VERSES 6-7 continued “Then I saw an angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE, “FEAR GOD AND GIVE GLORY TO HIM… for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
“His voice is LOUD. History has demonstrated this. The harvest message was broadcast far and near with clarity and distribution unparalleled by any former reformation. His message, although it contains MUCH MORE, is based on that most basic of doctrines; WORSHIP GOD -- don’t worship the CREATED, but the CREATOR. No other approach will allow us to find or comprehend THE TRUTH.
Don’t worship (HEAVEN) the religious world;
Don’t worship the (EARTH) society;
Don’t worship the (SEA) the liberty seeking masses (Viz., don’t get pulled in or involved with any particular political or social movement no matter how righteous it might appear);
Don’t worship the (SPRINGS OF WATER) the accepted sources of truth (churchianity, orthodoxy, the denominations themselves).
These items (or systems) may be symbols of the parts of this present world which the Lord ordained for a while until the time for His kingdom. But people have worshiped the ITEMS, not the ONE who ordained them. These items, though, may not be symbols. The statement may simply be: Worship Him Who made it all, but cease from the worship of the things made.”
“Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of his judgment has come…”
“It is specified that the REASON for re-adjusting the focus of worship is that THE HOUR OF HIS JUDGMENT HAS COME. It is now the harvest period, and all who worship the created over the Creator will fail this judgment.
It is interesting to note that it is the HOUR of judgment rather than the DAY. It is, of course, the beginning of the 1000-year DAY of judgment; but the FOCUS here is not on the whole age, but only on its beginning, the harvest; this first hour of judgment deals with the weighing and destruction of all pagan religion including false Christianity (orthodoxy) before individual judgment begins for the world.”
“The hour of his *judgment (or judging—Rotherham’s Version) is come” is a reference to the judgment of the house of God, both the true and the nominal. The emphasis is on the judgment of the professed spiritual class. The judgment of the true Church will be favorable, while that of Babylon will be unfavorable (1 Pet. 4:17–19).
While the True Bible Chronology indicates that six thousand years transpired from the fall of Father Adam in Eden to A.D. 1874, Bible prophecy and time parallels indicate that the hour of judgment or the inspection period referred to in Verse 7 began with A.D. 1878.
This same date, 1878, also marked the time that God caused His true “everlasting” (age-lasting) gospel (*the Divine Plan of the Ages) to spread throughout the world.”
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*Judgment The word translated “judgment” is the Greek krisis, which does not mean final judgment but signifies a trial, a crucial time period.
*The Divine Plan of the Ages first published in 1886. Since then, one edition followed another in rapid succession and in twenty different languages, until now (at that time) there are nearly five million copies of it in the hands of the people all the world over. Nearly 20 million copies would be printed and distributed around the world in several different languages during the authors lifetime. No small feat for a published work at the time. It is still published even today and now in more than 36 languages.”
“The great Adversary, has no love for anything which opens the eyes of God's people, increases their reverence for God's Book (the Holy Bible), and breaks their reliance upon human creeds. The great Adversary, therefore, as we might have expected, is very much opposed to this book (as with those which followed). Few realize Satan's power and cunning; few realize the meaning of the Apostle's words in respect to this Prince of Darkness who transforms himself into a minister of light, in order to fight the Truth and destroy its influence. Few realize that our wily Adversary seeks to use the best, the most energetic, the most influential of God's professed people to hinder the shining of the light and to keep the Divine Plan of the Ages away from the people.”
“In the earliest editions of this Volume, the title, "Millennial Dawn," was used; but it was found that some were deceived thereby into thinking it a novel. In order that none might be deceived, and that none might purchase under such deception, the title was changed to, "Studies in the Scriptures," which nobody can misunderstand.
Many queries have come as to why these books cannot be found in the bookstores. Our answer is that while the book publishers would be glad to have these books, there are certain religious zealots who will not permit their sale--threatening boycott (This continues even now in our day). At first this seemed like a great disaster--as though the power of the Adversary would be permitted to hinder the dissemination of the Truth. But God graciously overruled the matter, so that today probably no other book has so large a circulation and so steady a circulation as this Volume. Those who, through prejudice, refused to read the book and fought against it, did so because they believed falsehoods, misrepresentations. Many of these books have been burned by people who never read them, but who were influenced by misrepresentations.”
We move on to Verse 8 in our next post.
