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XXII – 7(89) “Watchman, what of the night?” "The hour has
come, the hour is striking and striking at you, A National Sunday Law During the crucial years of 1901-1903,
Ellen G. White introduced three factors into the events of the last days. Not
only did she indicate that we would have to remain many more years in this
world because of insubordination (Ms. 184, 1901), but she also wrote
immediately following the 1903 General Conference session that - "In the
balances of the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist church is to weighed."
(8T:247) In simple terms this was telling the Church, that it, too, as a
corporate entity had to pass the review of the Judgment. The Church could not
take for granted that its status, as the recipient in trust of "the last
warning message for a perishing world" (9T:19), would place it
beyond accountability as to how it ministered that sacred trust. If it did not
prove true to that trust, it would be "found wanting." (8T:247) Further, in 1902, Ellen White wrote -
"All need wisdom to carefully search out the mystery of iniquity that
figures so largely in the winding up of this world's history." (Testimonies
to Ministers, p. 118) The working of "the mystery of iniquity" in
the final affairs is not going to be as simple as 2+2=4, but must be
"carefully searched out." Simply printing a national Sunday Law
booklet and urging its distribution is not searching out "the mystery of
iniquity," but is rather lulling the unsuspected into a fatal delusion
that the final issues will be very obvious. While it is true that "the day
of the Lord" is not to overtake us "as a thief in the night," it
is conditioned upon the premise that we must be "children of the
light." (I Thess.5:1-6) One cannot be a child of the light, following the
principles set forth to understand that light - "time and place;" and
yet be the devotees of the hawkers of the sensational who are soliciting
through that means a "fast buck." Not only did Ellen G. White
call attention to the working
of "the mystery of iniquity;" but in 1901, she observed that Christ
connected specific historical events with the scenes that were to take place
"just prior" to His return a second time. It would be a new
"signal" as the Sunday Law was intended to be in the preceding
decade. She wrote: In the
twenty-first chapter of Luke, Christ foretold what was to come upon Jerusalem
and with it He connected the scenes which were to take place in the history of
this world just prior to the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory. (Counsels to Writers and Editors,
pp. 23-24, emphasis mine) By specifying Luke 21,
rather than Matthew 24 or Mark 13 which are parallel chapters, Ellen G. White
was focusing on a specific prophecy in Luke concerning Jerusalem which the
other two gospel writers did not. All the synoptic writers - Matthew, Mark and
Luke - call attention to the prophetic sign Jesus gave in regard to the
destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, but only Luke records that Jesus
also said - "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles (nations)
until the times of the Gentiles (nations) be fulfilled" (21:24) This Ellen
White wrote would signal the time "just prior" to Christ's return.
This time we have reached. It is the "now" time for us! This factor does not
exclude an "oppressive" Sunday Law, but it does place it as an
"International Sunday Law" rather than the emphasis on a
"National" Sunday Law. In the same year - 1901 - Ellen White wrote: The
substitution of the false for the true is the last act of the drama. When this substitution becomes universal, God will reveal Himself. When the laws of men are exalted above the laws of God, when the powers of
earth try to force
men to keep the first day of the week, know that the time has come for God to
work. He will arise in majesty, and will shake terribly the earth. (R&H.
April 23, 1901) Observe
this statement carefully. Note and retain in memory the words -
"exalted" and "substitution." We will see them again in
use. Carefully consider that the final issue is not some "Sunday Closing
Law" but a forcing by law the observance of "the first day of the week."
At that point in time, God "will arise in majesty, and shake terribly the
earth." What persuasive power
will overcome all "pluralistic" factors which now stand as a barrier
to "oppressive" religious legislation? Observe carefully this
paragraph from a letter written in 1893: Fallen angels upon earth form
confederations with evil man. In this age antichrist will appear as the true
Christ, and then the law of God will be fully made void in the nations of our
world. Rebellion against God's holy law will be fully ripe. But the true leader
of all this rebellion is Satan clothed as an angel of light. Men will be
deceived and will exalt him to the place of God. and
deify him. But Omnipotence will interpose, and to the apostate churches that
unite in the exaltation of Satan, the sentence will go forth, "Therefore
shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning. and
famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God
who judgeth her." (Testimonies to Ministers,
p. 62) It should be obvious that
these two quotations - one written in 1901, and the other in 1893 following
"a national Sunday Law"2 - end with a focus on the same point of time,
a time when God "will arise in majesty" thus interposing His
"Omnipotence." The future "oppressive" Sunday Law coincides
with the deification of Satan by the "apostate churches." In the
final drama, it is to be a universal Sunday Law originating at the instigation
of Satan as "an angel of light." [In this schema of events as portrayed by Ellen G. White, one obtains
the answer as to the decision made in the Sanctuary when the Church was weighed
in the balances. For many it will be too late. She wrote commenting on Ezekiel
9 - "Here we see that the church - the Lord's sanctuary - was the first
to feel the stroke of the wrath of God." (5T:211) The "first
stroke" is upon those that "had the mark of the beast, and upon them
which worshipped his image." (Rev. 16:2) The
issue is far more than "a national Sunday Law" for many of those
"who profess to keep the Sabbath" will not be "sealed."
(5T:213-214) And if one is not sealed with the seal of God, with what is he
marked? But today, Satan is using his agents to profiteer and to deceive
concerned Adventists in agitation over a National Sunday Law issue instead of
studying the Writings as to "time and place."] Interestingly, Ellen
G. White places the setting of the "oppressive" Sunday law in the
context of Luke 21:24. She wrote: After the truth has been proclaimed as a
witness to all nations [in other words, the times of the nations was
fulfilled], every conceivable power of evil will be set in operation, and minds
will be confused by many voices crying, "Lo, here is Christ, Lo, he is there. This is
the truth, I have a message from God. He has sent me
with great light." Then there will be a removing of the landmarks, and an
attempt to tear down the pillars of our faith. A more decided effort will be
made to exalt the false Sabbath, and to cast contempt upon
God himself by supplanting the day He has blessed and sanctified. This
false Sabbath is to be enforced by an oppressive law. (R&H, Dec. 13,
1892) This
prophetic warning, again written after a National Sunday Law, can serve
several purposes. It not only tells us about the nature of the coming
"oppressive" Sunday Law, but also alerts sincere seekers of truth as
to what they face in this "now" time of the fulfilled prophecy of
Luke 21:24. First,
let us note in passing the "red" alert this warning gives. One has
only to mark the date of the complete fulfillment of Luke 21:24 in 1980 when
Jerusalem was proclaimed by the Knesset of Israel to be the Capital of its
government, to see that after that date there came on the periphery of
Adventism, the "many voices" as foretold. Ellen G. White indicated
these "voices" would be confusing voices which would deceive. Ask
yourself when you listen to tapes sent to you, when did that voice begin its
ministry, or when you receive a newsletter, check the date of first publication
of that journal or paper, and you will have a key that will keep you from
deception no matter how good it looks or sounds. We
need to consider next the implications of the words describing the nature of
the "oppressive" Sunday Law which is to occur in this "now"
time. It states that there will be a "more decided effort to exalt
the false Sabbath, and to cast contempt upon God Himself by supplanting the day He blessed and sanctified." Now go back
to the reference from the Review & Herald, April 23, 1901, (p. 2)
and compare these same words, and the synonym used for "supplanting"
- "substitution." It should be obvious that these two quotations are
referring to the same Sabbath law that is to be enacted. While
we do not believe in verbal inspiration, nevertheless words give thought as
perceived by the writer. In the paragraph preceding the one quoted from the Review
and Herald, Dec. 13, 1892, Ellen G. White speaks of -Sunday as a
"rival Sabbath," a "spurious Sabbath." But
"after" the truth has been proclaimed as a witness to all
"nations," this rival and spurious Sabbath is "exalted" and
made to "supplant" the true in seeking to cast contempt upon God.
Supplant means "to take the place of and serve as a substitute for
especially by reason of superior excellence of power." Thus the exaltation
leads to supplanting. There is an interesting calendar in use today in various
parts of the world which alters the arrangement of the week, and gives to
Sunday the place which God assigned for the true Sabbath - the seventh day. The
details of the future are not open before us, and will be known only as the
scroll unfolds. Today, we can see only the broad outlines. However, one has
only to do a minimum of thinking to grasp the implications if this calendar
form should become universal, and a world-wide law were
enacted enforcing the observance of the seventh-day as outlined in this
calendar. Do not forget there are forces within society today who would return
to such "Sabbath regulations." See WWN XX-6; "Now You Can
Hear the Thunder". The
concept from Puritanism giving to Sunday the status of the seventh-day Sabbath
and robing "the Lord's day" with the
sanctity of the Sabbath is firmly held by the Lord Day Alliance. The cover of Sunday
(Jan./March, 1989), the official organ of the LDA in
the United States, reads - "May God's JOY
of the Sabbath Enter Your Heart THIS SUNDAY!" Of import is the theology of
Pope John Paul II on this point. During his 1987 visit to the United States,
the Pope observed concerning Sunday: Today is Sunday: the Lord's Day. Today is like the
"seventh day" about which the Book of Genesis says that "God
rested from all the work he had undertaken." (Gn
2:2) Having completed the work of creation, he "rested." God rejoiced
in his work; he "looked at everything that he had made, and found it very
good." (Gn 1:31) So God blessed the seventh day
and made it holy" (Gn 2:3). On this day we are called to reflect more deeply on
the mystery of creation, and therefore our own lives. We are called to
"rest" in God, the Creator of the universe. Our duty is to praise
him: "My soul, give thanks to the Lord ... Give thanks to the Lord and
never forget all his blessings." (Ps. 102 (103):1-2) Quoted in Sunday, op. cit, p.23) How then can we relate to the present agitation for Sunday Closing Laws that have become issues in some parts of the world?3
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