Prophetic Parallels and Divine Disappointment: The Revelatory Journey of God’s Last Day People in Revelation 10
Key Takeaways
Chapter 10 of the Book of Revelation offers a profound insight into the historical and prophetic roles played by the angels’ messages and the experiences of the Millerites leading up to the Great Disappointment of October 22, 1844. The narrative describes John symbolically representing God’s last-day people, who are pre-warned about an inevitable disappointment that would test their faith but are necessary for their spiritual growth. This chapter ties the bitter experiences of digesting the “little book” with the sweetness of its initial revelations, mirroring the historical disappointment that tested the Millerites. It also foreshadows a similar test for the last-day believers, who, unlike the Millerites, need to understand these historical sequences. The narrative thus sets a parallel between the first and last fulfillments of prophecy, encapsulating the recurrent theme of divine testing and gathering of the faithful through prophetic history, with implications that reach into the future unfolding of events.
- Symbolic Representation: John symbolizes God’s last-day people, forewarned of a disappointment mirroring the Millerites’ experience during the mid-19th century.
- The Little Book: The imagery of eating the little book, which is sweet in taste but bitter in the stomach, reflects the initial joy and subsequent disillusionment faced by the Millerites, and foretells a similar pattern for future believers.
- Historical Parallels: The narrative links the events from August 11, 1840, with the Great Disappointment of 1844, illustrating a recurring divine strategy of testing faith through prophetic disappointment.
- Prophetic Secrecy: Elements of the prophecy were deliberately sealed from the Millerites to test their faith, a motif that recurs with the last-day people but with different specifics to be revealed when necessary.
- Continued Relevance: The chapter emphasizes the necessity for modern believers to understand these prophetic lessons to prepare for their role in end-time events.
- Thematic Elements: The intertwining of disappointment, testing, and eventual gathering of the faithful underscores a larger biblical theme of resilience and faithfulness in adversity.
- Fulfillment of Prophecy: The historical events and their prophetic representations are depicted as part of a grander plan, involving repeated cycles of testing and gathering, indicating a pattern that continues into modern times and beyond.
In chapter ten of Revelation, where the history of the first and second angels’ messages is represented, John, as a symbol of God’s last-day people, was told in advance that there was to be a disappointment in the history he symbolically represented, and that disappointment was the element of the history of the first and second angels that had been sealed up to the Millerites’ understanding, in order to test their faith.
And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. Revelation 10:8–10.
In verse ten, John represents the history from August 11, 1840, when the mighty angel descended with a little book in his hand, unto the Great Disappointment on October 22, 1844. Before he symbolically represented that history, he is told by “the voice which” he “heard from heaven” informing him that when he eats the little book, “it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.” The bitter disappointment is what tested the faith of the Millerites, and it was not best for them to know about that disappointment before it arrived, but John represents the last-day people who are required to know the facts associated with the delineation of events, that are the history of the first and second angels’ message.
That sacred history identifies that there would be a test brought upon the last-day people, and it would be a test based upon something that it was not best for them to understand in advance of the test, yet it was not the identical experience of the Millerites, though it perfectly aligned with the delineation of events represented by the first and second angel, for the Seven Thunders also represent, “future events which will be disclosed in their order.”
Though required to know the foundational history of the Millerites, God’s last-day people would fulfill the same delineation of events as the Millerites, but what tested the Millerites, that was best for them not to know in advance, would be a different test, that was brought about by an element that was sealed up until the time was at hand for the Lion of the tribe of Judah to unseal the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which occurs in the hidden history of verse forty of Daniel eleven.
What was sealed up was designed to test God’s last-day people, and the test would align with the waymark where the Millerites were tested, for whether in the first fulfillment in Millerite history or the last fulfillment of the last days, the Seven Thunders was “a delineation of events” “that would be disclosed in their order.”
What has been widely unrecognized is that as John represents the history of the descent of Christ with the little book on August 11, 1840 unto the Great Disappointment of October 22, 1844, that very history was also represented by the descent of the second angel on April 19, 1844. The first disappointment can be understood as the disappointment of John, who, after eating the little book on August 11, 1840, met disappointment on April 19, 1844. When that disappointment arrived the second angel descended with a “writing” in his hand.
“Another mighty angel was commissioned to descend to earth. Jesus placed in his hand a writing, and as he came to the earth, he cried, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen.’ Then I saw the disappointed ones again raise their eyes to heaven, looking with faith and hope for their Lord’s appearing. But many seemed to remain in a stupid state, as if asleep; yet I could see the trace of deep sorrow upon their countenances. The disappointed ones saw from the Scriptures that they were in the tarrying time, and that they must patiently wait the fulfillment of the vision. The same evidence which led them to look for their Lord in 1843, led them to expect Him in 1844. Yet I saw that the majority did not possess that energy which marked their faith in 1843. Their disappointment had dampened their faith.” Early Writings, 247.
The Millerite history that John represents in chapter ten, is the history of the first and also the second angel. The descent of the first angel with a message and the descent of the second angel with a message, mark the beginning of respective histories that both ended in disappointment, though John is more directly illustrating the entire history of both angels. Even after October 22, 1844, when the third angel arrived with a message, the disappointment of the rebellion of 1863, provides a third witness of a period that begins with a message that ends with disappointment.
The first disappointment of the movement of the third angel on July 18, 2020 was the parallel to the first disappointment of the Millerites. A truth was sealed up as was the truth of 1844 sealed up by the Lord holding His hand over a mistake in some of the figures, that produced the first disappointment of the Millerites. When the mistake was thereafter understood, the mistake had been unsealed, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah had removed His hand. The mistake of July 18, 2020, was brought about by the refusal to acknowledge that His hand had been raised on October 22, 1844, while He pronounced that “time should be no longer.”
Whether it was the Philadelphian movement of the first angel’s first disappointment, or the first disappointment of the Laodicean movement of the third angel, His hand represents the waymark. On April 19, 1844 and on July 18, 2020 the disappointment produced a scattering time. Those who had either been gathered on August 11, 1840 or September 11, 2001, were scattered, and thereafter Christ began to gather His people a second time.
He had gathered a people beginning on September 11, 2001, for as represented by Christ’s baptism, it is when the divine symbol descends that He begins to gather His disciples, not before. Then, after a scattering, Christ gathers His people a second time. Christ gathered His disciples beginning at His baptism, and after the scattering produced by the cross, He began to gather His disciples a second time. The prophetic fact of a second gathering that began in July 2023, was part of what had been sealed up on July 18, 2020, though it was clearly an element of the history of the Millerites.
In verse forty of Daniel eleven, the beast from the bottomless pit arose and slew both horns of the earth beast in 2020. In July of 2023, the Lord began to gather His last-day people a second time. The process of gathering is represented within the sacred Millerite history, and in that history, there are two historical witnesses of His gathering His people a second time. The gathering process is a prophetic element that was sealed up until July 2023. The work of gathering His people a second time is fulfilled during the history of the Ukrainian War, just prior to the second election of the eighth president, that is of the seven.
On August 11, 1840, the Lord gathered the Millerite movement, and He marked the gathering by the introduction of the 1843 chart, which was published in May of 1842. The chart represented the foundational message, for He was then laying the foundation of the Millerite temple. The descent of the angel of Revelation chapter ten, on August 11, 1840, parallels the baptism of Christ, which among other things marked the beginning of Christ selecting His disciples.
“With the calling of John and Andrew and Simon, of Philip and Nathanael, began the foundation of the Christian church. John directed two of his disciples to Christ. Then one of these, Andrew, found his brother, and called him to the Saviour. Philip was then called, and he went in search of Nathanael.” The Desire of Ages, 141.
The work of William Miller from the time of the end in 1798, unto August 11, 1840, represented the work of John the Baptist, but when the angel of Revelation ten descended, as typified by the descent of the Holy Spirit at the baptism of Christ, the Lord “gathered” His foundational disciples. These two witnesses identify that Christ gathered His last-day people on September 11, 2001, when the angel of Revelation chapter eighteen descended, but as with the Millerites, they were to be tested by an element of the Seven Thunders which had been sealed up, and then the Lord would gather His people a second time.
The second gathering of God’s last-day people began in the history represented at the very ending of verse eleven, of chapter eleven of Daniel, just before Putin’s victory over Ukraine, and just before verse twelve where Russia and Putin’s prophetic testimony ends. Daniel chapter eleven verse eleven, therefore aligns with Revelation chapter eleven, verse eleven, for it is there the two witnesses are brought back to life.
In the sacred Millerite history, the Lord began to gather His people a second time after the disappointment of April 19, 1844, and what was employed by the Lord to gather His people at that time was a recognition that they were fulfilling the tarrying time of the parable of the ten virgins of Matthew chapter twenty-five, and also Habakkuk chapter two. In order for the Millerites to recognize their condition and return, they had to recognize themselves as represented within God’s prophetic Word. They needed to see that they were God’s people in contrast with those who professed to be His people. In gathering His disappointed people, He was providing an illustration of the ensign that is lifted up to the Gentiles, thus emphasizing the distinction between His genuine but disappointed people, and His simply professed people.
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Isaiah 11:10–12.
When the prophet Jeremiah represents those who were disappointed on April 19, 1844, he identified that he no longer associated with “the assembly of mockers,” who employed the failed prediction of 1843, as evidence that those represented by Jeremiah were false prophets.
I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation. Jeremiah 15:17.
The “assembly of mockers” had cast out those represented by Jeremiah.
“Many were persecuted by their unbelieving brethren. In order to retain their position in the church, some consented to be silent in regard to their hope; but others felt that loyalty to God forbade them thus to hide the truths which He had committed to their trust. Not a few were cut off from the fellowship of the church for no other reason than expressing their belief in the coming of Christ. Very precious to those who bore this trial of their faith were the words of the prophet: ‘Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.’ Isaiah 66:5.” The Great Controversy, 372.
When the Lord lifts up an ensign to the Gentiles, it will occur when He has stretched forth His hand a second time to gather the remnant of His people, who are the outcasts of Israel. They are those who no longer sit in the “assembly of mockers.”
The “root of Jesse” is a symbol of two blood lines, one from Judaism combined with a bloodline from outside of Judaism, and represents not only the bloodline of Jesus, but is also a symbol of the combination of divinity with humanity, for the ensign that is lifted up represents a people who have been sealed forever into the condition and experience of the combination of divinity with humanity, which is also represented in verse ten of Daniel chapter eleven by the symbol of the “fortress”. In verse ten, the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand is inferred by the prophetic understanding of the fortress, which is the head. In the history of verse eleven and the Ukrainian War, the Lord stretches His hand a second time to gather the outcasts who have been disappointed.
Therefore, with the testimony of Daniel eleven as the structure, we have identified the intrusion of the papacy into prophetic history, just before the Sunday law. We have seen the work of the Republican horn represented by Trump as he becomes the eighth that is of the seven, and begins the work of combining Church and State. We have the line of the apostate horn of Protestantism, as represented by the Maccabees. In the same history represented by those verses, we apply the line of the Seven Thunders, which is also the line of the parable of the ten virgins, identifying the experience of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, as well as the line of the three angels that outline the work of the true Protestant horn. One of the events for the true Protestant horn in that history is the second gathering.
The second gathering occurred in the history of the second angel’s message, and it also occurred in the history of the third angel from 1844 unto 1863, establishing two witnesses from Millerite history of the Lord stretching His hand a second time to gather His scattered flock.
“September 23, the Lord showed me that He had stretched out His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people, and that efforts must be redoubled in this gathering time. In the scattering, Israel was smitten and torn, but now in the gathering time God will heal and bind up His people. In the scattering, efforts made to spread the truth had but little effect, accomplished but little or nothing; but in the gathering, when God has set His hand to gather His people, efforts to spread the truth will have their designed effect. All should be united and zealous in the work. I saw that it was wrong for any to refer to the scattering for examples to govern us now in the gathering; for if God should do no more for us now than He did then, Israel would never be gathered.” Early Writings, 74.
In the appendix to Early Writings, Sister White explains the comment just cited:
“3. The view that the Lord ‘had stretched out His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people,’ on page 74, refers only to the union and strength once existing among those looking for Christ, and to the fact that He had begun to unite and to raise up His people again.” Early Writings, 86.
The sacred history of the Seven Thunders representing August 11, 1840 unto October 22, 1844, typified the sacred history of October 22, 1844 unto the rebellion of 1863. Line upon line, the first history represented an illustration of wise virgins, and the second line represented provides an illustration of foolish virgins. Both histories began when an angel descended with a message that was to be eaten. The arrival of the angel in both histories began a testing process that produced a scattering, and by 1849, Sister White was being shown that the Lord was again stretching forth His hand a second time, this time to gather those who had been scattered on October 22, 1844.
They had been scattered by the Great Disappointment, as the wise on April 19, 1844 had been scattered by their first disappointment. The second gathering identified that the Lord “had begun to unite and to raise up His people again.” At the second gathering the Lord’s work includes lifting up an ensign that is united with one another upon the message, and whose humanity is united with His divinity. The purpose of the ensign is to call God’s other flock out of Babylon, which is accomplished by men and women seeing the ensign.
The ensign is the army of those who have united their humanity with Christ’s divinity in the time of the Sunday law testing time. Thus, the second gathering identifies the “root of Jesse,” will be lifted up, carrying the twofold prophetic symbolism of Ruth, a heathen who is gathered by the ensign being joined with Boaz, a symbol of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, and also a symbol of the Redeemer, who paid the price for Ruth, and was her near kinsmen. In the incarnation of Christ’s divine nature with the fallen flesh of human nature He became our near kinsman. The ensign that is lifted up are those united by the message, who finalize the work of joining their humanity to Christ divinity in advance of the Sunday law.
We will continue this study in the next article.
“The appreciation of the Bible grows with its study. Whichever way the student may turn, he will find displayed the infinite wisdom and love of God.
“The significance of the Jewish economy is not yet fully comprehended. Truths vast and profound are shadowed forth in its rites and symbols. The gospel is the key that unlocks its mysteries. Through a knowledge of the plan of redemption, its truths are opened to the understanding. Far more than we do, it is our privilege to understand these wonderful themes. We are to comprehend the deep things of God. Angels desire to look into the truths that are revealed to the people who with contrite hearts are searching the word of God, and praying for greater lengths and breadths and depths and heights of the knowledge which He alone can give.
“As we near the close of this world’s history, the prophecies relating to the last days especially demand our study. The last book of the New Testament scriptures is full of truth that we need to understand. Satan has blinded the minds of many, so that they have been glad of any excuse for not making the Revelation their study. But Christ through His servant John has here declared what shall be in the last days, and He says, ‘Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein.’ Revelation 1:3.
“‘This is life eternal,’ Christ said, ‘that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.’ John 17:3. Why is it that we do not realize the value of this knowledge? Why are not these glorious truths glowing in our hearts, trembling upon our lips, and pervading our whole being?
“In giving us His word, God has put us in possession of every truth essential for our salvation. Thousands have drawn water from these wells of life, yet there is no diminishing of the supply. Thousands have set the Lord before them, and by beholding have been changed into the same image. Their spirit burns within them as they speak of His character, telling what Christ is to them, and what they are to Christ. But these searchers have not exhausted these grand and holy themes. Thousands more may engage in the work of searching out the mysteries of salvation. As the life of Christ and the character of His mission are dwelt upon, rays of light will shine forth more distinctly at every attempt to discover truth. Each fresh search will reveal something more deeply interesting than has yet been unfolded. The subject is inexhaustible. The study of the incarnation of Christ, His atoning sacrifice and mediatorial work, will employ the mind of the diligent student as long as time shall last; and looking to heaven with its unnumbered years he will exclaim, ‘Great is the mystery of godliness.’
“In eternity we shall learn that which, had we received the enlightenment it was possible to obtain here, would have opened our understanding. The themes of redemption will employ the hearts and minds and tongues of the redeemed through the everlasting ages. They will understand the truths which Christ longed to open to His disciples, but which they did not have faith to grasp. Forever and forever new views of the perfection and glory of Christ will appear. Through endless ages will the faithful Householder bring forth from His treasure things new and old.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 132–134.
