what manner of time the
Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify.” What a lesson to the
people of God in the Christian age, for whose benefit these prophecies
were given to His servants! “Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto
themselves, but unto us they did minister.” Witness those holy men of
God as they “inquired and searched diligently” concerning revelations
given them for generations that were yet unborn. Contrast their holy
zeal with the listless unconcern with which the favored ones of later
ages treat this gift of Heaven. What a rebuke to the ease-loving, world-
loving indifference which is content to declare that the prophecies
cannot be understood!
Though the finite minds of men are inadequate to enter into the
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counsels of the Infinite One, or to understand fully the working out of
His purposes, yet often it is because of some error or neglect on their
own part that they so dimly comprehend the messages of Heaven. Not
infrequently the minds of the people, and even of God’s servants, are
so blinded by human opinions, the traditions and false teaching of men,
that they are able only partially to grasp the great things which He has
revealed in His word. Thus it was with the disciples of Christ, even
when the Saviour was with them in person. Their minds had become
imbued with the popular conception of the Messiah as a temporal
prince, who was to exalt Israel to the throne of the universal empire,
and they could not understand the meaning of His words foretelling
His sufferings and death.
Christ Himself had sent them forth with the message: “The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the
gospel.”
Mark 1:15
. That message was based on the prophecy of
Daniel
9
. The sixty-nine weeks were declared by the angel to extend to “the
Messiah the Prince,” and with high hopes and joyful anticipations the